“In a really heartfelt way,” Franklin said.
Toby rubbed his jaw. He held the ice to the side of his head. “But it’s not going to happen with the one who hit me.”
“That’s fine,” Franklin said. “We can work that out easily. There’s a million women waiting for Dex.”
I turned my head and saw Candice in the walkway to the back of the cafe.
When she saw me looking at her, she stepped out of sight.
“Nah,” I said. “It’s her or nobody.”
“Dex, look at me,” Toby said.
I looked at him.
He lowered the ice from his head. “This idea is fucking crazy in itself. But it actually makes a little bit of sense. So I’ll run with it for the moment. There is no way in hell you’re going to play games here though. You’re not going to pick and choose and-”
I reached out and poked Toby in the side of the head where Candice had hit him.
He moved his head and groaned in pain.
I stood up.
“Give me one day,” I said. “If I don’t have Candice saying she’s engaged to me, then you can pick someone else for me.”
“It’s your ass on the line here, Dex,” Barry said.
“That’s right,” I said. “Now let me work my magic.”
“To be fair, your magic got you into this position,” Franklin said.
I looked at Toby.
It was my warning look.
Franklin wasn’t my fucking friend. Neither was Barry.
It was time for everyone to leave.
Toby took the hint.
“Gentlemen,” he said. “Let’s leave Dex to his own mind. We can figure this out.”
“This is a mistake,” Barry said.
I grabbed the edge of the table and lifted it.
Two coffees and one tea spilled all over Barry and Franklin.
The drinks had cooled enough so they didn’t burn them.
Too bad.
“Fuck, Dex,” Toby said to me.
I didn’t say a word.
Barry and Franklin stood and backed up, coffee and tea dripping from their clothes. I put the table down and reached for a napkin holder from the table behind me. I threw it at Barry.
“Clean yourself up,” I said.
“You’re going to go to jail,” Barry said.
“That’s enough,” Toby said.
He hurried to get Barry and Franklin out of the cafe.
I turned my head again and saw Candice pointing to me.
Two girls started to walk toward the table.
One was familiar, one wasn’t.
I wasn’t in the mood for the autograph nice guy bullshit routine.
I put a few big bills on the table to cover the coffee, tea, cleanup, and tip, and then I walked to the front of the cafe.
As I opened the door, I knew Candice was looking at me.
I turned and lifted my left hand and gently tapped my ring finger.
Candice lifted her left hand and gave me the middle finger.
* * *
You are my destiny,
Everything I try to please,
Only one bringing me to my knees,
Walk all night because I can’t sleep
I stopped playing and folded my arms.
The song kept going until Reed saw me and then he stopped playing.
Then Sab.
Jay was still jamming.
Nash held a notebook in his hand.
“You are my dest…”
He looked at me and stopped.
“What the fuck?” Nash asked.
“You’re really writing that?” I asked.
“It’s a perfect song,” Nash said. “I love destiny. It fits the band.”
“And it’ll tie into your bullshit,” Jay said.
“You know, Jay, I saw a pineapple at a little fruit stand on the way over here… need a date tonight?”
“Fuck you, Dex,” Jay said.
Sab laughed from behind the drum kit. “We should get shirts with pineapples on them.”
“With a little hole in the middle,” Reed said.
“A little hole?” Jay said. “Fuck you guys. You want to shit on me for some rumor about me fucking a piece of fruit? Good. But don’t even call into question the size of the hole needed for me to-”
“We wanted to take this to the studio,” Nash said, staring at me, pretending like nobody was there. “What the fuck is the problem?”
“I got stuck with the lawyers again today,” I said. “I have an idea up my sleeve. It’s fucking crazy. They know it. I got one of the lawyers to buy into it. And that helped Toby.”
“What’s the plan?” Reed asked.
“I’m engaged,” I said.
“What?” Sab asked. “Engaged? To be married?”
“It’s a good story,” I said. I eyed Nash. “Might need Olivia.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Nash said. “You’re not using her for that.”
“What’s the problem then?” Jay asked. “You fake an engagement. Big deal.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “I’m just thinking about what happened. Those fucking assholes set me up. Had me jumped. They know we own this city and the stage and the fans.”
“Maybe you need a drink and a woman,” Sab said.
“He’s engaged,” Reed said. “He has to be good. No cheating.”
“Fuck, that’s the worst thing I’ve heard all day,” I said.
“Can we just play this song?” Nash asked. “Throw it over to Toby to hear. He can take it to SLECK as a demo. They’ll calm down when they hear it. Then you can find your fake fiancée, parade her around for a little while, and then come to terms with a mutual breakup.”
“Fuck, isn’t this life the best?” Jay asked.
“Beats fucking a pineapple,” I said.
Jay opened his mouth and I cut him off by playing the opening riff to the destiny song.
