“Oh,” she said dumbly. “Are they friends?”
“Hm,” Alec muttered. “I wouldn’t call them friends. They used to date if you could call it that. Don’t worry. He won’t get into any trouble tonight.” He brushed his fingers along her jaw line. “You look tired. Are you having nightmares again?”
She shook her head. Being next to Cam had kept the nightmares at bay. “What do you mean they used to date?” she asked woodenly, not liking Alec’s characterization of Cam’s relationship with Anna.
“He was still with Bre when he and Anna dated. She shows up from time to time now.”
“Oh,” she mumbled feeling lightheaded. She tried to ignore the crazy jealous feelings creeping up her spine, but she couldn't and that made her hate herself even more. When would she be worth something to someone? Cam made her believe in him—in them—and not less than two hours later, she was forgotten, thrown away like she was nothing and maybe she was.
As they reached the back door, Alec paused. “Are you’re feeling okay?”
No, she wanted to scream. “I’m good,” she answered instead, as she stared straight forward because if Alec saw her face, he’d know she was far from good. She felt naïve, used, totally stupid, and utterly heartsick, but she didn’t want to share any of those feelings with him. Alec could always read her moods better than anyone, probably because they spent so much of their childhood communicating silently out of absolute necessity. She used to love that about their relationship, but not so much now.
When Alec opened the door to a black nondescript car, she slid into the seat and Alec followed her.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked, leaning forward, his elbows balanced on his knees.
“Pizza,” she answered, her voice flat and unconvincing.
“Really?”
She didn’t want pizza. She’d lost her appetite the minute she spotted Cam with Anna, but Alec loved pizza, so it was a good choice. Good or bad and everything in between, it didn’t matter to Alec as long as the pizza had cheese, bread and sauce. “Yep,” she said nodding.
Alec pulled his phone out of his pocket, searching for a nearby pizza joint. He barked an address to the driver and then leaned back against the cool gray leather seats.
“So how’s Cam treating you?” Alec asked as he adjusted the volume of the music. Alec liked absolute silence after performing. He never explained why, and she didn’t pretend to understand. It was his thing.
“He’s been nice,” she said, her voice empty and emotionless. She didn’t want to talk about Cam right now when she’d been blindsided ten minutes ago. She needed to process what she saw and what it meant.
“Yeah,” Alec said. “I think he’s finally getting his shit together. After Bre, he kind of imploded and when the band hit it big, he dove head first into every temptation he could get his hands on and did some dumb shit.”
She nodded noncommittally. “I think he’ll be fine. He’s better now.” But what did she know about Cam. After what had happened tonight, she’d say absolutely nothing except that he might be a world-class player and she didn’t mean that in a nice way. She took a deep breath, telling herself to give Cam a chance to explain. She owed him that even if her first inclination was to run away from the potential pain. She was better than that. Running wouldn’t get her anywhere.
Alec tapped his hands against his thighs to an imaginary beat. He’d been doing it since they were kids and the habit had rubbed off on her. For Alec, it usually meant he had something to say and right now she was afraid of what it could be. She couldn’t answer any questions about Cam right now when the vision of that woman wrapped around him was permanently burned into the back of her eyelids.
The car stopped in front of a small pizza shop and Alec tossed the driver a couple twenties and a whispered a few words. “The driver’s going to run in and grab a couple slices. We’ll eat in the car.”
“Afraid of a bunch of fan girls lurking in the darkness?”
Alec laughed. “A little. They can be ferocious when they want something.”
“I think you’d be fine. You have a way of scaring away unwanted visitors.” Alec had a soft heart, but nobody knew that except her. He looked cold and dark, but it was just a mask.
Alec snorted and then turned to face her. “So…” Alec said.
“So?” she said back.
“I noticed Cam looking at you from the stage today.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.” She buried her hands in the folds of her skirt. She hoped the driver came back with their pizza within the next few minutes because she'd like to skip this conversation.