Chapter 9

I woke slowly the next morning, relishing the feel of my bed. As I yawned and stretched, I realized that I’d done it again. I’d slept with Collin last night.

Jumping out of my bed, I paced up and down, gnawing on my lip. Okay, so I screwed up again – maybe. We’d both been sober – relatively. Sure we’d had a few drinks but not nearly as much as the first time. We had both been totally aware of what we were doing.

So, what did it all mean? Did Collin want to be with me? Or did he just want me? I knew I’d never find answers pacing the floor so I jumped in the shower and dressed. By the time I got down to the kitchen, Collin had already eaten breakfast with my father and was outside helping him to set up things.

“Morning, Bailey,” Steffi greeted. She looked far too radiant and young to be turning thirty-six. “How was the party?”

“Interesting,” I smirked, pushing the after party activities out of mind. “Collin pulled one on Veronica…” I stilled – my hand halfway to the plate of muffins sitting on the breakfast bar. “Damn. Damn.”

“What?” Steffi asked, her perfectly plucked brow nearly in her hairline.

“Damn it,” I cursed. I sank to a chair and explained how Collin had played doting boyfriend the night before. “But you see, some of those people will be at your party today.”

“So?” Steffi frowned.

“So, me and Collin are going to have to continue the charade. And,” I said, massaging my temple. “Damn. Morgan will be here. So will Spencer. How do you think they’ll like seeing me and Collin all snug and cute and touchy-feely?”

Steffi sniggered. “I’m sorry, Bailey, honest, but damn, you do know how to get yourself into a mess, don’t you?”

“That ain’t the half of it,” I groaned as I caught a glimpse of Collin out on the deck with Daddy. “And I’ll tell you about it later.”

I stood and headed for the French doors but Steffi grabbed my arm.

“Did you sleep with him last night?”

A smirk slipped on my lips. “I plead the fifth.”

I slid out of her grasp and escaped to the deck.

“Good morning, sunshine,” my dad greeted.

I rolled my eyes at him and peeked around the yard. “Where is Collin?”

“Unloading equipment from the van,” Daddy said as he consulted with a caterer. “The DJ guy was here earlier and he talked to Collin about where to set up the stage and the sound stuff and everything technical that I’m too old and too stupid to understand.”

“You’re not the only one,” I commiserated. I pecked his cheek. “I’m going to go see if Collin needs help.”

I walked around to the front of the house and spotted his legs peeking out from under the open cargo doors of the van. My heart picked up an extra beat as I approached him.

“Need any help?” I asked.

When he spun around, his face brightened when he spotted me. I was so relieved to see no guilt in his eyes that I almost jumped in his arms. It was my guilt that was stopping me.

“Sure,” he said, his sexy smile slipping into its rightful place. “You can carry the bass drum.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I smirked. “I was thinking more along the lines of carrying your drumsticks.”

His smile faltered and he reached out to touch my hair. “Are you okay today, Bailey?”

“Sure,” I said with forced cheerfulness. I’d spent a remarkable evening with the man I loved even though he didn’t know I loved him and he probably didn’t feel the same way. “I’m fine. How about you?”

He lifted a shoulder and grabbed my hand, tugging me closer. “I’m fine. And I know you’re probably not anxious to let the others know about this so we can keep it to ourselves.”

“Collin,” I said as I placed a hand on his chest. “You’re not going to go on another guilt trip, are you?”

“No,” he said. “Promise.”

I nodded and bit my lip. “Oh, hey. Guess what I realized this morning?”

He creased his brow. “What?”

“There are probably going to be quite a few people from the party last night at the party today. And since they think we’re a couple…”

He nodded, smile on his face. “So I must play the attentive boyfriend, huh?”

“Yep,” I said rolling to my tiptoes. “In front of them…and in front of Spencer.”

I almost added Morgan’s name but since he wasn’t aware of Morgan’s crush, I kept my mouth shut.

“Damn, I forgot,” he said. He sat on the bumper and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll just have to let them in on it when they get here,” he said with a careless shrug. “We’ll tell them it’s just a ruse.”

My heart plunged straight past my stomach. “Yeah, they’ll understand.”

He pulled on the collar of his t-shirt and pointed to the bite mark on his neck. “Of course I should probably keep this hidden from them like I had to do your dad.”

“Damn,” I said, only a little abashed. “Um, sorry?”

Chuckling, he ruffled my hair. “Are you going to help me or what?”

