Ten Days of Perfect (24 page)

“Mon, it’s fine. You’re hurt,
and you apologized last night.”

“No, it was a
really
shitty thing to say. Maybe I’m jealous of what you seem to have found with Bo and that was my way of acting out. What the hell happened with Bo last night by the way?”

Her mouth hung freely open when I explained how Bo sat in his car and watched outside my building all night. She chuckled when I told her Bo saw Adrian’s downtrodden exit from my apartment.

“Wow, that’s intense. Hey, what do you think Adrian’s real issue with Bo is? His reaction seems a bit overblown for it to be just about jealousy.” Monica’s words echoed my exact thoughts.

“I don’t know, but I plan on d
ragging it out of one of them.”

Bo returned after a few minutes and assured us
Josh was safely at home in bed.

“K, Mon, I’ve gotta go home and catch up on some sleep. Carrie said she’ll email us the Concord itinerary today. Oh, and Carrie now knows about me and Bo and she’s fine with it,” I said nonchalantly.

“Yes!” Monica nearly knocked me over with a hug. “Are you guys going out tonight?” 
Shoot, I forgot, we’re supposed to have plans.

“Yeah, actually, it’s kind of a surprise.” Bo said shyly. “But, we’ll likely end up at Finnegan’s later; it’s open mic night after all.” Once again his
face lit up with a playful grin.

“Great, see you guys then!” Monica
half-cheered. “Bo, thank you.”

“No problem, Monica.” He gave her a tight hug.

“Call me if you need
anything at all today, OK Mon?”

“Have so much fun tonight.” She whispered while she ushered me out.

The drive back to my place seemed much faster now that Josh was safely in bed and Monica was relatively OK. When Bo pulled up in front
of my building, his phone rang.

“Hey, while you take that I’ll run up and get your comp. notebook.” He nodded as he answered.

I bounded down the stairs happily, excited for whatever tonight would hold. Bo’s angry voice bellowing from his car stopped me.

“Don’t
fucking
start with me. I’ll be back tomorrow night,” he growled. When he saw me, his face changed
.
“Look, I’ll call you later. Bye.” He took a long breath as I opened up the passenger door.

“You
OK
?” I asked cautiously.

“Yeah, asshole friends.” He shook his head reflexively and stretched out his hand, “Thanks Ember, I’ll pick you up around seven, OK?” He smiled with a glint of deception. “I’ve got a su
rprise to work on before then.”

“Sure, see you then.” I smiled as I shut the door.

“Oh, and Ember?” He put the car in to drive, keeping his f
oot on the brake, “I love you.”

“I love you
too.” I winked back.

As he pulled away from the curb, I heard his phone ring again.

“What!”
h
e snapped as he drove away.

As 7:00 approached, anxiety crashed against the jetty’s of my insides. I was excited to see what Bo had planned, but I had some lingering suspicions. Why did Adrian seem guarded about Bo? What was Bo yelling about on the phone earlier? As I pulled my hair loosely back at the nape of my neck, I resolved that I would ask one or both of them to spill it - there was something going on and I fully in
tended to find out what it was.

I decided a glass of wine was in order. As I leaned against my counter, welcoming the red relaxation through my system, I thought back on my crazy-beautiful week. This gorgeous man fell into my life, and disarmed me with a single kiss. The irony that I initiated said kiss was not lost on me. Exultant chills sauntered down my spine. The very first kiss we had in the parking lot told me nearly everything I needed to know; it was alive, passionate, longing.

It really
did
feel like we’d known each other for a thousand lifetimes in that first kiss, I just didn’t have those words at the time. Now, I stood in my kitchen, ready to spend more time with him, anticipating the next time I could kiss him. I loved him. Butterflies fluttered drunkenly through my system when I heard a knock on the door. They dropped dead when I opened it.

“Adrian, what the hell are you doing here?” I let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Can I come in?” His voice was eerily urgent.

“No, you may not. I’ve got plans.” I stood in the doorway with no intention of letting him in.

“Ember, let me in, I just want to talk to you.” Urgency turned to agitation.

“Adrian, I’ve had a long fucking day. Josh showed up at Monica’s this morning, drunk out of his mind, begging for forgiveness or whatever, and I just want to go out. So, if you would . . .” I slid past him and shut the door, putting both of us in the stairwell.

I jogged past him, down the stairs, deciding to meet Bo outside as a way to get Adrian out of my apartment.

“Wait!” Adrian yelled as he grabbed my arm tightly and yanked me back.

“Ow!
Don’t,
Adrian!” I huffed, my cheeks fighting the heat. He released my arm immediately.

“Shit, I’m Sorry. Is Monica OK? He put his hands in his pockets as he tried to change the subject.
Good place for your hands - keep them there.

“Yeah. Hey, I know you have some stuff you want to talk to me about, or whatever, but can it wait until we’re in Concord? I’ve got plans with Bo tonight, and then Monica and I are going to watch him sing tomorrow. I just can’t fit you in my head right now.” My frankness never sat well with Adrian,
and this time was no different.

“That’s nice, Ember. So, that’s all I am to you? Someone who takes up space in your head?” He stayed one stair behind me, but that didn’t soften his antagonizing tone.

When I reached the bottom stair, I turned around and looked him square in the eyes.

“Look, Adrian
,
I’ve had enough surprises from you this week, wouldn’t you say? Just, please, leave it alone for now.” I opened the door and jumped at the sight of Bo, leaning against his car, arms crossed in front of him. I couldn’t tell if i
t was in relaxation or defense.

