Play Me (Love on Tour #2) (15 page)

We walked into Sean’s suite and I settled on the couch. He fiddled around with the coffee maker.

“Coffee?”

“It’s decaf.”

“It’s an AA thing,” I said.

He grinned. “Something about a cup of coffee makes you want to talk, doesn’t it?”

“I guess.”

Once the coffeemaker was bubbling and popping away he walked over to the chair opposite me and sat down. He stretched out his long legs and propped his heels on the coffee table.

“I slept with Bell.”

I examined his expression. And saw shock there.

“Wow… when?”

“For the past three weeks.”

“For
the
past
three weeks? You mean not just once?”

I shook my head. “Many, many times.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I guess you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t have a clue. I’m kind of impressed that you kept it a secret.”

“Baby didn’t know?”

Sean shook his head. “Not unless she kept it from me.”

“Not likely,” I said.

“No, it’s not. She’s a terrible liar.”

“You’re not mad?”

He shrugged. “Why would I be?”

“Because she’s Baby’s delicate friend, and I’m… me.”

“She was planning to hook up with any sleazeball she could find. I’m much happier that she hooked up with you.”

“Okay, well, that’s a better reaction than I expected.”

“Why did you keep it a secret?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t even think it was my idea.”

“Hmmm. So what happened tonight?”

“She said she wanted a ‘relationship.’”

“I see. And you freaked out?”

“I walked out.”

“Hmmm.”

Sean got up and walked over to the coffee maker. He poured two cups, threw me a couple packets of sugar, and carried the cups over.

“Is that all you got? ‘Hmmm.’” I imitated him.

“What do you want me to say? That you’re scared. You already know that.”

“Scared?”

“You’ve been sleeping with this girl every night for three weeks?”

“Yeah, and those four days at the bungalow were amazing.”

“You’re already in a relationship, man.”

“I don’t even know
how
to be in a relationship.”

“Exactly. That’s why you’re scared.”

“Fuck,” I threw my head back on the couch. “What do I do now?”

Sean was quiet. I looked at him. He shrugged.

“That’s all you got?”

“You want my advice?”

“Yeah, what would you do?”

“That depends. Are we talking about Baby, or any other girl in the world?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if we’re talking about Baby, my answer is different.”

“My ‘relationship’ with Bell is not the same as your relationship with Baby.”

“In that case, I’d walk away.”

“Maybe it’s not that black and white. Maybe it’s somewhere in between.”

“I don’t know about in between. But what I do know is, that if it wasn’t Baby, I would be able to walk away without being upset.”

“Who says I’m upset?”

He raised his eyebrow. “You ordered a glass of whiskey.”

“It was Scotch.”

“I didn’t know you drank Scotch.”

“I drank everything.”

17

I crashed out on the couch in Sean’s suite. I was half asleep when Baby came back. I was just conscious enough to wonder if she was going to yell at me. Instead, she walked over to where I was lying and kissed me on the cheek, before going off to bed.

When I woke up I felt like hell, like I’d actually had the drinks I’d been contemplating down in that bar. I stood up and stretched. Behind the living room area of the suite was a half wall, beyond that was the small bedroom.

Baby and Sean were lying on the bed, asleep. She was wrapped up in his arms so completely that I could only see a small portion of her. Her head was tucked up under his chin, her upper body draped in his arms. That’s how I slept with Bell.

I turned away from them and walked in the opposite direction to the kitchenette. I discarded the decaf coffee grounds in the machine and filled it with the leaded stuff. While it was brewing, I leaned up against the counter.

My mind was a jumbled mess. I had no idea what to do about the Bell situation. But I knew I had to do
something
. One night without her was more than enough.

When the coffee was done brewing I poured myself a cup, dumped sugar in it, and started sipping it, still in the same spot against the counter. And that’s when Baby bounded in.

“Good morning, Henry.”

She grabbed a cup and poured herself coffee. Then she reached around me and took a packet of dried, non-dairy creamer. She made a face.

“I hate this stuff. But carrying milk with me everywhere is so impractical.”

She looked up at me and smiled.

I looked at her. “If anyone catches me coming out of your room this morning they’ll think the three-some rumor is true.”

“Gross.”

“Agreed.”

“Though, there are a few rock-and-rollers I’d like to talk Sean into doing that with.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“Good luck with that.”

She poured the creamer in her cup, stirred it with a plastic stick, and leaned up against the counter opposite me.

“Aren’t you mad at me?” I asked.

“No. Why would I be?”

