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It hit Natalie where she knew him from. He’d been talking to Sienna after her gig, when Natalie had been hovering, waiting for a chance to talk to her.
Maybe he was her boyfriend?
Natalie was no body language expert, but Sienna gracefully slid out of her grasp, moving a few feet over to talk to the bartender and get their drinks rather than waiting for him to come back to her.
Once again, Natalie was questioning her reaction to this. What did it matter if they were together or not? It was none of Natalie’s business.
* * *
An hour later, they were both ready to call it a night, and Natalie just realized that she had her car with her. Sienna mentioned that she was within walking distance of her apartment, but she’d gone to the restroom now, so Natalie went up to the bar and found a few business cards for taxis left in the corner.
She dialed the first two numbers, but there was no answer, and when it started getting louder in the bar with some of the people coming in from the back, she slid on her jacket, getting ready to go outside, to try the last number she had.
As Sienna was coming back from the restroom, Caleb tried to talk to her, his hands on her waist as he attempted to stop her.
Natalie thought about interfering, her jaw tight, but she reminded herself that it really wasn’t her business and stepped outside, the air instantly cooler as she dialed the last number.
A man answered in a gruff voice as if she’d just woken him up, and when she asked about a taxi, he said he was out of town tonight and hung up.
Sienna emerged, her guitar case on her back, the noise flooding out of the bar before the door closed again, her cheeks flushed. “Get a taxi?”
“No. I can’t believe I really thought I would just have two drinks.”
Sienna flashed her a smile. “That was entirely my fault, but I can offer you a couch.”
Voices drifted out as the door opened again, a shout rising above the clinking of bottles and laughter. “Just do it, Caleb! You got this!”
Natalie watched a wobbly Caleb come outside, on his own, his eyes locked on Sienna.
“Sienna, you know how I feel,” Caleb said, in what sounded like a continuation of a conversation they’d already been having. He sounded somewhere between exasperated and heartbroken.“I’m asking you one last time.”
“Please don’t,” Sienna said with a sigh. “You know what the answer’s going to be.”
Natalie wanted to start walking towards Sienna’s apartment, to give them some privacy, but she had no idea which way it was, and part of her didn’t want to leave Sienna alone.
Caleb staggered as he turned so that he was facing both of them. His eyes moved between them. “You know there’s rumors about you, Sienna,” he said to her.
“Caleb, I don’t care what people say about me.”
“You might not,” he said, pointing his finger at her now. “But I know you’re not stupid. You’ll never get to Nashville if there’s even a chance that you’re a dyke.”
Natalie flinched, but Sienna’s gaze turned cold, her fists balled at her side, and she felt this strange sense of protectiveness take over, nearly stepping between Sienna and Caleb before something could happen, but she kept herself from potentially making things worse, biting her tongue as she waited to see what Sienna would do next.
“Where is this sudden fascination with my sexuality coming from?” Sienna asked.
“Because we’re perfect,” Caleb fired back. “Everybody thinks so. Especially your parents.”
“And because I don’t want you, I’m gay? Is that it? Get over yourself, Caleb.” Sienna shook her head as she turned to Natalie. “Let’s go.”
Natalie fell into step beside Sienna, not looking back, not entirely sure what to make of what had just happened, but her heart was pounding in her chest.
10
Sienna unlocked her apartment door, flicking on the lights before propping her guitar up beside the coat rack in the corner. She extended her hand to Natalie as she shrugged out of her leather jacket, and Sienna hung it up for her.
They’d hardly spoken on the way home. Sienna had stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets as they made the short walk here. She felt awful. Some terrible combination of fury and embarrassment coursing through her veins.
She hung her jacket up, wishing Natalie hadn’t witnessed that. The only positive was that no one else had. The sidewalk had been empty.
