My Side (4 page)

I blocked out the
annoying dribble coming from his lips and noticed how long and strong, but
still slender, his fingers were. The ends were completely calloused. They
didn’t look like they belonged on a movie star. But the waitress had asked him
for his autograph? Maybe Thin Ice was a band or something like that.

I placed my hand in
his and let him shake for us both, “Deal, but your clingy women are your
problem. I might warn them before you get them down the hall.”

He laughed, “Fair
enough.”

I felt the roughness
of the fingertips and frowned, “So, you’re on a show or in a band called Thin
Ice, or is that something else?”

He beamed, “I am the
new lead singer of Thin Ice.”

I pulled my hand from
his, “Singer?” I said it with a boatload of distaste.

He lifted the glass
and nodded, “Yup. I play guitar, piano, and bass too. I’m learning the fiddle
right now.”

I bit my lip, watching
him, “For a living? This is your job that’s paying your half of the rent?” I
asked and sat back more.

He scowled, “If you
want, my job can pay all the rent, and you can pay me back with massages and
fetching me beers.”

I
shuddered,
of course he was in a band.
The carefree attitude, calloused
hands, girl in his bed, charming smile and ridiculous good looks.
Of
course he was a singer. Only something that perfect, could be so flawed as to
be creative, chaotic, and an artist. Had he been a businessman, I would have
told him to try out for the Fifty Shades movie casting call. He looked just
enough like David Beckham with his strong, athletic body and tattoos and cocky
attitude. I could see him as someone as smug as CG in a movie.

I ignored his taunting
and mocked him back, “So a singer in a band, what made you do that?”

He shrugged, “I’ve
never been in a band before and I thought, why not?”

The waitress came with
out burgers. They were massive. I ignored her, not intentionally, “You’ve never
been in a band before?”

He shrugged and
pointed at my plate, “No. Don’t worry. I’ll eat what you can’t.”

I cocked an eyebrow,
“I can eat it all.”

He rolled his eyes,
“Yeah, okay.”

Still unable to
comprehend him or his ‘career’ choices, “How do you know it’s going to work
with this band, and you’ll be able to pay rent and live?”

He gave me the sparkly
smile from before, “Princess, don’t worry about me. Worry about that plate,
because if I’m done before you, my hand may creep across the table for whatever
is left.”

I laughed and lifted
the burger, “I’m not paying your rent and you’re not eating my burger.” I
watched him take the first bite and inspected mine. It was bacon, cheese,
lettuce, tomatoes, double patties, and slathered in a sauce that seemed like it
might be mayonnaise based.

I took the first bite
and moaned unintentionally, “Oh my God.”

He laughed and took
another huge bite. We chewed in silence.

My grandpa always said
the sign of a good meal was the conversation not being had. And we were not
talking. The fries were crispy, the burger was juicy, and I was dying. The beer
made the meal so much better. He was fucking right, damn. It was the best meal
I’d had in years.

I drank a big swig of
beer and smiled, “So you’re going to have to keep it quiet at the apartment
when I’m studying and stuff. You realize that right, Mr. Rock Star? I maintain
a very strict study schedule.”

He laughed, “I’m
indie, not rock, and yeah—it’s cool. I won’t be there much. We’re on a
circuit. We’ll be bar hopping and playing five nights a week. Plus, I need to
get to know the new band and the fans.” He gave me a look, “What’s up with you
wanting to be a lawyer? You don’t seem like the type.”

I frowned, “What
type?”

“Strong and mean like
the ones on CSI and SVU. Those are some spicy ladies. You seem like you’re
scared of your own shadow. Like a small dog with a big bark.”

“Fuck you.”

He grabbed my hand,
“Wait, that came out wrong. I meant like you’re soft, like a lady. Not like
you’re a dog or weak. You’re obviously prim and proper and raised with garden
parties and the country club. I just mean that maybe you shouldn’t be around
hardened criminals and bad things all the time.”

I scowled and dragged
my hand away, “You don’t know me.”

His eyebrows knit
together, making his eyes do the dark burning thing again, “Fair enough.” He
was flexing his hand.

I drank a gulp of
beer, “When did you decide to take up the music scene?” We needed a new
subject.

He shook his head,
taking a monster bite, “I’ve always been in music. The band came looking for me
this summer. I agreed and here I am.”

I was mystified, “You
came here because some dudes were putting together a band and looking for a
singer… in a random band. Boston must be more expensive than Tennessee. Weren’t
you worried about paying rent and stuff?”

He laughed at me, “No.
They were making killer money last spring when they had to fire the last lead
singer. It’s a huge risk for them, not me, but the old singer’s a junky. What
could they do? It was either break up or find a new singer. They saw me singing
and asked me to join. I start this week with them. First show is tomorrow. You
should come.”

I glanced at the
server, “How did she know who you were, if the first show is tomorrow?”

He chuckled, “I was
doing alright on my own. I had a good following.” The darkness left and he was
sparkly again. “So what kind of lawyer?”

I watched him for a
second, like he had done to me, “Prosecutor.”

He shook his head,
“Why on earth would you want to do that, be surrounded by that negativity?”

An evil smile crossed
my lips, “Lawyers are the people who put the bad people away. They make a
difference. You can see the darkest parts of it but I see the good in it.
Without lawyers, bad people wouldn’t go to jail. Laws wouldn’t be passed.
Changes wouldn’t be made.”

The light left his
eyes, leaving a darkness that seemed sincere, “You gonna come to the show?” It
wasn’t necessarily a color change in his eyes. I didn’t think that was
possible, but the way his brow shadowed them and his stare intensified, they
seemed darker.

