Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
“
What
is that?” Erin asked, her wide brown eyes watching Cody
swallow the remaining liquid in a flourish.
“
Fun
in a bottle.” Cody winked, “want some?” She
produced a second bottle and uncapped it, handing it to Erin.
Erin took a swallow
and sputtered; she passed it to Clara sitting next to her who also
took a swallow.
“
I
thought there was no drinking at this party.” Clara downed
more than she needed and Cody was delighted. This might be more fun
than she had originally anticipated.
“
That's
why we have to do it now.” She answered and took the bottle
back and poured more down her throat and shoved the bottle back in
Erin's hands. She raised her eyebrows in silent expectation and Erin
caved. She tipped the bottle back and took several gulps. Cody
pursed her lips, this was most definitely going to be fun.
***
Lenny hugged Cody in
greeting, shocked that she had shown up at all. They hadn't spoken
since Denver and she hadn't intended to invite her. Cody had brought
her usual entourage of girls in skimpy party dresses but it was the
overwhelming smell of vodka that rolled off of the group that made
Lenny recoil.
“
Have
you been drinking?” Lenny asked in Cody's ear. The response
was loud laughter followed by Cody heading for the dance floor.
Lenny shook her head
disgustedly, going back to the kitchen to check on the caterers.
That girl was walking a line that Lenny never understood. She wanted
to throw her out but she also didn't want to end the party just as it
was starting.
She found Duke who
had actually dressed up a little, for Duke anyway. He was wearing
his nicest flannel and he’d trimmed his beard. He looked at
Lenny with a twinkle in his gray eyes and stole another little
sandwich off of a tray that a young girl was feverishly trying to
fill.
“
I’m
glad you decided to come off the mountain and join us.” Lenny
smiled and got a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“
Well,
someone has to keep an eye on the food.” He winked at the
little attendant again as she moved the tray out of his reach.
“
You
should come mingle, Cody is here. She brought her usual entourage.”
“
How
‘bout Nate the Great?”
“
Yeah,
his old frat brothers are here, makes for a weird mix.” Lenny
laughed at the absurdity. Cody’s friends were all in their
early twenty’s whereas Nathan’s friends were a good ten
years older and had careers.
Just then, someone
came up behind Lenny and touched her elbow. She turned to see Luke’s
smiling face. A thousand different frequencies of joy washed over
her. She impulsively put her arms around him, hugging him close.
“
Hey,
you.” She greeted warmly.
***
Luke held her a
little tighter and a little longer than would normally be socially
acceptable. He breathed in her familiar scent and made a rumbling
noise in the back of his throat that could only be described at pure
contentment. He had missed her.
The man Lenny had
been talking to cleared his throat from behind her and Luke released
his embrace. He looked into steel grey eyes and stuck out his hand.
“
Hi,
I’m Luke Casey.”
“
Duke.”
The man replied with a firm handshake.
The way Lenny and
Cody had spoken of him, he had expected an old man. Instead, he found
himself face to face with someone maybe only five years or so older
than himself. His athletic build was evident despite his thick
flannel shirt and Luke found himself standing a little straighter.
This was the guy Lenny had been living with for the past week?
“
Duke,
this is the lead singer for Double Blind Study.” Lenny
introduced and Luke struggled with his sudden desire to put his arm
around her possessively.
“
Right,
the circus you left town with.” Duke nodded.
Luke squinted
slightly, trying to decipher the undertones in which Duke spoke.
Mike, Sway, Harrison
and Blake descended upon Lenny at that moment, crowding the kitchen
and making it even harder for the caterers to maneuver.
Blake picked Lenny
up and gave her a bear hug. She squealed in surprise and slapped his
shoulder so he would put her down. She hugged the rest of the guys,
happy to see them, then introduced them to Duke as well. Handshakes
happened all around, manly grunting and stiff greetings. Lenny must
have noticed the subtle tenseness that lingered and tried to break it
up.
“
Let’s
get out of the kitchen so these people can do their jobs.” She
led them out to the open living room where the dancing was in full
combustion. Luke saw Cody at the center of the mess and he wasn't
surprised.
Some girls spotted
the rockers and pulled most of them onto the dance floor. Luke hung
back, wanting a few minutes alone with Lenny if it was available. It
had been far too long since he had kissed her perfect lips. He
slipped his arm around her waist resting his hand high on her hip,
having brief eye contact with Duke but acting as casual as possible.
Maybe Duke picked up
on Luke's not so subtle hint, maybe he was just hungry but he
suddenly announced he needed more sandwiches and left Luke and Lenny
alone together.
Lenny watched the
band members dancing with Cody's friends and she scrunched up her
nose. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“
You’re
not on duty, they’re gonna be fine.” Luke lightly
laughed at her reaction.
A thin girl with
short, caramel colored hair was laughing too loudly and Luke
suspected she had been drinking before her arrival. She staggered
off the dance floor and came towards Lenny.
