Page 23 of Broken Melody
“Yeah,” I say at a loss for anything else to add.
“Now I kind of want to get her into bed too,” Nixon says with a straight face, until he notices all of us staring at him, and his lips twitch with humor making us all laugh.
“Not funny,” Rocco says finally. “The last thing we want to do is scare her away. Everyone needs to behave themselves, I’m not kidding,” he says when we snicker at him going parental on us. “We can’t afford the bad press that could rain down on us if something goes south. Can’t you imagine the headlines?”
They wouldn’t be pretty. I know that much personally. “Alright, well I’ve got to go.”
“Wait just a damn minute,” Henley points his finger at me. “You heard what Rocco said. No way are you going to go to dinner with her and say something stupid and mess this up for us. More than you already have.”
“She’s already on her way, I’m not cancelling on her at the last minute.”
“How did this even come about? We know why you went to the club, but why are you meeting?” Rocco asks.
“Well…”
“Dammit, you lied to me. You told her we picked her didn’t you?” Rocco demands.
“No. I told you I didn’t tell her that.”
“Then what did you do. You did something. I know it.” Rocco accuses me.
“Yeah, we know that look,” Nixon says.
Sighing, I tell them, because I do have to go and until I give them what they want, they won’t let me out the damn door. “I told her that we were concerned about her inexperience, and you guys had concerns about whether or not she and I can get along considering what happened on the night she auditioned. You know…with the water and…”
“You’re being an asshole?” Henley asks.
“Yeah, that.”
“So you lied,” Nixon says. “Not surprising I guess, but the question is why?”
I shrug, “That’s not obvious? Because, I’m still unhappy with all of this, and like I said, I’m curious about her. I do think I need the opportunity to get to know her better. If I wasn’t able to scare her off, then I need to make sure she’ll fit. That she has what it takes to be on the road, to get along. All of those things. Especially since we’re going to be spending a lot of time with her.”
“Well, despite your trying to create an opportunity to scare her off, those are actually good points,” Rocco says.
“Thank you. I think so too.”
“That’s why, we’ll all go with you,” Rocco says.
My mouth falls open and I’m not sure what to say for a moment. Rocco, Nixon, and Henley all stand and it’s clear, they’re serious. They are really going to come too. “Wait a second,” I begin.
“What for? You set an alarm so I’m assuming you should have left a bit ago. We need to get going. We’re going to be late,” Henley says.
“Yeah, where are we all going anyway?” Nixon asks.
I consider leaving and not telling them a damn thing, but they’d just follow me. Cursing under my breath I throw my hands up, “Thorn. I’m meeting her at Thorn,” I tell them wondering how the hell this did a complete about face.
“Great place,” Henley says.
“I only made reservations for two douche bags.”
“No worries. I know the owner,” Rocco says. “It won’t be a problem.”
“But-” I scratch the back of my neck and think hard for another reason to tell them why this isn’t going to work. I was looking forward to having some one on one time with Sailor. I really do want to get to know her better. I’m not sure why, I’m not even sure I like it, but after I saw her sing, I couldn’t just leave. I found myself wanting to talk to her more, to come up with a reason, something…anything…to be able to do so. And before I knew it I was taking her outside the bar and giving her some lie about why we needed to go to dinner. I mentally kicked myself in the ass for it the whole way home and thought about cancelling with her a million times, but what was done was done. Plus, the feeling of being intrigued by her far outweighed any doubt about my actions.
When I turn to tell them that she isn’t expecting them and we’re all going to overwhelm her so they should reconsider, I realize they’ve all left the room and I’m left standing here by myself.
“Fuck!” I curse, and head outside in time to find their vehicles already leaving Rocco’s place.
Great, just great. They are all going to arrive for my dinner with Sailor before I do. This is not at all going according to plan. But, really why am I surprised? From the moment I met that woman it’s been one surprise after another and I’ve only been around her for a matter of minutes, really. It begs the question what else is going to be in store with this girl? I can’t help it - the thought makes me smile. I have a feeling whatever it is, it’s going to be one hell of a ride. I guess only time will tell.
