“I guess she’s right,” he jokes. “I’ll make it up to you later, though.”
Brix grabs his beer, taking a step back from the bar and turns to head over to the table with the guys. They don’t go on for about thirty minutes, but the atmosphere is starting to fill with anticipation.
They play here often, no matter how much they do, they still manage to pull in a crowd of people from all over North Carolina to see them live.
I notice we’re running low on ice, so I head into the back to get more. Before I do, I make a quick run to the bathroom near where Brix and his bandmates and friends are sitting.
After getting through the line and quickly washing my hands, I opt to take the hall passing by them, wanting to wish him good luck before his set.
“I hate to break it to you, but it looks like it’s she who has you eating out of the palm of her hand!” Tysin shouts over the music, cackling.
“Shut the fuck up,” Brix mutters.
“Well, looks like you’ve won part of the bet. You fucked her.”
Overhearing the word bet pauses me in my tracks. My heart feels like it fell into a pit at the bottom of my stomach, the knot wrapping around it twisting further.
What bet? What the hell is he talking about?
“I’m waiting for the part where you send her ass heartbroken back to wherever the hell she came from, though.”
“I said shut the fuck up, you stupid motherfucker. You hear me?” Brix seethes. The anger is at a level I’ve never heard from him before. What I don’t hear is how he’s arguing he’s wrong, denying every word that comes out of his mouth.
Taking a step back, I turn to go the other way through the back of the bar. Tears fill my eyes, but I do my best to fight them off with everything in me.
How could I have been so stupid?
It was only last weekend I had told Brix how scared I was, waiting for the moment when I found out this had been nothing but a joke to him. Now everything I feared has become a reality.
All night I tried to put the thoughts out of my mind. Thankfully, Brix and the guys went on stage shortly after, and I didn’t have to face him right away. I didn’t think I’d be able to fake my way through it until we had a chance to talk later.
I knew if he found out I overheard, his anger would only be worse. I didn’t want to do this with him before they were supposed to play. Whatever this was about would have to wait until later.
I kept coming back to what Tysin said. How he had made a bet to not only fuck me but to break my heart at the same time. I was nothing but a joke to him.
A joke.
The word twisted like a knife every time I thought about it.
“Are you okay?” Oaklyn asks later that night. “Ever since you came back from getting ice, you’ve acted like something is bothering you. Did something happen? You good?”
Taking a heavy breath, I nod. Not even sure how to say it. I don’t even think I could without breaking down.
“I’m just not feeling very well is all.”
“Are you sure? Do you want to sit down? You look as white as a sheet.”
She leads me over to the barstool in the back room, pushing a glass of ice water in my hand, forcing me to drink.
“Just sit for a minute, will ya? We’ll be fine for a bit if you need a break or something.”
“Yeah. Okay.” I nod, holding the glass up to my lips. Sweat dots my forehead, my hands clammy. Leaning my head against the wall, I stare through the doorway toward the stage where Brix and the guys play. I think back to the first night, the way he flirted with the women in the front of the crowd, gyrating against their hands, letting them feel him up as he sang.
He hasn’t been doing it anymore. In fact, he hasn’t since before the night he brought home the blonde-haired girl. My mind sifts through all the memories, the nights we spent together, looking for any sign or clues that would’ve signaled this was going on.
I think what hurts most of all is there are none. Once we finally gave in to each other, to the temptation that had been dangling in front of us, it was like the Brix I once knew was gone.
He still had his asshole moments and tendencies, but behind all of it, he made me believe he cared. Even when I broke down the night at the beach house and exposed all my concerns and worries, he pulled me back into his lap and assured me there was nothing to fear.