“I’ve read the report, Colton,” the doctor said. “Are you filing charges?”
“What for?” Colton laughed. “He’s already in prison.”
“Yes. But perhaps longer or more security, that he was able to punch you repeatedly before a guard broke it up. That’s inexcusable.”
“My dad’s a big dude. A strong dude.”
“Colton. It doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah…well, that prison is under investigation. I’m okay. I held my own. I just want to get going.”
Colton’s fist was all busted up. His lip was swollen, and his right eye was half closed with stitches.
“You’re lucky, Colton.”
“Yeah. I’m real lucky.”
When Colton left the hospital, he read Lauren’s text and couldn’t blame her. He wrote back. I can explain this time. For real.
The night turned into morning, the next day into night, and Colton didn’t hear another word from Lauren. It was over. And he didn’t blame her one bit.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Congrats! We’re celebrating. I knew you’d get it,” Beth yelled excitedly at Lauren the moment she walked through the door.
“Thanks, Beth,” Lauren said, groggily. The flight felt long.
“Don’t thanks, Beth me. How did everything go at home? And we never got a chance to talk about your date with Masters before you left. You okay? I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“I’m fine. Just tired.” Lauren didn’t have the energy to explain things.
“So, I’m assuming home was good, but…what about Masters?!”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Beth stopped teasing. “But you like him, right? A lot? You wouldn’t be the first girl to fall for him, that’s for sure, and you won’t be the last.”
Lauren stiffened. She more than liked him, and she more than knew it was over.
“It’s not like that, Beth.”
“Not like what? What did I say?”
Lauren didn’t know how to respond.
Beth sat on Lauren’s bed. “Listen, Lauren. You’re not really falling for him, are you? Please tell me you’re not. Please tell me you didn’t sleep with him. Lauren?”
“So what if I am? So what if I did?”
Beth grabbed Lauren’s face between her hands, startling Lauren, pulling her face to too-close, crazy-eyes glaring at her. “Lauren, this isn’t funny. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Promise me you didn’t sleep with him.”
Lauren was getting angry. She removed Beth’s hands from her face. “Why? Because you want to?” Lauren couldn’t hide her sarcasm.
“Oh, here we go again.” Beth rolled her eyes, exasperated. “No, Lauren. And yes. I’d sleep with him in a heartbeat. But you already know that. You? You’re a virgin, at least I hope you still are, and him…he’ll chew you up and spit you out. I don’t want to see that happen to you. I remember my first time, Lauren. There’s a lot of shit that happens with giving yourself to someone. You don’t want to do it with someone who’s not in love with you. At least not you. You’re not like that.”
“Oh give me a fucking break, Beth. Why does everyone think I’m so naïve. Some innocent Princess.”
“Princess?” Beth looked at Lauren with scrutiny. “Is that what he calls you?”
Lauren started to undress and began to change into a workout outfit. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying that if and when I give up my virginity, it will be because I want to. Because I make the decision. Me. By myself. Me deciding what’s best…for me.”
“Okay, okay. Take it easy. I just can’t imagine a guy like Colton Masters having you sleep over and not having sex with you. I’m surprised, that’s all. Surprised. And maybe even a little jealous. Did you kiss? Make out? What? We knew he had the hots for you. We just knew it.”
“None of your business, Beth. God. You’re a voyeur at heart.”
“If Colton Masters is in it, you bet. Tell me. Come on. I’ve fantasized about him more than I care to admit.”
“Gross, Beth. I don’t really want to hear that you fantasize about my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend? Is that what you think? Is that what he told you?”
“No, no, no. I didn’t mean that. That slipped out. I just meant…I don’t want you thinking about him that way if I’m going to…I don’t know? Date him? Hang out with him? God. I don’t really know what’s going on with him.” She exhaled. “I don’t even know what I’m talking about. I broke it off. It’s over.”
Lauren sat down on the bed next to Beth making sure her new phone had all her contacts and apps transferred over after rendering her other one useless, and a huge silence filled the room for an eternity as she forcefully ignored Beth and her inquisition.
Beth had no idea Colton had stood her up. She had no idea she hadn’t spoken to her parents since the church. She had no idea that Lauren had gone home for her sister’s death anniversary and left. Beth had no idea about anything. Because Lauren didn’t want to tell a soul anything ever again.
“New phone?” Beth asked the obvious.
“Yup.
“Well,” Beth said. “I have to meet a study partner for about an hour. You go work out, and then we’re heading out. We’re going to celebrate your news about Les Mis. And you’re going to ignore that playboy for a night!”
Lauren stared at her phone and saw a text from her mother, and Lauren wrote back, I’m sorry, before looking up at Beth. “You’re on. Sounds fun.”
“Good.” Beth got up, opened the door, and looked one last time back to Lauren before closing the door behind her.
Her mom wrote—I’m glad you’re safe. We need to talk.
Yes.
That was all Lauren could write at the moment. She felt terrible for how she behaved. The hurt in her parents’ eyes made her cringe. They had suffered so much, gave Lauren everything, and her behavior on her sister’s anniversary...was reprehensible. Forgive me, Shelby, Lauren said into the universe.
