than Shelby. Sin stands pressed against her side as they speak closely to one another.
Elias helps me onto the remaining stool.
“Hey girl! You’re looking good,” Shelby gushes, turning in her seat to face me. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“I am too. It’s a nice change than the private show I usually see.”
“Hmm,” she replies thoughtfully while looking over Elias with an appreciative eye. “I’m not sure if I’d agree with that.”
I nearly choke on my beer. Elias laughs and Sin shakes his head.
“You’re trouble, Shelby,” Elias replies. He gives me a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I’ve got to get up there. See you in a bit.”
When he’s gone, Sin leaves as well, parting through the crowd with ease.
Condensation from the bottle cools my hot palms as I fiddle with tearing the label. Shelby’s voice breaks my concentration.
“I hope you aren’t upset about what I said. I was joking.”
My eyes snap from the bottle to hers. “Of course not. I know you weren’t serious. Besides, you have Sin.”
“I’m going to be completely honest here,” she says. She latches onto my left wrist tightly. Why do I get the feeling she’s going to blow my mind?
“Okay,” I reply carefully.
“Okay.” Shelby visibly inhales deeply. “I came from a bad situation. I meant what I said before about Sin saving me. I won’t go into details for several reasons, but the biggest of all is because it’s not safe yet.”
“What do you mean it’s not safe?”
She gives my wrist another squeeze. “What I mean is, I might be out of that situation, but it isn’t over. And, you haven’t been around long enough for me to share that with you. This is all beside the point. Through this whole ordeal, I fell in love with Sin, obviously. I also became close with Elias as well.”
“Shelby, I’m not exactly sure where you’re going with this,” I say, confusion coloring my voice. “I really didn’t have a problem with your comment.”
She sighs, taking a quick sip of her colorful cocktail. “No, I know that. It’s just I like you. I think you seem like a great person, but Elias and I are close. We make jokes like that. We hug. We call one another. I really need us to be on the same page. If it hadn’t been Sin for me, it would have been Elias. We are that close. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Her words swirl around my head like a windstorm while the music from a keyboard begins to float through the air, immediately hushing the crowd. My attention drifts from Shelby to the steady chords, and I’m surprised to see Elias behind the silver keyboard. I didn’t know he could play piano as well as guitar. Instead of answering Shelby’s question, my eyes fixate on the talented man before me.
“Hey everybody, welcome to Sinclair’s,” Elias’s velvet voice sounds through the speakers on either side of the stage. The people in front of him erupt into cheers and applause. “Hope you’re ready for a good time this evening. I’m going to kick us off with some Avicii.”
Once again, the people before him break out with whoops and whistles while the soft chords transform into his own rendition of “Wake Me Up.”
The sight is completely mesmerizing. His movements are practiced and flawless as he plays the keys without hardly looking at his fingers. His eyes drift closed when he hits the first chorus; his face transformed into pure passion. It’s as if he’s painting the stage with his soul; the words are bleeding from between his lips in a rainbow of color.
“Marlena?” Shelby’s voice reminds me we were mid-conversation.
“Sorry. It’s just, wow. I’ve seen him play his guitar at his apartment, but I didn’t know he could play keyboard as well.”
“He’s good, right? He played me to sleep once. When I first came here. I was having a lot of nightmares.” Her eyes take on a faraway look.
My chest squeezes at the etchings of pain on her face. “Hey. I get it. You’re trying to be a good friend. I’m glad he was there for you when you needed him. I won’t step in the way of him being there for you now, if you were to need him again.”
She smiles gently at me while squeezing my wrist. “Thanks. I knew there was a reason I liked you so easily.”
“Uh huh. If you like me so much, how ‘bout you get me a drink? I’ll take whatever you’re having,” I say