Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (12 page)

Don’t Try, Do

RYAN WAS SURE he was going to need
to see a dentist by the end of the weekend. Seeing Jayson’s brother and the
incessant grinding as a response was causing serious damage to his teeth.

“Man, you’ve gotta relax. You’re even sawing your teeth in
your sleep.” Leo’s face was his normal calm, but his words were serious.

It was Sunday afternoon. They’d opened for a pretty
well-known band the night before and from the chants and shouts,
Storm Front
had been a huge success. The band’s manager, Anthony, had told them that he had
a meeting scheduled for them on Sunday evening before the bus left for the next
leg of the tour. Everyone was excited and they were all wondering what news
Anthony would have. Well, everyone but Ryan. Ryan had overheard Scott talking
to Jayson on Friday night when they’d thought everyone else was asleep.

He’d listened quietly as Scott filled his brother in on his ongoing
“friendship” with Ashley. He’d clenched his fists and jaw while he listened to
Scott explain how he’d asked Ashley out, and how she’d politely declined, but
how he wasn’t going to let that deter him. He then, heard Jayson—his
band
mate
—tell Scott that he should go for whatever made him happy. If it hadn’t
been for the strong hand that covered his mouth, Ryan would have gone
ballistic. Leo had silenced Ryan and quickly led him out of the bus.

“What the fuck!”

The blood boiled in Ryan’s veins. He felt like his head
might actually explode, and in that very second a haze settled over his vision
making everything around him a fuzzy shade of red.

“I’m going to kill that scrawny motherfucker! And Jayson?
Jesus Christ, fucking Jayson! He’s supposed to be like a brother, yet there he
is telling Scott to go ahead and make a play for my girl? I…I…”

Ryan was pacing like a caged jaguar, ready to pounce at the
first person to come near him. Clearly Leo wasn’t dumb enough to be that
person, which was evident by the distance he kept between them.

“Okay, breathe, Ry.” Leo spoke quietly. Quietly enough that
Ryan had to calm down in order to hear the words he spoke. Ryan’s pacing
started to slow, as did his breathing. “Ry, Scott is a little fucker—he is—but
you need to calm down before you say or do things that you can’t undo.”

Ryan finally looked up at his best friend and saw that just
like him, Leo was visibly annoyed. His words were forcefully escaping his
clenched teeth and his eyes swirled with menacing anger. However unlike Ryan,
Leo’s breathing was controlled and he managed to maintain his composure.

“Ryan, Jayson may be a member of our band and he may feel
like a brother, but Scott
is
his blood. He’s doing what he thinks is
right and supporting his brother. I didn’t tell you about this before because
Jayson told me he would never let it reach you or the band, but you were right.
Scott has been talking about Ashley for a while. He likes her…no, he wants her
and he’s been biding his time trying to get her.”

The red haze cloaked Ryan’s vision once again. All of the
progress he’d made to calm himself down in the past few minutes evaporated like
raindrops in the desert.

“I knew it,” he roared. “I fucking knew it. I’m gonna, I’m
gonna—”

Leo moved quickly to Ryan’s side. So quickly, in fact, that
Ryan stopped snarling to blink at the close proximity of his friend. Had he not
been so angry he would have made a joke about Leo’s ninja-like stealth.

“Dude, are you like a fucking superhero? I never even saw
you move.”

Okay, he couldn’t let it go.

“Ryan, stop. Just stop for a second. I know what you heard
was like a punch to the gut—hell, I’d like to wring little Scotty boy’s fucking
neck myself right about now—but we’ve discussed this, Ry. You need to let
Ashley deal with this situation. Unless he is physically or emotionally hurting
her you need to back off. Man, just last fucking night that blonde offered to
tie you up with her panties and suck you off until, what were her words? Until
she, ‘Blew both your heads off’? I mean come on, man, what do you think Ash
would say if she’d heard that?”

“She wouldn’t have said anything because she’d have heard me
tell that tramp that I wasn’t interested in anything she had to offer me
because I already had more than I could ever want.”

Ryan thought back to the previous evening. He’d been
dripping with sweat—high from the endorphins that always rocked his body after
he’d performed in front of a large group of people. He’d wanted to grab a quick
shower, a few beers and hang out with his friends, but a bottle-blonde had
rushed up to him, fake boobs nearly falling out of her tube top, face caked
with make-up and her breath laced with cigarettes and beer. Her hands had been
like Velcro as they tried to attach themselves to his body. If he’d listened
closely enough, he swore he’d heard the tearing sound each time he’d removed
one of her paws from his bare chest.

After first trying to be polite, he realized that brutal
honesty was the only thing a woman like that would understand so he told her
the truth. Instead of showing any dignity or self-respect, she’d simply said,
“It’s okay, cutie, your girl can watch.”

At that point, Ryan had been so disgusted that he’d pushed
the woman off and called security. They’d escorted her out of the back area.
Ryan had headed back to the bus for a shower. He’d skipped the hanging out and
drinking part of his original plan. He hadn’t been in the mood to celebrate.

