A FILTHY Enemy - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,16

not letting it go. That was intense. He was coming after you like he knew you. And the look on your face…”

“What look?” Rae asked as she stealthily returned to the table.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Were you eye fucking the bartender too?” Rae asked. “Did you see his forearms?”

“Forearms?” I asked.

“I have a thing for forearms,” Rae said.

“I didn’t notice,” I said.

“Good. Don’t. He’s mine.”

“That’s confident of you,” Sasha said.

“Have you seen me?” Rae asked.

“She’s got a point,” I said to Sasha. “Rae is hot.”

“See?” Rae asked. “Enough about me though. I want more details about today.”

I looked at Sasha.

Sasha just smiled. “It was fun. Kind of quick though. In and out.”

“I hope the bartender isn’t the same,” I said with a wink.

Jess came back to the table.

Our eyes met and she sat down.

“So I have a theory,” Rae said.

“About?” Jess asked.

“You know I love gossip.”

“Oh, great,” I said. “What is this going to be?”

“I think I know who the audition was for,” Rae said.

“How?” Sasha asked.

“Saw a video today,” Rae said. “Right around the time you two were at that studio. It was the bassist from FILTHY LINE. On his motorcycle, giving the middle finger to some woman in a car.”

My face turned bright red. “Did you see who the woman was in the car?”

“It was an older woman,” Rae said.

I sighed.

“Oh, for the love of anything, Abby, just tell them what happened today,” Sasha snapped.

“What happened?” Rae asked.

“Sasha,” I said.

“I can’t take this,” Sasha said. “The bassist? Reed? He was chasing after Abby!”

“No way,” Jess said. “That’s the rock star you knew?”

“Wait, you knew about this?” Sasha asked.

“I just knew at one point in her life she knew a rock star,” Jess said.

“You know Reed?” Rae asked.

Their voices went through me like someone scratching a fork to a plate.

“Fine,” I yelled. “It’s true.”

“What’s true?” Rae asked.

I took a deep breath. “I’m not getting into details. But, yes, I knew Reed at one point in my life. Kind of around the time I was starting out. Okay? It was a thing. Nothing more. And he turned out to be the biggest asshole I ever met in my life. I swore to myself I would knock him out if I had the chance.”

“And you saw him today?” Jess asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “And he chased after me. He wanted to talk. I couldn’t get rid of him. He followed me on his motorcycle while I drove my car. So I finally just pulled over.”

“The bassist for FILHTY LINE…” Rae said.

“Yes,” I said.

“What happened then?” Jess asked.

“I punched him in the mouth,” I said.

“You hit him?” Sasha gasped.

“That’s right,” I said. “I hit him, then I drove away.”

“This is crazy,” Rae said. “What if they want you to sing for them?”

I laughed. “Not a chance in hell. Reed will never let that happen. He’s a terrible person. The rest of band… whatever. They can have their success. But I wish Reed would hit his head and forget how to play bass.”

“Wow, that’s harsh,” Jess said.

“That’s how much I hate him.”

“Something bad happened between you two, huh?” Rae asked.

“I’m done talking about this,” I said. “I think I’m going to head home. I need to get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

“Don’t leave,” Sasha said. “I’m sorry… I’m…”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

I stood up and put some money on the table.

As I walked away, Jess came after me.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just don’t like talking about it.”

“That was probably a big shock for you.”

“Yeah, it was. I know he lives here. This is his city. Whatever.”

“You punched him? For real?”

I showed Jess my right fist. “That’s right.”

“You’re awesome, Abby.”

“Not even close,” I said.

“You can crash at my place again if you want.”

“I’m good,” I said. “I need my bed tonight. I need to sleep it all off.”

“Are you sure that’s going to happen?” Jess asked.

“Nope,” I said.

I walked to my car and drove home.

Home meaning Valerie’s apartment.

Where I had some space.

The size of Valerie’s entire apartment was probably the size of one of Reed’s closets in his house. Where I lived was probably the size of the room that housed his pool filter for his in-ground pool. And he probably had fancy lights, a heater, a hot tub at one end. You know, anything to give him that rock star sex appeal.

And he probably had to use three times the chemicals to chase away whatever diseases floated in the water thanks to the cheap women he enjoyed.

I