AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We got to the VIP lounge, and I was more than happy to pass Arianna off to Talia to babysit. I had a few drinks and chatted with Remi and Grey, who were getting a lot of attention in the lounge, even though there were other celebrities present.
There were too many invited band guests for us to watch from the stage wings, where it was complete chaos. There were so many bands playing, the sets were really short, and the crews were running around everywhere that we had to keep out of the way. We had pretty good floor seats for the show, which suited my bitter mood just fine.
I was tired, cranky, and pissed at Bash even if he didn’t do anything wrong. Really, I was angry at the situation, or maybe myself for getting caught up in it. I was pretending to have a good time watching the show, but that only made me more exhausted.
The other bands were mostly a blur. Ghost Parker was on last. Their set was only about 35 minutes long. Toward the end, Candace Collins surprised the crowd by joining them onstage. Ghost channeled a little Elvis Presley when he did a duet with her, singing Blue Christmas. Then they ended the show with the crowd favorite, Okay Babe.
Instead of looking for Bash after the show, I hopped into one of the cars with Kaylie, Sid, Summer, and Knox and went with them to the after-party at some club.
I tried not to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, but I was bummed. Bash was out on a date with some fan. We were supposed to be hanging out together tonight; the plan was to go back to my penthouse after the show since we were already downtown. Kody was staying overnight with Bash’s parents, so I’d been excited for a completely free night with Bash, with no worries about Kody waking up.
We’d been at the club for almost two hours and Bash still hadn’t shown up. I was miserable hanging out with all these couples who were so in love.
What the hell was I doing with Bash, anyway? Playing some kind of sick game of house with him. But we were together only on the weekends and I always traveled to his house, except for rare occasions like tonight. Not only was I getting inconveniently attached to Bash, but to his adorable son, too.
This charity win-a-date that he had tonight had ruined my entire night. It had swept me up in a jealous tailspin of need and insecurity. It was a warning of things to come. I needed to put some distance between us for my own sanity. Starting tonight.
As predicted, Kaylie didn’t last long. After she and Sidney said their goodbyes, I decided to leave, too. I kissed everyone goodbye and if they were surprised I was leaving, they didn’t show it. I’d almost made it to the exit when Ghost stopped me.
“Why are you taking off so early?”
Ghost was king of the disappearing act, so I didn’t know why he cared if I did.
“It’s been a long day.”
Now that we were out of the VIP section, he was getting noticed by the other club patrons.
“Keep me company while Grey and Remi are dancing.”
He was disarming up close when all his attention was focused on me. “I wouldn’t be good company tonight.”
He leaned against the wall. “I noticed you weren’t yourself tonight. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” My lips twitched. Ghost was trying to get me to talk to him about feelings? He really had changed.
He rubbed his chin. “Is it about Bash?”
God, he was so perceptive. “It’s more about me.”
He looked like he was digging around for something to say, but I stopped him before he strained his brain too much.
“Thank you, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’m a big girl. I’m heading home and you should get back to the VIP area before you get swarmed.”
Ghost glanced around and frowned. Half the city probably knew he was here now. “Yeah. Do you want me to tell Bash anything when he shows up?”
I didn’t have the energy to figure out what he was getting at. “No. There’s nothing meaningful between Bash and me. Just a few insignificant fucks.”
I left Ghost looking strangely stricken by my words. Why the fuck did he care? Why did I care? Why did I feel so out of control? Like I wanted to burn the world down?
I took a cab back to my building, but instead of going inside, I went to the small hole-in-the-wall bar down the block. I nursed a few drinks at the bar until closing time.
When I got to my penthouse, I wasn’t surprised to see Bash there. I could tell by his damp hair that he showered. That girl had probably draped herself all over him and he wanted to wash off the smell.
“You showered again?”
He frowned. “Nothing happened with that girl. I told you I would only be with you. Why did you leave so early?”
“I wasn’t in the mood.”
