Everything You Are (Jukebox Heroes 3) Page 4

  I swiped at my teary face with the sleeve of my shirt and noticed that I’d left my jacket inside. Once I’d noticed, I felt the cold and shivered. Chris shrugged out of his leather jacket, and I stood up so he could wrap it around me. It still held his body heat, and I snuggled into the warmth.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  I shook my head, but two seconds later the entire story of my relationship with London – minus any mention of magic or terrorists or murder – came spilling out of my mouth. I started talking, and I couldn’t seem to stop. By the time I was done, the worst of my emotional storm had passed, leaving me drained and shaky.

  “I’m sorry,” Chris said, his voice hushed.

  I wasn’t sure if he meant that he felt bad for me because of what I was going through of if he was apologizing for setting off my crying jag. I wouldn’t have known how to respond to either, so I just shrugged.

  “Come here.”

  He opened his arms, and I stepped into them. His arms folded around me, and it didn’t matter one damn bit that I didn’t really know him; I felt safe.

  “Chris,” a sharp, female voice said from somewhere nearby.

  I pulled back to look at the owner of that voice and I felt a little guilty. It was obvious that she wasn’t too happy to find him hugging me.

  “Are you coming back in sometime tonight?” the woman asked. “Because we kind of need you in there. Joseph is trying to cover for you, but it’s not exactly his forte.”

  “It’s ‘fort’,” I replied.

  “Excuse me?”

  “The word is pronounced ‘fort,’ not ‘for-tay’. It’s a common enough mistake. So much so that the mispronunciation is becoming acceptable, which in itself is unacceptable, but whatever.” I realized that I was babbling, but I couldn’t seem to help it. I also knew I was being kind of petty and catty, but I tend to get defensive around gorgeous, leggy women. And when I get defensive I get nerdy and sarcastic and bitchy.

  The supermodel-wannabe looked at me like I was something she’d stepped in and turned her attention back to Chris.

  “Well? Are you coming?”

  “In a minute,” he said. “I’m a little busy.”

  “Joseph can’t work the bar and do your job at the same time, you know.”

  “Then you can tell Amy to take over for me. On your way back inside.” His tone was level, calm, and very, very firm. It was a tone of command, one that said “don’t argue, ‘cause you’ll lose.”

  I saw a muscle twitch near the hinge of the woman’s jaw, a sign that she was clenching it to keep from saying or screaming something she might regret. She narrowed her eyes at Chris and turned on her slutty, butt-ugly peep-toe pumps to strut back toward the front doors.

  Chris sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the sky.

  “I didn’t mean to piss off your friend.”

  “Girlfriend,” Chris corrected. “Well, sort of. At least she was. I have a feeling I’ll be going home alone tonight.”

  “Sorry.”

  He shrugged, much like I’d done earlier.

  “You ready to go back inside?” He kept an eye on the door, and I figured he was anxious to go and try to smooth things over with his sort-of girlfriend.

  I shook my head. “Not really. But I’m okay. I don’t want you to feel like you have to watch over me or whatever.”

  “Yeah, I kind of do.”

  “Chris....” I began, but he cut me off.

  “Beth.”

  I couldn’t help myself; I laughed at him.

  “Elizabeth. Or Em. I’m so not a ‘Beth’.”

  He raised an eyebrow. God, I really hate people who can do that. “Why not?”

  “Beth is...I dunno. Cute and cuddly. Sweet. Innocent. A lot things I’m not.”

  He shook his head, grinning. “If you could see yourself right now, you’d know you look cute and sweet and innocent.”

  I glanced down at myself and tried to conjure a mental image. I could see me in my faded jeans and Converse, huddled in a leather jacket fifty sizes too big, my makeup washed away by tears, my hair wrecked by the wind.

  “Pretty sure ‘cute’ is not an appropriate word right now. I’m scared to look in a mirror.”

  “It’s the right word,” he said. “And anyway, Beth seems pretty appropriate. You know?”

