Page 49 of Real Rocks
“I’ll go. Benoit mentioned he might pop over.” Jonas stood up and left the room.
While he answered the door, I reached into my bag for my phone. I wanted to call Tris and find out how he was. The screen was ominously empty of messages and my heart sank. I could hear voices in the hallway and strained to hear who was there. I hoped whoever it was wouldn’t stay long. As I punched in my passcode, I heard a noise in the doorway.
“Hey.”
Tris’ voice was the last I expected to hear and as I looked up, I blinked slowly to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
I leapt up from the sofa and threw myself at him, breathing in his familiar aftershave as I clung to his body. “What are you doing here?” I murmured into the crook of his shoulder.
“I had to see you.” His hand slipped beneath my hair, gently stroking the back of my neck.
I couldn’t help it. I flinched and drew away.
Tris’ face was contorted in confusion. “What? What did I do wrong?”
“It’s not you,” I whispered. “It’s…it reminds me of something.” A tear slid down my cheek and Tris brushed it away with the pad of his thumb. I took his hand and led us over to the sofa, pulling him down beside me.
“Tell me.”
I chewed on the skin around the thumbnail of my free hand. “When Carl, whenItook that first hit of heroin, he stroked the back of my neck. Every time you’ve done it since then…” My voice trailed off.
Immediately, Tris gathered me into his arms. “Saff, I’m so sorry. I had no idea such an innocent, caring, gesture could trigger those memories. You should have told me sooner.”
“There are a lot of things I should have told you sooner.” I reached up and ran my fingers over the bruising on his face. “Then you wouldn’t have ended up like this, with a court case hanging over you.”
He caught my hand and kissed the palm.
I closed my eyes. “You probably hate me because I put my career before you and went to the meeting with Adrian rather than staying at the courthouse.”
“No. Saff, I understand why you did what you did. I love you because of everything you do, even the bad shit.”
My eyes fluttered open, meeting his gaze. “You do?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I think I’ve learned by now that Saff Barnes and drama go together. And you know what? I think I kind of like it.”
30
Saff
Four weeks later
If you’d have told me a month ago, that I’d be performing at The Matchbox again, I would have laughed in your face.
A week after Tris’ court case and my meeting with the record label, Scott Lincoln got in touch, begging me to meet up with him and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Reluctantly, I agreed, suggesting we meet at Monet’s one afternoon when it would be full of schoolkids. Most of the tables were occupied, but I managed to grab one at the back just as it was vacated.
While I waited, I messaged Tris, to see what he wanted to do that night. Almost immediately, he replied suggesting ‘the usual’, which basically meant hanging around the house, watching movies or taking the time to reacquaint ourselves with each other. The distance between us since I’d been on tour had almost evaporated and I loved him being around.
An increase in the general low rumble of noise in the cafe made me look up.
Making his way through the crowd, carrying a massive bunch of flowers, was Scott. He made a beeline for my table, taking a while to get there as he stopped to have a selfie taken with what seemed to be every single girl in the place.
“Fucking hell, Scott, way to make an entrance,” I said, sarcasm heavy in my tone. “I thought we were going for low key?”
He grinned and presented me with the bouquet. “This is to say sorry for being a dick.”
“And you had to arrange to meet up to tell me? Couldn’t you just have got a florist to deliver them instead?” I took the flowers from him, peering at the bright pink, orange and yellow gerberas.
“Ah, but then I wouldn’t have been able to talk to you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek before sitting down.
