“Zoey?” I decided to play dumb. “She’s Ty’s girlfriend?”
“I know who Zoey is. The other blonde, Jace. The one who just left. Are you fucking her too?” Cassie spat.
“Do you mean Zoey’s friend Alex?” I mentally thwacked myself for saying her name out loud.
“Is that her name?” She crossed her arms over her ample cleavage, sulking in the cushions.
“Um, she’s only eighteen. So, no.” I squinted at her as a warning.
“She’s pretty.” She ignored my denial, determined to play it cool. “You want to smash her? It’s okay. Get her out of your system. You’ll realize I’m the one for you eventually.”
“Cass, shit! Stop. We’ve been friends for a long time. I can’t do the FWB anymore. Okay?” I pleaded, feeling sick that she’d have so little self-esteem and any part I’d played in making her feel that way. “We aren’t a couple. We aren’t going to be a couple. Please let’s not make this weird.”
Cassie buried her face in her hands and started wailing hysterically. Considering that I’d spent my life as an only boy amongst sisters, I had to physically resist the Pavlovian impulse to comfort her. The thing is, I’d been suckered by Cassie’s histrionics before. There were always a lot of sobs but never actual tears. She knew what she was doing. So did I. Without another glance, I wasted no time heading for the sliding door.
“Cass, it’s over.” I tried to sound empathetic on my way out, knowing that I was failing. “I’m leaving on tour in a few weeks. Please don’t call, don’t text, don’t come to band functions. I’m sorry to be harsh but it’s best if we don’t see each other again. I’ll send Jessica in and you guys should leave.”
Once outside, I closed the sliding door and breathed a sigh of relief. I was so ready to be on the road with my dudes. There was no need for me to be involved with anyone right now. Satisfied that I’d headed things off with Alex and cut things off with Cassie, I went back to my bandmates feeling a bit lighter.
“Cassie needs you.” I motioned to Jessica with my thumb as I approached the firepit.
“You’re such a fucking asshole,” she spat before jumping up and running toward the house.
“Yeah, so I’ve been told.” I grabbed another beer.
“I’m assuming you ended it?” Jen came up behind me.
“Yeah, because she wasn’t my girlfriend and she kept trying to claim me. You’re not mad?” Fear of disappointing my sister was one of the reasons I’d let the situation with her friend drag on for so long.
“Of course not, little J.” Jen grasped my hand and pulled me into a hug away from the others. “It’s actually a relief. She’s not the right girl for you, but she doesn’t deserve to be led on either.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Just go out on the road and have fun, you’re too young for such a big commitment.” She clinked my bottle with hers.
“Pot calling kettle?” I teased.
A cloud crossed her face and she regained her composure. “No, I’m too young too. I’m a hypocrite.”
Shocked, I stared at her.
“Jen—” I started.
“Oh, stop. It’s nothing.” She shooed me.
At this point, the entire night had been such a psychological mindfuck, I knew I just needed to call it. As I rode home in my Uber, my thoughts drifted to the lovely gypsy Alex. There was a twinge in my heart when I saw her. My mind filled with happiness when I spoke to her. Tonight I learned there was a palpable zap of energy when we touched even just a little. Was that what Ty and Zoey felt? Connor and Jen?
It didn’t matter though. I was resolved. Even though my dick got hard just thinking about how close I had come to kissing her tonight, I wasn’t going to act on it. Zane and I could be the carefree single guys on the tour and sow our wild oats, as my dad liked to say. It was time to stop thinking with my little head and use my big one. Alex would remain firmly in the little-sister territory.
Of course, those were best-laid plans. Suddenly Alex was always with Zoey at rehearsals. She also showed up nearly every day at the studio while we recorded. It was like she was taunting me, even though we barely spoke. She seemed to have a uniform of either a black or white tank top with cutoffs, faded, ripped overalls or some sort of short, fluttery skirt. Always with those Frye boots. She was so fucking sexy.
As far as I could tell, she either didn’t wear a bra or perhaps just a wisp of a bra. In the cold studio, her nipples were always just barely visible through her tanks. Goddamn, those perky, firm tits of hers. They did it for me, big time. I had to deliberately avert my eyes, which meant I deliberately avoided Alex. Board shorts were out. Whenever she was near in one of those tank tops, my body reacted. Cutoffs or jeans provided the only coverage that would allow me to discreetly shift my junk around, so I didn’t come off as some sort of creeper. The crisis was real.
I couldn’t help but notice everything about her. Sometimes she’d wear a fisherman’s cap backward over her honey-blonde hair, it made her look so badass. Often, she’d be buried in her tablet while we ran through yet another take, of whatever song we were working on, her long limbs tucked up under her on the black-leather studio couch. When she and Zoey got in one of their giggle moods, her joyous, gleeful face was a sight to behold.
On lunch breaks, when I amused myself by posting social media videos of Ty and Zoey in full slurpy-durpy PDA mode, Alex would joke around with all of us while we ate. Every day, she’d bring in a different flavored pie from her mom’s online bakery business, which endeared
