My Side (10 page)

He smiled back. His
eyes tried to talk to me with
emotions,
he wasn’t
letting himself say either. We liked each other. There was chemistry.

But we both felt the
pitfall the other person could be.

I would be that
tag-along girlfriend who would make him less sexy to the women of the world,
and he would be that guy I never quite trusted and ruined my grades over. Or
worse, quit school and followed him around on his tours. The idea of him with
other women made me physically sick. I pointed, “Can we agree no dates at the
house? If girls and guys are roommates, it’s better not to have sex going on in
the house.”

He nodded, “I agree
completely.” He put his huge hand out “To the new deal.”

I gave him my hand.
He shook them for both of us, while I tried not to think about the
fact
,
his touch lit me up
.

Bromance

I leaned against the
counter, bobbing to the Beats I’d stolen from his room. He had the best
headphones ever. I felt like I was at the Imagine Dragons concert. Not that I
even had a clue, who they were. He was opening my eyes to music, always filling
my iPod that he bought for me. I didn’t hear him come in the house. I picked at
the strawberries on the counter and read the text from the class I’d just left.
Something shifted in my peripheral. I looked up to a whipped cream-covered pie
sliding across the counter at me. I pulled the headphones off. He handed me a
fork.

“What’s this?”

He laughed, “We’ve
been living together for a month, no fights, no sex, no problems. It deserves
pie.”

I scowled, “Do you
have an inner filter?”

A devious smile
crossed his lips, “Nope.” He took the first bite.

I dug in where he’d
taken his bite.

The coconut-cream pie
melted in my mouth. Even with my lips covered in whipped cream and my mouth
full, I spoke, “Is that real whipped cream?”

He nodded slowly,
“From this seedy, little place in the industrial section. I was going to bring
you there, ‘cause I heard about the pie, but when I got there, I knew you
wouldn’t eat there.”

I frowned, “I’m not a
snob.”

He rolled his eyes, “I
know. You’re a princess.”

I took a second bite,
“You’re a princess.”

He laughed and ate a
huge bite, “Ohhhhh my God.” He licked his lips and I looked back at the pie.
Some things were safer not to watch. I hadn’t been to a show, since the first
one. That was also better not to watch. Seeing him so alive made me hot. I
clearly had issues with sexy boys and self-control.

I arched an eyebrow,
“So I Googled you.”

He snorted, “‘Bout
time.” I loved the sarcasm in his voice; he could really care less about the
fame, when it was just the two of us. It was part of the show for him.

I bit my lip and then
went for it, “I saw the articles about you getting kicked off the show.”

His bright-blue eyes
lifted to mine but his look turned stern like his tone, “Drop it.” The tone
wasn’t playful.

It made me smile
nervously, “No.”

He gave me a stern
look, “You wanna talk about your ex-boyfriends some more?”

I swallowed, the humor
left me.

He pointed his fork,
“This topic is like that for me.”

I took another bite,
“Fair enough.” I ate the bite but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t feel like eating
anymore. I dropped my fork, “Thanks for the pie.”

He grabbed my hand,
“Don’t be mad.”

I looked up into his
eyes, “Your expressions are so weird sometimes. You can darken your face, I
swear it.”

He laughed, “Your
brother coming still?” He was always ignoring the things he didn’t want to
hear.

I snapped back and stopped
staring at his face, “What?”

“Brother?”

I smiled and forgot
about the forbidden conversations, “Yeah. Tomorrow.”

“Sweet.”

I shrugged, “Maybe.
He’s a hot mess. He’s really artistic and messy, and one minute he has a job,
and then he doesn’t. My parents go insane with him. You guys will for sure hit
it off.”

I realized what I’d
said when he gave me his blank stare. I laughed, “I’m on a roll today.”

He shook his head, “I
gotta go rehearse, try not to get into trouble.”

I stuck my tongue out
at him and pulled my headphones back on.

That night I was
studying when he came in late. I looked up smiling and focused on our friend
zone, “How was the show?”

He sat down next to me
on the couch, “It was great. I heard afterward, some big wig was coming to see
us play. We might have competing offers. I frowned, “What? Congrat…”

He put a finger up to
my lips, “Shhh. Not yet. Nothing to get excited about yet.”

His finger stayed
there for a minute and then ran down my jaw. He leaned forward and lightly
brushed his lips against mine. He pulled back. There was something in his eyes,
“Sorry.”

I shook my head,
“Don’t be.”

He arched an eyebrow,
like he was questioning the fact I’d given him permission. He leaned in again,
lightly brushing his lips on mine. “God damned you are sweet,” he whispered
into my mouth and got up from the couch. I sat there frozen for a few minutes,
still tasting the kiss that wasn’t nearly awkward enough.

The next day he drove
me to the airport to pick up Danny. We didn’t talk about the kiss. He was fun
and playful. He cranked the car stereo and sang as loud as he could. We pulled
up at a light and some girls looked over at him and started screaming. He waved
at them and sang louder. I tried to only hear the radio but it was impossible.
It was an amazing performance for a car ride. He beamed at me from behind his
sunglasses and messy hair.

I almost ran when we
got to the airport. I needed to be away from him. When I looked back at him, I
smiled at the fact he was still wearing his sunglasses. His fame situation
wasn’t getting better. He stood, looking like Lochlan Barlow, but in
sunglasses. He needed the Mitch Pitt beard and homeless apparel. Girls pointed
and swooned. I nudged
him,
“You’re not fun to take out
of the house anymore.”

He gave me his one-sided
grin, “You’ve never been fun to take out of the house.”

I laughed, “Ass.”

