Save Me From Myself (7 page)

***

After I’m home, and have changed into my pajamas, I grab my phone to put it on the charger, and notice that I have an unread text. Opening it, I see it’s from David and it’s from not long after he left the concert.

It was nice to see you tonight. But I do have one question. That Ben guy, is he your boyfriend?

I can’t help but laugh as I type my reply

No. Ben plays for the other team. His boyfriend was with us last weekend.

I don’t get a reply for so long, that I’ve set my phone down and start to get into bed before I hear the notification.

Ahh, ok. Good.

Why good?

Because I don’t want to pursue someone who’s already taken.

And are you pursuing me?

Definitely darlin'. Sweet dreams

My stomach tightens when I read the word “darlin'” because I remember the way his voice sounds when he says it. Because I don’t know how to respond to that, I just reply:

You too David.

Then, I crawl into bed and let sleep take me.

This week feels like it's been in fast-forward. It's already Thursday night, and the closer it gets to Friday, the more nervous I become. Anna's been trying to keep me occupied, taking me out to dinner with Brandi and Terra, and going to the movies with Ben and Toby. Tonight we're just hanging out watching bad reality TV while eating takeout as
 
I check my phone every five minutes for more texts from David.
 
I haven’t seen David since the concert Friday night, but we've been texting all week, getting to know each other. Anna has kept me from showing up at Drench all week like a deranged stalker.
 

My phone rings making my heart leap. Maybe is David calling instead of texting this time. But, when I look down at my phone, it's my mother. I have successfully avoided her since leaving New York, and I'm really not in the mood to talk to her right now. I stare at the screen on my phone until it stops ringing and the voicemail notification pops up. Tapping on the voicemail button, I lift the phone to my ear.

"Hello Lyric, it's your mother. Matthew called me this afternoon. Apparently you forgot to inform him of your plans to move. He would like you to call him and let him know when you'll be back. He's concerned about you and the choices you are making. Please call him. He's not going to wait for you forever."
 

Thanks Mom. I'm glad you're worried about Matt's feelings. The woman really knows how to ruin my night. At least there is enough distance between us now so that she can't just show up at my apartment to nag me about all my wrong-doings. It's no wonder her and dad divorced. I don't know how he put up with her for as long as he did.

After deleting the message, I send a text to Aria.

Mom just called to tell me that Matt won't wait forever. Again.

Seriously? That woman is never going to give up is she?

Knowing my luck? Probably not.

I'll try to talk to her when I see her and Kaitlin for lunch tomorrow

Thanks big sis :)

Anytime little sis ;)

Now that she has completely ruined my mood, I'm ready to just go to bed. Anna however, has other ideas. She moves over next to me and lays her head on my shoulder, rubbing my arm. I’m glad she fell asleep right after we were done eating or she would’ve been pushing me to talk. I lay my head on top of hers and continue to watch the show about single people trying to find love.

***

Anna drags me from store to store since apparently, I need some new clothes if I'm going to start dating. And of course I can’t forget to get to also get some sexy underwear for my new soon to be relationship. I'm not quite sure how meeting a guy, seeing him out in public once, and texting with him for two days translates into dating or a relationship, but I guess it's better to be prepared.

Clothes shopping is NOT my favorite thing to do, and lingerie shopping is even further down the list. I'm perfectly happy with plain white cotton panties and simple bras, but Anna has different ideas. That means push-up bras, lacy g-strings, and lingerie racy enough to make me blush to the color of my hair. It's made worse by the fact that she has no concept of what personal space means, so she tends to barge into my dressing room without knocking and fondles my boobs to “help” me pick out the best pieces. By the time we finish, we're going to be closer than I've ever wanted to be to another woman.

When Anna finally decides she has traumatized me enough, we leave Victoria's Secret and start wandering through the mall. I'm sure Anna has a list of stores she still wants to force me into. By the time she's ready to leave the mall, we've gone through five more stores, and have so many bags I'm not sure how we're going to fit them in her little Bug.

As we're heading towards the mall exit, I spot David standing outside a store with a couple of other guys. When I stop to stare at him, Anna pauses and looks in his direction.
 

"What are you waiting for? Go say 'Hi' to him silly girl!"
 

As I'm trying to gather my courage to go talk to him, I see the same group of girls from outside the bar the night I met him walk up to the group. The blonde who bumped into me, the same one I saw him with at the concert, walks up to David and wraps her arms around his waist. I watch in disbelief as he wraps his arms around her and leans over to kiss the top of her head.

Anna and I just look at each other. Evidently, she's seeing what I’m seeing, and is in just as much shock. "You should text him," she hisses. "See what he says he's doing right now. Surely he'll be able to put your mind at ease."

I don't know if that's the best thing to do. It feels sort of shady, like I'm checking up on him. It's not like we've made any promises to each other. We're barely friendly. Anna's giving me the evil eye though, so I search through my bag for my phone and shoot him a quick text.

Hey! Whatcha doing?

After a few minutes, I see him remove an arm from around the blonde and take his phone out of his pocket. Smiling down at it, he types a reply. The soft smile on his face makes my heart flutter. When he stops typing, my phone dings.

Not much. Hanging out with friends.

Anna is reading over my shoulder while we are both trying to stay out of sight. "Well, that didn't really tell us anything did it?" she snarks. "Ask him if he's with a girlfriend or guy friends." Rolling my eyes, I send another message.

Hot date?

Ha! Not likely. You aren't here ;)

While we're watching, I see him flip his phone around and show the blonde. She shakes her head and laughs.
 

