Love Struck (Miss Match #2) (24 page)

Andy put up a hand as if in protest. “I know you said we’d have time to get it later, but you don’t know how hard it is to find something perfect. And there could be alterations and that can take a few weeks. We have to do it now.”

“Fine. I’m in.”

“We won’t spend—” Andy halted. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You mean you’re not arguing with me?”

“No, I’m not. Sheesh, Andy, I don’t
always
argue with you.” So maybe she mostly did. That’s what younger sisters were for.

For the second time that cab ride, Andy opened her mouth and closed it again before speaking. “No. You don’t. In fact, there’s a whole lot of times I imagine you swallow what you really want to tell me. Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“Not nearly as recently as you should have.”

Andy patted Lacy’s thigh as the cab pulled up to their destination. “I love you, Lacypants. Now let’s go find a dress.”

Lacy smiled as her sister paid the driver. This was fine. Andy would learn to love Jax the same way Lacy had learned—er, was learning—to love Blake. Which reminded her—“What if we find the perfect dress? Won’t Tim be upset that he didn’t have a say in our choice?” At least picking out a dress in Baltimore instead of Boston kept her from having to deal with the man’s histrionics.

“Oh, no worries there. I, uh”—Andy kept her eyes at her feet—“brought my iPad. Okay, then, let’s go!” She headed toward the store entrance.

“Andy!” It was funnier than she’d ever admit to see her strong, bullheaded sister so cowed. Still better the iPad than having the man in person to cow her too. “Okay”—Lacy trotted to catch up—“but lunch is on you. And it’s going to be crab. I know a cool bar.”

*   *   *

Sammy pulled on the door of the back entrance, making sure it was secure. “Okay, I think we got all the doors locked. I had to move the bus from the loading zone so it’s across the street in the public parking lot. Follow me.”

The roadie took off at a surprisingly fast pace for someone with such short legs. Eli looked at Jax, who just shrugged. “Guess we’re following her.”

“Guess so.” Jax started after her.

Eli matched his leisurely pace. He so rarely got to hang with his friend these days. Maybe they could spend the afternoon together. Do lunch. Catch an afternoon show. Spend a little time remembering all the reasons they were friends, and not just bandmates.

Eli was just about to suggest it when Jax stopped walking and glanced behind them. “What happened to the girls?”

“You mean Lacy and Andy?” They’d left the minute they’d come down from the catwalk, nearly half an hour ago now. Jax could be so clueless. “They had some other plans in town, I guess.”

At the mention of them, Eli wondered what they were doing. Wondered if Lacy was forcing her sister into a crab shack or if she had taken him up on the idea of exploring the Poe House.

He hoped it wasn’t the latter. He wanted to show her that himself.

And when would he do that? On their next trip to Baltimore? No, there was no
their.
God, why was that so hard to remember?

Jax stepped off the curb and into the crosswalk. “Too bad. She’s kinda adorable.”

Eli was glad his sunglasses hid his eye roll. “She’s engaged.”

“Lacypants is engaged?”

“No. I thought you meant her sister.” Actually, he
wished
that Jax meant Andy. He didn’t like the idea that other people realized the awesomeness of Lacy like he did, unfair and unreasonable as that idea was.

“Nah, the sister’s not my type. But Lacy…” Jax trailed off, his eyes dreamy as his mind drifted with the thought. “She’s got a great ass too. Had a great view as she was coming down that ladder. Nice.”

Guess Jax didn’t miss much after all.

“Yeah, she’s something.” Because what else could he say? The adjectives he could use to describe their newest tour member would fill at least a page of his spiralbound notebook. Maybe even the whole notebook, if he let his mind get carried away. And
great ass
would not be anywhere on the first page. Though it would probably be in the first five.

Lacy
did
have a great ass.

They’d reached the other side of the street by the time Jax spoke again. “Hey, you’re not interested in her, are you? Because if not…”

Eli couldn’t bring himself to say he wasn’t interested. He was very interested. He just wasn’t allowed to be interested. Their decision to be friends prevented that. And Lacy had her own interest—namely Jax.

And since he knew that Lacy was into Jax, he had to encourage the relationship. It was the honorable thing to do, no matter how much it pained him. He loved his friend, annoyed as he could get, and Lacy—well, she deserved more than his two-timing heart. It was only right to allow them to be happy together. “If you like her, you should go for it.”

