Page 42 of This Side of Beautiful

Laughing, as Jeri had made it clear she was down for any of the men, I shook my head. Since time immemorial, men and women could not be in the same space for too long without something jumping off. “Do you, too.”

“We already know that Landon is off-limits,” Frankie said with a hint of a smile. “Y’all were so cute at the airport. I’m rooting for you.”

I giggled, thinking of Landon’s initial reaction to seeing me. He seemed so happy. Smitten. “Rooting?”

“Relationships are hard, especially in your shoes, and you just upgraded him to the hot-as-fuck man every woman wants.”

I slowed my pace. “He’s not that man who cares about women’s attention.”

“Maybe he didn’t because he never had that type of attention before.” Frankie waved her hand. “At the end of the day, he’s still a man.”

I shrugged. “Well, we’re just friends anyway. The media made more of what happened than what it was. I was drunk, and Landon didn’t want Cash to take advantage of me.”

“So you and Landonaren’ta thing?” she asked incredulously.

“No,” I said, firmer than I believed. Then again, he’d been politely distant since we arrived at the house. During rehearsal, Landon had had his head down and been focused on his guitar almost the entire time. He didn’t watch me and smile as the other men did. Landon didn’t seem angry or annoyed. He seemed more interested in getting the music right than in my performance. Landon was… He was being a professional.

“Then he’s an option for one of us,” Jeri slyly said, and Frankie leaned closer.

“Hell no. He’s off-limits to every woman.” I tilted my head and threatened them, “I hope the three of us can become friends, but if you even look at him sideways…”

Frankie chuckled, her hands up. “We both know you’re feeling him. He isn’t checking for anyone but you, either. The rest of the band has checked me out at least twice, and he has barely looked at me. I hope we can become friends, too.”

The men of The Hollow Bones and the film crew beckoned us at the entrance of the club as the island beats of Café Negril captured my ears.

Standing in the middle of my glam squad, I hooked my arms through the women’s. “I don’t make friends easily, and I want to try.”

“Then let’s go!” Jeri yelled.

I pushed thoughts of Landon to the side and decided to have a little fun, since a small crowd followed us. Some patrons sitting outside eating and enjoying their meals gasped and took pictures as I graciously greeted them. When I walked inside, the leader of the live band stopped playing and announced, “Guess who just walked in… MILA.”

I smiled and waved as the restaurant cheered, feeling the acid burn my stomach at my old name. It was synonymous with strife and drama. I pushed out my breath slowly.

“Why don’t you come on stage with us? Grace us with a song.”

I shook my head and pointed to Cedrick and Santiago. “I rock with The Hollow Bones.”

The dreadlocked singer smiled wider when he noticed them. “The Hollow Bones, a musician’s dream.” He gestured toward the clapping audience. “These are future legends. Mark my words. Is it okay if she rocks out with us?”

Brian shouted, “She’s her own woman.”

The leader laughed. “I got something for her.” He covered the mic as he talked to his five-member band. Lights flashed around me in the dimly lit bar, and all eyes were on me as we waited to see what was up the singer’s sleeve.

He smiled at me, and the band started playing “Lonely Woman.” My nervousness faded as the restaurant came alive, with the patrons singing the first few lines. Pleased with the band’s arrangement, I allowed Brian to escort me to the stage by hand, much to the delight of the patrons, who were getting a glimpse of the star trying to make a comeback.

I grooved and sang to the small audience of maybe sixty. It reminded me of when I first started performing at seventeen at Houston’s local clubs and bars, hoping to be discovered. I moved sensually to the beat, dancing with abandon with the lead singer, letting the music soothe the lingering acid in my chest and releasing my inhibitions naturally. I floated above Café Negril without meds dulling my senses and without street drugs blurring my senses. Tonight, it was simply me, and I loved every second of it.

I’d never felt more like the me I’d been trying to find than I did as I sang for this group.

When I finished to a standing ovation, I bowed and blew kisses at the band and acknowledged The Hollow Bones again. My eyes found Landon, who stood at the very back of the café. His expression was hidden in the shadows of the restaurant, and his hands were in his pockets while everyone clapped and shouted their approval. Had I been too much, too flirty, too sexual with the singer? Men were my comfort zone. I knew how to talk to and entice them. How to get and maintain their attention. My ways had worked in the past. For a reserved man like Landon, I had no clue if my style appealed or turned him off.

As we rode back to the house, Landon sat next to me in the back row of the SUV, and his pinky finger curved to mine. That simple, reassuring act made breathing challenging, and I laid my head on his strong shoulder, needing his calmness to stop the racing thoughts, a constant part of me that I had yet to share with him.

Maybe that was why I wanted him so badly. I wanted as much of him as I could have before he decided, like everyone else in my life had, that I was too much.

Chapter Fourteen

landon

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