had made a fantasy of our friendship.
And though my brother shared my pain, he had a unique loss of his own to bear. I did my best to shield Cork from my pain and the responsibilities that came along with it. Those were mine to carry alone as a single guardian to my brother.
Setting those thoughts aside, I undid my braid, put on my regular clothes, and stuffed the white shirt and black pants that made up my bartending uniform into an overflowing laundry cart. The other catering waitstaff had already departed.
My cell rang. I grabbed it and glanced at the display. sophia calling.
“Hey,” I said, my throat tight as I swiped the wetness from my cheeks and forced cheerfulness into my tone.
“What’s up?”
“That’s my question for you,” I said, deflecting. My sadness wasn’t changeable.
“I’m with Reese, the lead singer of the Black Skulls.”
“I know that. You texted me while I was working. But where are you now, and what are you doing?”
“I’m still with the band. The drummer likes you.”
I made a face. “That’s nice.” Not.
“His name is Tristan.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to let her set me up with a guy I didn’t care for. “So, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Am I on speaker?”
“No,” she said.
“Good.” I exhaled. “Tristan’s an arrogant asshole.”
“He’s a rock star, honey,” she said drolly. “They all are.”
“Ash isn’t.”
“You didn’t know him before.”
“Before what?” I asked, confused.
“Pre-Fanny.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll give you that.” I’d heard the talk about Ash and his many hookups before he fell in love with Fanny. “But I highly doubt he ever snapped his fingers at her.”
“Tristan did that to you?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, then heard shuffling and murmuring. She’d covered up her phone.
“Tristan says he’s sorry.”
I snorted. I doubt it.
I walked out of the locker room, wearing shorts overalls and flip-flops, my oversized slouch bag slung over my shoulder. “I’m coming to you. We’re going out for my birthday, right?”
“Technically, it’s not your birthday anymore.”
I checked the time and sighed. She was right. It was past midnight. “You backing out of girl time in favor of dick?”
“Change of plans. We’re going to the beach.”
I perked up. I liked the beach. “With Tristan and Reese?”
“With the band. Yes.”
“I dunno.” I thought of Journey and my stomach flipped.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I was starving. I hadn’t had anything to eat but cake since lunch, over twelve hours ago.
“Thirsty?”
“I could drink.”
“Then head to the side door that leads to the parking lot.”
“Where is it?” I stepped out into the hallway, which was completely deserted.
“Just past the dressing rooms.”
“Okay.”
I walked faster, nervous about being inside the building all alone. At the end of the hall, I pushed the metal bar on the door. Outside was an old black sedan with a trailer attached to it. Sophia pushed away from the passenger door and moved toward me.
“Hey, you,” she said with a smile.
I breathed easier until she turned and opened the rear passenger door for me, revealing Tristan inside. He grinned up at me from the back seat.
I frowned at my bestie. “Um . . . I’m not sure about this.”
I really didn’t want to get in the car with the finger-snapping drummer. In my peripheral vision, I noted another vehicle pulling up behind the trailer, but I kept my attention on her.
“It’ll be fun,” Sophia said. “Better than a bar crawl. There’ll be music. And Journey got food and beer.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder.
I followed the direction of her gesture and gulped. The mind-scrambling guitarist was driving the vehicle that had pulled up behind the trailer. It was like an SUV, but it had no roof, just two thick roller bars. Interestingly, a surfboard hung over the tailgate.
“Hey,” he said, lifting his bearded chin to acknowledge me.
“Hey.” I lifted my chin in return, trying to function normally despite how cute he looked with his colorful arms draped over the steering wheel.
“It’s not like we’re gonna have an orgy, Lotus,” Sophia said, still attempting to convince me.
I looked back to her, my cheeks warm from her comment, but more so because of Journey.
“It’s casual. We’re just gonna hang. And you know, the guys can’t be all bad. Ash likes them, or he wouldn’t have given them a prime slot in the lineup.” She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “No expectations. If you have fun, we’ll stay. If not, we’ll take off, go back to the hotel, and do something different. Friends stick together. Okay?”
“Sure,” I said, recognizing that the sticking-together part went