Page 17 of Electric Touch

I run a hand over my face. The table in front of me is littered with booze. This isn’t me. As much as I appreciate what Jack is doing, dragging me out is having the opposite effect. He wants me to live a little and experience everything that’s been stifled while I was with Riley.

Being in a relationship, loving the same girl, is all I ever wanted. If that made me a pussy, I didn’t care. I’d tried the promiscuous thing. I’d tried to get into anonymous liaisons, but people are taking pictures and they will post them. It will feel like I am fighting back at Riley for her posts.

I don’t want to be that person.

We are still members of the same band. I want nothing more than for Red Alert to succeed. We tried so damn hard to break out over the years. I can’t and won’t let the band fall apart because Riley and I aren’t together anymore. One of us has to be the bigger person. If it falls to me, then so be it. The band is more important and I need to keep it together.

My mouth is parched from all the alcohol. I go to the bar and ask for a couple of bottles of water. A few people approach me, commiserating about Riley, calling her names and telling me I can do better. The women say these things hoping it will be them. It’s written all over their faces. Dylan would be in his element if he were in my shoes. I am being recognised for all the wrong reasons, though.

Red Alert is becoming known as the band where two members are going through a breakup. This break in our schedule came at the wrong time. We should have been showing a unified front. Even if there are cracks. It can’t be painted over with all the shit in the social media world. Everything is closing in on me. There are too many people, too many strange smells making my head hurt. The heat is overbearing and the neon lights are starting to merge into one blur of light.

“Fuck.”

I grab the water and make my way to the outside area of the bar. I need air and space. It isn’t as crowded out here, with a few people milling around. It’s more chilled than inside. I spot a low wall and head over. It is beneath a huge overhanging tree. I open the bottle of water and down almost three quarters of it, looking at the cracked pavement between my feet.

Counting the cracks seems to help. My heart rate slows a little and I can breathe easier.

“Are you okay?”

I don’t move at the sound of the female voice. The last thing I need is another woman throwing herself at me. She’s wearing purple Chucks, which reminds me of the girl from the Vista Kicks gig. I lift my head, following the length of her legs, the wide hips and sexy as fuck hourglass waist. My eyes skim over her breasts, which are wrapped up in a tight low cut top. At complete odds with the fluffy cardigan. It’s her.

Her hair is tied up, with loose ringlets at the nape. They’re damp, but it is hot. Randomly, I think she ought to take her cardigan off, and that conjures up way too many thoughts I shouldn’t be having.

“I don’t mean to intrude. I saw you coming out, and you didn’t seem… Well?”

She says it like a question. I give her a small, tight smile. I’m not sure if I can be around people right now. Although I have a somewhat bizarre yet pleasant sensation spreading through me at seeing her. New York is fucking huge. What are the chances of running into her again?

“Well, if you want company, I’m over there, on that little piece of wall.”

She turns away when I stop her by reaching out a hand. I don’t touch her, but we both stare at my outstretched arm. “Tia, right?”

Her head bobs up and down twice.

“There’s room enough. You can sit, but I’m not the best company right now.”

She takes a seat beside me and looks at the surrounding people. “People watching is my favourite pastime.”

The music is low, the din of people’s voices is a lot louder. It’s funny how the multitude of smells inside that bar almost drove me nuts. Her scent, wildflowers and strawberries, is nice. In fact, there is something kind of comforting about it. We sit in companionable silence for a while, but I can’t help side-eyeing her and she catches it.

“I’m not stalking you,” she says.

I gave a startled laugh as I turn to her. “I hadn’t thought you were until you said that.”

“I was thinking you are stalking me,” she says, her lip twitching. “My friends and I come here all the time. Fancy cocktail bars and nightclubs aren’t my thing. If they want me to come out, it has to be somewhere like this.”

“The same friend you were out with at the gig?” I ask, not meaning it to sound so aggressive. But I am still pissed at him.

“Apollo, yes. He’s with my other best friend inside, Sasha and her new boyfriend, Leo. I figured his name was Leonardo, but turns out its Leopold. Isn’t that interesting?”

She is quirky. I’m not sure what to make of her.

“I came out for some air and someone knocked into me and hurt my back so I wanted a bit of space. That’s when I saw you.”

I scowl, not liking the idea of her being hurt. I want to ask if her friend did anything to protect her. Even in my head, I’d sound like a lunatic if I say that.

Tia suddenly lowers her cardigan down her arms. Her tits strain against the tight fabric of her top. My eyes have a life of their own and can’t help dipping to them. She doesn’t remove the cardigan, holding it at the crook of her elbows. She turns her back to show me something. I drag my eyes away from her tits and notice the wrapping on her back.

“A tattoo?” I ask in surprise. Not sure why, but she doesn’t seem the type. Then again, I didn’t expect Riley to cheat… Fuck, stop thinking about her.

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