Bar Crawl(21)

Before I got sucked all the way into that fire—that need and desire—I slowly backed away from the kiss. I didn’t pull away roughly, like someone breathless and confused about what they’d just done. I knew what I was doing, and I wanted more, so I had to be careful. Slowly moving my lips to the corner of his mouth, and then down his jaw, I finished with a soft kiss on the point where his jaw and neck met and created a divine shadow. Finally stepping back, catching my breath while watching his chest rise and fall in nearly equal rhythm, I met his smoky eyes.

“Read me some of your book,” I said during an exaggerated exhale.

He laughed once, almost nervously, trying, it seemed, to gage the gravity of my request. “Are you serious?”

What I wanted to do was have sex with him, but listening to him read his words would, frankly, be better. And safer. On a number of levels.

I nodded and gripped his hand, leading us back to the couch we’d been on before. Returning him to his original seat, I walked to my entryway and picked up his messenger bag—thick with his words—placing it on his lap when I reentered the living room.

“Omphf,” he grunted as the bag landed squarely in the center of his lap.

“Sorry.” I chuckled and sat cross-legged, facing him.

CJ cleared his throat and opened up his laptop. It looked like it might break in his hands. I was still trying to put all of the jagged pieces of his personality into a complete puzzle. “Where do you want me to start?”

“How is the book organized? Is it like a novel, or short stories, or what?” My chest filled with the giddy excitement of a pure nerd. I was going to hear unpublished material straight from the author. I had no idea if he could even write to save his life, but that barely mattered in that moment.

“Uh,” CJ ran a hand through his hair, seeming nervous, “they’re short stories. Each chapter is a snapshot of people. Either one, or a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a group of people. Some I’ve seen over and over again and write about that. And some I’ve seen once and never again, so I have to reach deeper for that story.”

“Brilliant. Fucking seriously. This is going to be so good.” My knees bounced up and down as I waited. “Start with one about people you’ve seen a lot of.”

CJ looked around for a minute. “It’s too quiet in here,” he mumbled.

Of course it was. CJ’s life was largely spent in bars and/or behind a drum set. The thick silence of my home was probably choking him. I bounced off the couch and over to my iHome. Pushing “play,” I wasn’t in the least surprised to find my living room suddenly filled with ‘90s easy listening. Tonic’s “If You Could Only See,” hummed through the space as I returned to my seat.

“What?” I questioned as CJ stared at me with a curious look.

“No,” he said.

“No?”

“What the hell is this?” He pointed toward the direction of my speakers.

I shrugged. “You play your ‘90s music on stage, I listen to my ‘90s music in here. It’s a romantic song. It sets the mood. Read, Kane.”

His eyes widened. “You know my last name?”

“I searched for drummer, Cape Cod, and Last Call. I found your last name and information about you and your cousin on there.” I grinned and winked.

“Sneak,” he teased.

“Read.” I had loads of questions for him about his cousin, but I was significantly more interested in CJ’s word talents.

He sighed. “Fine. Okay. So…don’t, like, judge this, okay? It’s just a rough dra—”

“I know how the process works, CJ. I’m a reader and an English teacher and a general patriot of words. Please stop stalling and read.”

CJ cracked his knuckles and looked down at his screen. “This bit isn’t in third person omniscient, just to warn you. I’m going to rework it. Anyway…” He took a deep breath and started in. “He wasn’t that big of a guy, but I could tell he was strong. His skin struggled to contain the muscles that seemed to be trying to beat themselves out. I probably had him by about three or four inches in height, but the anger that always seemed to linger in his jaw told me not to push anything with him should it come to it. Adrian, my friend Ember had called him. She fooled around with him for a while, then didn’t, then did. When it was finally done between the two of them, I hadn’t seen him in a while. But, that night, he was back, and Ember would be nowhere near here. She and her boyfriend, Bo, had just left for San Diego to record music full time. I wasn’t sure if Adrian knew this, though, as he leaned against the bar, casting sideways glances across the entire room.”

“How’d you know that backstory?” I questioned in a whisper.

CJ shrugged. “I got lucky, I guess. That stuff about Bo and Ember is true. Ember’s best friends with my cousin, Regan.”

“The one who is engaged to your best friend, Georgia?”

CJ nodded.

“Cozy,” I remarked.

He rolled his eyes. “Ember hates me.” He grinned and continued with his story before I could ask for more details.

“Marley had been working at Finnegan’s for a few months, and had met Adrian several months before. She was still new the last time I’d seen him here. I was sure it would be his last visit to Barnstable, but there he was, chatting up Marley. Still looking around. Eventually, between sets, my curiosity got the best of me. Usually one to sit back, I’d seen enough of this guy in action to know he needed a good social barometer reading before he’d be allowed to consume much more liquor…”