Page 19 of My Song for You
She slid her hand down my chest again. I grabbed her wrist. “Sorry, I have plans.”
That much was true, even if I did want to go back to sleep and wake up once this hangover was over. My family was expecting me in a few hours. Sure, we had plenty of time for what she had planned, but I wasn’t interested in going there.
That wasn’t to say I wasn’t into sex with groupies. Like the other guys in the band, I had taken advantage of what was offered. Not a lot, mind you. I wasn’t a manwhore like Mas. Maybe another time, back before I’d bumped into Callie, I might’ve been interested. Now I couldn’t get excited about the prospect of screwing around with this woman.
A glimpse of the dream from last night repaid me a visit. I turned away from it, telling myself the dream had nothing to do with my decision.
The girl, whose name was a complete blank to me, pouted. Now I vaguely remembered seeing her red-coated lips last night; the color had since faded. Her dark eye makeup was still in place, although now it was smudged. She didn’t look bad, but she did look like she was about to do the walk of shame—even if she had nothing to be ashamed of.
She stroked her fingers against my chest. “I can make it worth your while.”
I released her hand and shifted away from her. “I’m sure you can, but I really do have to be somewhere important.” I gave her an apologetic smile and waited while she gathered her clothes. I had tons of questions about last night but decided to save them for Kirk. She had already answered the big one I’d had. The rest could wait.
I offered to call her a cab. She shook her head and called a friend instead. She did, though, ask for my autograph. After everything, that was the least I could do.
Even though she insisted she was fine waiting on her own, I escorted her downstairs and waited with her.
“You know, you don’t have to do this,” she said as we stood inside the lobby, watching through the glass wall.
“What? Wait until your friend arrives? Sure I do. My mother raised a gentleman.” Although I was sure Mom would’ve had a different opinion of what I’d been last night.
“Your mom sounds like a great woman.”
“She is.”
We didn’t have to wait long before her friend’s black Ford Escort pulled up in front of the building. The girl quickly kissed my cheek. Before I could say anything, she was out the door and climbing into the front passenger seat of her friend’s car.
I returned to my apartment and drank enough water to help rehydrate me, but not enough to cause me to puke. Then I had a long hot shower to remove the stench of beer that I was positive seeped from my pores.
By the time I left for my parents’ place, I looked a lot better than I had when I first woke up. That’s not to say I felt a hundred percent, but it was enough to keep Mom from guessing about my night. As supportive as she and Dad were about my career choice, I knew my playing in a rock band still worried them. They’d heard the stories about all the booze, drugs, and women that came with the territory. It was hard to miss when those three things had led to the demise of so many other bands.
At their house, I parked in the driveway and walked up the flagstone path. Unlike Callie’s parents, who’d moved closer to Callie’s father’s new job shortly after Alexis aborted our child, my parents had never had the desire to move. This place held many great memories. I swear, if my father ever had to move for his job, Mom would’ve found a way to take the house with her.
The front door swung open and my father stepped to the side to let me in. “So, you up for this?”
I grinned at him. Fortunately, my head didn’t hurt so much now. “You better believe it.”
“Good. Lunch is almost ready, then it’s just you, me, and the gazebo.” He said it in a low, conspiratorial voice. I chuckled. I had no doubts whatsoever Mom already knew what we were up to. And if she didn’t, she would find out soon. There was no way could we hide from her that we were building a gazebo. Not unless he had convinced her we were building another tree house, but if there was one thing Mom wasn’t, it was naive.
In the kitchen, Mom was busy laying out the food. A large vase of white tulips sat in the middle of the glass-top table. “Lunch is ready.” She hugged me, and we all took our usual places. “How’s the band doing?”
“Everyone’s doing great. We had the radio station event yesterday.” I filled them in on the day, minus the part about groupies groping me. There were just some details my parents didn’t need to know.
“I can’t believe you’re touring again so soon,” she said. “It feels like you just got back.”
“I know but it’s part of the job. Plus it’s great to be out there and playing to the fans. That’s what it’s all about.” Never mind the part where some of those said fans loved to fling their bras and panties at us.
“I know. It’s just…well, how are you ever going to have a family if you’re always on tour?”
“What, Emma isn’t enough for you?” Emma had recently discovered the fine art of walking, and kept Mom on the run whenever she babysat my niece.
“I want more than one grandchild.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Kristen.” I winked at her.
Mom gave me her standard this-discussion-is-far-from-over look, and I laughed. Dad also laughed. We both knew Mom just wanted me to be happy and would support whatever I decided to do. Even more so if it resulted in grandchildren.
“So, what’s going on with you and…Tiffany these days?” she asked.
