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Trine
Itake a taxi to the venue so I can get my car. I don’t want to be in this hotel anymore. The sooner I can get out of here the better. I don’t want to have to look at his stupid face.
I don’t want to have to look at any of them.
I don’t care that I’m wearing the same clothes that I wore last night. I don’t think I’m going to bump into anyone here because it’s early, but Dev is around, leaning against his car as he takes long drags from his vape pen.
I wave at him and he waves back. I’m hoping he’ll see that I don’t want to talk, but I’m not that lucky. He closes the space between us, flashing me a huge smile. Dev is about a head taller than me, with wavy black hair and dark blue eyes. He always wears steel toed boots and band t-shirts, and he’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. "So," he says. "How was your night?"
I roll my eyes. "The night was fine," I say, grabbing my keys from the pocket of my jacket. "The morning was a nightmare. Don’t you ever go home?"
He looks up, and I follow his gaze to the second story of the venue. "Rosalyn rented me the space downstairs," he says. "So I live here now."
"Oh, shit. I’m sorry."
He laughs. "No, don’t be," he says. "I mean, it’s weird, but rent is cheap. I don’t have to deal with my insane roommate, and the commute is great," he says. "Maybe I can save money to buy a house or something."
We both laugh at that.
"No, but seriously," he says. "What happened? He was so hot."
"I think I need time to process it," I say. "I thought…it doesn’t matter. There’s a reason I don’t do one-night stands anymore. Remind me never to do that again."
"Okay, but I’ll hold you to that," he says. He offers me his vape pen and I take a hit, feeling immediately grateful for him. "Do the girls know?"
"No, and they’re going to make it into a whole thing," I say. "Like…there’s a lot to this, and I don’t even know how to start untangling it. I don’t want to go back and have Bryony bombard me with questions, but she’s going to worry if I don’t go back to our apartment soon, and someone has to feed Dee Dee."
"Your cat can survive on dry food for a day, and I’m sure Bryony can feed him if he gets whiny," Dev says when I hand him the pen back. "Do you want to go get brunch and get day drunk instead?"
"That’s a possibility?"
"Of course it is," he says. "The only tax I demand are, you know, details."
I smile at him. "I love you, Dev," I say. "Seriously."
"I know, babe. I love you too. Let’s get an uber or something, huh?" he replies. "I want to get drunk too. I think Soco has bottomless mimosas on Sunday."
I smile. He’s making it sound casual, but I’m absolutely sure that Dev is certain that Soco has bottomless mimosas on a Sunday. He orders a car from his phone, tells me it’s going to take at least fifteen minutes, and we lean against his SUV and watch the sky get darker as we smoke weed.
It’s probably going to rain soon.
I close my eyes and sigh, slumping as I try to keep myself upright. "You know what really sucks about this?" I ask.
He turns to me, raising his eyebrows.
"He was so good," I say, groaning. "Like…holy shit, he knew exactly what he was doing. To the point where it could’ve been so easy to fall for him."
"What happened?" he asks. "You don’t have to give me the details, but I promise I won’t tell the girls if you do."
I chew the inside of my mouth. I don’t know how much I want to say. It’s not like I’ve ever hidden it, anyway, it just hasn’t really come up. And the band…they’re incredibly loyal. They’re the best people I’ve ever met, and they haven’t told anyone about it. Not even Dev. But I trust him, and it’s probably time I just start talking about this, mostly so I can get a sanity check.
Because this is fucking crazy. Just thinking about it is fucking crazy. "Do you remember a few years ago when we had a bunch of dates lined up for summer downtown and I couldn't play?"
"Vaguely," he says. "My memory sucks."
"Right, well, we told everyone it was for health reasons," I say. "And I mean, that was sort of true. Except it was because I had a bit of a breakdown and, you know…I ended up getting an exorcism."
He shakes his head. "Sorry, what?" he says softly. "I don’t think I heard you right."