  I frowned at him, puzzled, for a moment, and then it clicked.

  “The KISS song.”

  He nodded, and then put his arm around my shoulders and herded me toward the front door.

  “I’m on door duty,” he said as he ushered me inside ahead of a gaggle of college students. He gestured for me to step behind the counter, so I sort of hid back there while he greeted the students, checked their IDS, and made small talk with them.

  “So Amy is the girl with the anime hair?” I asked when we were alone again.

  Chris grinned. “Yeah. I never know what she’s going to look like when she shows up for work, but she’s awesome at her job.”

  “That’s what counts.” I paused for a second and then asked, “Are you the manager here or something, because you sure seemed to be running the show earlier.”

  “Something like that.” I gave him a look, and he said, “Owner. This is my place.”

  I blinked at him for a moment. “Cool.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, it is.”

  I smiled back.

  Just then, Joseph poked his head through the door. He smiled when he saw me.

  “Hey, girl. You okay?”

  I nodded. “Not great yet, but okay. Another one of your magic potions, and I should be fine.”

  Joseph’s smile widened. “I’ll have it waiting for you, but you better hurry before it gets watered down.”

  “I promise.”

  He waved at Chris and slipped back inside.

  “Whatever you’re paying that boy, it’s not enough,” I said.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  I gave Chris his jacket back and headed inside to Joseph’s bar. True to his word, Joseph had my drink waiting for me.

  “On the house,” he said. “Just don’t tell anyone. Seriously. TABC would have a fit.”

  I nodded. “I know. And thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I intend for you to pay for it by telling me what happened.”

  “Now?” I asked, sipping my cup of ambrosia.

  He shook his head. “After hours, unless you need to head out early?”

  “After hours works for me.”

  “I’ll see you then, then.”

  Grinning, I headed back to my seat, only to find my jacket missing. On a hunch, I looked over toward Chris’s table, and sure enough my jacket had been slung over the back of one of the chairs there. I slid into the seat, and Chris gave me a little smile before turning his attention to the show and his job. The girlfriend was nowhere around. I let myself wonder about that for half a second before losing myself in the music for the next few hours.

  Chapter Eight

  After the show, while the other patrons were heading for the exit or standing around talking, I went back to Joseph’s bar. He acknowledged me but didn’t stop to talk. I knew he was busy with his closing duties, so I gave him a nod and pulled out my phone. I didn’t have any messages, which didn’t surprise me, so I fiddled around on the social networks for a little bit and then pulled up an ebook and started reading. Just when things were starting to get interesting, Joseph appeared beside me.

  “Ready to get out of here?”

  “Sure,” I said, putting my phone to sleep and slipping it into my jacket pocket. “Where we going?”

  “Kerbey Lane,” Amy chimed in as she joined us. “Dinner time for us nocturnal beasties.”

  I slid off the barstool and looked around for Chris. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.

  “He’s in the office,” Joseph told me.

  “That transparent, huh?”

  “By the way,” Amy interrupted, “I don�
�t know what the heck happened, or what you did to scare off Elvira, but high five. I can’t stand her. No idea what Chris sees in her. Well, other than the legs that go on for days and the big, probably fake boobs.”

  “Don’t get me started,” Joseph said with a little shake of his head.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I said. “At least not anything that should have made her cut and run.”

  “Subject change,” Amy said, gesturing behind me with a nod.

  I turned around to find Chris walking toward our little group with Michael in tow.

  “Hey,” he said. “You disappeared on me. I thought you left.”

  I shook my head. “I’ve been right here, waiting for Joseph. He made me promise to tell him what inspired my meltdown earlier.”

  “Over dinner,” Joseph added.

  “Cool.” Chris gave me a little smile. “So can we get out of here, then?”

