I grinned and gave her a one-armed hug. “And that’s why I keep you around and didn’t fire your ass. But make no mistake, E, I’m Sunny’s best friend.”
“Keep tellin’ yourself that, playboy, if it helps you sleep better at night.”
Chapter 9: New York City
The tour bus pulled to an abrupt stop in front of the Hilton in Times Square and everyone on the bus let out a big cheer.
New York City! Four days, two shows at Madison Square Garden…we are going to have a ball! We always do New York the right way. Girls doing their thing…guys doing ours. Sunny even flew in Jess, Summer’s nanny, for the next few days.
When Mona came back to the bus with our room keys, the nine of us piled off the bus like kids on a field trip. We could have made Mona and Tracy’s job less difficult by pulling to the back of the hotel and entering through the back entrance, but where’s the fun in that? NYC needs to know that Aiden Tyler and his crew are back in the city that never sleeps! We went straight to our rooms to get ready for a night out on the town.
“Aiden,” Sunny yelled into the bathroom where I’d just turned off the shower. “Did someone take my purple bag off the bus?”
“How would I know that, Sunny?”
She walked into the bathroom wearing nothing but a bra and matching thong. I groaned out loud.
“Where are your clothes?”
“Getting steamed. Why?” A playful grin tugged at the corners of her lips. “You like what you see?”
I grabbed her and pulled her against my still wet body. She giggled. “Of course.”
“You are such a horn dog,” Sunny laughed. “What’s wrong with you?”
I couldn’t even begin to answer that question. There’s just something about Sunny that makes me want to touch her all the time. It’s a problem, but she’s so damn sexy…doesn’t matter if she’s wearing nothing or a pair or tattered jeans. I just want to have sex with her all the time.
“I thought you were getting dressed at Daniela’s.”
“I am...unless you insist that I tag along with you and the boys.”
I shook my head so hard that little drops of water splashed Sunny in the face. My hair was almost down to its regular shoulder length. Sunny likes it that way so I decided to grow it back out. My dad used to hate my hair. He used to complain the length made me look like a surfer.
“You aren’t coming with us,” I told her. “You need a break from us. And we need a break from you and Erica. Just don’t hook up with your ex,” I teased. “We both know that’s how you get down when you come to New York.”
The grin on Sunny’s face froze and she tensed up in my arms like a statue. She angrily pushed my hands off her waist and stormed out of the bathroom. I followed her. She sat on the bed and gave me the most pissed off death glare humanly possible.
“I can’t believe you said that to me. You are such an asshole.”
“I was just teasing.”
“Why would you play with me like that? After what Tristan did, why would you even bring him up?”
I tightened the towel around my waist and sat next to her. I’m so tired of her ex being an issue in our relationship. According to what I overheard and what Erica told me, she’s supposed to be over him. Obviously, she’s not and that’s fucked up on so many levels.
“Seriously babe, you’re pissed because I made a comment about Tristan? I thought you were over him.”
Sunny folded her arms across her chest. “I may not want to be with him, Aiden, but am I not supposed to be hurt by what he did?”
“Not anymore,” I told her. “You’re with me now. That should cancel out any feelings you have towards him or that fucked up situation. You’re my only woman, not my other woman. Why do you still give a shit about Tristan?”
Sunny unfolded her arms and stood up. I watched as she quickly threw on a t-shirt and yoga pants. Although she was trying not to look at me, I could see she was on the verge of tears, and I was pissed. She cannot be about to cry over this dude!
“Are you serious right now?” I snapped without meaning to. “You’re about to cry over him? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Drop it, Aiden,” Sunny replied. “You will never understand how bad that man hurt me. Just leave it alone, okay?”
“Fuck that!” I yelled a little louder than I should have. “I’m the one who’s always trying to pick up the shattered pieces of your heart. How can you say that I don’t understand? I understand all your issues, probably better than you.”
“So, I have issues now?”
