Page 58 of Best Man on Campus

“Fuck.” That’s not what I want to see.

“Don’t worry,” Kace says. “He’ll get over it. You know him. He’s tough-skinned.”

“He’ll think the worst and he won’t even be close,” I say.

“True.”

We go down to eat dinner and I’m not in the mood, but I haven’t eaten all day and the last thing I need is to stop taking care of myself. Shit. I eat and let the conversation carry on around me about our opponent in the first round of the Frozen Four. Minnesota.

“They’re no cake walk,” Stone says, he’s looking at me. “You ready for this, Captain?”

He’s questioning me because he can see, like probably everyone in the room because they have two eyes, that I’ve been preoccupied.

“I am. I haven’t worked my ass off for the last four years to go out with anything less than the trophy.” He nods, satisfied, because I manage to infuse some real passion in my words, it’s all true and I need to deal with the rest of my life besides Jazzy.

Finishing early, I nod at Kace and tell him to meet me at my car in an hour. I need to nudge Dr. with an email to let him know I need his recommendation by the end of the week for my med school applications. Then I stare at my cell phone, on the fence about calling Jazzy, and decide to text her.

Thinking of u hope ur rested & feelin ok

I want 2 see u-- 2morro?

I hit send and stare at my phone for so long waiting for a response that I jump when Kace knocks on the door and walks in.

“Ready to go?”

* * *

We’re early, but not early enough to talk to the band before they start playing, so we sit at a table and nurse a couple of beers, waiting for their break. They’re not bad, but they’re not good. Their lead singer doesn’t cut it. Not compared to Jazzy. Kace is into his phone, texting with someone. I don’t bother asking, knowing it’s some girl I probably don’t know. He juggles several at a time and I have no idea how he does it. But I do know why.

He told me once he let the special one get away. His high school sweetheart. He still has a picture of her on his phone though I talked him out of keeping her as his screen saver.

“Sorry,” he says, looking up from his phone, smiles like he’s far from sorry.

“Which girl is it this week? Lara?”

“Nah. She’s just a friend.”

“Phoebe?”

“No. No one you know.” There’s a look in his eye that makes me think whoever it is is someone special. But I don’t ask him because the band finally tells us they’re taking a break and I jump to my feet like I’m a fan. Kace follows me as we catch up with the leader, a guy who looks like he’s in his late forties. I approach him.

“Hi, you’re Joel, right? I’m Ben Weaver and this is Kace Jennings. We drove up from St. Paul University to talk to you about something if you have a minute?” I smile, keeping my voice pleasant and nonthreatening.

“What’s this all about? I swear we have nothing to do with the girls at St. Paul—”

“No, it’s nothing like that. No trouble. Just looking for some information about a dude you played with a while back.”

“You talking about Killian O’Leary?” His face shuts down and he looks tighter than a vault, tense and hard. “You undercover cops? Private dicks?” His two bandmates close in to stand at his sides, equally unfriendly expressions on their faces aimed at me.

“No, nothing like that. I’m… a friend of Jazzy Romano.”

It’s as if I threw a switch because their faces went from defensive anger to real and genuine sadness in an instant. Joel looks me over again and has mercy on me.

“Come on into the back room.” I follow him and Kace follows me. His two bandmates head out the back door as they light up cigarettes. It’s another back room in another bar like the one at Wildbeast Pizza, only bigger and filthier. He sits on the edge of a desk and I stand with Kace inside the door.

“Mind if I smoke? It’s a bad habit, but what the fuck. You never know when your time’s up, right? Look at what happened to our friend Killian.”

“What did happen?” I say. “What did Sarah have against him?”