The look in his eyes was priceless. For a guy covered in the dumbest fucking tattoos imaginable, it was shocking he would hesitate, but I knew he would. A part of me almost felt guilty. I knew this would hurt Sarah. I knew it was a dick move. But I also knew it would force him to show his true scumbag colors to her.

Sarah’s eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open slightly. I looked down at Derek, towering over him by a good six inches and my frame at least twice as wide. He flicked the long hair from his face and his lip twitched. I had him backed into a corner. He would either have to get the tat to avoid upsetting Sarah or he would hit another nail into the coffin of their relationship.

“That’s stupid. I already have a tat for her.” He pointed to his arm, which had a black star in the same place Sarah had her tattoo that read ROCK.

“What’s one more?” I shrugged.

Derek didn’t respond, and Sarah turned, shoved open the door to the outside, and disappeared past the shop windows.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Derek took a step forward, getting in my face.

“I’m not the one who just pissed off my girlfriend.”

“That’s right. You’re the one who pissed off my girlfriend.”

As much as I hated to admit it, that stung. I knew Derek wouldn’t go through with that kind of commitment to her. I knew it would hurt her when he didn’t, but through the alcohol haze, I only saw exposing him for what he was.

Chris’s hand clamped on my shoulder, and Terry stepped up behind Derek.

“Pissing match is over. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Chris kept his voice low so we wouldn’t disrupt other customers.

Derek sneered at me and turned to the door, slamming it open and disappearing into the night.

“What the hell was that?” Terry asked as he shook his head and laughed.

“I had to. Sarah thinks he is some kind of fucking hero after last night. It was this or hit him again.” I shrugged as I opened the door and waited for Donna to walk out.

“Do you think he went after her to make sure she makes it back okay?” Everyone stopped and just looked at me as if I had grown another head. “I’ll call her. You guys can go ahead.”

“I’ll text you where we go,” Donna said as Terry looped his arm over her shoulder and they began to walk across the street.

I pulled my phone from my pocket along with a crumbled piece of paper I had forgotten about. I held it in my palm as I called her and hoped she would answer.

After two attempts, she finally did and she wasn’t happy. “What?” she snapped.

I took a deep breath. “Where are you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, E. I’m at the corner of Pissed Off and Go Fuck Yourself.”

“Fair enough. I know I deserved that.”

“You humiliated me. Why would you do that? Huh? What if you would have lost? Would you have gotten a tattoo?”

I shut my eyes as I silently berated myself for being so fucking stupid. Having Sarah angry at me sobered me up quickly. “The real question is, why didn’t Derek?”

The line went silent and I pulled it back from my ear to make sure she hadn’t hung up.

“I’m fucking sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I never meant to hurt you.”

“That is exactly what you meant to do.”

The line went dead and I struggled not to throw my cell phone and bust it into a million pieces. I clenched my fist, crumbling the scrap of paper tighter. I slipped my phone into my pocket and unfolded the paper as my eyes danced over the familiar handwriting.

I drove all night trying to escape,

the truth of you I cannot take,

On E and broken-down,

why is that bad luck follows when you come around?

My mind raced as I read it half a dozen times. Was she talking about me? It clearly said on E, but that could have meant exactly what it said. There it was, the dull ache in the back of my mind. But then I reread the line about bad luck and I couldn’t help but feel I had destroyed our friendship.

I took off down the street, needing desperately to forget everyone and everything. As I neared the end of the block and turned the corner toward the hotel, I stopped at the sight of Sarah, her head in her hands as she cried quietly to herself.

“Sarah . . .” I wrapped my arms around her and she pulled away from me, but I tightened my grip, holding her against my chest.

“Get off me,” she sobbed as her tears continued to flow.

“I’m not letting go.”

“You should. Derek is the one that should be hugging me right now.”

The mention of his name infuriated me. For the millionth time, I considered telling her what Derek had done last night. But I knew that would only make things worse. Unless she saw it for herself, she’d never believe me. Especially not now.

And it’s not as if I had any solid proof to show her—it was my word, my obviously jealous word, against his.

“But he’s not here, Sarah, I am.” I rubbed my hand down her back trying to calm her. “Friends hug. Let me hold you.”

“It’s not the same.” She looked up at me through sad, tear-filled eyes. I brushed her hair back from her damp face.

“I know you would rather it was him here. I’m sorry.”

“No. I mean this isn’t the same.” Her eyes burned with rage as she gestured between us. I was suddenly aware of her breasts pressed against me, the fruity smell of her shampoo. We were completely alone in the alley and she wasn’t struggling to get away from me anymore. Instead, she was studying my eyes, a look of pain on her face. “We were great friends. Why would you mess that up?”

“Hey, it was you who spent weeks dodging my calls and clearly trying to cut me out. I wasn’t the one that ruined it.”

Wrong thing to say.

“Are you fucking kidding me? So that’s what all of this is? You’re trying to get back at me for not calling you? You’re such a girl some-times.”

I laughed and it only pissed her off more, but I couldn’t help it. Did she really have no idea how I felt about her?

“You think I kissed you to get back at you? You think the bet was to get back at you?”

“You tell me.”

I wanted to tell her everything, lay it all on the line, but she might never talk to me again. Instead, I tried to make things go back to before the tour ended. Having her in my life and watching her with someone else was still better than not having her around at all.

“I didn’t mean to fuck up our friendship, Sarah.” I shook my head, hating that I was hurting her. “Forget everything I said. I promise you I will leave you alone while you’re here.”

I reluctantly took a step back from her and let my arms fall from her body.

She didn’t say a word as she turned and walked away toward the end of the block. I watched as she slipped farther away and turned the corner. I balled my hand into a fist and swung at the wall where she had just stood in my arms. Pain shot up to my elbow as my knuckles cracked against the brick.

Chapter Twelve

SARAH

I NEEDED TO GET as far away from E as possible so he wouldn’t know that my tears were because of him. Why did he have to kiss me? He was one of my best friends, and now I couldn’t be around him without thinking about his lips against mine. I hated myself for even having the thought and for forcing me to lie to Derek.

Making it to my room, I collapsed on the bed, curling up into a ball and sobbing. The sheets still smelled like Derek and my stomach turned. I knew I couldn’t be here when he came back. I needed to escape, run away from everyone. I had done it once before and I could do it again.

I tried to ignore the way E had made me feel; tried to ignore the stabbing pain in my gut when he held Donna in his arms, looking at her the way I wished he would look at me. He was clearly happy with her. Why couldn’t he just let me be happy with Derek? Was he really that pissed off about my not calling him? I wanted to tell him that it was Derek who didn’t want me to talk to him, but that would only make him and Derek hate each other more. I was only here for two weeks, but when I left, it would just be Derek and me and I couldn’t lose him.