“As soon as possible, I’m kind of bored shitless at the moment and Bryce is due to go to Sydney tomorrow for work then on to Brisbane for the rest of the week. Lucy and Nic are gonna stay here, so I’ll fill them in and swear them to secrecy.”
“Sure, I like a challenge and you look like a challenge,” he said, in a mildly flirty way.
“Hey, I might just surprise you and be your best student.”
“Well considering you’ll be my only student then, yeah, you just might.”
“Give me your phone, I’ll program my number into it,” I put my hand out for his phone and he obliged, so I entered my number into his contacts. “As soon as you’ve got some spare time, give me a buzz.” I handed him back his phone.
Bryce walked in moments later and placed the large platter on the coffee table. He walked over and handed me my own dish of sauce, saying loudly, “Alexis double dips.”
“And proud of it,” I announced as I glared at him playfully and snatched it. I then proceeded to dip my finger in my dish and suck off the sauce.
His eye twitched and I couldn’t help but smile wickedly at him.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as Bryce went to fill a plate with seafood for me. I pulled it out to find a text from an unknown number:
Don’t worry, I double dip too.
But don’t tell anyone. - Derek
I looked up at Derek standing next to the table. He gave me a wink then dipped his prawn back in the sauce.
I burst into laughter.
***
For the remainder of the evening the guys and Lucy practised some of their original songs and a few they planned to cover at the upcoming gig. I adored their rendition of “Hurricane” by Thirty Seconds to Mars and “Fader” by Temper Trap and I soon became really excited at the prospect of seeing them play again on stage, together with playing a guitar myself.
I found myself staring in between Bryce and Derek, watching them intently as they strummed the guitars; they made it look so simple. Fuck! What have I got myself into? I’m so gonna suck and Derek is going to find it hilarious, if not aggravating—possibly even infuriating.
“You might want to be careful where Derek is concerned,” Nic whispered into my ear, breaking me out of my regretful thoughts.
I turned to her, confused. “What do you mean?”
“He is a very flirty guy, just be mindful of that. You’ve kind of been staring at him.” Have I? Oh, shit! I have, but not like that.
I screwed my face up at her, slightly offended at her not so subtle accusation. “Yes, I have been staring at him and at Bryce, for a reason. I am going to learn the guitar as a surprise for Bryce, and Derek has agreed to teach me. For your information, Nic, I’ve been watching them both play.” I turned my head back to Bryce, who had picked up on my change of demeanour, so I smiled at him.
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it, Alexis. I just noticed you getting friendly with Derek and thought I better warn you that he can get quite friendly in return...sometimes too friendly.”
“Do you speak from experience?” I asked her, snidely.
“No,” she replied sharply.
I turned back to her. “Then what are you talking about, Nic? I am in love with your brother-in-law. We have just lost our baby, and I want to make him happy again, give him something special to show him how much I love him. That is why I want to learn the guitar. I can’t exactly ask Bryce to teach me, can I? So in comes Derek. He is going to help me, that is it.”
She lowered her voice even more. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Yeah, you did, Nic,” I answered without looking at her.
The music stopped and everyone seemed to be pleased with their form.
“I’m going to take Alexander upstairs to bed,” Nic announced to Lucy.
“Okay, I’ll be up in a minute,” she gave Nic a look of concern. She obviously picked up on the not so pleasant discussion between me and her girlfriend. Or, maybe in addition to her humongous IQ and computer hacking skills; she could also lip-read—I honestly wouldn’t put it by her.
“Nate and Charli, it’s getting late. You can say goodnight too, okay?”
Both my kids did their new fist bump/high five/thumbs up/goodbye salute with everyone in the room. I shook my head and got to my feet, grabbing my crutches.
Bryce made his way to my side. “Here, give me those.”
“No, I can manage,” I said playfully, but trying to assert my authority at the same time.
“Are you challenging me, Hunny?” he asked in a daring tone.
I felt my face redden, so I quickly looked around the room.
Lucy smiled and shook her head and Nate quickly sided with Bryce.