Page 38 of Love Song, Take Two

“Here’s to Slutty Saturdays!” Sadie hooted, derailing Micah’s thoughts as she filled their glasses. “And here’s to the sluttiest and bestest friends a girl could ever hope for.”

Micah

Just be with me.

After the mention of Ambrose and the look in Tatum’s eyes, Micah texted her friend the next morning and announced her plans to spend the afternoon interrogating her. Since it was a Sunday, Emery tagged along as Micah drove them down to Starlight Studios. When Tatum branched out and started her own business, offering independent musicians a space to record and produce their music, she’d set it up twenty minutes outside Sirena Beach town limits. Micah and Sadie had been there every step of the way as Tatum bought a piece of land close to the beach and built the studio up from the ground.

She parked her car beside Tatum’s in the small parking lot and followed Emery into the studio, the sounds of chatter and soft music filtering through the space. Jada, the receptionist, greeted Micah and gestured towards the recording rooms in the back. Leaving her daughter to do whatever she pleased, Micah followed the music to where Tatum was hunched over the mixing board. Tapping her knuckles against the door frame, Micah smiled as her friend straightened up to look at her.

“Hey you, where’s the kid?”

“Wandering around,” Micah said, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. “You doing okay?”

Tatum sighed heavily and nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. “We don’t have to talk about it, you know.”

“Do you want to talk about it? Because if you don’t, Em and I can hang around for a bit and leave you to it.”

Before Tatum could respond, loud laughter filled the room. Micah turned to the six women and waved as they came to a halt. Tatum chuckled and draped an arm around Micah’s shoulders. “Ladies, this is my best friend Micah. Mick, these are the ladies that make up Pretty Ugly.”

They introduced themselves and gushed about Tatum, making her best friend blush and wave them off. Then after a quick discussion, the band filed into the studio and closed the door. Micah had been in there enough times to know how Tatum worked, so she sat on the couch in the back and waited. After discussing what to do, the songs they wanted to try out and record that afternoon, Tatum left the band to their own devices. She dropped onto the couch beside Micah and stretched with a loud sigh.

“You know what’s crazy? I was really happy to see Brose again. My first thought hadn’t been about Benji or the past. I wanted to hug him.”

Micah watched her best friend, letting her set the pace for this conversation. When they were in high school, Tatum and Ambrose had been a couple. They’d been obsessed with each other, stupidly in love and everyone thought they’d end up together forever. Hell, Tatum had already planned a future with Ambrose. Except, they were ignoring the fact that Ambrose was part of a slowly emerging boyband. In a time when pop music reigned supreme and boybands were all the rage, Double Toned were starting to get famous. When the band released their second album with the support of a big name music label, everything changed. Ambrose dropped out of high school to go on tour and their relationship fell apart.

That’s when Benji appeared. Older, charming and sexy as well, Benji was the perfect distraction for Tatum. At first, nobody knew that Benji and Ambrose were related. He charmed and seduced Tatum, they dated all through college and then got married. On their wedding day, Ambrose appeared and threw everything into chaos. Micah still remembered that day, watching as Tatum processed the truth of her new life. But she loved Benji enough to not think twice about that relationship.

Until he started to hurt her.

“He apologized, like everything Benji did was his fault. Then he apologized for not being there for me before and walking away the way he did,” Tatum said, rushing through her words. “He kept insisting that if he could, he would have stayed. That he would have ignored everything their management told them and come back to me.”

Micah blew out a slow breath, watching Tatum. Ambrose was the love of her life and she lost him to music. Sometimes, she wondered if Tatum went into the business because of Ambrose, with the hopes of one day crossing paths with him again and understanding why he left the way he did.

“What’s he doing in town anyway?”

Tatum hesitated, worrying her bottom lip before she said, “He came to see me.”

“Tate…”

“I know! Okay, I know. I get it. It’s a bad fucking idea and I know that it can all go wrong. Mick, it’s Ambrose. He’s like my Fletcher.”

“I wasn’t madly in love with Fletcher back then,” Micah protested. She’d been slightly in love with the drummer back then, but not the way Tatum and Ambrose had been about each other.

“He’s gotten even hotter, if that’s possible.”

“He was always my favorite member of Double Toned for a reason.” Tatum laughed, but the sound was tinged with sadness and Micah squeezed her friend’s knee. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Tatum shrugged, slumping back against the couch and dragged her hands over her face. After a long moment, Tatum glanced at Micah with a pout. “He’s gone to LA for a few weeks, something about writing songs and producing music for someone else. But he’ll be back.”

Micah nodded, still watching Tatum cautiously. “You want another chance.”

“Yes,” Tatum admitted softly, refusing to meet her eyes now. “I didn’t settle for Benji after Ambrose left, I loved him in a different way. But my heart has always belonged to Ambrose. He was my first everything.”

Micah could recall with clarity the day Tatum barged into her childhood bedroom to tell her all about losing her virginity. Everyone thought they’d go the distance, but fame had other plans. Fame took away all their opportunities and chances for something more.

“He better not hurt you again, or he’ll have to answer to me this time,” Micah told her friend and got a watery smile in response.

“I’m scared, Mick. I’m scared that I’ll give so much of myself to him and he won’t do the same for me.”

---