Eli wasn’t honorable enough, though, to not qualify his statement. Or maybe he was exactly that honorable. “Just don’t be a dick about it, Jax. Lacy’s not the kind of girl you can fuck and forget.” He happened to know this from experience.

Jax eyed his friend. “You’re talking like you’re into her, bro. Say the word and I’ll keep my hands off. Though, you know, the Groupie Clause says sharing’s acceptable.”

Eli’s hand clenched instinctively into a fist at his side. Not that he’d ever actually punch Jax, but it felt good to pretend he might. “She’s not a groupie, ass. She’s a coworker. And because of that you need to show her a little respect. While we’re on this tour, she’s practically a member of the band.”

“Good point. Maybe I’ll wait until after the tour to hit that, then.”

“Sometimes you’re such an asshole.” Suddenly Eli wasn’t interested in lunching with his old friend, with reconnecting. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to ride with him back to the hotel.

Jax climbed the steps of the bus then turned back. Spreading his arms in a this-is-who-I-am stance, he said, “It’s called charisma, Eli. You don’t recognize it because you don’t see it when you look in the mirror.”

“Full of yourself much?” Now Eli was sure he didn’t want to ride with Jax. The hotel was only five minutes away—he could walk it. It probably took longer in traffic than on foot. But that would be out and out rude at this point, so he followed up into the vehicle.

Then, when Jax ignored his usual backseat sprawl to sit by the others, Eli felt obliged to take the spot in front of him. At least Jax was trying to be social. The two hadn’t had a conversation that didn’t revolve around a song or the tour for months. The least Eli could do was meet him halfway.

But he wouldn’t connect by talking about Lacy anymore. He waited until the bus had lurched out of the parking lot and was on the road. “Can I ask you something, Jax?”

“Dude, it’s big. That’s all I’m going to tell you.”

“What? Are you twelve?” Eli groaned. “I don’t want to know about your dick.”

Jax laughed. “My dick? I was talking about my vocal range. Where’s your mind?”

“Ass.” Eli shook his head. He deserved it, though, since he’d fallen for Jax’s setup.

“Anyway”—Jax angled himself so his back was to the window—“what did you want to ask?”

Eli bit back his irritation and asked the question that had been itching at his mind since the beginning of the tour. “Where do you go every night after the show?”

Jax’s jaw tightened. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious.” Even more curious now that Jax seemed so opposed to answering. They used to tell each other everything. He wasn’t even sure who’d stopped first.

“Where do
you
go every night? Like clockwork you head out of the green room thirty minutes after curtain.” It wasn’t unusual for Jax to turn the tables.

Eli was prepared for that. He got that he often had to give in order to get with Jax. He also knew the art of disclosing only enough information to seem like he was being fully open. “I have an online thing I’ve gotten into.”

“Like a hookup site?”

“Something like that.” Eli cleared his throat. “Your turn. You used to always mingle with the fans. Have a drink”—
or seven
—“at the venue bar. Now you disappear. Where do you go?”

Jax pinned his gaze out the window across the aisle. “Nowhere, really. I have some girls I know in some towns and I hook up with them. Mostly, I wander. Sometimes I check out another bar. Sometimes I just end up walking.”

There was nothing wrong with Jax’s answer. Nothing that would seem out of place with any typical artist-type. But the lead singer of the Blue Hills was not a typical artist. He was more spotlight and less streetlight. And what was with his monologue on the catwalk about wanting to be a backstage type rather than a performer? That had seemed rather out of character.

Eli suddenly felt cold worry along the back of his neck. “Are you okay, Jax?”

“I’m fine.” It was obvious he didn’t want Eli to pry.

But the last time Jax hadn’t wanted people to pry, Eli hadn’t. And he’d regretted it. He’d never stop regretting it. So now he was prying whether Jax wanted it or not. “That’s not like you, dude. You love hanging out with the crowd. You thrive on their energy.” There was no way Jax wasn’t into that anymore. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I said I’m fine,” Jax snapped. He turned to sit forward in his seat. “You know what you do, Eli? You put me in a box. You think you know who I am or what I want. You don’t have a fucking clue.”

