Love and Lies (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-
SIX

Eric and I parked outside of The Shop on Saturday night. Logan was playing and invited everyone to come see his band perform. I couldn't say no, but Alec did. He had plans with Sean. Eric came to be with me
, even though he didn't really like alternative music.

We walked into the club side by side, our hands clasped together. To my left
, Mari caught my attention. She had her arm entwined through Monty's, and she was gorgeous in a jeans skirt that didn't begin to do justice to her long, naturally tan legs. The shirt she wore was a fitted Blue Monkeys T-shirt. Her hair was down and flowed effortlessly over her shoulders. I watched as her eyes darted around the club and paused at the wall of posters.

The Shop
reminded me of a Hard Rock Café. They collected music memorabilia from all over, but especially local artists. Being that they chose the center of the jazz district, most of the posters were adorned with trumpets and saxophones along the edges. Bret, the owner, liked to add his own flare. He'd buy plain black frames then glue all kinds of crafty crap to them. I liked most of the posters, but some of them were too much and looked like a kindergartener had gotten a hold of them. I think Bret tried to increase his customer base by appealing to the tourists.

Monty stopped at the bar and said something to the bartender
, who nodded toward the back of the stage where I stood. Then he tugged on Mari's arm and gestured in our direction before leaving her alone. The path she took didn't cross in front of us, and her attention was directed to the curtain, rather than who had shown up for the show. She found a seat at one of the tables along the wall. It was one of those half-booth, half-table and chairs setup.

I poked Eric in the side with my elbow.
“Let's go sit with Mari.”

“
Okay, lead the way.”

More fascinated with the decorating than anything else, Eric bumped into my back when I stopped in front of Mari's table.

“You made it,” she said and wrapped me up in a hug.

“
I told Logan that we would.” Her enthusiasm wasn't unwanted, but it caught me off guard and my hug in return felt awkward.

“
Hey,” Eric mumbled.

“
Is your other friend coming? I mean should we save him a seat?”

“
No. Alec won't be able to make it. Something about a secret show at the theatre. I dunno.”

“
Oh. Okay.”

Mari sipped her drink while Eric and I placed our orders with the waitress. I stole a glance at him.
They way his eyes glazed over made me laugh. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Mari wasn’t showing signs of feeling left out. With her attention centered on the stage, I took advantage of the moment and slid my hand up and down Eric's thigh. “Be good, and I'll make it up to you tonight.”

“
Mmm.” He pressed his lips against the side of my neck. “Does that mean your request to slow down is no longer applicable?”

“
I’m pretty sure that was no longer applicable last night. Don’t you think? We kind of suck at slow.”

“
Just making sure. Not that it matters. I’ll go as fast or slow as you want. May be a little hard sometimes, but that’s my problem.” He smiled against my skin. “You being happy, on the other hand, is better than any night of sex.”

Eric's words made my cheeks flush red
, and I was grateful for the dark club.

“
So, tell me about yourself,” I said to Mari to take Eric's attention away from me.

“
What do you want to know?”

“
Let's start with what you are doing here, really. I know you didn't just come to Luling to see Monty. He's not that interesting.”

She laughed.
“Nah, he's not. Actually, he's an overprotective pain the ass. Always has been. Not that he could do much protecting as scrawny as he is. I'm here to tour the university. A couple of weeks ago, I got my initial acceptance letter in the mail. So, I figured I'd come check it out. Monty's always raving about how awesome the people are and how nice New Orleans is. I wanted to know for myself before making my decision to actually enroll.”

“
And?” I peered over my glass, awaiting her response.

“
And, I like it. He's right—the people are awesome.”

“
What were you accepted for?”

“
Dance. Contemporary to be exact. I got provisional acceptance. They still want to see me dance in person; apparently the tape wasn't enough.”

“
Never is,” I murmured. “When's your audition?”

“
Tomorrow.”

“
Did you ask Logan or Monty to go with you?”

“
Nope. That's allowed?” She cocked her head to the side.

I was about to answer
, but she waved me off.

