“It had to be him?” Brett asked with a frustrated sigh. “Of course! Every girl in this town is into that guy! You are no exception.”
“You don’t like him?”
“I don’t know him personally enough to like him. And I don’t like the rumors about the mischief he left behind in this town before he left a couple of years ago.”
“Maybe you just have to get to know him.”
“You sleeping together yet? Of course, what a stupid question! You live in his house!” Brett said, rolling his eyes.
“That’s where you’re wrong. He’s not as fast as you accuse him of being. In fact, he’s a perfect gentleman. So no. I haven’t slept with him… yet.” I had to add that last bit. Because I couldn’t lie to Brett and mislead him into thinking that nothing would ever happen between Nick and me. Because I knew with the fondness we have for each other, and the passion that ignites between us when we kiss and touch, we’re headed toward the avenue of oblivion sooner or later.
When we reached their table, Nick and Brett shook each other’s hands, looking at each other with serious expressions on their faces. Then Nick gave him a conceding nod, which seemed to make Brett relax.
I looked at Terry, raising my brow and giving her a look that wanted to ask, do guys speak to each other telepathically?
In return, Terry shrugged and the look she gave me said, I have no idea!
Then I realized, Shoot! Girls do it too!
I sat beside Nick and Brett went backstage to prepare for their next set. Terry excused herself to go to the bathroom before the band started playing. Nick and I were left at the table by ourselves.
“I assumed you told him about us,” Nick whispered to me.
I nodded. “He said one wrong move and he’ll slit your throat.”
Nick laughed. “He’s capable of being violent?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really know. So I think we’re just gonna have to take his word for it, right?”
“Okay. I’ve been warned,” he said, amusement all over his face. His hand crept up to the back of my neck and he gave it a gentle massage. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting you anyway.”
“Men are not always wired to be sensitive about women’s emotions. You know that.”
“True. But that does not mean we can’t try, right? Just to make sure we get it right,” he said. Then he took a deep breath. “Speaking of that. There’s something that happened between us that we still haven’t spoken about.”
I raised a brow at him. “What?”
“The last time we were here, I waited for you so we could go home, and then you ended up sleeping over at Brett’s.”
Oh! That night he flirted with a bimbo and I went berserk. How could I forget?
I looked away from him. I couldn’t get mad at Nick for the things that happened before we started dating. He said he already had a thing for me that time, but back then, I refused to see that anyone can see through the armor I’ve been wearing.
“It’s okay, I acted like a jealous girlfriend. I’m sorry,” I admitted, feeling shameful about the way I behaved when I had absolutely no right to do so.
Nick chuckled. “And I was so happy with your reaction. I just didn’t expect you to run off with Brett. That kept me up all night in frustration. It was like, I was so close but you still remained unreachable.”
“If you wanted me, then why were you flirting with other girls?”
He shook his head. “That girl was Hana. She’s a sister of Nathan. Remember him? From the basketball game we had?”
I nodded.
“Well, I saw her outside and we had a chat. As soon as I saw you coming out, I told her to pretend we were flirting.”
My eyes widened. “Why did you do that?”
He shrugged. “I know. That was tasteless. But you know if the guy was desperate, he could do some things he wouldn’t be proud of. We spent the day chasing each other. Well, you running away from me and me looking all over town for you. When I found you and we hugged, I felt something change in you that day, as if you were warming up to me. All that frustration made me greedy. I wanted to get more reaction from you. I thought, if I got you jealous, that would tell me for sure that you were developing feelings for me—like a girl liking a boy.
“When you got mad seeing me with Hana, I was so happy. I was ready to take it up a notch, make it up to you when we got home. But I ended up going home alone, and looking for a sledgehammer to hit my head with all night, frustrated that my genius plan backfired. And it got me worried too. I know you weren’t over the nightmares yet. I was mad at myself because in the middle of the night, you’d be alone to face the shadows inside your head and I couldn’t be there for you, couldn’t do anything to help you.”
I smiled at him, touched at how he genuinely cared for me even in the past. I was also happy to know that he didn’t flirt with that girl because he was the playboy that I originally thought he was. Not good that he staged it all to make me jealous, but I admired that he had the courage to admit it to me now, no matter how bad it made him feel.
“I’m sorry I ran away from you that night. Please try to be patient with me sometimes. I am a work in progress since I’m new to seriously dating someone. And I act out of stupid emotions instead of logic once in a while. Please try to bear with me.”
He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Always, kitten. You didn’t have to ask.” Then he gently kissed my temple.
I smiled to myself. I didn’t care at all that we were at Rhythemes where almost all people knew me before as Ken Clarke, the androgynous man-hater. It felt right being with Nick. I have nothing to hide and definitely nothing to be ashamed of.
“Clarke, can we have you on the stage, please?” I heard Bailey say on the stage.
I stared at Nick, rolling my eyes.
He laughed and said, “Go do what you do best. And I’ll be here, warding off the wolves who will try to steal you from me.”
I went up the stage with a blush on my face. Nick saying that showed me that he thought I belong to him and we belong together. Him, showing a hint of possessiveness with me—here at Rhythemes—made me feel that he was proud to be seen with me. As if he couldn’t wait to show everybody that we are with each other now.
When I stepped on the stage, the crowd cheered. I heard a lot of gasps, mostly from the girls. And I wanted to kill Bailey for making my transformation very public. Then he strummed his guitar and two chords in, I knew exactly what he was playing. It was the song by The Killers—"Mr. Brightside.”
He had to choose a song with difficult drum work. I held on to Brett’s drum sticks tightly. I felt the familiar texture in my hands, felt the beat take over my body. I closed my eyes for a second, and at the right time I hit the cymbals, the song just took over. Again, I was one with the band, one with the music.
The band and the crowd at Rhythemes soon realized that no matter what I clothes I wore, or how I styled my hair, I’m still me.
I’m still Ken Clarke.