“Sunny,” I snickered, “you know you have issues. Trust issues, commitment issues, and shit there probably isn’t a name for issues. Here I am, trying to build something with you...something I’ve wanted to do for years, only to find out that you still tear up when someone mentions Tristan Nicholson. That’s bullshit and you know it!”
Sunny rolled her eyes. “Like I said, leave it alone. I am dealing with my shit the best way I know how. If you don’t like it, Aiden, I don’t know what to tell you.”
“So that’s how you’re going to play this?” I said. “Just ‘I don’t know what to tell you’, like I should be okay with the fact that you aren’t over your ex.”
“Right now, I don’t care what you’re okay with,” she spat. “It is what it is. I’m not asking you to deal with it. I’m telling you to leave it alone.”
Before I could respond, someone knocked on the door. Sunny practically sprinted to the door. It was someone bringing her clothes up from the steamer. Sunny came back into the bedroom, grabbed her makeup bag and purse, and walked out again. I heard the suite door slam shut so I took off behind her.
“Wait a minute,” I yelled down the hall. “You’re just going to walk out of here like that?”
“Have fun with the guys tonight!” she yelled back. “I’ll see you in the morning!”
“Sunny!” I shouted but she’d already rounded the corner to the elevators. I wasn’t going to chase her down the hallway wearing hotel bath towel. I’m done chasing after her...period.
***
The B-Lounge was nearly at capacity when my band and I walked up. Mike pulled a few girls out of line and let them walk with us, past the bouncers, and into the club. Roberto, the club manager, led us to my VIP section. All eyes were on us as we strolled through the club.
This is what we do.
After fighting with Sunny, I needed to have a few drinks and chill the hell out. I wanted to hit up a few strip clubs just to piss her off but Joey didn’t think it was a good idea.
“Put your relationship before your attitude,” he had advised in the limo. “If Sunny thinks that the way you handle arguments with her is to watch chicks dance butt naked on your lap, what do you think she’s going to do?”
“I don’t care what she says,” I argued.
“Did I ask what she will say?” he replied. “I said, what will she do? Totally different things, young blood.”
That ended the strip club conversation for the moment. Almost two months into a relatively good relationship and I don’t need to find out the answer to that question yet. Instead, we grabbed a quick dinner at BLT Prime and then prepared to get wasted at The B-Lounge. We always hit up this spot when we come to New York. I still have a feeling that we’re going to end up at a couple strip clubs before the night is over.
We are on tour! We do what we want. If Sunny wasn’t on tour with us, we’d be in strip clubs every night. We just need to get drunk enough to forget about the Fun Police. Besides, she’s going to be out with her girls all night. I know all their spots. They aren’t going to be sitting around knitting sweaters and drinking tea. In a few hours, she’s going to be wasted like a sorority chick and shakin’ her ass at Dream.
Not even ten minutes after we sat down with a couple bottles of Patron and Grey Goose, Joey handed me his phone with his Instgram account pulled up. Why Joey has an Instagram account baffles me.
“How the hell did we end up at
the same club as the girls?” he yelled over the music.
I glanced at the picture of Sunny, Daniela, Erica, and their friend, Jaicyn. I was surprised to see Jaicyn in the picture. After I left Power Records, Jaicyn hadn’t had two words to say to me. I guess women are different. Besides, everybody loves my girlfriend.
“We should have made this our second stop, not the first,” I yelled. “They’ll be going to Dream in a couple of hours.”
“As long as they don’t bother us, I’m cool with them being around,” Eddie said.
I burst out laughing. Eddie is the only married one in our group. His wife is a real ball buster too. She hates my ass. Eddie knows he married a bitch. That’s why he cherishes my long tour schedules. Sometimes, it’s important to spend time away from your woman.
“They’re not going to bother us,” I assured my band as I scanned the bar and dance floor for Sunny and her friends. The club was so packed that I couldn’t see them anywhere.