“
Never mind. I don't care if it's allowed or not. I do better when I'm alone. Not that I wouldn't mind having at least one of them there. I just, well, it makes me nervous to have others watch me in that kind of situation. Being on stage doesn't bother me. In fact, I love it. It's an adrenaline rush when I'm on stage in front of all those people, knowing that they find joy in watching the moves and understand a story being told through actions rather than words.” Mari closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “It's just so, I don't know, euphoric.”

We finished our drinks in a comfortable silence. The passion in Mari's voice made my stomach flip flop with excitement. It was exactly the same way I'd begun to feel about drawing and media. Seeing the pure joy in her face gave me hope that one day I'd look the same way just by talking about my passion. Eric, Alec, and Logan
demonstrated their passion already.

Logan and his band came on for their set
, and all three of us became entranced by their music. He played a couple of my favorites. Mari was more enthralled than anyone I'd ever seen. If I'd had any doubts that they were perfect for each other, those were wiped clean by the end of the night. Once Logan finally spotted her, his eyes never wavered from her face. Every song he sang for her. To her.

“
What's the deal with you and Logan?” Mari's question came out of nowhere.

“
With me and Logan?” I ignored the tightening of Eric’s hand on my shoulder. “We're friends. Why?”

“
I don't know. He talks about you like there's a past there or maybe just more than friends right now.”

“
Oh, no, not at all. We've been friends since I started here. Well, we both started at the same time. I met Logan at orientation, and we just kind of clicked. Once the guys formed their band, I started going to their practices to listen to him sing. Friends or not, I can't deny that his voice has a mesmerizing quality.”

“
That's the truth.” Mari laughed, and an ounce of tension fell away as she eased back against the bench.

“
You like him, huh?”

“
As crazy as it sounds, I do. We've only known each other for a few days, but I really feel like there's room to explore with us.”

Logan was in trouble. Mari had it bad. But it was nice knowing that I was no longer the object of his affection. Our friendship would become stronger
, and I could include Eric now that I knew they wouldn't get into a fight over me.

At the end of the show
, Logan rushed to our table and immediately pulled Mari into a bear hug. “Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to us.” He quickly shook Eric's hand before giving me a hug. The only time he left Mari's side was for the split second it took to greet me.

“
Anytime. You know I love your music.”

“
I do. And the guys do too. Monty was going to come out here with me, but he's helping load the equipment. We're all going out for some late night, greasy food. Do you guys want to come with us?”

Eric shook his head no, the movement so subtle Logan and Mari would have missed it. I was watching for some indication of what he wanted to do, between that small motion and the heat in his eyes, there was no way we were going to dinner.

“Sorry, but we're going to pass tonight. You guys have fun though.”

“
No problem at all. We will, and you have fun too.” Logan winked at me then pulled Mari with him to the back of the stage.

I turned to Eric.
“Are you hungry? I thought maybe we could—”

He
growled and yanked me into his chest. Our lips fused in a kiss that could have lasted forever, but we cut it short to avoid getting caught. That was fine with me. I had every intention of picking up exactly where we left off when we got back to his place.

“
Only thing I'm hungry for is you. Come on, let's get out of here.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

The sun blinded me as rays pushed through
the curtains covering Eric’s lone window. I snuggled under my blanket and bumped into him. “Mmmm.” Waking up next to him in real life was much nicer than it was in my dreams.

“
Good morning.” I tilted my chin up and gave him a quick peck on the chin. “How did you sleep?”

Eric pulled me closer to him.
I fit perfectly against his side. “Better than I have in a while. You make a great blanket.”

I laughed and pushed off his chest. We needed to get up and around
, or I'd be late for my first class. Considering the professor locked the door at precisely nine a.m., I couldn't stay in bed too much longer.

“
Where are you going?” Eric grabbed my wrist to draw me back into bed next to him.

“
To the shower. I've got Ames this morning, and I can't afford to miss his class.”

Professor Ames taught a
mixed media class. At first I hated the class. It was too early in the morning, and Professor Ames was stricter than any other teacher I had. But over the last few months, I'd learned to like both his style and way of showing us new techniques. The class provided an opportunity to transform my sketches from plain to elaborate.