“He's showing her our messages? Are they having a good laugh at my expense?,” I fume.
 

Anna knows I'm getting pissed, so she attempts to calm me down. "That must not be his girlfriend. Why would he show her a message saying that he can't be on a hot date because you aren't with him? She has to be just a friend."

"The kind of friend who runs up and hugs you like that? He was holding her like he cares for her more than just as a friend. I've never had a 'friend' hold me that way." I'm so done with the mall, and shopping, and trying to figure out men. I tell Anna I'll meet her at the car, and leave her looking thoughtfully towards David and company.

***

Anna was supposed to meet me here at Ruby's for lunch, but she sent a message letting me know that the photo shoot she's working on is taking longer than she thought, so I'm on my own. That's fine with me though, my younger sister Kaitlin told me about a book that I "just had to read" so I'll be reading it while I eat.

What she neglected to tell me, was that the book was extremely explicit. Reading about kinky rock stars is not how I was planning to spend my lunch, but I'm so engrossed in what I'm reading I've barely touched my food and don't notice someone walk up behind me until I hear a voice say, "Wow princess, I didn't think you were that kind of girl. Although, in your case, I can see where a ball gag would be a benefit."

Spinning around in my chair so fast I'm surprised it doesn't flip over, I see David, with the dark haired guy from the bar Sunday night. My face flames, and I quickly close the screen on my iPad so he can't read any more of my current reading material. His grin widens, and his friend looks like he's trying hard not to laugh. I turn back around mortified, and put my head in my hands. Behind me, David chuckles, before dropping into the seat next to me. Putting his arm around me, he lowers his mouth so close to my ear, I feel his lips brush against it when he murmurs, "I'd be glad to act out any of those scenes with you princess." Before he sits back up, he gently touches his mouth to the spot beneath my ear causing me to shiver.

He introduces me to the guy he's with, his childhood friend Jeremy. They went to college together, and even moved to North Carolina together before moving back to Nashville. The whole time we’ve been talking, he’s kept his arm around me, drawing patterns on my arm driving me crazy. When he mentions moving back, his entire demeanor changes. His body stiffens, and his jaw tightens. I’m not sure I know him well enough to ask what happened, so I let it go.

We don’t talk for very long before it's time for me to head back to work. I tell Jeremy it was nice to meet him, to which he replies with a grin, "It's nice to officially meet you too Lyric. I've been hearing all about you since Sunday." I let David know I'll see him tonight, and head for the door.

As I look back on last time, I see the blonde haired girl with the pink streaks from last night bounce up to him and throw her arms around him. After she sits down next to him, he puts his arm around her and kisses the top of her head. Wait, what? Who is this girl? Surely he wouldn't be flirting with me if he has a girlfriend, right? After everything that happened with Matt, giving a guy that I've known less than a week the benefit of the doubt is difficult.

***

After seeing David with that girl this afternoon, I'm not completely sure I want to go to Drench tonight and see him. I'm afraid that with one touch, I'll forget about the girl and won’t even ask him about her. He texted a few times since I last saw him, telling me how much he wants to see me tonight, and he can't wait to hear what I think of the band. I haven't replied to any of them, and he hasn't texted me since.

Anna helped me get dressed for tonight, so I'm wearing pale pink pants , a beige silk tank top with a grey off the shoulder sweater over it, and beige boots.

As we are getting ready to leave, my mom calls
again
. It's the third time today. I might as well answer and get it over with, so I pick it up right before the call is sent to voicemail.

"Hi mom." I answer, my voice resigned.

"Wow! She remembers how to answer her phone!" And here we go. The fake shock in my mother’s voice makes me roll my eyes. I should have talked to her sooner, but conversations with my mother are exhausting. There's no right way for me to respond. No matter what I say, she's just going to pick it apart.

"Sorry, I've been busy settling into my new apartment and job." I don't want to fight with her, but I'm not really in the mood to talk to her either. I'm still upset over the voicemail she left last night.

"I just do not understand
why
you had to leave Manhattan. Especially without even telling Matthew." I spent so much time trying to be the "good" daughter so my first instinct after hearing the exasperation in her voice, is to agree with whatever she's going to say. That was part of why I decided to leave. I had to get away from becoming like her.
 

I don't know why I'm even trying to explain this to my mother. "Mom, you know why I left. Matt cheated on me. For months. I can't be in a relationship with someone who doesn't respect me."

Sighing, she replies, "Honey, he made a mistake. A mistake that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't shut him out after the accident. You know better than anyone that if a person isn't getting what they need at home, they'll start looking elsewhere for it." And there it is. It always feels like she blames me for Matt cheating. I can barely stop myself from saying "like you and dad?" I know that if I open that can of worms, this conversation will never end.

Suddenly, Anna's voice comes through the door, "Come on Lyric, if we don't leave soon we'll be late! You don't want to miss seeing Hottie Bartender, do you?"
 

I cringe inwardly, knowing my mother is going to have a field day with this information. There's no way a bartender like David can compete with a lawyer like Matt in her eyes.

I hear my mother's indrawn breath, "Bartender? What's this about a bartender? Lyric, what is going on down there?"

"Nothing Mom, he's just a new friend." Well, maybe. I'm not sure what he is after yesterday. But, I'm not going to have
that
conversation with my mother.

My mom's voice hardens, "Lyric Faith, that is the
last
kind of friend you need to have. If he's a bartender, he's absolutely not good enough for you."