A Song for Us

Chapter Three

ERIC

I PULLED MY TIE loose and fell against the inside of my hotel-room door. I felt as if I were suffocating. I had been trying to push what day it was out of my head for Cass and Tucker’s sake, but I was missing my brother more than ever and it killed me to force a smile,

I hadn’t realized how much I had missed Sarah until I looked into her eyes. She always seemed to see past the bullshit, as if she was looking at the real me. It scared the fuck out of me but it was also freeing. So why couldn’t she see what kind of asshole Derek was? Why would she subject herself to his constant mind games and cheating?

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I struggled to fight off the headache that was slowly beginning to throb in my head. I just didn’t want to see her get hurt. That is what I told myself. Denying my feelings was a hell of a lot less scary than accepting how much I liked her . . . and yet would never have her. It was always hard to never have a place I could call home. I felt that I was never where I was supposed to be. I was always just on the outside, watching everyone else being happy. It was like chasing a shadow. I could never get close enough without surrounding myself in darkness.

A tiny knock came from behind me and I shook my head as I pulled open the door to Donna, still wearing her low-cut dress with no shoes and a bottle of sparkling wine in her hand.

The small smile that played on her lips faded as she saw my face. “What’s wrong?”

I stepped to the side so she could enter my room. “One of my headaches,” I half lied as I made my way toward the bed, sitting down on the edge and cradling my head in my hands.

After a moment, I slowly looked up to see Donna still standing by the door. “What?” I stretched my neck from side to side, trying to relieve some of the pain.

“She’s pretty. I get it, but you need to focus on the band.”

It took a moment to understand what she was talking about. “Yeah, well, she is someone else’s. If the guys sent you over here to talk me off a fucking ledge, I don’t want to hear it. We’re just friends.”

Donna nodded, chewing on her lower lip as she looked down at her bare toes. Being off-duty during this hiatus from our tour seemed to be bringing out that softer, more relaxed side of her tonight. “No one sent me over here, E.” She held up the bottle of wine as her eyes met mine and she smiled. She was really letting her guard down. “I was just trying to help and I figured you’d be up for a drink. I know I could use one and I don’t feel like drinking alone.”

“Why is that?” I relaxed back onto my elbows as she made her way across the room and sat down next to me. I knew that someone had broken her heart. She had slipped up once when she had too much to drink, started to tell me about her ex . . . but when she’d sobered up the next day, she pretended not to remember having opened up. I’d been trying to get it out of her ever since, but she always changed the subject. Which I got—so I never really pushed it.

But suddenly I wanted to know more.

She shrugged as she struggled to uncork the top to the bottle. I took it from her hands and popped it open, holding it out for her.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged again as she tipped the bottle to her lips and took a sip. A trail of bubbly liquid trickled down her chin and she struggled not to laugh and spill it everywhere. I took the bottle from her hands, pulling it slowly away from her wet lips, and took a drink. Her eyes watched my mouth as I titled the bottle up. Whatever her ex did, it had left her scared to get close to anyone, but I knew she craved it—closeness, intimacy—more than anything else.

“She is stupid if she doesn’t see you are better than him.”

I laughed sardonically as I shook my head. “I’m not exactly a prize.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” She bumped her shoulder against mine and laughed nervously.

“I guess that makes two of us.”

“I’ll drink to that.” She took the bottle back, her delicate fingers sliding over mine as our eyes locked. There was no denying the attraction between Donna and me. We were cut from the same cloth. She just masked her pain with the illusion of perfection. I hid behind my anger. Same problem, different Band-Aid.

I watched her tilt the bottle to her lips, wrapping them around the rim, and I had to move away from her. I pushed to my feet and paced the floor as I scratched the back of my head. My hair had grown out in the last few weeks and now was a shaggy dirty-blond mess.

“I need to get out of here.” I was beginning to feel like a caged animal in my own thoughts, and being alone with Donna was a regret waiting to happen. She needed this band as much as we needed her, and for that reason alone I was going to keep my hands to myself.

“All right. I’ll head back to my room. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.” She stood and took a step forward as I turned to continue my path across the room. Our bodies nearly collided and I put my hands up, grabbing her arms to keep us from crashing together.