“
Have you ever skipped his class?”

“
No, and I don't want to today. Come on, Eric. I actually like this one. Let me go.”

Eric didn't let go
of my wrist. Instead, he pulled me underneath his body. The only thing that separated us was the thin material of my T-shirt. I needed to get ready, get out from underneath him. But it was so warm and safe. Not for the first time, I was amazed that I'd found a man like him.

Except I hadn't found him. My parents
had, or so they said. The devil on my shoulder was quick to remind me that meeting and getting to know might have all been a set up. That hurt.

His fingers skated up and down my arms, across my chest, over my face. I closed my eyes to enjoy for a moment longer, if I was lucky I'd shut the devil up for a second or two. How could something so right have so many problems?

“What are you thinking about?”

“
Nothing important.”

“
Princess, when your brow crinkles like it is now, I know whatever you're thinking is important. You don't concentrate like that on unimportant ideas.”

I wished, at times, that Eric didn't know how to read me so well. It would have made it so much easier to process ideas and questions before I had to tell him about
them. And I would have to tell him. I'd asked for honesty from Eric; it would be unfair to not return the request.

“
You're right. It is important, to me at least. Like I said though, I need to get to class. Afterward, I promise I will tell you. Give me some time to get everything straight in my head.”

“
One day. I'll give you one day.”

Our lips came together in a kiss that was as much a promise that I'd talk as it was a promise that we'd be in bed together more often. If we were going to make this relationship work, if I was going to figure out my own reservations and troubles, we had to slow down. Sleeping with Eric, being this close to him
, got me so worked up it was impossible to think straight. For that reason alone, we needed to take a few steps back.

Eric smacked me on the ass when I stood. I looked at him over my shoulder and giggled.
Our relationship was on the right track—for now.

* * *
*

Two minutes to spare.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I slipped into my chair at the back of the room. Professor Ames wasn't in class yet, giving me time to get out my pad and pencil. As soon as he walked in, shut the door, and set his timer, we were to begin our drawings. He wrote the theme on the board so we could prepare in advance. Today's theme: trees. What the hell? Trees. Not fun at all.

The bell rang
, and I held my pencil in my hand, the tip poised over a clean sheet of paper. Too bad my mind went blank. Oh, I could draw a tree. But there was no creativity to that. Too simple.

The lock clicked as it engaged. Time to work
—if you knew what to do, that was.

Mr. Ames began his walk around the room
, his hands clasped behind his back. The black loafers he always wore near silent on the tiled floors. Black slacks and today's pick of shirt was a very lovely shade of periwinkle. Most men wouldn't have pulled it off the way he did, but paired with a teal with lemon accent tie, it looked good.

“
Umm, Professor Ames?”

“
Yes, Ms. Stein?”

“
I'm not sure what to draw. Trees seem so…basic.”

“
That is correct. The purpose of this theme is to stretch your artistic mind. Think about it from a collage standpoint. Consider all of the different shapes of trees. You know more than you are giving yourself credit for. I know you've already recalled the most common tree. What about a cedar, can you draw one that represents Christmas? Or is there another event in your life that could be represented by a tree? Take your time. As always, I want quality over quantity. In the afternoon session, we will put your sketches into a multimedia presentation. Keep that in mind as you move through the exercise.”

Typical Professor Ames. Ambiguous and clear as mud. I let his words take form while I studied the clouds passing through the sky outside. I purposely avoided looking across the way. If I stared at them too long
, I wouldn't be able to see anything beyond that shape. Representation of an event in my life. Slowly, my mind took over, and the lines formed without my guidance. Like words of a story, the arches and angles formed one tree then another. Before long, I looked down to see a forest of leafless trees. Branches and limbs stuck out in all directions, tangling in one another.

I wasn't sure what it meant, but I loved the way my pencil and mind worked together to produce such strong emotion. In the middle of the barren forest was a heart. Each tree molded itself to meet another until the centerpiece of my project truly represented the path my life had taken the last few years. Gnarled and broken, yet pulled together by heart and love. From friends, self-determination, and guidance.