week was the worst I’d had in a while. When Friday night practice rolled around, I gave in and asked Megan about her. I tried to play it off like I was glad she wasn’t around aggravating me, but really I was worried. It didn’t seem like her to disappear from the face of the Earth.
“Where’s your girl Patience? Why isn’t she around getting in the way?” I asked Megan as I tuned my guitar.
“What’s wrong, Zeke? You pissed you didn’t get in them panties?” Tiny laughed.
I glared over at him. “She’s not my type.”
“Whatever, dude. Your type is female and she was all female,” Chet said, earning a pissed-off look from Megan.
“She’s been sick. The flu I think. She missed school all week too. I haven’t seen her since that night at The Icehouse and she’s hasn’t really texted me either.” She shrugged. “It’s weird. Patience never gets sick, but I think she’s okay.”
None of it sat well with me. Patience missing school and Boy’s Club didn’t seem like her. Maybe she really was sick, but my gut instinct that came around at the wrong times told me she wasn’t. I tried to push it out of my mind.
I didn’t go home that night. Instead, I crashed on Finn’s couch.
We found out Saturday morning that The Pit was open again and by Saturday afternoon, we were booked to play there that night. I’d never been so happy to see those concrete walls. All the graffiti had been painted over, but there were some guys with spray paint working on something new on a far wall. We set up and started playing once the room began to fill.
Two hours later, I was drenched in sweat and had a hell of a buzz. I played my ass off and the crowd seemed to be feeding off our energy. A redhead that I’d seen before kept giving me flirty eyes from the front row and I decided halfway through the set I was taking her back to Finn’s and getting some. A couple times I leaned down while I was playing and took in her overflowing cleavage.
After the set was over, we packed up our stuff and headed to the cars. The inside of the club was still jumping and we could’ve stayed and partied the rest of the night away, but I had a willing redhead named Stephanie on my arm and hard-on that was aching against my jeans.
“Hey, Chet, we’ll catch y’all at Finn’s place later,” I called over my shoulder as I grabbed the redhead around the waist and pulled her to me.
I knew her name, but it wasn’t necessary. Redhead was a good enough name for me. I’d been upfront and honest about what the night was about and she seemed perfectly fine with being a quick one-night fuck.
When I turned back around to leave, I almost walked into Patience. Her blue eyes met mine and then landed on my hand, which was holding Stephanie close to me. She took in the girl next to me and her eyes drifted up and then down. Her face was expressionless when she looked back at me, but I saw the tiny crack in her armor when a brief second of pain filled her eyes.
“Hey, stranger! Long time no see,” I slurred.
Her lips bent into a fake smile.
“Yeah, I’ve been kind of busy this week.” She shrugged.
I couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but I wanted to know what was so important that she missed Boy’s Club and school.
“I’ll be right back, baby. I’m going to run to the bathroom before we leave,” Stephanie said as she tilted her head up and kissed me on the neck.
It was obvious she was marking her territory for the night, but Patience didn’t seem to catch on. Once Stephanie was gone, the room disappeared around me and my attention honed in on Patience. She was wearing another pair of tight jeans and a light-blue top that made her hair and eyes pop.
“What’s that about?” she said as she motioned to Stephanie, who was easing her way through the crowd toward the bathroom.
“A man has needs, snowflake.” I grinned down at her.
Her throat worked up and down as she swallowed hard.
“The same needs I couldn’t fulfill.” Her eyes flicked down as if she were ashamed of herself.
The pain in her eyes made the pressure on my chest feel heavier. I wanted to tell her she had nothing to be ashamed of. I wanted