The scene feels all a bit déjà vu when the Ocean Floor doorman checks my name off a list. He hands me a wristband and sends me on my way inside the bar, where the thumping drumbeat and thrashing guitars of the opening band have already taken over. Until a few weeks ago, I hadn't seen one of Torin's shows in practically an eon. Now, hanging out at his gigs seems like a regular occurrence.
Ava's text that she's already here landed on my phone a few minutes ago. It doesn't take long to spot her in the darkened room, chatting with Torin near the bar. Nash is here, too. He sits on a barstool, off by himself, with his eyes glued to his phone.
The atmosphere of the Ocean Floor is entirely different from Nebula. It's beachy and aquatic themed, features a floor-to-ceiling water wall, and has a distinctly laid-back vibe. The contrast between Nebula and here reminds me that tonight should be less of an ordeal than the last two times I've been inside a bar with Torin and his band, but I still have to force my shoulders to relax when I get close to the bar.
"She's alone!" Ava announces to Torin with a wink. She's loud enough for me to hear her over the music.
Torin hugs me, then he makes a show of looking to my left, looking to my right, and then looking behind me.
"What are you trying to see?" I ask.
"Not what, but who, and I'm glad I don't. Did you come to your senses and ditch him?"
So it's going to be like this tonight. I wiggle out of Torin's arms. "Comedians, both of you. Phoenix had to work this weekend."
"What a shame," he quips. "At least he's finally working, or so he says. Has he explained what he's been doing in Vegas the rest of the time?"
Ava squints at him, then glances at me. Her entire face is a question mark. Wonderful. This is not the time to get into Torin's suspicions about how long Phoenix has been in Las Vegas for and if he's really working there. She's wary enough already after him disappearing for a few days and claiming reception issues.
"He isn't here, so why is he still living rent-free in your head?" I give Torin a tight smile.
"Dude, Del came here to have a good time and not for you to hassle her. Save your energy for the stage." I recognize Nash's voice before I turn around to see that he's vacated his barstool and now stands beside Ava, with his arm around her waist.
How Nash turned out to be the peacemaker in all of this is a puzzle, but I'm grateful for his words and am more convinced than ever that Phoenix has no reason to be concerned about anything romantic developing between him and Ava. He's so far the only voice of sanity among us.
"Thank you," I say. "I came for the fun and not to be ambushed."
Torin squeezes my shoulder. "You know we adore you. It's all in fun, and it's my job as your stand-in big brother."
As nice as it would be not feel like I have to defend Phoenix, I can't argue this. Torin has proven countless times that he's on my side, even if this sometimes seems like tough love. He stuck with me as much as Ava did while I found my footing six years ago. Neither of them wants to see me get burned again.
"Jacob is throwing up the bat signal," Nash tells Torin. He nods his head at a far corner of the room. "We should see what's up before we go on."
He presses his mouth to the side of Ava's hair and smiles at her before heading off across the bar. Torin turns and follows Nash. That leaves me with Ava, and a bar that's suddenly much quieter. The opening band must have finished their set.
"I'm sorry if you feel attacked," Ava says. "We did come on a little strong."
"It's nothing I haven't brought on myself by being open with Torin about dating Phoenix, or by complaining to you when I didn't hear from him."
"Are you still ignoring his text, or have you spoken to him since?"
"He called me last night."
Ava watches me like she's waiting for more, but it's better if we let the subject rest. My mind needs the break, and not every chat we have needs to turn into a therapy session.
"What did Torin mean when he asked if you knewâ" she starts to ask, but then stops. Her lips remain parted.
"What's wrong?"
Ava doesn't answer. I'm about to turn around to see what she's gaping at, but the brush of a warm hand against my arm stops me.
"May I join you?"
It's Phoenix's voice. Now I do turn around. I'm greeted by the sight of him gazing at me with an affectionate sparkle in his eyes.
"You aren't working." It's a dumbfounded statement, and not a question. Do I look as astonished as I sound?
"I was, but we ended early today. I grabbed the next flight to Santa Ana after we finished." His smile brightens by a few megawatts.
"You don't need to work tomorrow?"
"I'm a free man until Monday."