“How do you know they’re here?” I asked Joey.
“Sunny tagged the place in her pic. Plus Roxy just checked in here on Facebook. Seriously, A.T, you need to get with the whole social media thing. I’m older than you and I get it.”
“Facebook is a waste of time. Mona handles that. Let’s get the hell out of here. I know you and Roxy been doin’ what y’all do, but I especially don’t feel like dealin’ with her tonight.”
Mike laughed loudly and popped open a bottle of champagne. “We aren’t leavin’ yet. Did you see those girls I pulled out of the line? Hell no, we’re not leaving!”
“Whatever.”
I leaned back on the black velvet sofa with a drink. Not too long ago, I wouldn’t have been sitting in a VIP booth drinking with the guys. I hated VIP. I used to hang out with the rest of the clubbers in “Gen Pop.”
My fans love when I party with them. That’s what a tour is supposed to be...pickin’ up chicks, getting fall off the stage drunk with my entourage...basically having the time of my life. I guess I’m maturing in my old age. Besides, my game is off. The only time I picked up chicks in the last year of my life was when Erica and we wanted to have a threesome.
Even though I eventually made my way out of my VIP booth, I didn’t run into Sunny and her friends. Maybe she knew that we were there and was avoiding me. Good. I couldn’t get our argument out of my head anyway. Seeing her would have just put us back in the same situation we were in at the hotel.
I don’t know if Sunny is still in love with Tristan. I don’t care. I don’t know if she’s completely okay with jumping into a relationship with me, and that’s the part that bothers me. We said a lot of things on that beach, and everything sounded so simple and easy then. Now that reality is punching us in the face, it’s safe to say that we really didn’t think this all the way through.
Keeping our relationship a secret. This Tristan bullshit. I didn’t sign up for this.
I love Sunny, but if she can’t work through her issues, this thing we have is bound to fail.
***
Sunny tried to sneak into our room before the sun rose the next morning but I was up. The guys and I had just walked into the hotel not even thirty minutes before she did. I was sitting in the living room waiting for room service to deliver my wings and cheeseburger.
“Oh! You’re up!” Sunny was noticeably startled when she tiptoed into the suite carrying her shoes.
“Why are you tiptoeing in here? It’s not like I didn’t know where you were.”
“You should be sleep. You have a show in twelve hours.”
Sunny looked like she had a great time. Not only was she carrying the pair of $900 shoes I bought her while we were in New Jersey, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she’d sweated off most of her makeup. Plus she was steadying herself by holding her hand against the wall as she walked.
“You drunk?”
“Not as bad as E and Mona,” she laughed as she staggered her way over to the sofa and dropped her shoes. She sat next to me and put her feet in my lap. “Did you guys have fun?”
“Of course we did. We went to Sapphire’s after we left Cielo,” I said as I began to massage her feet while she leaned her head back on the sofa and shut her eyes.
I decided to tell her about Sapphire’s myself before pictures hit the ‘Net. If she’s going to be mad over a few lap dances, might as well tell her when no one is around.
“I knew you were going to hit the first strip club you could find as soon as I wasn’t around,” she laughed. “What is it with you and Mike and strippers?”
“Naked women dancing on poles. You’d like it too. I can’t believe you were born and raised in Atlanta and have never been to Magic City. They have the best wings in the city. When we get to Miami, you have to come to King of Diamonds with us. You’ll like KOD.”
“Get your girlfriends straight, Aiden,” Sunny replied. “I don’t do strip clubs.”
“Wow, that was rude. Was that smart ass comment because of what I said about Tristan?”
“You’re still mad about that, are you?” Sunny asked. “Are you mad at me?”
Our argument had been on my mind the entire time we were at The B-Lounge, but I forced myself not think about it after we left. I didn’t want to talk about it now either, but the look in Sunny’s eyes told me I would have to.
“Not mad,” I answered truthfully. “More like worried.”