  We all left the club together, Chris setting the alarm and locking up on his way out. We took a moment outside to make sure we were all headed to the same location since there are five Kerbey Lane Cafes in Austin. I remembered where I had parked this time; the lot was just a block or so away, so Chris didn’t insist on escorting me to my car. I could have just gone home, escaped having to talk about London and my meltdown – again – but that thought didn’t even cross my mind until much, much later.

  At the restaurant, we were shown to a booth, and I slid in to take the seat nearest the wall. Chris sat down next to me, Amy and Joseph took the other side, and Michael grabbed a spare chair and pulled it up to the end of the booth. While we looked over our menus, I listened to the others make small talk about work: the drunk girl who didn’t want Joseph to cut her off, the punk kid who refused to produce an ID at the door, the horrible singers, the great performances. I wondered if Joseph might let me off the hook, but after we’d ordered and were digging into a vat of Kerbey Lane’s awe-inspiring queso, he stared me down. He didn’t say a word, just gave me a look that said, ‘Spill it’. So I did.

  In between bites of chips and queso and sips of soda, I told these virtual strangers about being in a long-distance relationship and missing my boyfriend and how he’d been too busy to talk much the past week or so.

  “That’s never a good sign,” Amy told me.

  I sighed. “It’s not what you think. He’s just got a lot going on.”

  “Really,” Joseph said. His expression said he didn’t believe me. “Things that are more important than you?”

  “Not more important,” I replied, trying to figure out how to explain without telling them more than I wanted to. “More immediate, I guess.”

  “He doesn’t have time for you because...what? He’s busy playing Call of Duty? Clubbing?”

  I grinned at Amy. “I’m sure he wishes he had time for that stuff. No, he’s busy with work. And family stuff.”

  Joseph’s eyebrows shot up. “He has kids?”

  I swallowed hard. That was the ten million dollar question after all, whether London might have a kid out there in the world somewhere.

  “No. No kids.” I hoped that was true. I really did. “But he’s got a really close-knit family.”

  Chris nodded. “Family’s important.”

  “But not more important than your girlfriend. Unless there’s something major going on,” Amy said.

  I shrugged. “Nothing life or death. He doesn’t have a lot of downtime to start with, so having to split it between me and them kind of sucks for him. He’s been spending a lot of time with his brother, who’s recovering from some kind of seizure.”

  Brian might not be London’s brother by blood, but they were brothers the way that Dylan and I were sisters. And it was true that London was spending time with him when he could. It was also true that he saw less of Brian than he did me, but I couldn’t exactly tell these people that London was using every spare moment to either train his metaphysical abilities or try to track down a little girl who might not even exist.

  “I hate to ask,” Amy piped in again, “but are you sure that’s the truth?”

  “That Brian had a seizure or that London is spending time with him?”

  “Well, both I....” Amy started, but Michael interrupted.

  “Wait a minute,” he said. “Your boyfriend’s name is London? And his brother, Brian, had a seizure? Am I following you?”

  “Um...yeah.”

  Michael sat back in his chair, staring at me like I’d grown an extra set of eyeballs. “You’re dating London Dahlbeck. And he’s busy with work because he’s out on tour. Am I right?”

  “Um...how did you...?”

  “Seth Webber and Chris are old friends,” Michael said, talking over me. “So I met Seth a while back. Did some session work for his band while I was bumming around LA a couple of years ago. I met Brian while I was out there. I didn’t meet London, but I’ve heard a few thousand stories about him. And I heard about Brian’s seizure. I mean, who hasn’t?”

  Our food arrived just then, cutting off any more questions or comments. As soon as the server walked away, though, the barrage began.

  “You’re dating London-freaking-Dahlbeck?” Amy hissed.

  “Jealous!” Joseph added. “Is he as amazingly sexy in person as he is in the music videos?”

  “Have you heard how Brian’s doing?” Michael wanted to know.

  “I can’t believe you’re dating London-freaking-Dahlbeck.”

  Everyone except Chris winged questions and comments at me while I hid behind bites of Portobello quesadillas. I didn’t know how to respond or where to begin, so I concentrated on my food and tried to ignore them.