He takes my hand in his and leans in for a kiss. The room spins around me when his lips touch mine, and it keeps spinning until the shock of him being here melts away. Then something magical happens, and the energy between us that has seemed so off this week is suddenly like sunshine again. But when our kiss ends, a glimpse of Ava glowering at Phoenix dims things right back down. She catches my eye and raises her eyebrows.
Right. Whatever brain chemicals and hormones he just triggered doesn't change his vague answers from last night, or the niggling sense I've had that he's keeping something from me. Logic and reason still have a place here, even if him showing up and surprising me has my heart waging a war with my head. So what are the facts?
First, he's here. He got on a plane and came to me when he finished working today. That's the definition of him showing something with actions, isn't it? Ava probably can't argue that, but Torin could. There's still the question about exactly what kind of work Phoenix has been doing in Vegas for the last six months, if he's working there at all, where he was for a few days this week with allegedly poor cellular service, and why his hours are all over the place enough that Torin has seen him with Nash a lot during weekday daytime hours. Clear answers and solid alibis are still needed.
Second, his cellular signal truly was bad during the start of our phone conversation last night, and our conversation ended because the call dropped. It would be hard for him to fake that, unless he intentionally drove somewhere with poor service. Which, if he was trying to cover his ass, he could have. Phoenix is an intelligent man who pays attention to detail, so I can't rule this out.
Third, there's something he still isn't telling me about Len. That much is clear. As his girlfriend, I deserve to know why.
Motion on the stage pushes a pause button on my thoughts. My gaze shifts in that direction, in time to catch Torin glaring at Phoenix from behind his drum kit. The crease between his eyebrows puts his bewilderment on full display. It's little wonder why. I just told Torin that Phoenix had to work this weekend, and now here he is at the show, with his arm looped around me. I may need to encourage a quick exit tonight to avoid an interrogation that will make what went down between the two of them at Nebula look like friendly fire.
The band is two songs into their set when it strikes me that Ava has remained curiously quiet this whole time. She hasn't said a word to Phoenix since he got here, and her silence is out of character. I sneak a glance at her and catch her doing the same with me. We lock eyes for a few seconds, until she vacates her spot a few feet away and walks over to us.
"Come to the restroom with me?" she asks, still not acknowledging Phoenix.
Ava is never reserved about letting Phoenix hear what she thinks of him or something he's done. Her wanting to take me somewhere else and speak in private triggers serious alarm bells.
"Sure," I tell her, then I touch Phoenix's arm. "I'll be right back."
Ava grabs my elbow and almost hauls me to the other side of the bar and down a corridor. Once we're inside the women's restroom, she faces me and wastes no time revealing what's on her mind.
"He didn't tell you he was coming, did he?"
"I had no idea he'd be here. He said things wrapped up early, so he grabbed the next flight out."
"How did he know to come to the Ocean Floor? Did you tell him about the show and that you'd be here, or did Nash?"
"I mentioned the show to him last night when he called."
Ava pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head twice.
"What's wrong?" I ask. "Him getting on a plane and surprising me is sweet."
"Sure, if possessive and territorial stalkers are your thing," she mutters.
"I'm not following. I thought you'd be relieved to see he hasn't pumped and dumped, as you put it yesterday."
"It's giving energy of him not wanting Torin to get in your ear in his absence. Or that he's aware he messed up by ghosting you for a few days and knows you can pull someone ten times better than him in a second when you're out at a bar and don't have him hovering at your side."
"For the sake of playing devil's advocate, he could be telling the truth. Maybe he did feel bad about disappearing this week and then made a last-minute decision to get on a plane when work wrapped up early."
"Do you believe that?"
It's an excellent question. "I don't know what to believe," I admit.
"Then you have one job this weekend." She grips my shoulders and peers into my eyes. "Leave this bar with him tonight and don't let him go back to Vegas until you have answers for every single thing you don't know or that's on your mind. Because I'm telling you, something feels weird, and I don't like it."
Ava makes digging for the truth sound easy. If only it was.
༺â༻ ༺â༻ ༺â༻
Alexa, play "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter.ð It's shaping up to be an interesting night for Del and Phoenix, and it's still early...