We ran through the entire song filled with Nash’s cool, catchy, maybe a little corny lyrics about destiny. For some, destiny was love and forever. For Filthy Line, destiny was loud music, good booze, and wild sex.
We finished the song and Nash called Toby.
Sab poured all of us two shots each.
They went down smooth.
I snuck outside and used my phone to get a ride.
I was going to go to the strip club and kick back and unwind.
Would a fiancé do that?
“Ah, shit,” I said.
I couldn’t go to the strip club unless I had my fiancée with me.
Which meant… change of plans.
I had to go find my fiancée first.
* * *
I had the driver stop at the corner and told him to keep his ass right there until I came back. He gave me a two finger wave and a smile. Only because he was making a ton of money by the hour and by the mile. In his mind he was hoping I’d come back three hours later, drunk and high, with two women, and then have them put on a show in the backseat of the car while we drove to Tijuana and back.
Fuck you, my man…
This was the tamest ride I ever needed in my life.
Which in itself was fucking wild.
I walked along the sidewalk toward the cafe.
The lights inside were all turned off except the ones behind the counter. Those four bulbs buzzing and burning, showing off the name and logo of the business, along with the clean counter and glass case.
I stood near the door, looking between the text on the glass of the name and the hours.
All the chairs were flipped up on the tables.
My eyes followed the glistening trail of wetness on the floor and I spotted Candice on the far side of the wall. A mop in one hand, her other hand sliding a frame left to right as she tried to center it.
I watched carefully and knew Franklin was right. That goddamn lawyer. My idea was smart, his process was smart. There were plenty who would sign up to wear a diamond ring, hang off my arm, an
d smile for the cameras to help ease the hammer ready to be swung at my ass.
But I wanted Candice to do it.
I had no idea why either.
But when something was locked in my mind…
I gently knocked on the door.
Candice quickly turned and her eyes started to tell her story.
It came down to her eyes.
She leaned the mop against a table and walked to the door.
When she realized it was me, she stopped and shook her head.
She pointed to her wrist and mouthed ‘We’re closed!’
I pointed down and mouthed ‘I’m open!’
Candice shook her head again and walked away.
I grabbed the handle and pulled.
Locked.
I curled my lip.
I knocked on the door again.
Candice showed me her middle finger and I stared at her ass swaying back and forth as she walked back to the mop. She grabbed it, spun around and looked at me again.
I moved from the door to the window.
And we just stared at each other.
So I did the proper thing… I dropped to one knee. I held my right hand out as though I had a ring to give her.
She laughed.
She fucking laughed.
But she didn’t open the door.
She picked up the mop and started to walk to the back of the cafe.
Not before pausing to take the picture of me and the owner of the cafe off the wall.
She held it out, then dropped it, letting the frame shatter on the floor.
With a shoulder shrug and that amazing ass of hers, she disappeared into the back of the cafe.
I stayed there on one knee for a little bit longer.
Thinking.
My lips tingling for a little more whiskey.
And a lot more of Candice.
6
Candice
Hope you sleep and dream well my love ;)
I read the text message and hurried to put my phone on the nightstand and rolled all the way to the other side of the bed. It was way too big of a bed for one person and I wasn’t sure if my sister purposely did that as a way to remind me that I was single. Her subliminal mind games to get me to feel alone and find a way to move on or something.
I pulled the covers up over my head like that was going to hide me.
I was already hidden.
Just not from my phone.
Unless I didn’t answer it.
That then gave the appearance that I was hidden. Or gone.
The phone buzzed again.
I groaned and told myself not to look at the phone.
It didn’t matter…
I turned and reached for the phone.
Miss you with all of my heart. And I know you’re reading these texts.
Now that pissed me off.
It was one thing to text me and act like you were part of my life still. But to just sit there and assume I was reading those texts with… what? An open heart? A heavy heart? With care? Love?
My fingers went to work.
And with every word I typed I kept seeing Dex standing outside the cafe. Like how much of a total dick could you be to me? Bad enough I had to close up the cafe because Misti had no problem announcing to everyone that she was getting waxed because her bush was turning into a beast. All I had wanted to do was clean up the cafe, leave, and be done with the day. The last person I expected or wanted to see was fucking Dex from Filthy Line standing outside the cafe. As I stood there with a mop in my hand. Feeling… I didn’t even know what.
Then he had the nerve to get on one knee.
He was dead serious about this fake engagement thing.
What an asshole.
Either that or he was making fun of me. Just messing with me. Showing off his rock star status while I was busy mopping the dirty floors of a cafe.
So… yeah… still an asshole.
Except now, my fingers were hard at work dealing with a different kind of asshole.
Trent.
Not sure why you keep texting me, Trent. But you can stop. What’s done is done. I made that clear to you. Leave me the hell alone.