She hovered over Colton’s number in her contacts...and then, hit delete. Beth wasn’t the only one who needed to turn over a new leaf. It was high-time Lauren did too.
****
Beth, Stephanie, Leslie, and Lauren went out to eat at Olive Garden, laughed a lot, and she couldn’t believe how such opposites could get along so well.
“That guy is so fucking hot,” Stephanie said, lifting her chin in the direction of what appeared to be a thirty-year-old man.
“Jesus, Steph, he’s a little old for ya, don’t you think?” Beth warned.
“The older, the better, more experience. Most boys don’t know how to please a girl, even with a manual sitting right in front of them!”
“Unless you’re Colton Masters,” Beth winked in Lauren’s direction. “Right, Lauren?”
Stephanie twirled around to face Lauren. “What?”
“Isn’t that, that really cute boy in our music class who’s always so mean to you?” Leslie asked, clueless.
Nobody said anything for what seemed like five minutes.
“Okay,” Stephanie said, almost yelling, slamming her diet Coke hard onto the Formica table. “If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on right now, I’m going to lose my shit.”
Beth smiled. “Shall I do the honors, or would you like to?” She stared at Lauren. “And seeing I still don’t know exactly what’s going on between the two of you, you should probably just finally dish.”
Stephanie glared at Lauren. “Well? I told you he liked you! So did ya? Did you guys fuck?”
“What?” Lauren said, trying to keep her voice low. “No. Of course not. Christ. We hung out, watched a movie. He made me dinner.”
Stephanie looked at Beth for an eternity, and then slowly drew her eyes back to Lauren. Her face was as red as her hair. “He what?”
“What?” Lauren cringed.
“He made you dinner? Colton Masters made you dinner? The Colton Masters who plays music? The Colton Masters who makes girls’ panties
soaking wet from a mere look? That Colton Masters?”
Lauren blushed ten shades. She knew all too well how wet Colton Masters could make panties. “Shut up, Stephanie.”
“Well? Did he? Really? I mean, he made you dinner?” She was completely incredulous.
“He grilled up some burgers,” she said, trying to shake it off.
“What did I tell you, Beth? Walking fucking contradictory wet dream.”
Leslie bristled at Stephanie’s vulgarity.
“So, you’re like dating him?” Stephanie questioned.
All eyes were on Lauren.
“Well?” Stephanie wouldn’t relent, as she stuffed a piece of her bread in her mouth.
“No. It’s over.”
“Well, good,” Stephanie said as if everything was resolved. “He’s working tonight. So, let’s go. Show him how much fun you can have without the likes of him.”
“How?” Lauren asked. “We’re not of age. We don’t have ID’s.”
“Oh, please, Lauren. I have a stash of ID’s. And the owner looks the other way, especially when Masters is playing or bartending. He draws in so many customers from playing gigs there that Bill, the owner, should be giving him a share in the business.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s not like he asked me to come.” Though she hadn’t read any of his messages in the last day or two, she doubted he wanted to see her after what she wrote. Moreover, she didn’t want to see him. She was tired of the I’m-sorry Colton Masters.
“No shit, Lauren. That’s why we’re going. And you’re going to have the time of your life.”
“He’s playing there tonight? How do you know?”
“Yes. And how do you not know?” Stephanie said, eyes rolling. “I mean if you’re dating him and all,” she added.
“Oh, just stop it, Stephanie. She just told you she’s not. You know how he is. He doesn’t have relationships. Lauren just needs to really understand. See it with her own eyes.”
“I’m right here, guys,” Lauren said. “You don’t have to talk about me in the third person!”
“Look,” Stephanie tried to soften. “I just think that if he’s wooing you with dinner and dating, you need to make sure he’s not just fucking with you. I know he wants you, Lauren. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Shit. We all have. But I also don’t want you to get caught up in some fucking fairy tale where you think he’s someone he’s not. You don’t deserve to get hurt.”
Beth interjected. “Are you sure he’s playing tonight? Someone said he was pretty beat up.”
Lauren stiffened. “What?”
“You didn’t know?” Stephanie rolled her eyes so hard this time, Lauren thought they might stick that way. “Yup. Had to get stitches and everything.”
“What? What happened?” Lauren asked incredulously.
“No clue. You can ask him yourself,” Stephanie said.
“Well, let’s go find those ID’s and get ourselves a drink, a la Colton Masters,” Beth said at last.
“And let’s go back and change and freshen up a bit more,” Stephanie offered.
“I don’t know,” Leslie said. “I may bail.”
“If I go, you go,” Lauren said. “We’ll keep an eye on each other.”
“Okay,” Leslie smiled. “I’m kinda excited!”
*****
“I wrote this for someone special. Actually, I’d hope she’d sing it with me. Her voice is beautiful,” Colton said to a mesmerized crowd.
“What’s her name, Masters?” someone in the audience yelled.
“Oh. I don’t think she’d like me to say.”
“Well, is she going to sing it with you?”
“I’m afraid not. Nope. Probably not. You can tell me what y’all think.”
