FADING (A novel)(110)

“Okay.”

He’s right; I can just be with him and not around all those other people. I went there the other week, and I was fine. I can do this. I need to do this.

“Really?” The stunned look on his face tells me he wasn’t expecting the response I just gave him. The look makes me smile, and I’m glad I don’t have to be alone tonight.

“Just park in the front, okay?”

“Of course. You’ll finally get to hear Mark play.”

“Oh. I didn’t even think about that. Could you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“They’ve been kinda embarrassing me lately with . . . things. Um . . . could you just text them or something and tell them to not make a big deal about it.”

Smiling at me, he holds my face and kisses me hard with intent. Keeping his hold on me, I let him control the connection and when it’s broken, he says, “I love you so much. You’re always surprising me.”

?????

As we walk into Blur, Ryan has a firm grip on my hand. When I was here the last time, it was empty, but tonight it’s packed. I never expected this many people to be here.

“Where’s Max?!” Ryan shouts to someone I can’t see. I feel really overwhelmed with the amount of people in here, all of whom tower over me. I wrap my free arm around the arm that is holding my hand, and hold tightly onto him “Right here, boss,” a low voice calls from behind us. Turning around, I come face to face with an extremely large man with a shaved head wearing a black shirt that reads ‘BLUR’ in white.

Ryan shouts over the noise, “Max, hey, this is Candace.”

Max looks down at me, and the warm smile that covers his face doesn’t really match his overwhelming appearance. Whereas Ryan is muscular with long, strong, athletic cuts, Max is big, bulky, and very intimidating, but he has a soft smile.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he says and shakes my hand.

“Nice to meet you, Max,” I have to practically yell.

“You want to help us get upstairs?” Ryan says.

Probably noticing the tension written all over my face, Max says to me, “Not good with crowds?”

I shake my head, and he puts his arm around me, tucking me tightly to him with Ryan still holding my hand on my opposite side as he pushes his way through everyone. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the closeness of being in Max’s hold, I cling myself tighter to Ryan. He looks down at me, and all I know to do is give him a slight shake of my head, and by the look in his eyes, I know he understands what I’m trying to tell him. When we get to the back stairs, Ryan tells Max, “Thanks, man.”

“No problem, boss. Let me know when you guys are ready to come down, okay?”

“Yeah.”

We walk up the stairs and when we get into his office, he asks, “You okay?”

I nod my head, when he assures me, “Max is a good guy. I’ve known him for years.”

“It’s just uncomfortable,” I say.

Walking us around his desk, he pulls me down on his lap when he sits in the chair.

“Is it always this busy?” I ask.

“On Fridays and Saturdays, yeah.” When his cell buzzes, he pulls it out of his pocket and says, “Mark and Jase just got here.” Setting it down on his desk, he tells me, “I love that you’re here,” and then kisses my shoulder.

When there is a knock on the door, Ryan says, “Come in.”

“Hey, guys,” Jase says as he walks in. When he demands a hug, I get up off of Ryan’s lap and walk over to him.

He folds his arms around me and leans in close to my ear, whispering, “I’m proud of you.”

I sigh and squeeze my arms a bit tighter around him. Pulling back, I ask, “Where’s Mark?”

“Downstairs. He said he’d find you before the band goes on.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Are you coming down to watch?”

“I . . . well, Ryan has some work to do, so I was just going to stay up here.”

Jase tilts his head and shakes it.

“What?”

“Candace, at least go down for a couple songs.”

“Did you see how many people are down there?”

“Yeah, sweetie. The same amount that are always here, and nothing has ever happened.”

Looking over at Ryan, he shrugs his shoulders in agreement, and says, “I’ll have Max stay with you.”

I flop down on one of the chairs in front of Ryan’s desk and think for a moment before saying, “I don’t want everyone touching me.”

“If Max is with us, trust me, you’ll have breathing room.”

“He’s right,” Ryan assures.

I take a moment before saying, “All right.”

Ryan smiles at me as he picks up the phone and pushes some buttons before saying, “Hey, Mel, send Max up to my office.”

I turn around when the door opens and Mark bounds in excitedly. “Hell, I thought it was a lie. I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Tone that shit down,” Ryan says to him as I stand up and give Mark a hug.

“I just wanted to see you before I go on. You coming down?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome. Well, I gotta go. Love that you came.” He leans down, kisses my forehead, and then heads out at the same time as Max walks in.