“Did you talk to Bell last night?”

“Yes.”

“So you know?”

“That you two have been knocking boots, yes. Boy, she did not want to tell me either. It took a while to get it out of her. Good job on keeping that secret, Henry. I’m impressed.”

She lifted her cup to me. Why was she being so casual about this?

“You know what I was thinking,” she said.

“What?”

“That we should go on a date.”

Sean walked in at that moment. The kitchenette was tight, especially with three people in it. He reached around me, poured a cup of black coffee and leaned up against the counter next to his wife.

“Hmmm. What about when we get to New Orleans? We have the show tonight, but all day tomorrow is free. We don’t head out until the next day,” he suggested, wrapping his arm around Baby’s shoulder.

“Yes,” she said enthusiastically. “Me, you, and New Orleans, Henry. Sounds like fun.”

Baby and I went on ‘dates’ all the time. We went out for coffee or to lunch, sometimes we did things like go to clubs or shows, things Sean didn’t like doing. He told me once that it was best of both worlds because Baby was happy, he didn’t have to go out, and he still got laid after I brought her home.

“New Orleans,” I said, clinking my mug to hers. “It’s a date.”

****

The bus ride was awkward, for me at least. Bell seemed to be perfectly happy, however. She and Sean were carrying the conversation, which had to be a first for Sean.

Baby and I were sitting in the corner. She was next to Bell and I was next to Sean. While we played cards, I stayed silent. Baby made a few responses here and there, but mostly she watched me.

At some point Bell’s phone rang. She went to the back of the bus to take the call. We paused our card game and Sean fell back into his usual quiet ways.

“Henry,” Baby said, reaching across the table and taking my hand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Baby.”

“Liar,” she said.

“What do you want to me say?”

She looked over her shoulder at the back of the bus, and spoke quietly. “Tell me what’s wrong?”

“Your friend is driving me to insanity.”

“Sorry about that. I’d offer to help, but I did everything I could think of last night when we talked.”

A part of me wanted to know what had been said between them. But a larger part wasn’t into to having this covert conversation with Bell ten feet away.

“Thanks, Baby,” I said simply.

I made the right decision, because Bell came back to the table a couple minutes later.

“My mom,” Bell said, plopping down next to Baby. “I had to remind her what the password to her computer is.”

Bell glanced pointedly at my hand, still holding Baby’s on top of the table, then quickly looked away.

“Oh my God,” Baby said. “You’re lying. I just remembered. It’s your birthday!”

“Your birthday?” Sean asked.

Bell shrugged.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I forgot. Can we stop for dinner or something?”

“We have time,” Mike answered. “I’ll make it happen. What do you want, Bell?”

She shrugged again.

“Come on, it’s your birthday.”

She frowned. “I’m 30.”

“It’s not so bad,” Baby said.

“Anything you want Bell, name it,” Mike said, holding his phone at the ready.

“Chinese?”

“Done.”

****

I figured there was no way out of dinner. So I didn’t even try. I followed them all, including Tony, into the little restaurant. Apparently, Mike had called ahead, and the restaurant owner said he’d stop taking new customers so we could be as alone and undisturbed as possible. The place was nearly empty when we arrived. Only two tables had occupants, still lingering over their after dinner coffee.

“Do we have time for this?” Bell asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mike said.

“Mike would never let us be late to a venue, Bell,” Sean said.

“Mike,” Tony grunted. “What about me?”

“Sorry, man,” Sean said. “You’re the greatest driver of all time.”

We followed the house manager across the restaurant. On the way we passed one of the occupied tables. Two women were sitting there. It looked like a mom and her daughter. The younger one was a classic beauty. She watched me as I walked by. I winked. She smiled.

I paused at the table, while the others kept following the hostess. “Hello ladies. How’s the food?”

“It’s fantastic,” beautiful said.

Her mom looked up at me and smiled, too. “You are a looker, aren’t you?”

I grinned. “Perhaps I should ditch my friends and–”

A small hand was on my arm. “Hank.”

I sighed. “Later ladies,” I said. And I followed Baby to our table.

Mike had engaged Bell in a conversation about her favorite birthdays.

“God, I don’t even know. I missed a lot as a kid.”

“What do you mean missed them?”

“Birthdays weren’t allowed on the commune.”

“Seriously?” Mike said. “What a drag.”

“Yeah, when I found out, I insisted that we make up for all Bell’s birthdays at one time,” Baby said.

“My twentieth,” Bell groaned. “My God, you almost killed me that night.”

