“Thank you, Sparkle, for showing me we’re okay. I love you.”
We drift off to sleep holding one another.
The rest of the weekend is the same. We go to the beach during the day and make love all afternoon. We eat great dinners and find live entertainment. On Sunday when we check out, I think we might just be okay.
Chapter 39
Cut Him Some Slack
We return to Nashville on a high and it lasts for almost two weeks. Sayge has been busy, performing, sometimes four times a week, and I’ve been trying to finish up my semester. As promised, I kept up the Facebook and Website which has significantly increased in popularity. Sayge has been chosen to headline the Franklin Main Street Festival on Saturday night and Jay wants to promote the disc and get T-shirts made. We took an image from one of their appearances and had a local group screen it onto a white shirt. Then we came up with a script for Sayge and printed it on a plain black T. Both are really cool and all the guys were impressed with our quick thinking.
Declan has been in touch with Ryan Knight and asked Knight’s Dream to come check out the show. They drive up on Friday afternoon and we decide to go downtown and show them ‘honky-tonk’ city.
Robbie, Jimi, and Abbi join us for dinner. Abbi and I get a lot of stares from the waitresses since we are the only two girls in this large group of gorgeous guys. After dinner, we go straight to Tootsie’s Wild Orchid Lounge. We settle in at the upstairs stage close to the band. Declan knows the lead singer and waves him over to meet all of us. When he joins our table, it becomes chaotic. There are girls everywhere and Abbi and I are pushed to the side, so we leave to get a drink and go to the bathroom. Before I walk away, I see a leggy brunette push up on Declan’s lap.
When we finally return, the table is half empty. Ryan’s sitting alone on his phone.
“Dec, she just walked up with your sister. She looks fine. Yeah man, I’ll keep her here.”
“What’s that about?” I ask.
“You mean besides Declan calling out a search party when he realized you weren’t around? I’ve never seen someone move so fast in my life. Half the guys went out back and the others flew downstairs.”
“Shit.”
I feel arms around me lifting me into the air. Declan turns me around and squeezes me until I can’t breathe.
“Baby, I can’t breathe, loosen your grip.”
“Fucking shit, Raven, don’t do that again! You scared the piss out of all of us.” People from around the room are looking at us. I feel the heat creep up my body in embarrassment.
“Keep your voice down; people are staring.”
“When I looked up and couldn’t find you, I lost my mind.” Everyone is circling back to the table now and Abbi’s trying to start a new conversation.
“I went to the bathroom. And besides, when I left, you looked content with that girl crawling up on your lap!”
“Oh, so you were punishing me? You disappear to scare me; do you know what that did to me?”
“No, I wasn’t punishing you! I went to the bathroom.”
The look in his eyes is dark and heated with no remorse about yelling at me. I stand still against his side and Nate breaks in. “Raven, maybe in light of recent events, you can let one of us know when you leave the group so we can keep tabs. It’s nothing personal; we just want to protect you.”
I can’t stay here anymore, the rage is building and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold it back. I get my purse from the table and say goodnight to everyone including Declan. He reaches for me, but I reject his touch.
“Don’t- you humiliated me. First off, I’m not some damsel in distress that can’t make it on my own in a bar. Second, maybe you can find the tramp from earlier to keep you company tonight. I’m leaving.”
I turn to leave and pull Robbie with me on my way towards the back alley. Abbi and Jimi follow us until we hit the street. I start walking towards the riverfront with one thing on my mind.
Robbie catches up to me and I stop only when I see that Declan hasn’t followed us. “Robbie, I’m not ready to go home. I’m going to Coyote Ugly to dance and then going to a hole-in-the-wall to finish getting drunk. You can come with me or not. I don’t care.”
Abbi links her arm in mine and starts walking. “Sounds like a fine plan. Let’s get our crazy on!”
The guys don’t say anything, but wisely follow.
After several shots, Abbi and I dance on the bar shaking our ass and screaming the words to the songs with the bartenders. I feel two strong hands on my legs and fall into Robbie. Jimi has Abbi as well.
“We need to go now. Declan’s on his way and I don’t want to see his reaction to this.”