That guy at the gas station had been right, we did need a room.
I staggered us toward her front door. Then suddenly she was wiggling away from me, her feet back on the ground. She put her hand to my chest, making space between us. She panted and her wide eyes flickered back down to my lips, and it looked for a second like she might reconsider, but instead she launched herself off me, turned, and tore full speed into the house.
The door slammed, the bolt lock clicked behind her, followed by the rake of the chain, and I stood alone in her walkway for a whiplashed moment in my rumpled shirt, my hair a mess, catching my breath.
Jesus Christ. What the fuck just happened?
It was like I’d been sucked into a tornado made of animal magnetism, tossed around, and then spit out alone in front of her house.
I had to adjust the front of my pants.
Goddamn, this woman had me. It was more than just physical. She fucking had me. I didn’t even want to leave. I felt like scratching on her door like a dog wanting to be let in.
Tucker whined at the house through the open window of my truck.
“Yeah, I know, buddy,” I breathed. “I wish I were in there too.”
I drove home and poured myself a bourbon.
Sloan.
She liked my music. It hadn’t even occurred to me how much that mattered until it came out. I wanted her to like it. Her opinion meant something. I wanted her to like everything about me.
This wasn’t just some woman. I’d suspected it when we’d been talking on the phone, but now I knew it. This was big, different from anything I’d ever felt. It was like the first time I’d picked up a guitar, that same sense of certainty.
I stripped down for bed, climbed under the covers, and sat up against my headboard, my cell in my hand. Tucker was always the safest topic. I started typing.
Jason: Tucker misses you.
She didn’t make me wait.
Sloan: He’s just claustrophobic in that lunch box. Let him out.
I laughed.
Jason: I really enjoyed our date.
Sloan: Me too.
Then I decided to take a risk.
Jason: You’re not mad I kissed you? I know you have rules about first dates.
A long pause ensued before she replied. When the dots started to jump, I sat up to wait for her text to come through, throwing back the rest of my whiskey.
Sloan: I’m beginning to think the rules don’t apply to you. Good night, Jason.
Chapter 13
Jason
♪ Make You Mine | Public
I couldn’t get Sloan out of my head, which was unfortunate, because I also couldn’t get her on the phone. She didn’t return my good-morning text until 1:00 in the afternoon, and when she did, all I got was a quick smiley face.
I unpacked and did laundry. Had a phone call with my new publicist, Pia, to schedule a meeting. I had a ton of media to do before my upcoming tour. TV, radio, magazine interviews. Sirius XM wanted an a cappella recording by the end of the week for its Coffee House channel. Saturday Night Live was biting, and I had to audition a drummer for the tour. The one I’d used on my album wasn’t able to travel. Then I’d have to do rehearsals right up until hitting the road.
The next few weeks were going to be exhausting. Today was such a waste. I had nothing scheduled and I could have been with Sloan the whole day.
It had taken me twenty-nine years to meet someone I was this into, and when I finally did, it could not have come at a worse time. In three weeks I’d be gone for four months.
I’d meant what I said, that she should come see me on the road. But I knew even now that it wouldn’t be enough. Yesterday hadn’t been enough. I was already used to talking to her and texting her constantly and neither held a candle to seeing her now that I’d met her. Going cold turkey today felt like withdrawals.
I played with Tucker for an hour, sitting on a reclining chair by the hot tub, tossing a tennis ball into the pool. He seemed depressed, and I actually debated taking him to Starbucks for one of those puppuccino things to cheer him up. I think he missed Sloan, a sentiment I was quickly beginning to share.
I shot a text off to her with a picture of Tucker looking sad, his head on his paws. She didn’t reply for over an hour.
Sloan: Awww. I miss him. Give him a kiss for me.
I typed, smiling.
Jason: He says for ME to give YOU a kiss from HIM. So what are you doing today?
Sloan: Just running errands.
It didn’t feel like errands. She was too distracted today, almost evasive.
For a brief moment, I wondered if she was dating someone else.
Instant jealousy.
We’d never discussed whether or not she was dating. She’d been so opposed to dating me I’d just assumed she wasn’t on the market. But what if I was wrong?
Jason: What kind of errands?
She left me on read.
I used the gym in the pool house, trying to distract myself from my wandering thoughts about Sloan dating other people. Now I was shamelessly grateful she found my stage persona so impressive. I needed all the advantages I could get.
A few hours later I was sitting on a lawn chair in front of my trailer trying out a new capo on my guitar when Ernie made his way across the yard.
“How’s my favorite squatter?” He tossed me a beer and plopped in the chair next to me.
Tucker was so depressed he didn’t even raise his head to greet him.
Ernie loosened his tie. “Spent my morning with the bloodsucking lawyers. She wants her alimony adjusted.”
I opened the beer with a pith. “Which wife is this?”
“Four.” He grinned. “But I brought wife number five with me just to piss her off.”
I chuckled.
He pulled his shoes and socks off and put his feet in the grass. “Excited about the tour?”
The funny thing was, I had been excited about it. But now?
“Hey, what do you think about taking girlfriends on tour?” I asked.
“Girlfriend? When did you get a damn girlfriend?” He took a drink of his beer.
“I didn’t. It’s just someone I like. I like her a lot, actually.”
“I thought you wanted to be famous,” he said. “Now you wanna have a girlfriend instead?”
I laughed. “What, I can’t do both?”
He leaned back in his chair. “Nope. Not if you wanna do either thing well. This is not the time to be anchoring yourself with a girlfriend, my friend.”
I shrugged and took a sip of beer. “I’ve headlined tours before.”
“Not like this you haven’t. You’re touring with a label now. Your entire life is about to change, and in ways you can’t even fucking imagine. Girlfriends are jealous and distracting, and they suck the energy from your soul. Trust me on this. You won’t even have time for you.”
He swatted at a bee buzzing around him. “Who is she anyway? Monique or Monica or whoever the fuck? Oh God, tell me it’s not Lola. Man, you really screwed the pooch on that one—no pun intended. I mean, I get it, she’s fucking hot, but damn is she nuts.” He took a swallow of beer and looked over at me. “She still calling?”
I laughed a little. “Yup.”