“Sure,” I said with a faux smile. “As long as you don’t give me anything heavy. I don’t want to get all sweaty and smelly.”

He laughed and a smile stayed on his face as I helped him unload his equipment. He carried all the heavy stuff, causing his muscles to strain and my pulse to quicken, although Daddy did come out to assist when he could.

Once we got everything on the stage, I helped him set up the drum kit, listening carefully as he explained the purpose of each piece and how it all went together. Once that task was finished, he patted the stool behind the drums and I sat down. He shoved the drum sticks in my hand and grinned.

“What am I supposed to do with these?” I asked as I held them in front of his face.

“Duh,” he said. He squatted behind me and placed his hands over mine. “Here. Hold them like this.”

He situated the sticks the proper way and guided my hands over the drums. We played a beat I recognized from one of the cover songs they did at Rusty’s. His lips were very close to my ear making it hard for me to concentrate on his count.

“Awesome,” he said when we finished. “You’ll be a drummer yet.”

I snorted. “Only if you do that for every song.”

I took him into town for lunch and a brief tour. I wanted to get out of Daddy’s hair because he was getting a little stressed at all the preparations and I knew only Steffi could calm him down.

We got back in time to see Irelyn and Lucas pull up followed closely by Morgan and Spencer in Morgan’s car.

“And, here we go,” I said as Collin parked the van.

I hopped out to greet my friends, perhaps a little more cheerfully than usual. I gave them all a tour of the house and showed them to the guest rooms.

Steffi and Daddy were in the kitchen, going over final plans when I gathered everyone together and introduced them. I watched Steffi’s eyes as they shifted ever so slightly when I mentioned each person’s name. She was matching the faces to the stories and figuring if she’d pictured that person right. I couldn’t wait until later to find out how well she’d done.

“Let’s go kick back on the deck before all the idiots get here,” I said but caught Daddy’s dark look. “I mean, all the guests.”

Collin laughed and held the door open for us. Actually, the whole reason why I wanted everyone outside was so we could let them in on the joke. Or, so I could force Collin into telling everyone.

“This place is amazing,” Morgan said. “Oh, I wish my parents lived up here.”

“It is a great place,” Spencer agreed. He gave me a wink and I had to draw courage from the deepest pit of my stomach.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” I said attracting everyone’s eyes. “So, Collin and I crashed a party last night – a really lame party and not worth the effort –but still, it was a party.”

Collin laughed in agreement. Irelyn’s eyes darted from Collin to me and there was no doubting the speculation. Collin had mentioned once that Lucas had suspicions. Well, it seemed as if Irelyn had them, too.

“Anyway, my ‘friend’ was there…”

“She was no friend of yours,” Collin interrupted. “A right bitch, this one,” he explained to the others. “Thought I was going to have to throw Bailey over my shoulder and haul her away. She was ready to rip this Veronica in half.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the rendition, drama queen.”

Lucas cracked up and smacked Collin on the back.

“What Bailey is trying to tell you guys is that some of these people from the party last night will be here today,” Collin said.

“So we need to keep a close eye on Bailey?” Morgan asked, her eyes sparkling. I made a mental note to ask her later what had happened while I'd been gone. Her moping mood had vanished. “That’s not an unusual request.”

“True,” Collin frowned. “But actually, this Veronica said some pretty terrible things about Bailey and I sort of stepped in and told her I was Bailey’s boyfriend.”

Lucas snorted. “Dude…”

“What did she say about you?” Spencer asked.

I turned my eyes toward the lake. It was enough that Collin had to hear it, I didn’t need the rest of them to know. “It doesn’t matter."

Collin placed a hand on my shoulder.

“It wasn’t nice,” he told them, nearly growling. “So, anyway, they all think Bailey and I have a thing and we figured we’d better tell you guys before they all arrived and started talking about it.”

“Sure,” Lucas drawled.

Irelyn gave a curt nod as Morgan frowned.

“Okay,” Morgan said.

Spencer couldn’t stop laughing. “This is too funny.”

“Try it on my end,” I said, faking irritation.

Spencer’s laughter increased as he strolled across the deck to take me in his arms. I buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around him, taking shelter in his embrace. It felt so safe and familiar. Once again, I wished that I’d have fallen in love with him but as safe and comforting as he was, he lacked the excitement and heart-pounding chemistry that I found just standing near Collin.

Spencer dropped a quick kiss to the top of my head. “We got your back, Bailey, don’t worry.”