Before Eli could say anything in response, Jax stood and moved to the back of the bus.

Eli didn’t go after him. He didn’t even look back. There wasn’t anything to be said, really. And if Jax wanted to be alone, then so be it.

Wasn’t that how it always went anyway? Jax getting exactly what he wanted?

Or maybe he was just being pissy so he could avoid recognizing that the people he put in boxes included himself.

Chapter Nineteen

“They encored me! Can you even? I can’t even. This is A Best Night Ever!”

Darrin’s delighted laughter on the other end of the phone warmed Lacy even more. Hearing his voice almost overwhelmed her with homesickness, but the elation she felt from this show kept her from examining that too closely.

“I’m stoked for you, Lace, but I can’t say I’m surprised. About time more people started noticing you. Soon you won’t even remember me anymore.”

“Are you pouting, D?” She grinned into the phone and flopped on the couch in the makeshift green room. Good thing they hadn’t kept looking for it earlier. She and Jax never would have found the part-closet, part-bathroom with a curtain, part-lounge tucked beneath—not behind—the stage.

“I’m pouting.”

“I’ll be back before you know it, and you’ll wish I was gone again.” She kicked her feet in the air. Too much energy for the couch, she hopped up. She could faintly hear the Blue Hills launching into “Godric’s Hollow,” and started to dance a little.

“Never. But while you are on tour, are you using the crowds to get reactions to your new material? God, I wish I could be there to catch some debuts.” This was exactly why she hadn’t been calling Darrin, giving herself a brief respite from the weight of her lies. But right now, she could be completely honest. For once. She gave an extra little shimmy-shake.

“I debuted a new one tonight. It’s what got the encore,” she said proudly as she continued to sway to the music. Wow, that felt good. Honesty only sucked when you didn’t like what you had to say. Of course, she wasn’t going to mention that this was the first new one she’d played on tour. Nor was she going to mention that it wasn’t even finished—she simply repeated the one verse and chorus and added an instrumental bridge to make the song feel complete. Still, lies of omission were almost no big deal at all compared to the whoppers she’d
been
telling.

“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. Go celebrate. But when you come home, don’t think you’re getting out of a champagne party with me.” Although that opened up a little can of worms as to why she’d confided in a stranger instead of him. For the first time, Lacy considered that maybe this whole thing wouldn’t have spiraled as it had if she’d only been honest with her boss from the get-go.

“I’ve told you, D, adding Sprite to your boxed wine does not equal champagne. But I’ll still take you up on it. Love you!” They hung up and she twirled around the room, blessedly not smacking anyone this time.

This was the most amazing feeling. Perfect strangers had liked her music enough to ask for more. Not her old fans, or people she knew. Total strangers. This was the whole reason she’d started writing music, started performing. The only problem with this perfect moment was that now she was off the phone, there really wasn’t anyone to share it with.

Andy had to leave the minute Lacy’s set was over, catching a red-eye back to Boston. Jax/Folx was onstage right now, and from the sounds of the audience, killing it himself tonight. Sammy had given her a noogie and gone back to watching
Orange Is the New Black
on her iPad while waiting for tear down. Lou was off wooing a potential new client, some kid he’d seen on YouTube. It was weird to be lonely, surrounded by so many people. She flopped down on the sofa again, suddenly less ecstatic than she’d been earlier.

But—it was the special-est of occasions. So she allowed herself to do the thing that if Andy had been here, would get her pulled from the tour.

Pulling her cell from the inner pocket of her guitar case, she took a deep breath. And called the number she’d always know by heart. The number she’d called so many times this year. The number her sister had once found her redialing over and over, sobbing herself hoarse on the same bathroom floor she’d found him on.

Lance’s voicemail came on and her eyes filled with tears as the familiar sound of him came on the line. Something was different this time as she hung up, though. The tears weren’t so much about missing him as they were about missing her old self, the self that had left a hundred messages for the man she thought she knew. Lacy blew her nose and tuned back in to the sounds floating down from the stage.

She was still in that pensive mood when the boys came offstage. Jax threw himself down next to her. Eli sent her a smile before Lou dragged him off to talk to the new protégé. The other guys headed to their usual beer and argument over who was better that night.