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That was a stretch of the word “works.” I didn’t want to argue with her anymore, but she had to know. “Mel, he brings them in, hanging on his arm.” She had to see where I was going with this.
“So?”
“Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
“I guess so, Asher because Alex has been nothing but kind and nice to me every time I’ve seen him.”
“He’s fucking them. A different one every time he comes in. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She gave me a pensive look and shook her head. “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying all this because I gave you a hard time about Lisa and her boobs. And besides, I don’t need you to worry about me. I don’t tell you who you can or can’t go out with.”
“That’s because I’m a guy.”
“Really? That’s your reasoning? You think you have the right to dictate my social life because you’re a guy? Just leave me the fuck alone.” She tugged the strap of her guitar case back up onto her shoulder and stormed off. This time, I let her go. I watched her for a few seconds, the cumbersome case bumping against her rear end as she stomped up the hill. I was tired. Too damn tired to fight, and I didn’twantto fight, not with Mel. I did think about going back inside the bar and decorating Alex’s face, though, but my exhaustion took hold. It had been a hellish day with the memorial and all. I looked forward to my pillow and closing my eyes.
I repositioned the strap of my own case on my shoulder and walked quickly up the hill, close behind Mel. She’d made me mad, but I didn’t want her walking through the neighborhood alone.
When she reached the apartment building we lived in, I’d practically caught up with her. I was close enough to catch the door before it slammed shut behind her. Good thing, since I’d forgotten my key this morning.
Mel and Erica lived across the hall from me. Mel had moved in with Erica shortly after I started my lease. We’d met Erica when Mel was helping me move in. They’d hit it off right away, and lucky for Mel, Erica had recently lost her roommate and was looking for a new one.
I gave Mel some space between us and let her walk up the steps ahead of me. I heard her apartment door squeak open and then close as I reached the top step of the stairs. The brownstone consisted of four apartments, two upstairs and two on the ground floor. I got to my place and turned the handle. I never locked my apartment door. I figured with the main one downstairs always locked, I didn’t really need to. I knew that Mel and Erica always locked theirs, though. The two renters downstairs were both guys a little older than us. They were friendly but kept mostly to themselves. Living in this building was more like living in a huge house, except everyone’s room had a sitting room and a kitchen. So it just seemed silly to me to lock the inside door.
I placed my guitar across the sofa and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. As I stood drinking and watching all the twinkling lights from my kitchen window that overlooked the city, I wanted to throw the glass into the sink and let it shatter into a million pieces. I hated fighting with Melody. She was right, though, I didn’t have any right to tell her who she could go out with. But damn it, I just didn’t like that guy. I’d spent too may nights up on stage, watching him play Don Juan with a different woman every time he was in the club. It turned my stomach to think of Mel being alone with him. She could have picked anyone else, and I’d have been fine with it. I just couldn’t stand by and let her go out with Alex. But, at the same time, I didn’t like this feeling I had about her and the way we were arguing about him either. I put the empty glass in the sink and headed to bed. I was beat. It had been a shitty day. I’d said goodbye to my mom forever, and then had a fight with my best friend over some creep.
Fuck.
It hit me again, then. I was alone in the world now. Spreading my mom’s ashes over the bay this evening solidified that reality for me. I didn’t want to lose Mel, too. My mom was gone. My mind drifted back to my dad. Mydad, well, he’d never really been around had he? But he was gone from this world, too. There were two other people I didn’t really like to think about that were still around. I’d always hated them. From the time I’d found out about them. Hated knowing they existed. I had two brothers, well, half-brothers. Fuck. My mom never talked about them, and it had been the last thing I wanted to bring up as she lay on her deathbed. And now that she was gone, I didn’t have anyone left to ask about them.
I shrugged out of my clothes and sank beneath the covers on my bed. It was still fairly early, but emotional exhaustion took hold and I closed my eyes, thinking about clever ways to apologize to Mel without giving up my quest to get her to see my side about what she’d be getting herself into with Alex.
I moaned at the jiggling pressure on my shoulder.
“Wake up. Why are you in bed anyway?” Mel’s urgent voice snapped into my ears, interrupting a very good dream.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s only nine o’clock. Why are you in bed already?”
I rubbed my eyes and looked at her all-too-perky face. “I was tired.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry, today was pretty rough.” She sat, making herself comfortable on the edge of my bed.
“Yeah, it was.” I sat up a little, letting the covers fall to my waist, exposing my naked chest.
Mel stood up, walked to my window and stared out. “You sleep naked?” she asked.
“No, I have boxers on. Why?”
She shook her head and continued to stare out the window.
“You’ve seen me in swim trunks. It’s basically the same thing.”
“I haven’t actually seen you in swim trunks for two summers. I spent most of last summer at my dad’s, remember? You’ve changed since then.”
I looked down at my torso. I guess my chest was a bit larger than it had been. I knew my arms were. Trips to the gym were now a daily routine for me. Or at least, I tried. Sometimes life…and death took precedence over bodybuilding.
“What are you doing here, Mel?” I pushed the covers off and got out of bed. She turned to face me and her eyes traveled down to my bare thighs and lingered there for a few seconds before they came back up to my face. “I thought you were mad at me.”