I lifted my head to smile at him. “Thanks, Spence.”

He winked, pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, and stepped back. “So, what time does this shindig start?”

“Soon,” Collin said as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket. “Here’s a list of songs Steffi asked us to play.”

The guys went over the list while I took the girls upstairs to freshen up for the party. Irelyn’s lips were in such a tight line, she couldn’t even apply her favorite lip gloss. And Morgan’s peppy mood suddenly went into overdrive.

Guilt flooded me again and I was absolutely dying to confess, but I didn’t want to hear the torrent of moral lectures that would come from Morgan’s mouth and possibly Irelyn’s. I knew I should just encourage them to speak their minds and get it over with but I didn’t want them to rant and rave and put a damper on the party. I’d wait and let them do it tomorrow.

“Girls,” Steffi said as she breezed into my bathroom. “I have to prepare you.” She took a deep breath and fretted at me. “Your father just told me that he invited everyone in the neighborhood.”

“Damn,” I swore as I slammed my brush on the counter. “That means Veronica’s dumb ass will be here.”

“I know,” Steffi said as she gave me a brief hug. “And Bailey please try to refrain from beating her up until after the party. Not that I would mind – I’d love to see her get what she deserves – but it would upset your father.”

“Is she that bad?” Morgan asked, her eyes wide.

“She’s a bitch,” I spit as I leaned against the counter.

“Bailey’s right,” Steffi agreed.

“We’ll keep Bailey out of trouble,” Irelyn said with a too bright smile.

“Good luck with that,” Steffi said doubtfully. She flashed a megawatt smile and breezed back out of the room.

“Let’s go,” I said as I flicked my hair over my shoulder. “All the idiots should be arriving.”

***

The food was good, the DJ was great, and the guys were outstanding. They alternated with the DJ and hung out with us between sets.

Although quite a few people from Janie’s party showed up – Veronica remained absent. That suited me just fine because I’d had more than my fair share of confrontations with her lately. And I was already on edge because of Irelyn and Morgan. Then, Collin would have to sit close to me – all part of the charade – and throw my equilibrium further off balance.

I couldn’t even enjoy being Collin’s fake girlfriend because every time he touched me, Irelyn stiffened and Morgan frowned.

Parties were really starting to suck for me.

Kora and her gang oohed and aahed over Lucas, Spencer, and Collin, dancing right up in front of the stage. Their antics only caused more tension for Irelyn and even more peppiness for Morgan.

And a huge headache for me.

The only bright spot was how much fun Steffi – and Daddy for that matter – seemed to be having. Steffi’s friends raved over the band and even though they were quite a bit older than the guys, they eyed them just as flirtatiously as the younger girls. And the more alcohol they consumed, the friskier they became.

I slumped in a chair at the table I was sharing with Irelyn and Morgan as the guys played their final set, sipping a whiskey and coke, bored out of my tree.

My mind kept wandering back to the previous night when Collin and I were hidden in the dune grass, kicking up sand…

“There she is,” Veronica whined in a nasally voice.

I yawned, swirled the liquid in my glass, and turned lazily to face her. “I knew I smelled something.”

“Who are these girls?” Veronica asked, an evil smirk lurking on her lips. “More whores?”

That was all I could take. I jumped from my chair and snarled in her face. “You can mess with me all you want but don’t mess with my friends, bitch.”

Irelyn and Morgan were at my sides in an instant, each clutching an arm.

Veronica just laughed and waltzed away to the food table.

Shaking them off, I marched toward the house. They followed behind me and I sighed in exasperation as I strode into the kitchen to rip open the refrigerator door. I grabbed a beer and viciously twisted off the cap. I drank about a quarter of it before slamming the bottle on the counter.

“Stop looking at me,” I growled. “I’m fine. I’ll be good. I’ll kick the shit out of her later.”

“What is the deal with her?” Morgan asked, her face as pale as the white kitchen tiles.

“She’s nothing more than a jealous, spiteful bitch, that’s all.” I picked up my bottle and sucked down some more. “And I’m tired of her mouth.”

When the music stopped, I heard Lucas thank everyone and wish Steffi a happy birthday. I sighed as I finished the beer. I tossed the bottle into the recycle bin and headed for the door.

“The guys are done. Let’s go back outside.”

The girls nodded and trailed behind me.

“Bailey!” Lucas shouted as he yanked me into a hug. “You were about to kick some ass, weren’t you?”