Oh, hell.

Bo nodded his chin up at me and opened the passenger door of his car, but his eyes never left Adrian. I looked back as I climbed in, and noted that Adrian’s eyes bored through Bo, as well. I had nothing to go on; no idea why they were like this with each other. It wasn’t because of me and, if it was, Adrian needed to screw off because
we
were not an option.  Not one single word passed between Bo and Adrian before Bo got into his car, and Adrian into his. When Adrian pulled away, Bo gripped his steering wheel in apparent frustration.

“What was that about?” Bo asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes as he pulled away from the curb.

“No. What was
that
about? That was like a friggen showdown.” I pointed my th
umb to the sidewalk, wide eyed.

“He just seems to be at your place a lot,” he said with a hint of accusation.

“Yes, he does, and I’d like for
you
to explain why.”

“I told you, the man’s jealous. But, I also saw the look on your face when you walked out the door - you looked upset.” Bo’s eyes remained on the road.

“I was upset that he showed up unannounced when I told him we could talk later.”

I reached for Bo’s hand, and ran my thumb along his knuckles until his shoulders relaxed. I intentionally left out the bit about Adrian grabbing my arm and pulling me backward on the stairs.

“Sorry,” he relented.

“Me too. Come on, let’s just go and have some fun. I can’t tell you how tired I am of discussing Adrian Turner.” I glanced out the window to clear my thoughts.

“Hey, I wanted to run something by you . . .” Bo broke our few minutes of silence as we seemed to drive aimlessly around town.

“Yea?”

“Turns out I have to head back to Concord tomorrow morning. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to come with me? Monica could meet you there Monday for the meeting and you could ride home with her afterward.” Bo sounded hopeful.

“Absolute
ly,” I said without hesitation.

“That was quick.” Bo chuckled as he pulled into  Finnegan’s parking lot.
Freakin’ Finnegan’s? Really?

“Bo, I love you. What, exactly, is there to think about? I’ll tell Carrie I’m going to ex
tend my room stay by two days.”

“Or . . . you could just stay with me, at my
place,” he suggested bashfully.

Two nights with Bo, alone, at his place? Mother, may I?

“Sounds perfect.” I smiled, “What are we doing here? I thought you had a surprise; Finnegan’s is no surprise to me.” I coc
ked an eyebrow and he chuckled.

“First surprise is I’m going to play a set here tonight, since I won’t be around tomorrow. The second surprise is . . . still a surprise.” He w
inked as he got out of the car.

As we walked in, I was instantly annoyed at the sight of Josh behind the bar. I chose to ignore him and asked Bo to grab me a beer while I found a table. I watched Bo and Josh talk for a minute; Josh even cracked a smile. Bo nodded back in my direction and then stayed at the bar while Josh headed toward me.
What the hell?
As Josh got closer I straightened in my chair and could feel my nerves tense. I was not in the mood for another round of name-calling. He took a seat next to me and I raised my eyebrows, s
ignaling him to get on with it.

“You’re looking better,” I said snidely.  He didn’t acknowledge my sarcas
m before he began to apologize.

“I’m so sorry for how I treated you last night,
and
this morning. After you yelled at me, it hit me - I can’t live without Monica. Look what happened to me
after 48 hours away from her.”
Josh shook his head and looked to the floor. “She hasn’t talked to me since I left her apartment this morning, but I think she’s coming here tonight and I
really
need to talk to her Ember; I need to get her back- I’m such an ass.” His jaw tightened as he cursed himself
.

“Yes, Josh, you are.  I’m sorry for yelling at you. You were drunk and hurting, but I went into defense mode for Monica. I’ll text her, but if she’s not ready that’s not my fault - are we clear?” Josh nodded a
nd I sighed as I texted Monica.

Me:
Hey. At Finnegan’s- Josh is working. He’s on bended knee telling me how badly he needs to talk to you. Judging by the look on his face I’d say you
should give him a few minutes.

Monica:
Boys
are dumb- be there in a while.

“She’ll be here in a bit,” I said flat
ly.

“Thank you.” Josh gave my forearm a squeeze before headin
g to the stage to introduce Bo.

Bo sat down on the center stool. I noticed the second stool to his left and concluded I’d be singing with him again at some point. He spoke his thanks in to the microphone.

Swiftly, a low-toned melody drowned out any lingering applause garnished by the patrons of Finnegan’s. My senses labored in slow motion as I lifted my eyes to the stage. Bo was looking down at his hands as they floated across the guitar that was producing a lullaby
- my lullaby.
Holy . . .
I could almost see the red in my own cheeks as I watched him, up on stage, playing the song he had
transcribed only this morning.

When he finished one line of the wordless melody, everyone clapped politely as my cheeks stung with what I was sure was crimson.

“Thank you, I just started working on that this morning. A beautiful woman played it for me.” He smiled while looking at me across the bar and my breathing increased. “Ember
,
will you come up?”

I felt faint when he said my name, knowing that all of Finnegan’s now knew
I
was the ‘beautif
ul woman’ who played that song.

“That was lovely,” I said as I reached the stage and kissed him on the cheek, ignoring the crowd. They responded with requisite “oohs” and “ahs” as I settled down on the stoo
l. “What are we going to sing?”

Bo leaned his head away from me slightly as that sexy smile of his graced his face.  He ignored me and started strumming the lullaby again. I stared, confused, until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and all the air left my body. Monica stood there with an impish grin on her face - holding my guitar.