“What are you worried about? I don’t want to be with any of my exes. I’m not still in love with Tristan either.”
“That’s not really the issue is it?”
I moved her legs off my lap so that I could let room service in with my food. I handed the guy a fifty because I spent ran through all my twenties at Sapphire’s. I carried the food over to a table and started eating. With damn near a liter of alcohol in my system, now was not the time to have a conversation about my feelings. That still didn’t stop me from blurting out,
“You may not want to be with Xavier or Tristan, but do you really want to be with me?”
Across the room, there was complete silence. Sunny was quiet for so long that I thought she might have fallen asleep, but when I looked up from my food she was staring at me.
“What?”
“What exactly are you asking me?”
“Exactly what I just asked you,” I answered. “Do you really want to be with me?”
“How did we get to this point based on what happened earlier?”
I shook my head and continued eating. “Just answer the question, Sunny. It’s yes or no.”
My question seemed to sober Sunny up immediately. She stood up, shook out her ponytail, and stepped right into Dramatic Girlfriend World; a place that I have a season pass to, apparently.
“You, of all people, doubt whether or not I want to be with you? For what? Because I don’t want you to trivialize what I went through with Tristan? You can’t be serious, Aiden.”
I considered my options here. I could retaliate with my own drama and we’d never get to bed, or I could back down, finish eating, and get some rest before sound check. Obviously, option one was the best choice. Obviously.
“I’m not the one who doesn’t want to be seen with you in public. I’m not shedding tears over my ex. You could talk about Erica and Ramey all day long and I wouldn’t blink an eye because I’m with you. You can’t say the same, so I’m asking...do you really want to be with me?”
Sunny slowly crossed the room with a look of pure devastation darkening her face. She sat at the table across from me and stared at me.
“Of course,” she whispered. “My God, Aiden, you really think I don’t want to be with you?”
I shrugged. “Do you?”
“Yes. I don’t know what it’s going to take to convince you that I’m a hundred percent all in with you, but I am. Shit,” she uttered. “When I said yes, I meant that, Aiden. This relationship isn’t going to be a walk in the park, but we knew that a month ago. Hell, we knew that years ago. But love conquers all,
right?”
I pushed my half-eaten burger away and looked up at Sunny. Her hazel eyes burned with determination.
“Love isn’t the issue here,” I said. “We loved each other for years. But Sunny, we can’t change what happened. I understand how bad you’ve been hurt by dudes, but I’m not going to spend a second watching you cry over that shit. If you’re still not ready to be in a relationship, then you don’t have to be in one.”
Maybe she’s not ready. It’s only been a few months since she found out about Tristan. Maybe I made a mistake by rushing her. That’s not what I meant to do, but the opportunity presented itself and I thought it was a good time to take it.
“I want to be with you,” Sunny replied slowly, enunciating each word. “I just need you to understand that a month ago, I’d seen Tristan just hours before I came to that island. I know you don’t have a wife and kids stashed away somewhere, but pains of the past don’t just heal because you’re with someone else. I need you to understand that being with you makes it better and easier to get over it. Just because I’m not at the point where I can joke about it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be in this relationship.”
I don’t know if I believe her. I guess this is one of those things that we’ll have to see how it plays out. She says she wants to be with me so I’ll take what she says at face value. I’m not going to spend my time on the road worrying about it.
She knows how I feel about her. She knows that I’ll never hurt her. If that isn’t enough, then there’s nothing else I can do.
Chapter 10: Mansfield
“Your bougie ass ain’t sleepin’ on no tour bus. Why you lyin’, Sunny?”
“I do!” she protested. “Whenever we’re not in a hotel, I’m on this bus. And I’m the least bougie person you know.”
Yeah right. I kept my thoughts to myself. Sunny would not appreciate my opinion on the matter. She jokes with Clay all the time about how high-maintenance they both are but if I co-sign then all hell breaks loose.
Love Notes (Friends Lovers or Nothing Book 4) Page 7