“
Do
you know where some water is? I'm so thirsty.” Then she burst
into giggles again.
Lenny pulled the
girl towards the kitchen stopping just in the doorway. She ducked
inside and came back quickly, handing the girl a bottle of water. As
the girl thirstily sucked the water down Luke saw Lenny's face become
unreadable.
***
“
How
do you know Cody?” Lenny asked the girl tightly.
“
I'm
Erin, I met her through my boyfriend, well, I guess he’s not
really my boyfriend, I don’t know what we are.” Erin
giggled again and a hiccup escaped.
“
Where
is he tonight?” Lenny tried to sound casual but she was
getting the weirdest sensation in the pit of her stomach.
“
He
said he shouldn’t come because it would be too hard to see his
ex and he thought she might be here.” Erin rambled nervously
and looked around the room like she was expecting the girl to pop out
and scare her. “It took him a long time to get over her, I
guess she really broke his heart.”
“
That’s
too bad.” Luke said tenderly and Lenny shot a frown his way
but he missed it. “New Year’s Eve is always such a
special night, I’m sorry he couldn’t be here with you.”
Erin
nodded emphatically, “I don’t know who the ex is but I
guess she totally obliterated him. We’ve had to work through a
lot
of issues involving trust and honesty and stuff.” Erin noticed
Lenny’s eyes narrow and she stammered. “I’m sorry,
I'm talking too much.” She giggled nervously.
“
No,
it’s fine.” Lenny forced a smile and put her hand on
Erin’s arm. “Just keep in mind, there’s always two
sides to every story.”
“
Sounds
like the ex is a real bitch.” Luke interjected and Lenny felt
her mouth fall open as she looked at him.
Cody shimmied her
way over to them and threw an overly friendly arm around Luke's
waist. “Hey, whatcha talkin' bout?” Her face was
flushed from the excessive alcohol in her system as well as the
dancing.
“
Erin
was just telling us about the guy she’s seeing…”
Luke began not moving from away from Cody's side.
“
Yeah,
Shane.” Cody nodded, “Bet you guys could compare notes.”
She laughed as she winked at Lenny who only returned a slow subtle
shake of her head. But it was too late. Even though Erin's
faculties had been reduced due to her drinking, she wasn't completely
brain dead. She turned towards Lenny, eyes wild.
“
Wait,
you’re
the ex?” Erin’s giggling was replaced by a a more heated
expression.
“
Shane
who?” Luke frowned, not following along.
“
Shane
Brookings,
my
boyfriend!” Erin pointed at herself and took a step away from
Lenny like she was afraid of her suddenly.
“
You
told me that wasn’t serious.” Luke's voice was dark and
he looked at the floor.
“
It...wasn’t.”
Lenny looked from Luke to Cody to Erin. How was this happening?
Her eyes settled on Cody who had the slightest of smirks on her face,
arm firmly in place around Luke's waist.
“
Yeah,
for
you
!”
Erin exclaimed. “
I’m
the one who had to try and to pick up the pieces after you
left
him six months ago!”
“
Six
months? You made it sound like you had been broken up for a lot
longer than that.” Luke’s frown was deepening and he
started to back away from them, pushing Cody's arm off of him.
“
I’ll
talk to you in a minute.” Lenny said to Luke and then she
turned to Erin. She needed to get this back under control. Too many
things were unraveling at the same time and she wasn't prepared.
“Please, try to understand that there is lot more to the story
than what you know. I never meant to hurt Shane.”
“
I
suppose you had this guy just waiting around for you.” Erin
pointed at Luke. “You were probably seeing both of them at the
same time.”
Lenny looked at Cody
who was watching everything unfold with a look of sadistic glee
smeared across her face.
“
I
need some air.” Luke said brusquely and stalked off.
Lenny wanted to
follow him but she needed to end this nightmare first. She turned
back to Erin who was almost in tears.
“
Erin,
I’m sorry for whatever hurt I’ve caused you by breaking
up with Shane. I never cheated on him and if he has trust issues
that’s
not
my fault.” Lenny's words were forced and clipped but she was
too angry about what was happening to care.
“
Whatever,
I’m going home.” Erin grabbed one of the girls off the
dance floor and began to cry until the girl agreed to find her a ride
home.
Lenny glared at her
Cody. “Wow, was that planned or what?”
“
I
forgot she was seeing Shane-” Cody started to lie but Lenny cut
her off.
“
Bullshit,
Cody! That’s how you met, she already told me.” Lenny
rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “I put up
with a lot of your shit because of Duke but I've about reached my
limit.”
“
Don't
get mad at me because Shane moved on.” Cody's face grew
venomous.
“
This
isn't about Shane!” Lenny was starting to shake. “This
is about
you
being a horrible friend!”
“
Excuse
me?” Cody raised her eyebrows aggressively. “You were
the one who skipped town the day of one of the biggest meetings of my
life! I needed your backing to land that sponsorship and you didn't
even call!”