I wriggled out of his grasp and ignored Collin’s pointed looks. “No. I’ll bide my time.”

“For what?” Veronica asked as she joined our group. “You’ll bide your time until you can give the other two a turn?” She pointed at Spencer and Lucas.

“Nah,” I said as my lips curled over my teeth. I looped an arm through Spencer’s. “I already gave him a turn and Lucas there is in love with my best friend so he’s out of the question.”

She laughed wickedly. “Has that ever stopped you before?”

“Listen here, bitch,” Spencer said as he took a step toward Veronica.

I placed a hand on his chest and shook my head. “Don’t waste your breath on her – she’s nothing. That’s why she verbally attacks everyone – to make them look bad and herself look good.”

‘So, do your new friends know about your old nickname?” she asked as if I hadn’t just insulted her. “Easy Lay Bailey?”

I laughed. “No, I didn’t tell them.”

She lifted a brow. “Too ashamed?”

“No,” I snorted. “The nickname just sucks. You’d think that with your grades you would have more imagination and could come up with something better. Oh, wait – your father had to make a huge donation to the school to keep you from flunking out. Damn, almost forgot.”

She puffed up like a stuffed turkey, turned on her heel, and nearly fled. I cracked a satisfied smile as I watched her through narrowed eyes. “What a dumb ass.”

Collin squeezed my shoulder and a wave of tranquility washed over my body. “Are you okay, Bailey?”

“Sure,” I said as I smiled at him over my shoulder. “Fine.”

“Bailey, if you don’t beat the living hell out her, I’ll be highly disappointed,” Lucas said as he held Irelyn against his side.

“I’ll get her,” I said as I pointed at the drink table. “Now let’s drink.”

The rest of the party went okay and Veronica pretty much disappeared. Irelyn and Morgan lightened up and we actually enjoyed the DJ’s music. I relaxed after a few drinks and cherished Collin’s subtle boyfriend act.

When the party finally wound down, we all retired to our rooms. Daddy’s house had six bedrooms, besides the master suite, so no one had to double up. Of course, that didn’t stop Irelyn and Morgan from storming into my bedroom as I was pulling on my pajamas.

“Problem with the accommodations, ladies?” I asked.

“Bailey,” Irelyn hissed. “We saw the mark on Collin’s neck. Just how much did you two act last night?”

“Oh,” I said, scrambling for a lie while my face flushed in pleasure at the memory. “That was an accident. We were just horsing around, is all.”

“Spencer saw it,” Morgan said, her big eyes worried. “I can only imagine what he’s thinking.”

“Geez,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He knows what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but he’s not the only one who is going to be hurt by this,” Irelyn said between clenched teeth.

Damn. Morgan. Damn. I sighed and plopped on the bed.

“We were dancing and Veronica was watching and we were laughing. I hid my face on his shoulder and I accidentally bit him. No big deal.”

Morgan nodded, her brow furrowed. Irelyn just set her lips and left the room. Morgan shrugged apologetically before she followed.

“Damn,” I swore. I shut off my light and fell into the bed. I stared at the ceiling, wondering what the hell to do. Twenty minutes later, a soft knock bolted me upright.

I heaved another sigh, this one in frustration, and stormed to the door. I ripped it open and gasped. “Collin?”

He pushed me into the room and shut the door. His eyes quickly roved over my rather revealing pajamas before he spoke. “So, yeah, I caught a little razzing from the guys about your bite, darling.”

His eyes were teasing even though he wore a serious face.

“Bet it wasn’t as bad as what I got from the girls,” I said as I returned to the bed. “I’m in trouble.”

“Why?” he said as he sank beside me, all teasing gone. “Bailey, what’s the deal? They both seemed sort of pissed all night.”

I shrugged and tucked my legs under my body. “They think all this is going to hurt Spencer. I can’t blame them – they’re probably right.”

“Nah,” Collin said. “I talked to Spence and he said it was cool – especially after he met Veronica.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a smile. “I’ll talk to them both tomorrow.

I’ll assure them that everything will go back to normal once we leave.”

His eyes darkened as he nodded his head. “Okay. I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“Sure,” I said. I stood and walked him to the door. “Thanks, Collin, for everything.”

Cupping my face, he kissed me softly. “Get some rest, Bailey. Everything will look better in the morning.”

With a wink, he slipped out the door.

I crawled back in my bed, feeling as if I could cry as hard as I had the day my mother died. I resisted and eventually drifted off into a restless slumber.