Fix It Up - Mary Calmes Page 0,40
is a hundred percent gay, no interest in women at all, not bi like me. But no matter how many times Kara has told him, and explained, and even had Frost confirm it, the boyfriend wasn’t buying it. He was drunk and took a swing at her.”
“And you stepped in between them.”
“Yeah,” he rasped. “I had to try and do something.”
I nodded, easing free of his arms. “Well, it sounds like you took real good care of her.”
His words confirmed Owen’s accounting of the situation. But he was clearly not done talking through what’d happened.
“It was all my fault. I’m the one who brought Kara to Frost’s house for the after-party. We weren’t there very long before people started talking about how some guys were planning a gangbang with the guy who sang ‘Summer Girl.’ Since I knew they meant Conner, I got over here as fast as I could.”
“Okay,” I said, because it was a lot. Glancing behind him, I confirmed that Conner was still passed out cold but breathing easy.
“He hasn’t made any new music since that first album,” Nick offered, rambling. “I guess he never got around to it, you know? It’s not because he can’t, or because he’s not talented, it’s just…he’s been doing other things.”
“Okay,” I said, because it was the only thing I had to offer.
“He’s a great singer. He has this amazing range, and he’s a good lyricist,” he said, his voice cracking. “His first album was strong, and he had the huge hit.”
“Sure,” I agreed, seeing that he was lost in what he was telling me.
“But he got into some heavy drugs, way more than me, and he used to live in LA, where all the parties are…”
I was quiet, letting him work through what he was thinking.
“And now he’s just as famous for the stuff that tears him down as he is for the album.”
I so wanted to say something, to direct his attention to the parallel between himself and what he was telling me. I was passing up a clearly teachable moment, but maybe, hopefully, Nick could see himself in Conner and comprehend the life lesson he was being given.
His eyes misted as he looked at me. “My phone was dead, so I found someone to bum a charger from and was going to call you, but then Conner kept throwing up, and I can’t find his phone, and—can we just take him home?”
“Of course,” I told him. “Are there people there to take care of him?”
“Yeah, he lives with his parents and his sister. He’s got the pool house or something. I don’t remember.”
I smiled at him. “Well, as long as he has people who love him and will watch over him, I’m good to drop him off.”
“And if he didn’t?”
“Then we’d have to take him home with us, right?”
“Home?”
I squinted at him. “Yeah. Home.”
He caught his breath.
“Nick?”
“God, it is, isn’t it?”
“What?” He was a little out of it, but I still needed to understand what he meant.
“The house is…home.”
“It is your home, yes.”
His gaze, all that warm, golden, cognac brown, was focused on me. “Not just mine,” he whispered.
“No,” I agreed, “you share it with some wonderful people.”
“You,” he said under his breath.
“For a little while longer, yes,” I agreed. I stepped around him and over to the tub and, as carefully as possible, lifted Conner into my arms.
“Put the towel over his face, cover yours with your jacket, and we’ll go out the back, through the neighbor’s yard, and hopefully not bump into anybody.”
“We will, but if we’re covered up, it should be all right.”
We escaped the bathroom and headed toward the back door. Once outside, we cut across the patio, around the pool, and then skirted the side of the house. There was a narrow pathway between the fences, so we took it and ended up on the next street over, which, miraculously, was empty.
“How did you know where to put the car?” he asked me, amazed.
“Two words—Owen Moss.” I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of how much Nick and I owed him tonight.
It was a long walk to the car, especially carrying what amounted to deadweight, but once there, Conner woke up enough to squeeze into the back seat with Nick. The Shelby wasn’t the best choice for transport, but my main objective earlier had been to reach Nick as quickly as possible, and for that it had been perfect. Besides, once they were both buckled in, they sat close enough to each