“She’s probably just preoccupied with school…work.” Me.
Denny looked over at me like he’d forgotten I was there. Guess he hadn’t meant to say all of that out loud. He rarely aired their problems directly to me. I wasn’t sure if that was out of respect for Kiera, or out of fear that I might somehow take advantage of the chinks in their armor. Normally I would tell him that I’d never go there, I’d never hurt him like that…but I already had. I’d already fucked everything up, so I didn’t offer him any meaningless assurances. It was the least I could do.
Giving me a smile that still looked sad, he said, “Yeah, well, I’ll be glad when her sister gets here. Maybe hanging out with family will help.”
I could only nod. God, I was such a bastard. I should stop hanging out with Kiera. I should stop testing the limits of our relationship. I should stop dreaming about her, thinking about her, hoping for a future with her. There was no future there. Stealing her away, which I would never actually be able to do, would kill Denny. And I loved him too.
Not knowing what to tell him, I said, “Yeah, we picked a dance club to take her to. It should be fun.”
Denny tilted his head and his dark eyes narrowed. “We? Kiera told me that she found a spot she thought Anna would like. You helped?”
I could see the unasked question in his eyes and I immediately started backpedaling. I should never have lumped Kiera and me together. We weren’t a “we.” “I was standing there when she asked Griffin.” That was almost true. I had asked Griffin where we should take Anna, but Denny didn’t need to know that. I gave him a playful, mischievous smile. “You don’t want to know where he first suggested taking her.”
The suspicion softened in his eyes as he smiled. “I can only imagine.” He laughed. With one last glance upstairs, he sighed and said, “I’m gonna be late. Catch ya later, mate.”
“Bye, Denny.” I laid my head on the table after he left. I am a horrible, horrible person.
When Kiera came back downstairs, I was in the living room, looking at a program running on the TV but not really seeing it. Kiera laughed as she joined me on the couch. Pointing to the TV, she said, “Sienna Sexton? I didn’t realize you were a fan.”
I finally tuned in to what was playing—a documentary on the biggest pop star on the planet. Finding the remote, I shut it off. “I’m not,” I told her with a smile. My grin slipped as guilt washed over me. “You missed Denny leaving. He told me to tell you goodbye.”
Kiera’s expression went from amused to horrified. “Oh…” She looked down, and seemed unsure what to do with that information. Join the club.
She was a good person, and the paradox bothered her, which made me feel even worse. Even when I tried to do the right thing, I hurt her. All of this was so strange, complicated, and painful. I wished I could have her and avoid all the tangled bits, but that wasn’t my reality. I grabbed her hand and interlaced our fingers, reaffirming our profound connection. This was our reality, and I would hold on to it. Kicking and screaming if I had to.
We held each other after that, until finally it was time for us to begin our day. The afternoon went normally enough; I took her to school, picked her up afterward, took her home, and then helped her study. I took her to work, then met up with the guys for rehearsal. After fine-tuning some of our songs, the lot of us descended on Pete’s for some liquid refreshments. A pretty typical day.
Leaning back in my chair, I listened as Matt told me about how his grandpa wanted to come up for the holidays, but he hated to fly. Pointing over at Griffin, Matt said, “The rocket scientist over there told him he should drive.”
I shrugged. That didn’t sound completely unreasonable to me, but by the smirk on Matt’s face, there was a catch. “Let me guess, he doesn’t own a car?”
Matt’s smile grew. “Oh no, he does. It’s parked in his garage. In his house. On Maui.”
Griffin scowled as Matt and I started laughing. “What? There’s gotta be a ferry or some shit like that that he could take. Hawaii isn’t that far away.” Griffin grinned. “Maybe he could sign up for a singles cruise. Get lei’d while he’s getting laid.”
Matt made a disgusted face while I laughed even more. Griffin might actually be onto something with that last suggestion. Well, minus the getting laid, of course. Unless his grandpa wanted to. He was related to Griffin as well as Matt, so he could be randy as all get out. The thought gave me a shiver and I looked around the bar to clear the image of Griffin’s personality in an old man’s body.