"A word in private?" Torin asks Phoenix. His request sounds more like a command.
"Torin." My voice carries a warning I doubt anyone misses.
"It's okay. I'll be back soon." Phoenix drops a kiss on my forehead and strokes my hair. Torin's mouth twists into a scowl before he stalks away.
"We're on in ten minutes," Nash calls after him.
He flashes the peace sign in response as he continues walking. Phoenix follows a few paces behind him to a dark corner of the bar.
Nash glances at Ava and me. "What was that about?"
"Phoenix is about to have his ass handed to him," Ava explains, as if this isn't obvious to all three of us. She looks and sounds much too gleeful for someone who claimed she didn't want to spoil my weekend by doing the same thing. "He and Del dated once before and--"
"It's a long story if you don't already know it," I say, interrupting Ava before she gets too animated with her account of things. "Practically a novel."
"I'll fill you in later," she assures him.
"Can't wait." He sounds amused, but the way his mouth quirks before he presses his lips together makes it seem like he's suppressing a grin for my sake. "Speaking of novels, Del, I overheard Ava say something about your latest book a few weeks ago. It sounded interesting."
"Shhh." Ava elbows him. "She just forgave me for vaguely spilling the beans. I wasn't supposed to talk about her book until it's announced."
"It's fine," I reply. If it gets us off the topic of Torin's beef with Phoenix and what I have to do with it, I might even be willing to get behind one of the microphones on stage and announce my new novel to the entire bar.
"Maybe I shouldn't ask, but did Elenna Paseo's disappearance inspire any of it? The premise sounded like it might have to do with her."
Thanks to Phoenix also connecting the dots, this time the question doesn't seem out of left field. "It's loosely based on her case. You knew her, right?"
He doesn't seem surprised by my knowledge of this. "Incredibly well. We grew up next door to each other. Phoenix knew her, too."
"He told me, and I'm so sorry. I can't imagine the pain you've been through, especially with her case still unsolved."
His head bobs, acknowledging what I said. Ava's gaze darts from him to me. This is new information for her, since we haven't discussed the connection between Len, Phoenix, and Nash. She was already so suspicious of Phoenix, his intentions, and what kept him away and silent all this time. Once I settled into gratitude for Len's role in his return to my life as the guy I used to know, I didn't want to risk Ava reflecting my initial insecurities back to me about how or why his friendship with Len was enough for him to get his act together when his relationship with me wasn't.
"What do you think happened?"
Nash's question catches me off guard. "To Len?"
"Yeah. It might be a weird question, but I feel like the police fumbled everything from the start and gave up trying to find out. I've been over it a million times in my head, but I sometimes wonder if there are things I'm blind to because we were so close, that maybe you have theories about or pieced together while plotting your book." He shrugs, as if it's no big deal, but he absently twists the beaded bracelets on his left wrist, and speaks again. "I think I'm still just desperate for answers, you know?"
"I can't blame you. I've been working through a few plot points I'm stuck on and--"
"Are we playing a show tonight, or what? Where's Torin?" Jacob, the singer in Torin and Nash's band, cuts into our conversation. He taps his watch and scans the growing crowd, presumably looking for his missing drummer.
"I'll get him." Nash winks at me. "Let me go rescue your boy. If you don't stick around until after the show, get my number from Ava or Phoenix if you feel like bouncing theories or ideas off of me, or if you have questions about Len. I'd love to help if I can, as a tribute to her."
He gives Ava's elbow a squeeze and then heads off to the corner where Phoenix and Torin are. Torin still seems heated as he says something it's impossible to make out from over here. Phoenix appears calm while he listens, even though a couple of people standing nearby openly stare, slack-jawed, at whatever comes out of Torin's mouth. He stops speaking when Nash joins them, but irritation remains written all over his face when he turns and walks toward the stage.
Why can't he follow Ava's example and chill out for a couple of hours? There's no chance I'll be talked into staying here for a possible second round of this after the show is over, but I will reach out to him after I'm back in LA to discuss why he's so upset and to make a few things clear about boundaries and what he doesn't have a say in.
"I'm going to the bar," Ava announces. "Want me to get you a shot of something strong? You look like you need it."
"I'm good, thanks." The tightness in my jaw and shoulders probably tells Ava otherwise, but she only gives me a quick side hug and doesn't say anything else before she saunters off.
As tense and annoyed as I am, the feelings begin to fall away as Phoenix makes his way through the throng of people crowding the space between where he just stood and where I am. Whatever went down, he doesn't seem fazed by it. His gaze softens when our eyes meet, and his lips curve up into a smile the moment he's next to me again.
"I'm glad you made it back in one piece," I tell him, only half-kidding. "Is everything all right?"
"Everything is fine. Torin just wanted to remind me how amazing you are, and how lucky I am to be in your life."
