chin.
“Dude, I’m sorry,” Asher said. His eyes were wide with fright and… confusion? Julian reached one fist back. God, it would feel good to put Asher’s teeth through his head. He wasn’t even going to defend himself, the wimp. Julian felt Shannon grab his arm and he spun around, still holding Asher at arm’s length.
“Stay out of this, you cheating bitch!”
Shannon’s mouth dropped and there was silence in the back of the stage. Julian could hear the crowd talking, unsure of what was going on to delay the concert.
“What are you talking about?” she said.
“You know damn well what I’m talking about.” He turned back to Asher, his face bleeding like it would never stop. “Are you gonna stand here and lie to me, too?”
Asher put up his hands in surrender.
“I’m sorry I’m late, man!” he said. He bent his head and wiped his face on his shoulder, sniffing as the blood clogged his nose. Alex and Daniel had pushed through and stood next to Asher. The air was thick with tension.
“Let him go, man!”
“What the hell are you doing, Julian?”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Asher said. Blood continued to flow down onto his shirt, turning it bright red. “I’m sorry, Daniel. And Julian. God, I’m sorry. I know this show is important.”
Julian turned his gaze from Asher to Shannon. Tears were running down her cheeks.
“Did you think…” Her voice trailed off softly, and Julian realized he had made a horrible mistake. “You thought I would do that to you. With Asher?”
“With me what?” Asher said. His head swiveled from Julian to Shannon to the rest of the band. “Wait, what?”
Julian let go of Asher’s shirt. He saw Pat shoving his way through the crew.
“What on EARTH is going on here?” the manager yelled, gazing around at the band members. Blood dripped down Asher’s chin, and he looked at Julian confusedly.
“This isn’t about me being late?” he said.
At that moment the sky opened up overhead, and Julian leaned his head back to let the rain fall on his face. Pat yelled; the crew scrambled to cover all of the equipment, and Shannon tucked her shirt over her camera protectively. Daniel ran over to hug his bass to his chest. Everyone shouted orders, rolling plastic tarps over cables and covering the stage amps with black trash bags. Julian closed his eyes and let the rain trickle down his cheeks, down his chin. He could feel the coldness creeping through his body, calming his nerves and washing away the adrenaline.
When he opened his eyes again, Shannon stood in front of him. Asher had walked off, he couldn’t see where.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I messed up.”
“What was this morning?” Shannon asked, her arms crossed over her camera. She shivered, and Julian went to put his arms around her. She pulled away.
“This morning,” she repeated. “When you were so rough. It was because you thought…” Her voice trailed off.
“I’m sorry,” Julian said again. “I saw you in the bus with him. Last night.”
Shannon shook her head. “He had just broken up with that model girlfriend, and... I don’t know, I felt bad for the guy! He’s such a good guy!” She threw her hands up in the air. Julian hung his head. He knew what she meant - Asher was a good guy. Better than him, anyway.
“I’m sorry,” Julian said. “It still hurt.” It hurt even now, to look at her and imagine her in another man’s arms.
Shannon stepped closer to him, pushing her camera to the side of her hip in one graceful sweep of her hand. Her hair hung in wavy wet strands, clinging irresistibly to her neck. Her eyelids dropped softly, the lashes a dark, dark red. Lord, she was beautiful.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you would see. Even if you hadn’t, I’m sorry.” Her voice flowed slowly, carefully over the words. He looked into her eyes rimmed red by mascara and tears and saw another feeling looking back.
“You’re frightened.” He moved his arm slowly, touching