The Winner Takes It All (Love in L.A. Book 3) (10 page)

By the time evening had approached and the vocal performances were announced, Annie was feeling pretty drained, and her ass hurt from sitting for so long. As she walked down the hall to the backstage entry, she rolled her neck and stretched out the kinks as she hummed the song she was about to perform.
Georgia on My Mind
was a classic, and Annie knew that as long as she didn’t fuck it up, she had this in the bag.

When it was her turn to step out on the stage, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for just a few seconds, then opened them and drank it all in as she scanned the room. This was everything she had ever dreamed of. This was all happening to her now. She could feel the heat of the lights that beat down as she stood there. As she pulled the old-fashioned microphone forward on its stand and sang the familiar words, Annie closed her eyes again and swayed back and forth, hearing Ray Charles singing along with her. It was one of her favorite songs, and it never failed to please a crowd. She could feel the goose bumps on her arms as she wailed on the last chorus, feeling the emotion emanate from her as her voice echoed through the auditorium.

As she sang the last note, her lips curved into a wide smile. She knew she’d done the song justice. The applause that erupted a moment later confirmed this, and Annie’s heart soared as she basked in the acceptance that radiated all around her. These people loved her voice. They appreciated the gift she had to share with them. They made her feel like she was home.

It was late by the time the last singer performed that evening. Erin and Annie joined Casey and his crew, who headed straight for a local diner that was open twenty-four hours. While waiting for their burgers and fries to arrive, Erin showed Annie a text that Mike had just sent her. He was in the neighborhood and offered to swing by and join them. Erin was practically bouncing out of her seat with excitement. Annie didn’t have the heart to tell her it was probably a mistake, so she just smiled and said he was more than welcome to join them. Erin wasted no time texting him, and fifteen minutes later, Mr. Green Eyes himself walked in with a sexy swagger that was all his own. Yep, Annie could definitely see why Erin was enamored with this guy.

Mike was funny and charming and respectful of women, and even though she wanted to hate him on Erin’s behalf, Annie couldn’t help liking the guy. Casey seemed to take to Mike as well. She leaned over to listen in on their conversation at one point and heard them discussing some video game called
League of Legends
. Casey said he didn’t have time to play video games, but Mike was telling him how advanced things had become and how they’d made a spectator sport out of playing this online strategy game. Erin admitted that she’d started playing the same game because of Mike. Even though she really didn’t have time to game anymore, he’d convinced her to give it a shot. To Erin’s delight, Mike hung out with them for a couple of hours before walking back with them to their hotel.

When she was about to turn and give Annie a hug and say good night, Mike said, “Well, I’d better get going.”

“What?” Erin asked a little too loudly, then cringed, looking embarrassed at the volume of her response. “You’re leaving? You don’t want to come up for a bit?” she said more quietly as she moved closer to him to talk.

“Nah, I’ve gotta be up early tomorrow for work, so I’d better head home.”

“But you could stay here with me tonight,” she protested, trying to keep the desperate tone from her voice and failing miserably.

“Nah, you know, I’ve got a meeting early in the morning before my shift starts, and I haven’t been feeling well lately. I need to get home and get some rest. Is that cool?”

Erin stood there and just nodded dumbly, looking a little shell-shocked. He smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her cheek and hug her good-bye. She hugged him back and waved weakly as he walked out of the hotel.

“What the hell just happened?” Erin exclaimed as she watched him walk away down the street.

“Uh, I’m not too sure.”

“Like why wouldn’t he stay? Why did he even bother coming if he was just going to hang out for a couple of hours and then bail? I wasn’t even going to grill him over what happened the last time I was here. I was just going to fuck him and that was that. Like for old time’s sake.”

“Yeah, I dunno, dude.”

Erin shook her head, looking bewildered. “Did he not think I have my own room? Did he think you were staying with me? I should text him.”

Sighing, Annie shook her head as Erin whipped out her phone and started texting, then started pacing around the lobby while she waited for him to respond. After a few minutes, she paced her way back over to Annie.

“Ugh, I texted him, but he didn’t answer. Let me try calling him.” Annie started to say something, but Erin waved her hand to shush her. “Sorry, just wait one second. I just want to try calling him before he gets on the subway.” Waiting as the phone rang but no one picked up, Erin chewed nervously on her lip. Finally it went to voicemail, and she ended the call and looked at Annie with a bummed expression. “He didn’t answer. I can’t believe he came and hung out and walked us back here and then just left like that.”

“I know, it’s crazy,” Annie agreed, shaking her head.

“Why would he bother walking me back to the hotel?” Erin wondered, unable to let it go just yet.

Annie shrugged. “I dunno. You said he’s a good guy, right? That’s what you like about him?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then he has to uphold that image, you know? The good guy.”

“That’s such bullshit.”

Annie just shrugged again. “It is what it is.”

Sighing, Erin leaned forward to give Annie a hug. “Alright, well since I’m not getting laid tonight, I’d better get to bed. You’d better head there, too.”

“Yeah, except I might be getting laid tonight,” Annie said, winking. Erin smacked her arm in response.

“Bitch. I hate you.”

“That’s okay. I feel your pain. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. I’m still probably going to hate you in the morning.”

