Kissing his forehead, I rested my cheek on his head and absorbed the feeling of his body sprawled across mine. I was wrong before, this was the most comforting thing ever.
We stayed that way, cuddling and silently comforting each other, right up until it was time for me to go to work. Almost immediately upon entering the bar, Kellan was handed a shot of something from Sam. A big grin on his imposing face, the huge bouncer clapped Kellan's shoulder. "Here, man, it's your night, drink up!"
Kellan immediately swished it back. "Thanks, Sam." He grinned, laughing a little as he handed the empty glass back to him. "I never thought you, of all people, would hand me alcohol."
Kellan laughed a little more and Sam rolled his eyes, his smile dropping. "Well, since you're not going to end up on my doorstep tonight, I'll allow it."
I frowned at Kellan, remembering his confession of getting himself obliterated on Sam's doorstep because of me. I'd had to deal with the drunken idiot that night, when I'd had no idea why he'd gotten tossed. It was a little surprising that he could joke about that evening now, but that was Kellan. If anything, he'd developed the ability to bounce back. I supposed, with his life, he'd had to.
Sam shook his head then laughed and clapped Kellan's shoulder again. "We're gonna miss you, Kell." Walking away from Kellan, I thought I heard Sam mutter, "Drunken idiot."
Ignoring that last part, Kellan shouted back, "Thanks!"
I tried to walk with Kellan to his table, but it seemed like every third step we took someone stopped him, usually offering him a drink along with their congratulations. He happily took them all, slinging them back and thanking the person offering it. After the fourth such stoppage, I gave up walking with him and kissed him on the cheek, telling him that I had to get to work. He nodded as he took another shot from someone. Shaking my head, I hoped he slowed down enough so that he could actually give his final performance tonight. It would be quite a disappointment to his fans if I had to drive the drunken idiot home in an hour.
By the time I officially started my shift, he was surrounded by a boisterous group of men and women. Everyone seemed to want some time with him before he left tomorrow. I was grateful that we'd had our tender moments already today, but it did make me sad that our private time was over. I'd have to share him from here on out.
About an hour after my shift started, the rest of the band showed up. The place erupted into fanfare with the whole group assembled; it was about ten times as loud as the applause they'd received after Bumbershoot. Everyone here was proud of their boys and wanted to wish them well. The bar was bursting at the seams, and there were still a couple of hours before the show officially started.
Hearing the noise, Pete popped out from the back. He sighed despondently at his entertainment moving on from him, then shook his head and raised his hands into the air. The place eventually quieted as everyone twisted to look at him. Kellan, working his way through the crowd to stand near his band mates, locked eyes with Pete.
Smiling at the singer, Pete said, "Kellan...boys...you've done wonders for my little pub and I'll never forget that. If and when you return, you always have a place here." Kellan smiled, his eyes drifting to the floor. The other D-bags beamed, smiling at each other. Sniffing in a clearly emotional way, Pete shook his head. "Anyway...a round for everybody, on the house!"
The bar erupted and my eyes widened. There were a lot of people here. As Pete went over to chat with his band, Jenny, Kate and I got to work on pleasing the masses with their free beers. It took an eternity to get everybody satisfied, but eventually, with Rita, and the day bartender, Troy, helping out, we did. As a content murmur filtered throughout the place, I leaned against the bar and sighed, already exhausted.
Kate and Jenny leaned against the bar with me, one on either side of me. Kate blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes, the first stray piece of hair I'd ever seen on her. "I'm gonna miss those guys, but whew, this is gonna be a long night."
Rita popped over behind us, pouring us each shots. "A round for the ladies!" Troy walked up to her side and Rita gave him a suggestive smile before pouring him one. "And you too, I suppose." I hid my smile from her, not bothering to tell her that I was pretty sure Troy would never be interested in her the way her smile insinuated. I was pretty sure Troy's interests laid elsewhere...like in my boyfriend.
Clinking glasses, we all took a quick shot. It burned going down, but afterwards it was warming and calming, just enough to help me get through tonight's chaos. As Rita and Troy moved off to help start the next round for people, Jenny sighed and laid her head on my arm. "I'm going to miss Evan...and the guys. Pete's just won't be the same."
I nodded, resting my head against her. "I know...nothing will be the same really."
Kate sighed and we both looked over to her. "Yeah, I have some really good memories of those boys." Giggling, she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "A couple summers ago they kidnapped me for my birthday." She grinned at Jenny. "Evan made me wear that stupid birthday hat, remember?"
Jenny grinned back at Kate and shook her head. "Yeah, that was fun." Wistfully, she looked over at the guys. "I remember when they did a show in Eastern Washington. A group of us decided to road trip it over the pass with them. We all got stuck halfway through when Griffin's Van broke down. We had to camp at a rest stop." Jenny started laughing, Kate and I joining her. "Matt never booked another show over the mountains after that."
