Mickey 14
I knocked on Colt’s door right around three in the morning. I didn’t hesitate because the lights were all on inside the house. No way was I gonna be left out of whatever it was they were planning.
Colt had asked me to come on by tonight so we could discuss his plan with CindyLou, and I’d told him no way. It was too soon. She and I hadn’t built up any kind of relationship, at least not yet. We’d had that one-off and I’d abandoned her. Not a great start.
Yeah, I’d apologized, and we were on friendly terms again, but nothing like they were. I still had to prove myself to her.
And after I saw her up on that stage, I decided I wasn’t worthy of her. CindyLou was a class act, all the way. I was a guitar bum. I usually went wherever the wind blew, and right now it was blowing into Dirty Coyote. Or, if I chose to sign that contract, which I still hadn’t done, I could be working with a successful band.
Either way, neither of these meant I’d still be working with either one of these groups in six months from now or two years or, if I could stand it, five years from now. Then there was always my daddy duties to my daughter, who I still hadn’t even met. How could I justify fucking CindyLou again without having put out the effort to meet my own daughter.
So, okay, I spotted CindyLou and Darci at the local grocery store this afternoon and completely froze. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go over to them and meet my daughter. Thought it was stupid to finally meet her in a fucking grocery store in the toilet paper aisle. What kind of a story would that make?
Instead, I high-tailed it out of there without buying my basket of food.
Everything changed tonight when I saw both Colt and Scotty pull out of the parking lot right behind CindyLou, and Scotty headed towards Colt’s house instead of mine.
I tried to just drive home, but when I pulled up to my place, I realized I was making a huge mistake, so I turned right around and headed to Colt’s place.
Was I too late?
The door swung open on my second knock.
“Mickey! I thought you were heading home,” Colt said, staring at me from inside his house.
“I changed my mind. Am I too late?” I asked with a knot in my stomach.
“Too late for what?” CindyLou asked.
“The discussion. The plan. The talk,” I said, walking in past Colt.
“There’s a plan?” she asked, sounding almost miffed.
“Well, yeah. Sort of,” I said, and I caught CindyLou’s eyes go wide.
“Actually, CindyLou was just about to tell us something important.”
“That’s before I knew about your plan,” she said, crossing her arms over her ample chest.
“You’re timing sucks,” Scottie said, almost like an accusation.
“Colt invited me,” I told him.
“Yeah, well, that might’ve been a mistake on his part.”
I took a seat in the other club chair next to CindyLou.
“It wasn’t a mistake,” Colt began. “We’re all here now, so maybe it’s time to have a simple discussion. Do you want to continue on with what you were going to say, CindyLou?”
She gazed at each of us, then she said, “Mickey, how about a beer?”
“Sure,” I told her, and I could hear the groans coming from the guys. Apparently, this was not what she’d planned to say.
As soon as she left the room, I got it from both Scotty and Colt.
“She was about to tell us what she thought about group sex. What the fuck, Mickey. Your timing couldn’t have been more wrong.” Scotty made it clear he wasn’t happy with me.
“You’re not doing this without me,” I said.