Danny came walking
down the ramp. He looked the same, thick and handsome but disheveled. His
dark-blonde hair was cut into the same fohawk as Lochlan’s. It even hung in the
back, almost like a mullet. His jeans were tight and his tee shirt was
wrinkled.
 
He stopped, grinning and
shaking his head. His bright-green eyes twinkled, the way they always did. He
was the most joyous person I knew, “Lochlan Barlow is your roommate?”

I looked between them,
“What?”

Danny put his hand out
for Lochlan. They shook hands. I sighed, “Danny—Lochlan. Let’s go before
we get mobbed, like we have one of the Beatles with us.”

Danny wrapped a thick
arm around me, “You have better than the Beatles,
dude
.
Only you would fail to mention, you were shacked up with a celebrity.”

I gave him a look,
“There’s no shacking.”

Lochlan chuckled, “She
didn’t know who I was for like weeks.”

Danny sighed, “I’m
ashamed of you.”

My
mouth
hung open
, “What?”

He shook his head,
“You are shamed.”

I rolled my eyes,
“Whatever.”

Lochlan laughed and
nodded at Danny, “You should come to the bar tonight. We’re playing at the nice
one. Our Fridays are the best bar we play.”

Danny gave me a look.
I agreed, dreading the words about to leave my lips, “Yeah.” Shit.

They nattered at each
other about music and dudes. I didn’t know anything they were talking about.

I walked behind them,
stunned by the instant bromance going on. Lochlan seemed more into my brother,
than Danny was to him. That lasted until Lochlan went to the bedroom to get
something when we got home, and Danny started silent screaming and mouthing
things. I didn’t know what he was going on about, but I had to assume it was
like a little girl seeing Justin Bieber for the first time.

I sighed and drank
from the orange juice carton. When Lochlan came back around the corner with a
tee shirt for him, Danny played it cool again. I snorted at the two of them.
Lochlan gave me a look and walked into the kitchen. He took the carton from my
hands and drank the rest. I tried not to watch him drink, or eat, or sing, so I
went to the couch and read a book.

They flirted and
chatted for hours. It was sort of good. I read and did my homework.

The romance novels
were making my attraction for him worse, so I grabbed the newest James Rollins,
instead of romance. I finished it off in the tub and got out to get ready. I
didn’t bother straightening my hair. A bar in the humidity of early fall in
Boston was a death trap for straight hair. I hadn’t worn it curly since the
night we’d made fools of ourselves. I looked at myself and smiled. Barely
there
makeup, a plain blue tee shirt and a pair of linen
pants. I looked like I was trying to be casual. He wouldn’t even notice me
compared to the girls in the bar.

I walked into the
kitchen to find them eating Chinese food and listening to some old song. Danny
pointed, “You hear the break? So classic.”

I was getting
annoyed,
Danny had barely spoken to me. I walked behind the
island to see Lochlan filling a plate and listening to the song. He passed me
the plate and a fork. I scowled, “I don’t like it when you…”

He put a hand up,
silencing me. Danny shushed me.

I nodded, chuckling
and leaned against the counter, “Screw you both.”

They ignored me. The
song ended. Lochlan smiled, “You know what, you’re totally right. The way he
gave the pause after the break was dramatic. I felt my heartbeat pause, waiting
for it.”

Danny pointed, “I
know, right.” He gave me a look, “How was the tub?”

I flipped him off,
taking a huge bite.

He leaned forward,
kissing the top of my head, “I missed you.”

Lochlan looked at his
fat leather watch that looked like more of a cuff than a watch, “I gotta go.
Come at ten.”

I nodded, looking as
disinterested as I could.

He flashed me a grin
and walked out.

Danny waited for the
door to close and then the girlfriend gushing started, “Oh man. He’s so cool.
You’re rooming with him? He’s like rich. He doesn’t even need a roommate… you
fucking him and not telling me?”

I choked on my
noodles, coughing. He grabbed me a drink of water and passed it to me. I
coughed again, “No.”

He looked confused,
“Why’s he rooming with you? Didn’t they ever find you guys another place?”

I shook my head, “I
don’t know. We just agreed this was better.”

He nodded, “Oh man,
please don’t blow this. I always wanted a rock star brother and a
brother-in-law is just as good.”

A sickened expression
covered my face, “Dude.”

He gave me the puppy
dog look, “Please.”

I sneered, “You’re a
psycho. This isn’t a third world country. You can’t just give me away to the
guy you like the best.”

He folded his arms,
“I’ll call Dad.”

“Go ahead.”

He smirked, “He’s a
huge Lochlan fan.”

I sighed, “Great.
Please don’t tell him. I don’t want him to come here and embarrass me too.”

He winked, “I know
you’ll do the right thing. When the times comes, you’ll date him.”

I left the kitchen,
abandoning my plate and turned on the TV. We watched a couple episodes of SVU.

He glared at me, “You
shouldn’t watch this shit. You already have your paranoia.” I stuck my tongue
out at him and flipped through Emma, by Jane Austen.

“How do you read and
watch TV?”

I muttered, “It’s
easier when no one talks.” He biffed a throw pillow at my head. I ducked.

It was only nine
thirty when he nagged me to death, and I was forced to leave the apartment. He
almost ran down the stairs. He was like a kid going to see Santa. I, on the
other hand, was dreading it. Lochlan didn’t need to be a bigger star in my
mind.

The bar was a
different one than the one I’d been to. Danny showed the bouncer a card and we
walked in. I looked at the lineup out the door and around the block.

“What’s that card?”

He
flashed me a grin
, “
Loch gave it to me
.
He said we would need it to get in and get a table.”

I was stunned, “Loch?”

He ignored me and
walked to an empty table in a circle booth. The bar was filling up as the
lineup was slowly let in.