“Because you’re not bragging about getting laid,” he said with a shrug.
Damn. I never thought about that, but he’s right. Pete was the only one of my guys who ever managed to get me to kiss and tell because he was usually the first one to see me in my morning-after stupor.
“It’s complicated.” I didn’t know what else to say. Teenage client turned adult. Juvie counselor turned sexy. It was fucking complicated as hell.
“Ahh, I see.” Pete stayed quiet the rest of the trip, but every now and then he’d peek at me in the rearview mirror with an all-knowing glance.
As he dropped me off, he called through the window, “Complicated or not, that girl is special.”
Ignoring him, I threw my hand up and waved. “Thanks for the ride. See you in a few weeks.”
“See ya, lover boy,” he winked, then tossed back his head and laughed.
“Lover boy?” Jeremy said, hitting me from behind. He clamped a firm hand on my shoulder and announced to Tommy, “Hey, Preacher. Lover boy here’s been holdin’ out on us.”
Preacher. I hadn’t heard that nickname in a long time. We called him that years ago when we found out his name was Tommy Bishop. With the hell-raising lifestyle he led, there was just some funny-as-shit irony in calling him Preacher, so the name stuck for a while.
“Holdin’ out, huh?” Tommy grinned, pumping his hips like the pervert that he was. “Which fine ass chick did you hold out on last night?”
A low boil of anger built up in the pit of my stomach, and I glowered at Tommy. “It wasn’t like that, okay,” I bit out, shoving past them to get to the bus.
“Damn, what’s his deal?” I heard Jeremy mumble under his breath to Tommy.
“Who the hell knows?” Tommy muttered, grabbing his bag off the ground as he boarded the bus.
Things were tense the first hour on the road. I sat with my pen and notebook on my lap, scrawling lyrics onto the paper as quickly as they came to me. Watching the trees blur past the windows, I’d felt a sudden burst of inspiration to write.
Knowing we had to get things right between us because we had another show in just a few short hours, I finally broke the silence. “Look. I spent some time with this girl last night.” I glanced out the window hoping the information I’d given them would be enough, but knowing, of course, it wouldn’t be.
“Fuck yeah. I knew it!” Jeremy punched Tommy on the shoulder. “So, how was she?”
Snapping my eyes back, I glared at Jeremy. “Shut up, man. It wasn’t like that.” I debated trying to explain Salem to them without fucking it up somehow, but I knew I couldn’t so I just said, “Look, it’s someone I knew a long time ago.”
They both looked at each other, confused. “Someone like Kaitlyn, you mean?” Jeremy asked.
“No. Different. She helped me… she helped me get through some tough shit.”
“Oh, I get it. Like a fuck buddy?”
“No,” Dammit. How do I explain this? I hesitated, knowing I was risking it big in taking shit for it. “As in… she was my counselor at Fairbanks.”
Tommy pursed his lips and covered his mouth. Jeremy snorted. Within seconds, they were both cackling like a couple of douchebags.
“Dude. What. The. Fuck?” Tommy managed to get the words out as he gasped for breath between his asinine guffaws. “You’re telling me… you slept with your… juvie counselor… last night?”
I pounded my fist on the armrest, which caused both of them to immediately stifle their laughter. “Hell no!” I glowered. “I already told you. It’s not like that, okay?”
With a grave look on his face, Jeremy conceded, “Oh shit. You’re serious?”
Glancing down at the pages of lyrics that had easily flowed from my head, through my pen, and onto the paper in the short time I’d been sitting there, I nodded.
“Damn,” Jeremy ran his hand through his hair. “So, that’s why you wanted to stay in the night after the concert. This chick’s got you all messed up.”
Glancing out the window, unsure of how to respond, I mumbled, “Something like that.” Only it didn’t feel messed up… it felt right. Very, very right.
“So, if you didn’t sleep with her, what did you do? Feed her dinner at four and change her Depends at eight?” Tommy snorted trying to keep a straight face. He couldn’t have a serious conversation if his life depended on it.
I smacked the back of Tommy’s head. “Dude, don’t be such a dick.”
“I’m just askin’,” he shrugged innocently like he had no idea what an asshole he was.