Western Waves (Compass 3)

Kelsey joined in afterward, agreeing to come, too.

“Maybe I can be your date, Damian?” Kelsey asked.

Jeff’s brows lowered, but he didn’t say a word. Damian’s lips grimaced, but he agreed with Kelsey.

“Great,” she said, clapping her hands together before resting a hand against Damian’s thigh. That seemed a bit much for a first meeting. Did she really have to put her paws on him?

Stop it, Stella. Look away.

“We need a round of shots to celebrate this!” Jeff said, waving down the server. “My treat.”

“Jeff, no, it’s fine. Honestly.” I grimaced a little, thinking that he’d had one too many drinks already. Plus, he was spending money like it was a free-for-all which was beyond concerning. “We don’t need more drinks.”

“What’s your problem, huh? I’m trying to celebrate you!” he snapped.

“Then how about you do not speak to her as if she’s a burden,” Damian shot out. His eyes were filled with annoyance at Jeff, and a pit of discomfort hit my stomach. “Besides, you drove here. You probably shouldn’t drink more.”

“Excuse me?” Jeff asked, turning his stare to Damian. “How about you back off? I can speak to my girlfriend however I choose.”

“True. I just don’t see why you’d chose to speak to her in that manner,” Damian said, sitting up straighter. The two men were puffing out their chests as if they were about to go to war for some reason, and thankfully Kelsey stopped it before it could get too intense.

“Let’s raise a glass in the air for Stella and her first art showcase!” she said, holding her wineglass in the air. “May this be the first of many!” she exclaimed.

The men pulled themselves together and un-puffed their chests. They held their glasses up and cheered to me.

Thankfully the moment of uncomfortableness disappeared as we finished our meals with no bloodshed. We drove back to the property, and Kelsey went on her way after exchanging numbers with Damian.

Really? He gave her his number? That was good, I guessed. Right. It was. That was what I wanted to happen. Sure. Of course.

Since it was a Wednesday, I already had my overnight bag packed to go back with Jeff.

“I’ll go inside and grab my bag, then we can go,” I told Jeff.

“Yup, I’ll be here waiting.”

I dashed inside to grab my things and then looked over at Damian, who was standing in the kitchen getting a glass of water. “Thanks again for coming tonight. It seemed that you and Kelsey were hitting it off. And it seemed that you and Jeff got along for the most part, minus the awkward moments and—”

“Why are you with him?”

“What?”

“Jeff. Why are you with him? He’s a complete dick for brains, and his ability to give a damn about anyone else outside of himself is ridiculous.”

“That’s not true…”

“It is, and I know you’re smart enough to know it’s true. Does he do that often?” Damian asked.

“Do what?”

“Undermine you and your dreams?”

“Oh. No. I mean, you probably just took his reaction to the news about the showcase the wrong way. Jeff is a realist. He knows that my art isn’t good enough to make a living from, and I can be a bit floaty, and my dream-like mind takes on its own road. I envision a crazy life where I make my living on my artwork alone, and well, that’s just ridiculous.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not good enough.”

“Who told you that you weren’t good enough?”

Where do I start?

I pushed out a smile. “It’s okay, Damian. Not all dreamers get their dreams to come true. Some are sent back to reality.”

He grimaced and returned to filling up his glass of water.

“Okay, well, you have a good night. Thanks again for coming tonight. I know it wasn’t the most comfortable situation.” I began turning to leave yet paused as I heard him begin to speak.

“What if it was Maple?” he asked.

“What?”

“What if Jeff told Maple that her dreams were too unrealistic and she wasn’t talented enough to achieve them? How would that make you feel?”

“I’d be enraged.”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “So do that.”

“Do what?”

“Give yourself the same level of love and protection that you give to people you love. For the record, I’ve seen your artwork.” He walked over to me, standing inches away from my face, and lowered his voice. “You’re more than good enough.”

Words…

They were just simple words, but every time Damian offered them to me, I secretly wanted him to give me more.

He left me standing there stunned, leaving chills racing over my body as my heart tried to calm down from the way Damian made it beat uncontrollably.

18

Stella

* * *

“Breathe, Stella, breathe,” I murmured to myself.

I was a basket of nerves the day of the art showcase. It wasn’t getting any better, seeing how I hadn’t been able to get in contact with Jeff all day. He had a show the night before, and I knew it took him a while to regroup after his DJing jobs, but I’d hoped he wouldn’t have partied as hard knowing the biggest day of my career was happening the following evening.