My whole body jolted. “What? That pea-brained, coattail-riding little shit? He wouldn’t know how to compose a grocery list, let alone a note.”
Gretchen shrugged like I had a minute ago. “Not my business. Things locked inside.” She acted out locking her mouth with a key.
“Why are you telling me this? I thought you didn’t trust me.” The last time I was around her, she had given me a definite look. In fact, I think she’d even whispered a not-so-thinly-veiled threat.
“I don’t trust you, but I trust Roderick Chagny less.”
“Something tells me you don’t trust men,” I said.
She pulled from her beer bottle. “What have you done to deserve it? As a species, men are wholly disappointing.”
This was a woman scorned for sure.
“Men have done some good things,” I said. “We helped make the population.”
“Barely.”
I shook my head with a laugh. Then remembered. “Fucking Chagny.” I gripped the edge of the bar, wishing I could rip it off and throw it out the window.
“He says he wants to take care of my girl.” Gretchen rolled her eyes.
“He wants what she can get him and that’s money. That’s all anybody in the industry cares about.” My voice was low, mostly to myself, but I was sure she heard.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Him showing up right now? Right when she’s getting attention.” She shook her head and lowered her voice. “Deep down, she has to know he isn’t the author of those notes. Kim is smart, but she’s also fragile. She clings to them so desperately. I’m not here to take something away from her that brings her comfort. My only concern is that she’ll listen to anything Roddy says because he represents safety to her.”
We both drifted our focus to Kim. She danced with the other girls, her hair flowing around her as she line-danced across the floor. Happiness was written all over her face.
“You’re going to have to tell her one day,” Gretchen finished.
I licked my dry lips. My Adam’s apple sat too high in my throat. “Why’s that?”
“It’s written all over your face, how much you feel for her.”
“You can’t see my face,” I said.
“You should know I’m wise beyond my years. All us girls in the SWS have experienced things that aged us too young. We can see right through the bullshit. Actually, most women can.” She took another drink. “Unless we aren’t ready to.”
“That’s my fear.” My heart hammered into my throat admitting this. “I don’t think Kim is ready to hear the things I have to tell her. I don’t want her to be swayed for the wrong reasons. She should come to her own conclusions, in her own time.” I couldn’t look at her friend while I spoke but couldn’t stop the words from coming out either.
She nodded. “She isn’t ready. She’s living with too much fear. But she can’t do anything without all the facts.”
My heart sunk. I knew that Kim was attracted to me. I was ravenous for her. If we gave into those surface feelings, the intensity of what I really felt for her might push her away. Her feelings would never deepen. I realized that now, talking to her best friend.
I needed to gather myself and double down on the music. Let us get to the showcase. Let her see what she was completely capable of and then tell her everything. For now, I had to be patient.
“You need to be honest with her,” Gretchen said. “Or I will introduce you to my collection of bats.”
“Noted,” I said.
Even if I could never have Kim in my life at the level I wanted, at least I knew she’d be taken care of.
“Just so you know. It’s totally obvious when you’re smiling,” she said before pushing off the bar and rejoining her friends.
Chapter 27
Stop when you are done, not when you are tired.
KIM