  “Guys,” Chris said after a few minutes, his voice hushed but heavy with authority. “Ease up. I don’t think Beth wants to talk about this stuff.”

  I swallowed my food. “It’s okay,” I said, reaching for my soda. “I don’t mind. Just slow down a little, okay? One question at a time?”

  “Have you heard how Brian’s doing?” Michael repeated.

  I smiled at him. His concern seemed genuine, which didn’t surprise me. Almost everyone who’d ever met Brian counted him as a friend and wanted to see him well and happy.

  “Yeah, actually. I have the inside scoop, since he’s dating my best friend.” I took another sip of my soda. “He’s doing really well. He’s playing the guitar again, which the doctors weren’t sure would ever happen. He’s hoping to be able to join the band in the studio next spring and then go back out on the road with them after that.”

  Michael beamed back at me. “That’s awesome news.”

  “Yeah, it is,” I agreed.

  “So you have to tell me honey,” Joseph began. I cut him off.

  “Yes, London’s as sexy in person. Maybe more so. And that is all that I’m going to say on that subject.”

  Amy giggled, Joseph pouted, and Michael managed to steer the conversation away from London. I don’t think he meant to change tacks, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to complain. The less I talked about London and the rocky patch we’d hit in our relationship, the happier I’d be.

  We lingered over our meal, talking about everything and nothing. I knew I needed to get home since I had work the next day, but being out with friends was something I’d missed since moving to Austin. Having a social life again was worth the loss of a little sleep.

  At some point, I excused myself to the ladies’ room. I checked my phone before heading back to the table, more out of compulsive habit than because I believed I’d missed any messages. I noticed the time and couldn’t believe how late – or early, I guess – it was getting. At much as I hated to, I was going to have to head for home.

  As I worked my way through the maze of tables to my friends’ booth, I kept an eye out for our server, hoping to flag her down and ask for my check. I didn’t see her anywhere, though.

  I stopped a few feet away from our booth when I heard Michael say my name. I listened for a moment and realized that he was talking about my run-in with Chris
’s girlfriend. Chris had apparently been right about going home alone, and Ms. Thang had made it clear that it was because of me – because he hadn’t defended her against me and because he’d stayed outside with me instead of going inside with her.

  “And seriously, man, good riddance,” Michael said. “I’m sorry, bro, but I hope she’s gone for good.”

  Chris shrugged. “If she is, she is. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “She’s such a ho,” Amy said. “You can do so much better.”

  “Be nice,” Joseph said. “She might not be the love of Chris’s life, but show a little respect honey.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I know you guys don’t like Evie,” Chris said, “but she’s not that bad.”

  “In bed, maybe,” Michael added.

  Chris slumped into the corner of the booth, leaning his head back against the wall. “She’s not looking for anything serious, I’m not looking for anything serious...it works.”

  “Chris, honey, getting insanely jealous earlier tonight...that wasn’t ‘nothing serious’.”

  I slid onto the bench beside Chris. “Joseph’s right. Girls don’t do that nuts-o jealous thing if they want ‘casual’.”

  Amy nodded her agreement.

  Chris sighed. “I guess she’s entitled to change her mind.”

  “Well, so are you,” Amy said. “Kick her to the freakin’ curb already. If she’s changing the rules, it’s the perfect excuse.”

  Chris rubbed his temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand.

  “Amy,” I said. When she looked at me, I added, “Let it go.”

  She sat back in her seat with a little huff, but she didn’t say another word about Evie.

  The silence that descended would have gotten awkward if our server hadn’t reappeared just then. She had one of those little black folders with the check inside, and Chris leaned past me to take it from her with a murmur of thanks. He flipped it open, signed the receipt, took the credit card from the inside pocket and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans.

  “What just happened?” I asked.

  Joseph smiled at my confusion. “Chris got the check while you were powdering your nose. And insisted on paying.”