“But, the point is”—Leo’s words cut through Ryan’s
thoughts—“had she been standing across the room, she would have seen what she
saw and thought what she thought. What do you think Ashley would do in that
situation?”

Before Ryan could put voice to his thoughts, Leo continued,
“I’m gonna set you up for success here, Ry, and just tell you. My hardheaded
sister has already decided that you’re the one for her. So she would have
marched over to the trailer-trash tit-sicle, used a couple of her long and
multisyllabic words and made the bleached blonde wonder why she’d ever
approached you in the first place.”

Ryan could visualize the scene playing out in his head. The
thought of his girl staking claim to him in such a primitive way had his heart
beating quicker for reasons nothing to do with Scott James.

With a hand firmly cupped on Ryan’s shoulder Leo plainly
stated, “Ryan, I’m warning you, brother, you have got to put a leash on that
temper. Because one day you’re gonna let that fucker explode and innocent
people are gonna get hurt. I’m telling you, buddy, there comes a time when ‘I’m
sorry’ only buys you a nod from the person you love…as they firmly close the
door on your face.”

The foreboding in Leo’s words left Ryan’s mouth paralyzed.
It was like his friend was speaking from experience or even worse, seeing
things before they happened.
There is no way, I’m gonna let that happen
,
he thought to himself, while absently nodding to his buddy.

“I’ll try.” The whisper was barely audible.

“Don’t try, Ryan. Do.”

THE NEXT DAY passed without any
confrontation. Scott would be leaving in just a few short hours, and then Leo
would mediate a band meeting to discuss how Jayson’s involvement in his
brother’s love life was interfering with dynamics of the band. Ryan would
simply explain his feelings and hope for a decent outcome.

“Hey, Ash, do you think I could borrow your notes from
yesterday’s calc class? I got home so late on Sunday night that my mom let me
take yesterday off. You know, a personal day.”

“Umm, sure, Scott, I’ll photocopy them for you and give them
to you at lunch, okay?” Ashley’s normally bright smile felt wooden on her lips,
but she was annoyed with Scott James and the games he was playing. While Ryan
hadn’t said anything directly to her about the weekend, he’d sounded tense and
distant the few times they’d spoken. She’d finally called Leo to get the scoop.
In true Leo fashion, he’d given her the low-down with as little detail as
possible and made her promise to not just stay out of it, but to try and act as
normal as she could.

“Sis, giving a guy like Scott any sort of reaction, big
or small, will only egg him on. So do yourself a favor and just go about your
business. Eventually, he’ll get the hint.”

“Le, you know I have no interest in him, right?” It was
important for her brother to know that she was in no way encouraging Scott’s
behavior.

A deep chortle came down the phone. “Of course I know
that, Ash. Are you kidding? You don’t ever need to defend yourself when you’re
following your heart, you got it?”

“God, Leo, how is it possible that you did so horribly in
school when you’re so damn smart in life?”

Her question may have sounded silly—sarcastic even—but
she was actually beginning to think her brother was one of the smartest people
she knew. Smiling, she shook her head. No, the world would be a scary place if
that were the case.

“Nice, Ash. You know you just said that out loud, right?”
The laughter coming from the phone was contagious and she found herself
laughing along. It was exactly what she needed: something to ease the tension.
There you go. Leo—always able to laugh at himself. Amazing.

“Are you okay, Ashley?” Scott looked at her with a warm
smile and desire filled eyes.

“Yes, Scott,” she said, her tone a little too snippy. “I
just need to get to class. I’ll get you the notes at lunch.”

“Jesus Christ,” Leo’s face paled as his eyes went wide like
beach balls.

“What’s up, man?” A large knot began to form in Ryan’s
belly. There were very few things that rattled his laid-back,
let’s grab the
world by the balls
, friend, and in that moment Leo’s straight spine, tense
shoulders and tight fists scared the shit out of Ryan.

“Leo?” He walked over to where his friend was standing
before his eyes locked on the images that left him speechless.

“I’m packing my shit and heading home, Ry. There’s no
fucking way that I’m letting her weather this hurricane on her own. No.
Fucking. Way.”

With that, Leo started throwing his belongings into his
duffle bag with one hand, calling the airport with the other.

Ryan’s voice finally returned and he said, “Shit, that’s a
big fucking storm, Leo. I can’t believe they’re still coming this late in the
year. I don’t know if you’ll be able to get a plane into Miami. They might be
booked—or worse, blocked. They might not be allowing flights in.”

“No, the storm isn’t set to hit land for forty-eight hours,
and I don’t care if I have to fly, drive, or swim. This is supposed to be a
Level 4 hurricane. My parents will no doubt stay at the hospital and Ashley
will be in that fucking house alone.”

Ryan took in Leo’s haunted eyes as he heard him whisper, “My
sister and I do
not
do storms like this alone. I’m not telling you to
come with me. I’m just saying I’m out of here in ten minutes. I’ll be back when
I can. If they get mad at me for missing shows and they don’t want me
back—fine. I’ll figure it out later.” The zip of the duffle signaled an end to
the conversation.