“Remember that bar with the mustached lady.”

“And the guy who hung himself with hooks,” Bell made a face. “That was disturbing.”

“What the hell kind of bar was this?” Sean asked.

“Actually, there was a freak show in town and they were performing at a local bar,” Baby explained.

“And how did you get in at 20?” Mike asked.

“Hmmm, wouldn’t you like to know,” Baby said.

“That was a pretty good birthday,” Bell conceded. “It might be at the top.”

I felt like shit. I could’ve given Bell a much better make-up birthday if I’d known. And if I hadn’t been such an ass.

****

I was in my green room, alone, lounging on the couch. I wasn’t doing anything in particular, just staring at the wall. This was unusual for me. I was always active, especially when something was on my mind. If I was worried about something, I usually worked out or went to the beach to surf or run.

But there I was, just sitting and staring at the wall, thinking about Bell. I had really gotten myself in deep this time. I didn’t know how to get out of it, but worse, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. After all, I had the perfect out. If we never slept together again I was off the hook for this whole ‘relationship’ crap. But the idea of not sleeping with Bell again was giving me heartburn.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the door had opened until I heard it close. I looked up to see Bell walking toward me. She sat on the opposite side of the couch, perched on the edge of the seat.

I stretched my arms out, one on the arm of the couch beside me, the other across the back. She pulled her hands into her lap and stared at them. I waited.

“I shouldn’t have pushed,” she said quietly.

When I didn’t say anything she continued. “It was stupid. I guess I’m so used to something else… when it comes to men… to them pursuing me, wanting something from me. And I just didn’t know how…” She looked up at me. “I don’t really know how to do this… whatever this is we’re doing.”

I looked into those big beautiful brown eyes, and decided to jump in with both feet.

“She was sixteen when the high school football star got her pregnant. She was a little woman, and when I found out he was a big football player it put some things into place for me.” I grinned. “Anyway, her parents kicked her out. My father wouldn’t have anything to do with her and she found herself on the streets.”

Bell’s mouth dropped open. Then she shut it again and looked at me expectantly.

“She went to a shelter where she met this couple. They took in desperate girls, took them into their home and helped them. They offered her a place. They had this big house with lots of rooms. At first she lived in a separate apartment above the garage. She saw the other girls coming and going, but she didn’t have any contact with them.”

I stretched out my legs and continued. “The couple, the Greenleys, took good care of her. She ate well, went to the doctor. They paid all her medical bills when she had me. And after I was born they moved us into the main house. She had her own room, but I slept in a nursery with a few other kids. There were about eight or nine young girls living there at any given time. Some of them had babies, some were recovering from drugs.”

I paused. This is where it got really personal. What I was about to say only a handful people in the world knew.

“But they weren’t some charitable couple just spreading goodwill. They were running a brothel. She was expected to lie on her back for their help. All the girls were.”

Her mouth dropped open again.

“She didn’t have any other choice. So we stayed there. I was taken care of, fed and clothed. I spent my days playing with other kids. She spent her nights whoring for the Greenleys.”

“When I was five, she got in a fight with Mrs. Greenley over me. She wanted me to go to school, get me out of that house, have other experiences. But we were all a big secret and it wasn’t allowed. My mom took me and left.”

“So she was on the street again, with me to take care of, little education, and no job skills. So she did what she knew. She took up with men. We moved from man to man, living in whatever shithole they were bedded down in at the moment. And she drank, to escape.”

“We lived like that for nine years. I went to school and escaped from my reality there. There, I was the cool, big, good-looking kid with a foul mouth. At home I was… in the way, in the way of her boyfriends, in the way of her drinking.”

“When I was fourteen, her boyfriend told her he’d marry her if she got rid of me. I remember looking in her eyes when she told me I had to go. She was crying. But her tears were bullshit. She picked him, and the money he brought home to drink with, over me.”

“You know the story after that. I lived on the streets, then with a good foster family, and got into music. And of course, I followed in my mom’s footsteps and started drinking. When my first album went platinum she called me. I talked to her every so often after that. I sent her money. But it was all a big secret, because of her husband.”

“Four years ago she drank herself to death. I had a couple bad days, but I didn’t drink. Thanks to Sean.”

She stayed quiet for a long moment, then leaned toward me. I pulled her close, nestling her on my chest.

“It wasn’t that I wouldn’t have told you. I just wanted it to be my idea. Some things have to want to be told.” I lifted her chin up with my finger. “Like how you will have to want to tell me what happened with your boss.”