"Why do I feel like that's a creative spin on things?" I straighten the collar of his shirt, then rest my hand over his heart, feeling its steady beat below my palm. "He was fuming at you. What did he really say?"
"That he cares about you and has concerns about me. I can't blame him for that. I didn't come here expecting him to be thrilled."
"And the agreement he mentioned?"
"It wasn't an agreement. He was concerned about me approaching you the last time you were here and had a few things to say about it after you left his house that night. That's all."
His heartbeat remains the same steady rate, which is a good indication he's telling the truth. Even so, this sounds like one of the short versions of the story he's so good at, and I want the longer one.
"What things?" I remove my hand from his chest.
He chooses that moment to take a long sip of water. For someone who used to be a top-rated actor, he's not doing a great job of hiding the fact that he's stalling.
"I can badger him about it later and get his version of events, or you can tell me now. It's your choice."
My tone should tell him I'm not here to play, and that he doesn't need to sugarcoat whatever Torin said. He puts the cap back on his water and meets my eyes.
"It was mostly that his drum sticks would stay away from my kneecaps as long as I kept my distance and left you alone. We're working that out."
I love Torin like he's my flesh-and-blood sibling and this doesn't change that, but he's taking his protective big brother role a bit too far. Making physical threats isn't okay, whether they're explicit or implied, and whether it was three weeks ago or tonight.
"Torin has watched too many reruns of The Sopranos and needs to remember he's a musician, not a mobster," I mutter.
Music blares from the speakers on each side of the stage as I finish my sentence, signaling the start of the set and the end of our conversation for now. This isn't a topic I want to yell back and forth about over drums, bass lines, and guitar riffs. Ava appears again, a drink in one hand and a shot glass in the other. She ducks past a few people and positions herself in the first row, in front of Nash.
Phoenix's eyebrows knit together when he spots where Ava is, and a frown crosses his lips when Nash grins and peers into her eyes while he plays his guitar. What Phoenix said on my birthday about not wanting to distract Ava with Nash springs to mind. I understood it then, after what I witnessed at Torin's house with the women he had in tow, but something about this is different. Ava and Nash share an energy that's undeniable, and he has to see it, too.
I nudge him. "Don't be like Torin with this. They're cute together."
He crinkles his nose at the comparison. "I just don't want to see her get hurt. She may not like me, but she's your best friend, and we used to be friends. I care about what happens to her."
He's barely audible over the music, so I take his hand and lead him to the back of the bar and past a doorway to an enclosed hallway outside of the restrooms. It's quieter here, and we can speak at a normal volume.
"I thought Nash was your friend?"
"He is. As a friend, he's fine. It's his track record with the women he gets involved with that isn't."
If anyone knows how to play the player, it's Ava. She isn't easy to fool, and she doesn't walk into anything blindly or heart first. She's also Nash's friend and was previously his wingwoman, which means she's fully aware of what he's like. Either she only wants a fling or a one-night stand, or something else happened between them that has her overlooking it. I suspect the latter. As much as I appreciate Phoenix looking out for her, he doesn't need to worry.
"I promise you Ava can take care of herself, and we both know Torin will be all over it after the show if he thinks there's a reason she shouldn't get involved with him. Maybe this is the distraction he needs to get his focus off of you and me. It might be the perfect time for us to leave, so he only has them in his view."
Some extra enticement to persuade him can't hurt. I set my drink down on a ledge, then loop my arms around his neck and rise up on my feet, so we're at eye level. My mouth glides over his. The second this registers with him, his lips follow my lead and he pulls me closer. I'm aware of the door opening and someone walking past us to one of the restrooms, but the audience doesn't matter to me. For the first time since we bumped into Nash on our way to dinner tonight, the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach disappears. Maybe it's selfish, but spending time alone with Phoenix, like this, is why I'm here. I don't owe anyone an explanation, and hearing more of Torin's concerns and opinions can wait.
"Let's get out of here," I murmur to him, in case he hasn't yet gotten the point.
It takes no more convincing to get Phoenix to walk to a door marked with an exit sign that's a few feet away. He holds it open for me, and then we're outside of Nebula, in the casino, and free to go wherever the night wants to take us.
"There's one more thing I thought we could do tonight," he says, guiding me past the slot machines. We appear to be heading for the doors where we entered the casino earlier this evening.
"If it means going somewhere far away from here, then I'm listening." I stretch my mouth into a dazzling and slightly sarcastic smile, hoping he senses how much I'd rather be anywhere else but The Auriga when the show is over and the band loads out.
He catches it, because a chuckle slips out and he puts his arm around me. "If being in the sky is far enough for you, then I think I have it covered. How do you feel about helicopters?"
༺â༻ ༺â༻ ༺â༻
Just when you want to shake Phoenix for putting Del in a tense and uncomfortable situation, he surprises her with plans involving a helicopter? It sounds like their weekend is about to get a lot better, so stay tuned!
What do you think about Ava and Nash potentially getting together?