“I’ll let you go, but I’m walking you home.” I released my hold on her, noticing the hard outlines of her nipples poking through her skin-tight black shirt.Shit.I did not like that at all. I didn’t have a chance to say anything to her before other people surrounded her. Our friends, part of the team, even Clyde jumped in and hugged her. I choked on my beer when she mouthedwhat the fuckto me as Clyde put his gangly arms around her.
“When did it get real for you?”
I flinched at the smoky voice. Cindi Clementine. Former hook-up, semi-relationship my freshman year. I had been foolish. High on celebrity status. She’d wanted to tie me down. I’d refused. Her purple fingernail grazed my arm. “I see you with her.”
“Cindi, what are you talking about?” The rock in my stomach doubled in size. The knowing guilt of the façade. The lie. The fake relationship.
“Don’t play dumb, Aaron. That was never you.” That damn purple fingernail collided with my hand, the gesture repulsing me. “Iknowyou, baby.”
“Look, you need to not grope me.” I slid my hand out of her grasp. “I don’t know what you’re after. But today is about my girlfriend. You know, the one killing it on stage right now?”
“Hmm. Yes.” She swiveled her head toward the stage with a menacing look on her face. My warning signs went off. “Greta Aske.”
“Leave her out of whatever the hell you’re thinking.” I stepped closer to her. “I apologize a million times about freshman year. We’re good, right?”
“Yup.” She popped the damnPso hard I was surprised no one heard it. “Farewell, Aaron Hill.”
I winced. She was trouble. I followed her as she left the bar and noticed her talking to Veronica.Queen of cleat chasers.Walking STD.Young Chris appeared next to her, those long purple nails going through his hair. He didn’t know any better and someone needed to warn him. Before I could get Zade to go chat with the young kid, Greta got on stage and spoke directly to me.
“Hey, guys, I want to dedicate this next song to mysuperhunky boyfriend, Hilly.”
The crowd cheered and parted, everyone looking at me. I had no choice but to smile at her. I blew her a kiss. She caught it with a wild look in her eyes. “See, I’m not sure if you all know this or not about our favorite shortstop, but helovesroller coasters.”
I shook my head, a huge grin overtaking my face. I flipped her off. People who knew us laughed. Everyone else gasped. I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Careful, G.”
She laughed, the sound like magic. “This song is for you, Ronnie.”
The Ohio Players songLove Rollercoasterblasted throughout the bar with the help of Clyde. She dropped the guitar and sang the lyrics, not missing a beat. She danced. She clapped. She performed and, fucking shit, I was hooked. We all clapped as she sang the upbeat song, but then she pointed for me to come up on stage. I obliged and wiped tears from my eyes at how much I laughed.
It might’ve been the best moment in my life.
She twirled around me, rapping in her own way, and as soon as the song ended, I picked her up. “You’re an asshole.”
“I’myourasshole,” she replied with a cheeky grin and I pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. “Did you like it?”
“Fuck yeah, Pita.” I set her down and held our hands up in the air like we’d both won a huge award. I had to kiss her again and I did. I had an odd sense of joy as I left her on stage. Tanner stood at the table we’d reserved and looked pissed. Pissed as hell, to be honest. “TJ, what’s up?
“Dude. What the fuck are you doing?” The laughter he’d had when I’d spoken with him an hour earlier was long gone.
“Uh, excuse me?” My jaw tensed at the second accusation I’d had for the night.
“I thought this shit was fake with Greta.” He fisted the napkin in his hand and let it fall to the ground. “What are you doing?”
“It is fake,” I scoffed, my heart flipping me off. It knew I was a lying piece of shit. “Most of our— Look.” I checked around us to make sure no one could hear. “It’s staged.”
“Bullshit.” He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced back at Greta. “I don’t like whatever the fuck you’re doing. You can’t mess with her. Or hurt her.”
His words hit me in the chest. I would rather die than hurt her. “Tanner. I’m a mess. Why would I hurt her?”
“Youarea mess. Don’t forget that and think with your dick,” Tanner spat, shaking his head at me. I felt as small as a goddamn fly. The kicker, though? He was right.
What the fuck am I doing?
“I appreciate you looking out for her, but we both know what we signed up for,” I said through clenched teeth. “So calm the fuck down.”
His eyes widened at my tone and I waited to see if he had anything else to say. He opened his mouth twice but closed it. “Glad that’s settled.”
“Sure, man.”