I took a drink,
washing down the fact he wasn’t listening to me, “That’s okay. I’m not really
into bars.”

He shrugged, “Gonna be
fun.” He was brushing it off, but there was a glint of something in his look.
He was impossible to dislike. He was clearly a womanizing, arrogant,
overly-confident
asshole. And yet, I had the weirdest
feeling being with him. Like I had been asked to sit with the cool kids. Girls
noticed him. Guys nodded at him, like they wanted to be
him
,
or be his friend. He brushed it off… even laughed it off, when it was just he
and I. But if other people were there, I would bet he would lay it on thicker
than I could imagine possible.

“Are you on meds?”

He laughed, “No, why?
What the hell kind of question is that?”

I shrugged, “I don’t
know. I just don’t get you. I’m trying to figure you out, I guess.”

He cocked a grin, “You
like figuring shit out, huh?” He looked around the room, “Well, when you figure
me out, you let me know.”

I cleared my throat,
pushing aside the fact he was an odd superstar in Boston and focused in on the
important thing in our lives. “You promise you won’t make me move out?”

He nodded, “I’m not an
ogre, princess. I just don’t need the hassle of house hunting the same week I’m
starting the band and the show. I’m beginning something new here. I can’t
afford the risk of being stressed unnecessarily. Besides, in the meantime, it’s
nice to know one person who doesn’t give a lick about Lochlan Barlow. We can be
friends.”

I scoffed, “I don’t
think you’ll have problems meeting friends. What about the girl from earlier?
The server?”

He grinned, “Met her
at the place I ate lunch.”

I couldn’t even fight
the grimace on my face, “Gross.”

He laughed and
finished off his beer.

The server returned
and tried to ooze slut all over him. I’d seen it a million times with my
brother. He was also a chaotic artist. Women threw themselves at him all the
time.

I finished my burger,
to his amazement, “Man you can eat. How are you not fat?”

I nearly choked, “That
was so rude.”

He drank from the
fresh beer, not apologizing.

“I run a lot, and I do
kickboxing, and my whole family is pretty thin.”

He nodded, “Well, you
look good from it all.”

I pointed a finger at
him, “Stop that. I’m not one of those girls who fawn over guys or gives in to
the compliments. It’s only going to make me uncomfortable and then we can’t be
friends.”

He pointed back, “You
a natural blonde?”

An exasperated sound
left my lips, “You are so annoying. Do you have a filter or just say any old
thing you want?”

He dropped his hand,
“That was so rude.”

I could have growled
at him but the waitress was back, “You need the bill?”

I nodded, “Yes,
please. Separate, please.”

She left with a smile
for Lochlan.

When she returned, he
snapped the bills up quickly. I tried to grab mine but he grinned, “I want you
to owe me. I mean, besides nearly blinding me earlier with bear spray.” He
chuckled as he got up.

I sighed, even fawned
a little bit. Exasperating. He was exasperating. I caught the slightest point
of the dagger tattoo on the back of his left arm as he strolled up to pay. He
leaned against the counter, taking a mint. When he sucked it into his lips, I had
to shake my head and refocus. Player alert. There was no way I was ever going
to let myself be attracted to someone like him. Okay, I couldn’t fight the
attraction, but I could control the things I allowed to happen.

The server handed him
a slip of paper with his change. He put a tip in her hand and winked at her.
When he turned back to see if I was ready to go, my level of disgust was
refilled. It might even have been overflowing.

I snorted as I walked
past him, “You’re despicable.”

He put his hands out, “I
bought you dinner, come on. When I said I wanted you to owe me something, it
wasn’t hate and bitterness. I was thinking more like you make me breakfast
sometime or wash my back in the shower, you know, roommate stuff.”

I shook my head,
muttering, “Never in this lifetime,” and walked to the apartment. He got
distracted along the way, waving me off and leaving with a short skirt and a
bad dye job. I rolled my eyes but made myself watch the way she latched onto
his arm where the tattoo was. I made a mental picture of the girl of the week
for future reference.

Whenever his
sparkly-blue eyes, charming smile, cocky attitude, or
ridiculously-attractive
body got in my way, I could always look back to that moment. I almost laughed
when he checked out a redhead as he escorted the trashy blonde down the road.

Costco ho

We settled into a
routine. He slept from four in the morning until noon, always alone,
surprisingly. I made breakfast and went for runs, trying to learn where
everything was before school started, always during the day and always with my
mace. The city started to get friendlier, more inviting. I spent less time
worrying about where I was, and more time enjoying myself.

Tom and Leslie emailed
me twice to let me know nothing new had come up.

Lochlan came with me
everywhere. It started out as annoying, but after a while, I noticed he was
showing me things he’d discovered. I noticed his roving eye had tamed a bit. I
wanted to take credit for that. Deep down, I wanted us to be like that romance
novel I’d read where the roommates fell in love. My main issue was his job.
Lead singer in a random Boston band, was not exactly how I figured a romantic
story like that would
happen.
That was more like how I
spent spring break…

I walked into the apartment
after my run. The summers were smoking hot but also crazy humid. I wasn’t used
to the humidity. I bustled about, picking his shit up from the floor and coffee
tables. He came into the room as I was dumping an armload of wrappers and
garbage into the garbage can. I had to do it before I could stretch. I hated
clutter.

“You look hot.”

I flipped him the
bird, “You’re up early and why can’t you clean up after yourself? I asked you
to please not leave shit everywhere.”

I grabbed the orange
juice from the fridge and drank from the carton. It was my worst habit. He
didn’t make a face or complain. He walked up next to me, almost touching me,
taking it from my hands and drinking a huge swig. He handed it back but I shook
my head. My nose was wrinkled up.