you…only you. I want those children, our children. If I can’t have them, then I don’t want any.”
A shiver danced its way down my spine.
“I just wish…” I whispered, closing my eyes, not wanting to say something wrong.
“You wish…” he prompted.
“I just wish you had…asked. Demanding that of me, trying to make me tell you I was going to marry you and have your kids, freaked me out.”
He hugged me tight and buried his face in my hair. “Yeah, I get that.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I had it comin’.” He sighed. “Sometimes, I just want what I want, and I’m used to gettin’ it by just sayin’ it. But not with you. You treat me like a regular human being, you know? You call me out on my shit. I need my ass handed to me every now and then.”
Clinging to him as though my life depended on it, I whispered, “I love you.”
His lips caressed over my ear. “I love you, too. So much, I think I might be slightly insane.”
“Something like that.”
“I think I could use a drink,” I told Phil. “Do you want to go out?”
I was fishing through my gym bag for my dark green knit hat that looked like an inflated octopus head. Stuffing my hair in it, I pulled out some bangs to frame my face.
Giving me a sweet grin, his dimples making an appearance, he replied, “Sure. Where to?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a show, and I think there are some good bands playing at Bougainvillea tonight. You up for something like that?”
“You wanna go to Bougainvillea?” His eyes sparkled, making him look boyishly adorable.
“Yeah. I usually go on Fridays.”
“We can do that.” He smiled as though there were some secret he wasn’t sharing with me. “Let me just make a few calls first. Do you want Sheri and Jason to join us?”
“Oh, um…well, no. I’d like it to be just us really.”
He beamed his Lady Killer at me. “Too fuckin’ right.”
Lucky for me, I’d brought a pair of old green Chucks, so there was no need to schlepp back home to get decent footwear.
Phil stepped out of the room, cell phone in hand, and made whatever calls he felt he needed to. I guessed it was about security or some such shit although he hadn’t needed anything of the sort so far. But then again, we’d gone to the farmers market, a fancy restaurant, and a jazz club. Bougainvillea was where NOLA’s Junk had signed their record deal. They were well-known there.
“Cab should be here in about twenty minutes,” he said, still smiling upon his return.
“What are you grinning at?”
“Just happy, I guess.”
“It’s more than that. You’ve been all weird-happy since I mentioned Bougainvillea.”
He flopped back on the bed next to me. “I really haven’t been back since that night. I guess I should’ve made the trip. I found you there once. Chances were pretty good I would’ve found you there again.”
“At least three Fridays a month, yeah.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s a hangout of ours. Some people frequent bars and clubs. We frequent music venues, Bougainvillea in particular. It’s close to home, a really good crowd, really hot bartenders—”
“Oh, really?” he snarked, giving me an arched brow.
“Mmhmm,” I replied with a smirk. “It’s nice to have some eye-candy.”
Lying back on his bed, looking at the sparkles in the ceiling, we heard the honk of the cab in the driveway.
Phil turned his face toward me and gave me dimples. “I think this is gonna be fun.”
The cab driver pulled all the way up to the door as Phil had instructed.
After hearing the total, he handed the guy cash. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks, man!”
Phil grabbed my hand. “I don’t know what kind of crowd this is, so don’t go wanderin’ off without me, okay?”
“What do you mean? It’s the same crowd here every—”
“I mean, chances are, these people will know who I am, and I don’t want anythin’ to happen to you, all right? Let’s try not to get separated.”
“All right.”
I noticed two bouncers were waiting outside the taxi, trying to appear nonchalant. There was quite a line wrapped around the front of the building, tailing into the dinky parking lot.
My eyebrows rose. “Oh.”
Phil chuckled. “Yeah, oh.”
He opened the door and whisked me out of the car. Music was beating itself out of the building while the bouncers flanked us, trying not to allow the line to see who was being ushered to the front door. The thing was, Phil kind of stuck out like a