Reality

Chapter 8

"You," he growls, gripping my arm tighter to the point of pain. "You just always have to go and ruin everything!"

A strangled sound passes my lips, catching the attention of a valet who eyes us skeptically. Noticing this, Chris turns us so that his back is to the man, his figure shadowing mine.

"I suggest you start looking for another job," he threatens. "If Alex suffers anymore because of you—"

"Because of me?" I counter, raising my voice, not willing to let him put the blame on me this time. "You're the one—"

"Is everything all right over here?" the valet attendant asks, looking over Chris's shoulder at me, concern written on his face. I mentally applaud him for stepping in, being a decent human being and stepping in when he thinks something is sketchy.

Chris momentarily clinches his jaw and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before turning towards the man. In the blink of an eye his whole demeanor changes, a smile on his face and innocence in his eyes. "Yes, sir. Everything is fine."

The man doesn't seem too convinced. "Miss?" He eyes me.

"I'm ok," I say, the car I ordered pulling up to the curb. "Have a nice night."

I pull out of Chris's hold and get in the car, the driver greeting me before we take off.  "Where to?" he asks.

"Oh, honey." Shay sympathetically frowns as she opens the door to her house just on the outskirts of L.A. "Come here." She opens her arms wide, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Thank you for letting me come over," I mumble into her shoulder. After everything that happened tonight, I didn't want to be alone so I called Shay and had my driver drop me off here.

"Of course," she says, squeezing me tight before letting go.

She ushers me inside and I go to her kitchen, duping the plastic bag in my hand on the counter with a thud, catching her husband Evan's attention.

He looks over his shoulder at me as he sits on the couch, throwing his hand up to shoot me a wave. "Hey, kid," he says, pausing the sitcom he was watching to come over and give me a hug.

Since Shay and I reconnected, Evan and I have become closer since their wedding. I never really saw him much before because he had to be located in Maine for his work while Shay was out on the road. He flew out to visit her every once in a while on tour, but I would only ever see him briefly, not really getting to know him. But since they both settled down and relocated to L.A—Shay working in an upscale salon while Even works in engineering—I've been able to hang out with them together a lot more.

"I'm not a kid." I shoot him a playful glare like always. He's got in the habit of calling me kid even though he's only several years older than me.

He waves a dismissive hand through the air, brushing past me to rummage through the bag I brought over. "Ice cream? Nice!"

"I'll break out the spoons." Shay giggles, looking affectionately at her husband.

Over time, I've realized that Evan is a big old dork. He's a big personality with a dad sense of humor. He and Shay are like two peas in a pod and it's no wonder why she fell in love with the big teddy bear of a man.

We all sit around her small kitchen table, the three of us digging into the tub of ice cream I bought from a late night convenient store on my way over as I recite my night of events to them.

Shay frowns around her spoon before swallowing the chocolaty goodness. "I'm so sorry, Joss."

"Just when I thought that guy couldn't be more of a dick," Evan mutters, shaking his blond head in disgust.