“What if I bring you caffeine?”

“I might hate you a little less… especially if it comes in the form of a large Vanilla Latte with almond coconut milk.”

“Deal,” Annie said.

“Deal,” Erin echoed.

The girls said their goodnights and headed off to their rooms. Casey returned shortly after she got back to her room, but the bedroom shenanigans she had been planning on were sadly absent. He seemed to be preoccupied as they got ready for bed. After brushing his teeth, he crawled into bed and reached to shut off the light, then pulled her close and was asleep in a matter of a few minutes. Annie huffed in exasperation as she listened to him start to snore softly. When was she going to get some again? Closing her eyes, she willed herself to fall asleep. Thankfully, she was exhausted enough that sleep quickly overcame her.

When she woke up the next morning, Casey was gone. She looked around the room and saw that all of his things were still there. Glancing at the nightstand, she saw a note that he’d hastily scribbled and left for her.

Early rehearsal with the boys. I’ll see you later. Love you.

Annie again wondered to herself why she thought that being here with Casey during this competition would mean that she’d get to see him more often. They had the day off while the judges were debating who had made the cut to the next round.

She texted Erin to see if she wanted to hang out, but due to her being rejected by Mike the previous evening, Erin was in no mood to socialize and told Annie that if she valued her life, she would just give her some space. She patiently explained that she needed to mope for a day as it was part of her healing process. Understanding how shitty it felt to get your heart broken, Annie told Erin to do what she needed to do, then sat back and sighed as she thought about what she should do with her day.

Suddenly, she brightened upon remembering a restaurant Erin had recommended she try sometime for breakfast, The Clinton Street Baking Company. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out as Erin said they served some pretty fabulous banana walnut pancakes with locally made Maple syrup. Annie was drooling already just thinking about it. As soon as she finished getting ready, she headed downstairs and called Uber for a pick-up. The driver arrived a few minutes later and started off towards her destination.

Upon arriving at the cozy restaurant, Annie only had to wait for ten minutes before she was seated at a tiny table that was squeezed in between the front door of the establishment and another booth. She perused the menu briefly before deciding to stick with her original choice of the banana walnut pancakes and homemade apple cider that Erin had raved about. When she tasted both her food and drink, Annie thought she’d died and gone to heaven. Everything tasted delicious and was warm and comforting, like home.

After breakfast, Annie spent the rest of her day walking around the city, taking dozens of pictures as she eagerly drank in all the sights. Of course using her phone to take so many pictures, she quickly drained her battery. She was just heading back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner and recharge her phone when she bumped into an attractive, familiar face in the downstairs lobby.

Trey smiled widely as soon as he saw her. “Hey gorgeous,” he said as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek and give her a half hug.

“Hey yourself,” she said as she returned the greeting. “What brings you to the Big Apple?”

“Oh you know, just kickin’ it with a friend of mine. She’s here to support her brother—he’s part of this dance crew—oh right, you’re with Casey. Yeah um, her brother, Austin, is in Casey’s dance crew.”

“That’s cool,” Annie said. “Nice of you to come along and show support.”

“Yeah, well you know. That’s how I roll,” he said with an easy grin.

Annie smirked. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to freshen up for dinner. Casey’s probably been trying to call me, but I drained my battery taking pictures of the city today.”

“Well, you can try to call him, but I think he and Trisha and the crew already headed out to dinner.”

“Wait a minute. Trisha? That’s your friend who you’re here to support?”

“Yeah, although we kind of got into a fight, which is why I didn’t go with them to dinner.”

“And now she’s out having dinner with Casey and his boys… and without me. Great.”

“Well, I don’t have any plans. I’m not saying I’m the greatest dinner date, but I’m a decent substitute on short notice.”

Annie laughed and tried to calm herself down. So what if Casey was having dinner with Trisha and his dance buddies? Her brother was part of his crew. They were old family friends. They had history. There was nothing she could do to change that. And Trey was an attractive and willing distraction. Why not? Annie nodded her consent.

“Okay. Just let me head upstairs to freshen up and I’ll meet you back down here in fifteen.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Trey said, nodding his head in agreement.

She only felt mildly guilty as she got ready for dinner with another man. Casey hadn’t been the most attentive since they’d been in New York. She understood that he was here with his crew, but why hadn’t he invited her along to dinner with them? Why was it okay for him to invite Trisha and not her?

Then she reminded herself that her phone had been dead for a few hours. Reaching for her purse, she fished out her phone and plugged it in to start charging. Sure enough, once she had enough juice to turn it back on, she saw that there were several messages waiting for her, three of them from Casey. First he called around four and asked if she already had plans for dinner. Then he called her back around five and said they were heading to the restaurant if she got the message soon and wanted to join them. The third one had come in about ten minutes earlier. Casey sounded drunk… and a little pissed off. He said he guessed he wasn’t important enough for her to return his phone calls and said not to bother waiting up for him.”

Annie stared at the phone in shock. Why was Casey acting like that? Just because her phone had been off for a few hours? What if it had been off for reasons beyond her control? That last message only fueled her resolve to go to dinner with Trey and enjoy herself as much as possible. So that’s exactly what she did.