Page 75 of Sweet Somethings

"He said he hadn't talked to Travis in years. He seems to blame Travis for some sort of betrayal, along with you. I think the three of you should talk."

"And I think you need to back out of this and worry about your own life," he said sharply.

She flinched at his harsh statement, but her eyes were still defiant. "I will back off, but I have one more thing to say. Travis said he's good at construction. That's it, I'm done."

"No way. I am not going to hire him, and my grandfather wouldn't consider it, either."

"It's been a long time, Roman. People grow up; they change. It sounds like you changed. Can't you let Doug and Travis change, too?"

She had a point, even though he didn't want to hear it. But had they changed? Doug seemed pretty much the same. Travis—who knew? He seemed to have a lot of other problems that had nothing to do with their shared past.

"So, are you going to play again?" she asked, changing the subject.

"No, there's a new band coming up next."

"I think I'll go home then."

"I'll walk out with you."

She set her glass on the bar. He grabbed his guitar, and then they left the bar.

"Where did you park?" he asked.

"I didn't; I walked."

"Seriously? I thought you didn't like walking or running unless there's a ball involved," he teased.

"I felt like I needed the exercise and the fresh air to wake up. It's only about a mile. And I figured it would be early enough to walk back on my own."

"I've got my truck; I'll give you a ride."

"It's really not that far," she said, somewhat halfheartedly.

"And I am really not going to let you walk home."

"Okay, you can give me a ride."

"That was fast," he said with a laugh.

They walked down the street to his truck. He opened her door and put his guitar behind the seat, then waved her inside. He slid behind the wheel a moment later and started the engine. As he pulled away from the club, he said, "This part of town is a lot nicer than it used to be. That yoga studio over there used to be a strip club."

"The Kitty Kat Klub," she said. "I remember the three K's lined up on the neon sign."

"And I remember when I snuck in there with Doug and Travis."

"Wait, you three did something besides smoke in the park?"

He gave her a dry smile. "We did a lot of things. One of the girls that Doug was dating had a cousin who worked there. She let us in through the back door. We lasted about three minutes on the main floor before the bouncers kicked us out."

"See anything you liked?"

"Definitely," he said. "We were actually a little stunned, I think. Not that we acted anything but cool."

"Of course not. Who was that older man you were talking to at the bar? Your conversation seemed intense. I waited to talk to you, because I didn't want to interrupt."

"That was John Mickelson, the owner. He's been friends with my grandfather for forty plus years. He started telling me stuff about my father. It was strange. He was talking about someone I don't remember at all."

"What was he saying?" she asked curiously.

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