“You’re coming with me.” I wasn’t about to abandon a friend when he or she needed me because I was busy sulking over my own bullshit. Getting out would do us both some good, and I wasn’t about to go hang out with the twins while that fucking asshole was around.

“Oh . . . all right, but I’m not bailing you out if you get in another fight. Just let me go change.” My eyes scanned down her body; her dress revealed the top of her breasts and her breathing had grown heavy, pushing them toward me with every inhale.

“You look good. Just grab your shoes.”

Her cheeks tinged pink as she smiled. I let my hands slide off her silky skin. I grabbed the bottle from her hand and sat it on the counter behind us. “We can finish that later. Let’s go get something a little stronger.”

As I opened the door to the hotel room, I placed my hand on the small of Donna’s back to guide her out of the room. When I stepped into the brightly lit hall, my eyes locked with Sarah’s as she swiped her key card in a room just three doors down.

Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but her door pulled open and she practically fell inside as I heard the sound of Derek’s muffled voice. I swallowed hard as Donna and I walked in Sarah’s direction.

As we passed the door, which still hung open, Derek glanced out at us and smiled. “You two are like a thing now, huh?”

I glanced over his shoulder to Sarah and back to him. “We’re just hanging out.”

“Whatever, man.” He glanced back at Sarah behind him. “We’re just getting ready to hit the bar scene with the twins. You guys should come. Would suck to be the only couple there.”

I glanced to Donna, who shrugged but didn’t want to commit to anything. I knew she was worried it would upset me more to be around Sarah, but Derek was holding out an olive branch and I would be stupid not to take it.

“Yeah, just let her grab some shoes. We’ll meet you in the lobby.” I pushed my fingertips against Donna’s lower back and she began walking toward her room two doors down on the left. When we got inside, I slammed her door a little harder than necessary.

“Sorry about that,” I sighed as she grabbed her shoes and slipped them on her feet.

“It’s fine.” Her tone had a bite as she ran her fingers through the loose curls that hung around her face.

“If you don’t want to go, we can just hang out.”

“I don’t want you to be embarrassed when people think we are a couple.”

“What?” I said. She tried to walk by me, but I grabbed her arm, stopping her beside me. “Why do you think I would be embarrassed?”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging as she looked at my chest, avoiding eye contact. “What does it matter if Derek and Sarah think we are a couple? Am I that much of an outcast? I know what you all think about me, but am I really that repulsive?”

I took my free hand and titled her chin up with my fingers. “It matters because we aren’t, Donna. And none of us think you are repulsive. You’re just a bitch.” I laughed as I saw the familiar frustration roll over her face.

She knocked my hand away as her eyebrows pulled together. “I know we aren’t. But why does it matter? If Derek thinks you aren’t looking at Sarah, he won’t care if you’re around. And maybe Sarah seeing you with someone else will make her realize what she is missing.”

I hadn’t thought of that. I let go of Donna’s arm as a smile spread across my face. “You’re kind of evil,” I joked. She grinned wickedly and winked at me. I wrapped my arm over her shoulder and pulled her head closer, kissing her on the forehead.

“I have my moments.” She giggled as I pulled open the door to her room, and we made our way down to the lobby.

The twins were already waiting for us and they turned around, eyebrows rising as they saw me with my arm around Donna. The elevator next to us opened and Derek and Sarah stepped out.

“This is going to be fun,” Chris said, laughing, and Terry shook his head. I just glanced at Donna, who smiled and slipped her arm behind my back.

“Where we hitting first?” Derek asked as we walked across the lobby toward the front door.

“I figured we’d hit a few bars and get a good buzz on before we find a club,” Terry called over his shoulder as we stepped out into the cool night.

I walked behind Sarah and Derek, getting a view of his hand grabbing her ass. I clenched my jaw and swallowed back the jealousy just as her hand swept behind her and knocked his away. I couldn’t help but grin a little bit at her clear annoyance.

Then he reached over and flicked her ribs and she glared at him. I could tell it really bothered her, but Derek was a clueless fucking idiot. Clearly he thought he was being playful or something. He just didn’t get her at all.

I laughed and Donna looked up at me through her thick, dark lashes. I just shook my head as we walked down the sidewalk toward a large neon sign ahead.