Jenny wiped her eyes as the memories of that trip washed over her. I sighed, wishing I had been here for those happy times. Kate reached over and tapped Jenny's shoulder. "Remember the water slides fiasco?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, Griffin still isn't allowed to go back there."
They both started belly laughing, and I frowned, wondering what the creaton had possibly done. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Jenny said, "And remember the rooftop party? The heights freaked Matt out and he spent the whole night in the exact center of the roof." Wiping her eyes, Jenny laughed out, "Kellan had to sling him over his shoulder to get him to leave."
I laughed with them, imagining that, then I sighed. I'd missed so many memories. Giggling nonstop, Kate added, "Remember when you walked in on me and Kellan that one New Year's Eve?"
I instantly stopped laughing and swung my head around to Kate. She instantly stopped laughing too, remembering who I was. "You and Kellan?" I looked her up and down with narrowed eyes, like it had just happened. "What?"
My tone was a little bitter and Jenny put a hand on my shoulder. Kate blanched and shook her head. "We didn't have sex...it didn't get that far." She pointed over to Jenny. "She..." Biting her lip, Kate shrugged, looking very apologetic.
My eyes narrowing even more, I put my hands on my hips. "Why didn't you ever mention this before?"
Kate cringed a little bit. "What was I supposed to say? Hey, I nearly had sex with the guy you're seeing? That's not cool." She shrugged again. "Besides, it was a while ago, and we were really, really drunk. I don't think he even..." Looking around self consciously, she shrugged again. "I should get back to work."
Feeling my cheeks heat, I didn't say anything and she quickly turned and fled. God! He'd done Rita, he'd asked Jenny out, and now I come to find out that he'd seriously made out with Kate. Did Kellan not have a history with anyone at Pete's!
Seeing me fuming, Jenny stepped in front of me, putting both hands on my shoulders. "He's different now, Kiera." Looking over to where Kate had disappeared, Jenny shook her head. "And don't hate her for caving into him." Looking back at me, she raised an eyebrow pointedly. "You know how persuasive he can be."
I flushed for another reason and slumped a little against the bar. "I know...I just wish everyone in the entire world didn't have some sort of sexual history with the man I'm in love with."
Laughing softly, Jenny ducked down to meet my eye. "It's a lot, Kiera, I know, but I'm sure it's not everybody." Shaking her head, she smiled cheerily. "I don't have a history with him. I've never even kissed him." She instantly frowned and pulled away, her eyes suddenly deep in thought. "Hmmm..."
My mouth dropped as she shook her head, her frown lines getting deeper. I smacked her shoulder. "You have kissed him, haven't you?"
Looking back at me with a small grimace, she shrugged. "There was this one time after he drove me home from a shift." My mouth dropped wider and I made a very unladylike noise. She twisted her lips and shook her head. "Sorry, I forgot. It wasn't too long after I started working here. He was looking sad and lonely and he offered to drive me, so I caved and said yes. Then we were talking in my drive and he leaned over and kissed me." She shook out her beautiful, blonde head of hair. "I pushed him back and told him I didn't want to." Rolling her eyes, she added, "I think that's what started him hounding me for a date, until I finally put my foot down."
She shrugged as she stared at me, like it was no big deal. Closing my eyes, I shook my head and stormed off to the back room. I needed to go some place where another woman that Kellan had been intimately involved with was not. And right now, that meant I had to be alone.
Chapter 8
The First Farewell
Having the noise and the chaos of the bar shut off from me calmed me down some. It really wasn't my friends' fault. I shouldn't be angry or upset with them. Kellan either. He'd been looking for something. Unknowingly, he'd been looking for a genuine, loving connection with someone. He'd just gone about it all wrong. Jumping into the physical aspect of a relationship without building up the emotional part of it. No wonder the feeling had never lasted long after the sex for him. No wonder he'd flitted from person to person, desperate and unhappy.
And besides, his past was his past, and just like we'd talked about today, it was all behind him. He'd found what he'd been missing. The only person he was being overtly sexual with was me...and that was the way it should be.
Laughing lightly as I organized stock shelves that didn't need organizing, I tried to imagine the funnier stories the girls had told about the group. I could just picture them all drinking stale coffee at some middle-of-nowhere rest stop, complaining about Griffin's crappy car.
Smiling at the image of Kellan in wet board shorts at a water park, I re-folded the stack of Pete's shirts for the third time. Eventually I'd need to go back out there. Maybe after I filled all of the extra salt shakers. Vaguely, I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, the noise of the bar increasing and decreasing. Sighing that an employee was messing with my chi, probably about to bite my head off for hiding out during the busiest night we'd ever had, I kept my back turned, trying to appear horribly busy in my quest for...something.
But then, I felt a body come up right behind me, way too far into my personal space. Alarm washing through me, I started to twist around. Strong hands rested against the shelves on either side of me with a firm, hard body pressed into my back. While my heart raced, a mouth hovered near my ear.
"Don't turn around."