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“Actually, no. I’m down at the bar. With Dave.”
Chapter Four
Jesse
“I thought you needed your rest,” Brianna says through the phone.
“I do. But I couldn’t sleep, and when I got down here, Dave was already here.”
“Please try to get along,” she says. “We don’t need a repeat of Glasgow and London.”
I look over at Dave, who’s nursing a cognac. “We’re good, Bree. Nothing like having your life flash before your eyes to make you realize that petty differences are…well…petty.”
“Yeah, for sure. Is Dave okay?”
“He’s holding up. How’s Maddie?”
“She’s kind of getting into herself too much, if that makes sense.”
“Meaning…”
She pauses. “It’s like… She’s going back to feeling like the odd man out. So I gave her a good-natured lecture about how we lived through what could have been a tragedy. She’ll come around. She’s just feeling like Dave and she might not be anything.”
I rise and take a few steps away from the table, out of Dave’s earshot. “Do I need to say something to him?”
“Oh God, no. She’d be horrified.”
I look back at the table. “Good, because Dave’s pretty shaken up. I think he was being strong for Maddie, and now he’s letting down a bit. I’m thinking I should call Brock to come down and talk to him.”
“Don’t do that. Rory needs him. She looked traumatized, and she needs to recuperate to sing.”
“I know. But Dave’s kind of a mess.”
“You want me to come down? He and I are close. Not like he and Brock are, but all of us are close. Like siblings more than cousins.”
“No. You stay with Maddie. I don’t want her alone.”
“I understand.” She sighs. “I love you, Jesse. So much. We’re going to make this work between us, with our careers and everything. That brush with death made me realize I don’t want a life without you.”
I smile. Brianna is like the sun coming out from a storm. “It showed me the same thing. We’ll figure it out. I love you too. Night, Bree.”
When I hear her phone click off, I return to Dave. He’s gripping his lowball with white knuckles, and for a moment, I expect it to shatter.
“Ease up,” I say to him.
“Is Brianna doing okay?”
“She’s good.” I frown. “I mean, as good as can be expected. She fell asleep for a minute and kind of relived it.”
He swallows. “That’s why I’m not in bed. I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts.”
Before I think better of it, I say, “You want to stay in my room? There are two beds because originally I was rooming with Dragon.”
He shakes his head, staring at his drink. “No.”
I can’t blame him. He and I aren’t friends. He’s a lot younger than I am, and he’s sleeping with my sister, for God’s sake.
Still, I made my peace with Brock and—sort of—with Donny.