It wasn’t poetic and a long book of me cutting into him and all of his flaws.
But it was at least to the point, right?
The problem with Trent… it was like feeding a stray animal. Do it once and it won’t leave you alone.
Good to hear from you finally ;)
That made me laugh.
He was still as arrogant as the day I met him.
And no matter what he did that was wrong, he had a way to twist it to make it right. The worst of it… he was just so damn believable all the time. Which was my fault. My flaw in believing everything he said and did.
Don’t get quiet on me now, Candice.
My fingers touched the screen again.
There was a lot I could type to him.
But I kept it classy.
A middle finger emoji.
And if he decided to text me again, I’d do the same thing.
I’d just keep replying with the same middle finger until he decided to leave me the hell alone.
I messed up though.
Trent wasn’t a stray animal.
He was a rat. A mouse. Vermin that had a way to sneak into a house and make it home no matter what you did.
My phone started to ring.
Trent.
I curled my lip and did something really stupid.
I answered the fucking call.
* * *
The entire basement wasn’t mine.
It was just a section of it.
That section was about the same size as my old apartment. Just without any walls and rooms. It was like living in a loft apartment. In the basement of your sister’s house.
No big deal, right?
On the opposite end of the basement there was a door to go outside. It took you to the side of the house. There were three large steps and then you were outside.
That’s where I ran to, wearing nothing but a really long flannel over a tight tank top.
Because I decided to talk to Trent.
So. Stupid. Candice.
I wanted a win for the day or night.
“Are you going to talk to me or what?” Trent asked.
“I’m going outside.”
“Oh. So you’re somewhere secret? You don’t want someone to know we’re talking?”
“Who do you think you are, Trent? After everything that happened…”
“I know what happened, Candice,” he said. “And you left. You just disappeared. I’m not sure how things were done when you were growing up, but where I come from-”
“Stay where you come from then,” I said. “Stop texting me. Don’t call me.”
“You read the texts.”
“So, I don’t have a notification on my phone, Trent. It has nothing to do with us.”
“Right… us. So there is an us…”
I shut my eyes and sighed.
The same rage and sense of hurt hit me as it always did.
I wanted to blame everyone for everything.
I opened my mouth and then stopped.
There was no use in blaming him.
What would that get me?
Nothing.
I swallowed hard.
I needed to make a bold statement.
Which meant my mind was thinking of someone else…
“There’s a lot we have to figure out, Candice,” Trent said. “I’m not trying to harass you. I’m just being honest. You know me. I need the beginning, the middle, and the end. If there is an end. And there always has to be an end.”
“I’ll never be with you, Trent,” I said. “I have someone new.”
“Someone new?”
“Trent…” I looked at my left hand. I cringed. “I’m engaged.”
“Engaged?” Trent said.
I heard the disappointment in his voice.
“Yeah,�
�� I said. “I met someone. And things… it’s not your business, Trent. I’ve tried to be patient. Ignore you. But you can’t keep doing this. It’s not fair to me or him.”
“Him?”
“Dex,” I said. My stomach did a front flip. “He’s the… uh… he’s one of the guitarists in Filthy Line.”
“You’re kidding me,” Trent said. “A musician?”
“Yeah. It’s been kind of quiet but word has been getting out. I don’t like the idea of my picture being taken but whatever. We met at the cafe I work at. Things just happened. Okay?”
“So that’s it then?” Trent asked. “You just… you’re just done?”
“I’ve tried to explain it so many times,” I said. Emotion tickled inside my chest. There was once a time I told this man I loved him… and I did mean it… maybe nothing in the forever kind of way, but… “I tried so hard, Trent.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said. “You figure out your happy life now, Candice. But I won’t forget what you did to me. What you took from me. What you took from us.”
“You know, if all this is a lie and about money, then fuck you,” I said. “You can’t imagine what my life is like.”
“Seems like it’s pretty good, Candice,” he said. “Engaged to some famous musician. Great. Can’t wait to hear about him fucking fifty other women or you getting so hooked on drugs you’ll be in rehab texting me how sorry you are.”
The call ended right there.
I held my phone out and curled my lip.
Believe me, the easiest thing would have been to change my number. That would have gotten rid of Trent for a while. Maybe forever.
I had my reasons to keep the same number though.
Which now sent me spiraling down a long tunnel of lies.
Which meant I had to ask Dex to ask me to marry him again…
* * *
Do you think he’s going to show up again?
That question ruined my entire morning.
And every time that stupid, little bell above the door jingled, I tried to keep my attention on the door without anyone realizing how eager I was. I just needed to see if what Dex was offering was true. Because we both could benefit from it.
He needed a squeaky clean rock star image.
I needed Trent to see me engaged so he’d leave me alone for good.
A FILTHY Engagement: a filthy line novel Page 5
