Fight or Flight

The rest was history.

I was delighted for my friend, but I was also a little jealous that she was brave enough to throw herself into a relationship. Harper had gone through worse than I could imagine and yet she was less restrained by her past than I was.

I envied her courage.

“They’re good,” Caleb said loudly, not hiding his surprise.

“Yeah, they are.” Harper grinned. “My guy is going places!”

“How long have they been at this?” Caleb asked her, shouting over the music to be heard.

“About a year!” she yelled back. “Vince has been in a couple of bands, but these guys really gel together. Vince is the songwriter. Considering his age, the music blows me away.”

“His age?”

“Yeah, he’s younger than me. He’s only twenty-two.”

When Harper first told me her boyfriend’s age, I’d been skeptical. Men were immature as it was, so I wasn’t too keen on the idea of her dating a guy who’d only legally been able to drink for a year. But she’d assured me that Vince’s time in foster care, the situations he’d been through, had given him a maturity beyond his years. He was the first guy she’d ever confided her traumatic past to, feeling he more than anyone would understand.

I was beginning to suspect my friend was falling in love for the first time.

Caleb just nodded at the information and continued to listen to State of Play. We all did. By the time they’d finished their set, my ears were buzzing, I was too hot, and my feet were starting to hurt in my stilettos. There really was a reason most of the women were wearing boots, like Harper.

Not surprisingly, after a sweaty Vince managed to make his way through a congratulating crowd toward us, he managed to charm up a free table for us. He introduced us to his three band members, who looked so alike I forgot who was who seconds after the introductions. They left us to go talk to some girls who were eager to meet them. Vince wrapped his arm around Harper and drew her into his side as he sipped at a beer across the table from me and Caleb.

“So, Caleb, where in Scotland are you from?” Vince asked.

“I live in Glasgow. I enjoyed your music, by the way.”

Vince grinned. “Hey, thanks. Means a lot.”

I shared a look with Harper, knowing she was thinking what I was thinking. That we could sit and listen to these two hot guys with their hot accents all night. I almost laughed at us being so profoundly girly.

Our conversation was easy despite the four of us coming from different walks of life. We talked music and Glasgow versus Boston for a while, only to be rudely interrupted by a tall girl in a tight black dress with lots of red hair and lots of cleavage. She put her hand on the table and leaned in toward Vince, giving him an eyeful of her impressive chest. “Hey, Vince, when are you coming over to catch up with me and Sarah? It’s been a while.”

Irritation made me tense, my gaze moving to Harper, who shocked me by merely staring dully at the table in front of her.

Vince’s hand tightened on Harper’s shoulder and he gave the redhead a polite smile. “Just hanging with my girl and her friends right now, Lisa.”

“We can’t stay long. Come hang out. You know you always have a good time with us.” Her voice was thick with innuendo. I scowled at her brazen rudeness.

Still, Harper didn’t look up from the table.

What the hell?

“Hey.” I snapped my fingers in the redhead’s face, forcing her up off the table. “Vince is hanging with his girlfriend right now—” I waved my hand at her. “So shoo.”

She shot me a dark look but backed up and stalked away.

Wondering why I was the one dealing with the intrusive groupie, I gave Harper a sharp look of confusion, which she ignored.

“Sorry.” Vince shrugged. “It happens.”

Irritated that he didn’t seem that bothered by it and that Harper was uncharacteristically quiet, I clamped my lips shut and allowed him and Caleb to carry the conversation.

They had been talking about the great music scene in Glasgow and that led to them talking about bars, then somehow onto restaurants. “There are amazing places tae eat in Glasgow,” Caleb informed us. “Though Canterbury gives them a run for their money,” he said to Harper. “The food is fantastic.”

She grinned, a little of her cocky self finally shining through. “I told you.”

“Yeah.” Vince snorted. “They just work her to the bone for a goddamn dessert, but the food is fantastic.”

My eyes widened at the snarky comment, a fresh tension falling over the table. Harper cut him a mystified look. “Vince?”

I watched a muscle in his jaw flex. “C’mon, I can’t be the only one that thinks the hours you work are ridiculous. Right, Ava?”

I narrowed my eyes. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be supportive? All evidence tonight had been to the contrary. “I think if you want to be great at anything, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I think Harper is only twenty-six years old and a top pastry chef in a Michelin-star restaurant. And I think that if Harper is happy to put in a lot of hours to be at the top in her industry, then I’m happy to support her.”

Hearing the warning in my voice, Vince shifted uncomfortably, an expression I could only describe as petulant entering his gaze. I suddenly felt the eight-year age gap between us, and it seemed massive.

As soon as I got Harper alone, she was in for a grilling, because this Vince was not at all the Vince I’d met before or had been led to believe she was dating. He was supposed to support her career, not be like every other whining idiot who wanted her to put them before her career. And suddenly, I was done for the night. Harper wasn’t acting like herself and it was pissing me off.

“You know, I have a headache.” I turned to Caleb. “Would you mind if we go now?”

He immediately nodded. “Sure, babe.”

We got out of our seats and I walked around the table to hug Harper good night. She stared up at me but I couldn’t read her expression as I leaned down to give her a half hug and a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll talk,” I murmured in her ear.

My friend just nodded and bid me a quiet good night.

“Night, Vince,” I said, barely looking at him as I turned away.

Caleb held out his hand to me, and I was momentarily taken aback before I reached for it, enjoying the feel of his warm hand curling tightly around my smaller one. He led me through the crowd and out of the bar, the chill night air rushing over us.

We strolled in silence down the street to where he’d parked his borrowed Maserati. He let go of my hand to open the door for me and I got in, relaxing immediately into the seat.

Nope. Great Scott was definitely not my scene, and watching Harper being cowed by a groupie and then berated by her boyfriend was definitely not my scene.

As soon as Caleb got into the car and drove off, I sighed. “I’m sorry. That was awkward.”

“You seem worried about Harper. Do you not like this guy? We can go back and get her if you want.”

Gratitude and something else I didn’t want to analyze moved through me warm and swift at his offer. “No, she’s a big girl. I just hope she knows what she’s doing. It isn’t like her to allow some catty girl to pretend like she doesn’t exist. Or to allow a guy to come down on her about how hard she works. She told me Vince was different. I thought Vince was different.”

Caleb kept his eyes on the dark road but smirked as he said, “Well, you took care of the catty girl for her.”

I grinned. “Were you entertained?”

“Aye.” He flashed me a wicked smile. “Aye, you entertain me.”

Feeling something I didn’t want to admit to but at the same time I couldn’t ignore, I found myself longing to take Caleb home. To wake up in my bed and see him sleeping there. To drink coffee with him in my kitchen.

They were dangerous thoughts, but they were also persistent. “Why don’t I entertain you at my place tonight? You could … stay.”

His hands tightened around the steering wheel, his amusement dying a quick death. “Ava …”

“Don’t make more out of it than there is,” I hurried to say, suddenly deeply aggravated by his commitment phobia. “It’s still just sex but this time neither of us has to get out of bed in the middle of the night. If you fall asleep beside me I’m going to take it to mean you’re tired, not that you want to fall asleep beside me forever. Okay?” I hoped I sounded dry and blithe enough for him.