Colton watched Angela take a step off the stage to leave him to it, and he noticed a certain sadness clouding her features that made him feel bad. He had sat her down and talked with her about Lauren earlier that day. He explained that she was going to have to accept Lauren in his life. If she didn’t want to lose him as a friend, she would have to deal with the new situation. She’d wished him happiness, and she’d promised him she would get over it and stick around to, at the very least, still make music.
When Lauren had gotten to the bar, she stayed near the back. She watched as Angela walked off the stage and sat at a table up front. When Angela turned to look around, she caught Lauren’s gaze. Angela gave Lauren a knowing nod, and at first, Lauren was skeptical or wondered if maybe Angela was nodding to someone else. But then she was certain Angela was directing her nod towards her as if she were extending her hand all the way across the room to offer a truce. We love the same man, but you’ve won.
Colton started strumming his guitar…and stopped to speak. “I’m a little nervous. This is a little different for me, and I wrote it with the sound of her voice in my mind for the harmony.”
“Stop stalling,” someone yelled, and before Lauren knew it, Angela was standing right beside her.
“Hey,” Angela said.
“Hey,” Lauren said back.
Beth and Stephanie, who’d found some boys to chat with almost immediately, looked over and mouthed: Are you okay, and Lauren nodded, hoping she was.
Leslie, who had been standing next to Lauren, pointed to the bathroom and said, “I’ll be back,” sneaking away backward.
“He wrote this for you, you know. He wrote it for you to sing with him.”
Lauren looked at Angela and saw sincerity.
“Here. The lyrics. Just in case, you know?”
“Yeah,” Lauren agreed. “Just in case.”
The girls stood there awkwardly, and then Angela smiled at Lauren. Lauren thought Angela was beautiful up close, and she found herself smiling back.
“Well, see ya.” Angela walked back up front and sat down again, when Colton’s song began.
“Okay, everyone. Here goes.” Colton cleared his throat.
I’m not a fortunate guy
I’m lost on most days
I live in a shadow
Of regretful ways.
And it’s dark and I play
And I play only for you,
And the blue, oh the blue,
Suffocatingly new
The look in your eyes
Like green hope, so clear,
The way the birds fly
Up to God without fear
It’s true. Oh, it’s true
So entirely new
Today I look up
And play only for you
Will you stay or go south?
I’m lost, I’m at bay,
A ship out to sea,
At war, a fray
But I continue to play
Continue, you see
“And this is where she would say this next line so bear with me—"
But Lauren stepped on stage and started to sing the line for him, the best she could.
(Continue to play,
play only for me)
Colton visibly welled up but kept going.
But the clouds roll
On, and the song
Won’t go on
And in her I see
The me.
Oh the me
I’ve wanted to be
And they each harmonized the last of the song, a hush completely coming over the busy bar.
(Play Only For Me)
I play only for you
I play only for you.
(You play only for me)
I want no one but you
(You have me for you
Play Only For Me)
Yes. I play only for you
Lauren’s eyes welled up too at the look in Colton’s eyes, flooded in emotion, the crowd cheering and hooting. Lauren ran a finger over his eye, where the stitches were, and she kissed him. Kissed him hard and long.
“Encore!” someone yelled, and Colton started playing again:
(Play Only For Me)
I play only for you. I p
lay only for you.
(You play only for me.)
I want no one but you.
The crowd went nuts again, and they kissed, and Lauren saw Stephanie and Beth, incredulous, and feared looking at Angela but saw she, too, was on her feet in total support of the two of them, a huge smile and a big thumbs up. It was surreal for Lauren.
“I think I’d like to take a short break,” Colton said, and he pulled Lauren across the stage and off into the back. “Kiss me again,” he said, and drew her into an embrace, holding her head in place with his hands, her lips in place with his own. “I’m sorry,” he said. “About the memorial. I—”
“No more sorries.” She kissed him. “No more. God, Colton. Your song. I love it. I can’t believe how you wrote that for me, for us, the key you knew would fit my voice, the way…God. Colton. It was just so beautiful.”
“I never dreamed you’d be here tonight, Lauren. I really thought it was over. When I saw you…God I’m so sorry I didn’t make it home with you.”
“No more,” she said. “No more saying sorry.”
He pulled her closer. “So you really liked it? Not too sappy?”
“Just the right amount of sap.” She smiled. She touched his lip and then his eye again. “Does it hurt? What happened, Colton?”
“You should see the other guy,” he joked.
“I’m sure,” Lauren smiled.
“How did the memorial go?” he asked.
“Not well, Colton.”
“I’m—”
“Don’t say it!” And they both laughed.
“Let me finish my set. Then come to my place? Seems like we have a few missing details to fill in for each other. But Lauren, I had every intention of coming to Shelby’s memorial, meeting your parents, supporting you.”
She placed her head on his chest and lay it there in silence. “I believe you,” she finally said.
“Good. Because it’s true.”
“Go finish. Give me your key. I’ll be waiting for you at your place.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After the set, Colton was nervous to face Angela, so when she walked up to him and said, “Get outta here and go get her,” saying, “I love you,” to her was the easiest thing in the world to say. And he knew she wouldn’t read into it more than it was. Friendship. A true friendship.
Play Only For Me: (A New Adult Romance) Page 14
