Page 15 of Demon Loved
She dropped her purse on the dining room table and went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Yes, Tori had brought them water during dinner, but her throat still felt dry.
All that talking, probably. She and Bill had talked a lot.
The conversation had never felt forced, though, and had flowed naturally from one topic to another. Throughout dinner, Bree had been just the slightest bit tense, wondering if Shane was going to emerge from the kitchen and pull some kind of big-brother act on her, but either Tori had kept her mouth shut about how his sister was dining at The Asylum with a hot stranger, or Shane had decided he should keep his distance.
Either way, any scenes had been happily avoided, and she could only be grateful for that. She didn’t want any awkwardness between Bill and her…even while she knew there was no way the two of them could have any kind of a real connection. Getting together with a civilian wasn’t impossible, true, and neither was a long-distance relationship.
Both of those things at the same time?
Not so much.
It was far too early to get ready for bed. Instead, she went into the hall closet, which was surprisingly large for an apartment of this size. Inside was her beloved old acoustic guitar.
She took it from its case and then pulled out one of her two dining room chairs. Sometimes she played on the sofa, but she knew she had much better posture when she sat on a hard seat.
No song at first, just her fingers finding their way through a progression of minor chords, their melancholy a fitting accompaniment to her current mood. Maybe it was foolish to feel this way when she’d just had a wonderful dinner with Bill and the promise of him accompanying her to the folk festival in a few days.
And yet….
Figures that the first decent guy I meet in a long time is a civilian from L.A., she thought, strumming away quietly. There wasn’t any real need to keep the noise down, not when the buildings on either side were fully commercial and didn’t have anyone living there, but the habits she’d acquired during her childhood when she was trying her best not to blast everyone in the house were hard to shake.
Besides, banging on the guitar like a kid enthusiastically playing in her first recital didn’t fit her current mood. She couldn’t be sad, not when she’d had such an enjoyable evening, but at the same time, she also didn’t think she had as much to celebrate as someone looking in from the outside might have thought.
Well, all she could do for now was focus on the positive. She would spend time with Bill or not, and things would progress…or they wouldn’t. Sitting here and feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t change a damn thing.
Maybe she should see if Bellamy was available for coffee or something tomorrow morning. Her best friend was currently house shopping with Marc Trujillo, the de la Paz hottie who’d basically fallen in her lap just a month earlier, but thanks to Bellamy’s recent windfall lottery win, it wasn’t as if she had a job she needed to go to or something.
And Bree didn’t have to be on duty at the gallery until one.
She set the guitar aside and reached for her purse, which luckily was within arm’s reach. A quick text to her friend — and a faster response than she’d expected.
Breakfast tomorrow sounds great. Meet at the Mine Shaft at 10?
Brianna would probably be way up before then…she’d always been an early riser…but that was fine. She could have some coffee, putter around the apartment for a bit, and then go see Bellamy at the restaurant, which was only a block uphill from her place. Whether her best friend would really have some useful advice to offer was up in the air, but on the other hand, it was always good to talk things over with someone who would lend a sympathetic ear.
Sounds great. See you then.
Bellamy responded with a smiley emoji, and that seemed to be that.
At least Bree now had part of her day occupied.
She set down her phone and reached for her guitar again. Smiling, she began to work on the passage in her current work-in-progress that had been giving her so much trouble.
Sooner or later, she’d get it figured out.
Bellamy looked all glowing and happy the next morning when she slid into the booth Bree had secured for them. And why shouldn’t she be? Everything had gone amazingly right for her so far.
You will not be jealous, Brianna scolded herself. Just…no.
The green-eyed monster subsided a bit, but she knew it was still lurking there in the background, waiting to pounce if she let her guard down too much.
“So, what’s up?” Bellamy asked as she pushed a strand of copper-red hair back over her shoulder. That red hair and her sparkling gray eyes often made people turn to look, but she’d always treated her prettiness in an off-hand sort of way, as though she wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it. Like Bree, she didn’t bother to glance at the menu, not when she already knew every single item the café offered. “Something about your text message made this feel urgent.”
“No, it’s not urgent,” Brianna replied at once. “A couple of friends can’t get together for breakfast?”
Bellamy lifted one russet eyebrow. “Sure they can. But this is the first time you’ve asked since Marc and I got together.”
“I didn’t want to bug you when I knew you guys were busy.”
