“You think he did something with a stripper.” Brian points out my hypocrisy. I shrug my shoulders because I can’t even bring myself to deny it.
“That woman tonight. She looked a lot like the one I saw in the video.” At least I think she did. That was over a year ago and the video was a little dark. She must be the same one that was in the article I read.
“Yeah.” Brian lets out a long sigh of agreement as we drive toward my place in silence. I’m still trying to process everything that happened. The fact that Linc is back. That he held our daughter in his arms. Maybe he finally put two and two together and realized Bailey is his baby.
“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s not back here for me. He’s here for a show.” I will myself not to cry. An overall sadness comes over me thinking about how none of them had the decency to reach out to me. Seeing all of them today has driven that fact home. “I’m just forgettable.” A sob leaves me. “Why does everyone forget me?”
I had already come to peace with my parents not caring about me. It had been harder to accept that Nick and Benjy didn’t care. But the hardest of them all had been Linc. He’d sworn that he would always love me. That I had his heart and was the other half of his soul. I’d believed it all. Back then I knew that girls would eventually throw themselves at him, but I was confident that I never had to worry. He had been mine fully—until he wasn’t.
“Fuck, Cherry.” Brian pulls the car to a stop in front of my place. I tried not to cry but there is no stopping it. I’ve held it all in for so long that now that I’ve started I can’t seem to stop.
“Now he’s going to want back into my life because of Bailey. I can’t blame him. Who wouldn’t want to be in her life after seeing her?” I want him to be a part of her life. No matter what has happened between us, I know without a doubt that he will love her fiercely. That she will never want for anything in her life or second-guess whether or not she’s wanted. It’s with that realization that I push my tears aside. This isn’t about me or what happened in the past. This is about Bailey and what is best for her. What I don’t understand is why now?
“That is true.” Brian unbuckles my seat belt pulling me into a hug. “We’ll figure this out,” he says into my ear. “You are loved, Cherry. I promise you that. I love you and I’m pretty sure Linc does too. I saw the look on his face.”
“Thanks.” I sniffle.
“I’ll get Bailey. You go get your game face on before that man shows up over here.” I nod, heading into my place. It’s a silly thing to do but for the first time in a long time I want to get dressed up some. To remind Linc of the girl he left behind.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Linc
Driving over the bumpy road to get to Cherry’s place throws me back to the days when we were doing weekend gigs at local bars. We’d play our songs and then, sweaty from the performance, we’d come out to some backwoods gravel road, drink our contraband booze, and make love until the sun came up. Well, Cherry and I would make love. Nick and Benjy would be off doing their own thing.
My current routine is to play my set, shake hands with VIPs and take pictures with their daughters, do a local print interview or chat with a YouTuber, do some stupid thing with an influencer, go over a script for the next morning’s radio spot, and then fall into bed with my boots on and not wake up until noon the next day. The only action my dick sees is my hand and currently neither are interested in the other. Ever since Cherry broke up with me, I’ve had the dead dick syndrome. Nothing interests me. The hottest celeb could be shaking her bare, spangly ass in my face at some awards afterparty and all I would be thinking about is how unsanitary everything is in LA or Vegas.
My cock’s not dead now. I’ve been walking around with a hard-on since our car crossed the county line.
“You’re not getting any,” I tell the big guy. “She’s moved on. We’re getting her back, but I doubt she’s going to be in the mood after I decked her…” I trail off because I don’t want to give Brian any kind of designation that means he belongs in her life. Cherry’s mine. She’s always been mine. This is like a…hiatus. She went on a hiatus to find herself and had our baby and now I’m bringing her home.