Smitten

“Yeah. I’m going now.”

My heart crashing, I race downstairs and do a lap of the packed party, frantically looking for Georgina, chastising myself all the while for leaving Alessandra alone with a megalomaniac who thinks he’s an expert on anything and everything having to do with music. Well, Reed was wrong about me, wasn’t he? He told me to dip out of my own fucking band! And look at me now!

Finally, after what feels like forever, I notice an angry-looking Georgina bursting through a set of distant French doors, followed closely by a desperate-looking Reed. Oh, man. Reed looks absolutely wrecked. Vulnerable, I’d even say. Which is a new look for him. So much so, I barely recognize him. What the hell just happened between him and Georgina? Did Georgina get Alessandra’s text and instantly break up with Reed on the spot? It sure looks that way. Now, that’s a fucking badass!

I bound through the crowded party toward Georgina, where she’s now breathlessly talking to Kat and Kat’s friend, Hannah.

“Alessandra needs you,” I announce, even before I’ve come to a full stop before Georgina. As I say the words, I glare at Reed, letting him know whatever tongue-lashing Georgina has given him was rightly deserved. That, if I were forty pounds heavier, I’d beat his ass for shattering Alessandra’s hopes and dreams. I look at Georgina again. “Reed told Alessandra she sucks, and that her music is bullshit, so she ran upstairs to your room to cry.” I’m sure she already knows all that, but I want to be sure she’s not buying whatever bullshit version of events Reed has been trying to sell her.

“That’s not how it went down at all!” Reed shouts, throwing up his arms.

But I ignore him. “I tried to comfort her, but she said she preferred being alone, until you could come.”

“I was trying to help Alessandra!” Reed shouts, his dark eyes filled with panic. “I was encouraging her.” He looks pleadingly at Georgina, but she doesn’t give him a moment’s consideration. Instead, she wordlessly turns and marches toward the staircase, prompting Reed to follow her, shouting her name as he goes.

“Holy crap,” Kat murmurs, looking at Georgina’s and Reed’s departing frames. “What the hell did he do?”

I run my hand through my hair. “He listened to Alessandra’s demo and told her she sucks. I found Alessandra upstairs, bawling her eyes out in a guest room. She begged me to find Georgina.” I scoff. “Arrogant prick.”

“But why was Georgina crying, then?” Kat replies. “Didn’t you see her face? She’s obviously been crying—hard.”

“Yeah,” Hannah, Kat’s friend, says. “Would Georgina sob because Reed was a bit harsh about her stepsister’s demo?”

“Absolutely,” I reply. “Georgie and Alessandra are really close, and he steamrolled her confidence. Alessandra struggles with stage fright and anxiety, guys. Reed’s assholery was the last thing she needed.” I take a deep breath, trying to get a grip on my racing thoughts. “Honestly, I don’t know exactly what’s going on. All I know is Reed was a dick to Alessandra, and when I tried to comfort her, she didn’t want me. She only wanted her sister.”

“Aw, Fish,” Kat says, placing her hand on my forearm. “Don’t feel bad about that. I’m sure, when she calms down, she’ll find you, and you can comfort her then.”

I scrub my stubble with my palm. “You don’t understand, Kat. Alessandra is leaving for Boston on Monday morning. If this is going to be our only night together, I wanted to make it special. Memorable.”

“It will be,” Kat says. “The memories have just been delayed slightly. That’s all.” But when she sees the look of despair on my face, she juts her lower lip with sympathy. “Aw, poor little Fish Taco. You really like her, huh?”

I swallow hard. “It doesn’t matter. Realistically, nothing serious could come out of tonight, anyway. Not with my crazy schedule and her being a full-time student in Boston for the next two years.” I let out a long, audible sigh. “Fuck it, shit happens. The thing I hate most is knowing Reed smashed her confidence. God, I hate him. He’s such a prick.”

Kat and Hannah exchange a look, clearly telegraphing their unease. Their husbands are Reed’s two best friends, after all. So, obviously, these women have spent quite a bit of time with Reed, as his friend, unlike me. So, they’ve probably seen a much softer side to the guy than me. But fuck it. And fuck him. I’m only speaking the truth, as I know it. And what I know, for a fact, is that Reed Rivers can be a first-class prick.

“Whatever stupid things Reed might have said tonight,” Hannah says, “I’m sure he meant well, somewhere in there. He always does.”

“Absolutely,” Kat says.

I open my mouth to say who-knows-what, but before I’ve said a word, a new supergroup kicks off loudly onstage, filling the expansive room with blaring music.