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down to his chest
and counted to ten. He didn’t want to fight. He just wanted to get some fucking
rest. Then he wanted to figure out the next chapter in his life. “Look, Cade,
nothing happened. Even if I wanted the doctor, I don’t have the time or energy
to start something. I’ve got to get my shit together so we can finish the tour.
I can’t do that with no sleep. You know I need my sleep to function. So cut me
some goddamn slack here, okay?”
    Cade
held his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, man. I get it.” He didn’t sound sincere,
but at least he held open the door for Tag to exit. By the time he returned to
their table, the doctor and his date were gone.

     
    Erik
returned to the table and a frustrated Sarah. “You want to tell me what that
was about?” she asked, one eyebrow cocked.
    He
knew she’d see right through a lie, but there’s no way he would tell her what
happened in the men’s room. “Just a little disagreement on how he should raise
his niece. I apologize I kept you waiting. Listen, since we haven’t ordered, do
you mind if we go somewhere else? I’m not in the mood for Mr. Rock Star’s
attitude.”
    Sarah
downed the rest of her wine before responding, “Not at all. I’m tired of
getting the evil eye from Cade Anderson.”
    Erik
looked over at Lee’s table in time to see the drummer stalk his way to the restroom.
Erik pulled his wallet out and tossed a couple of twenties on the table. That
should cover two glasses of wine and a tip. He allowed Sarah to walk in front
of him. When he reached the door, he took a glance back seeing the still empty
table.
    The
silence in the car was growing thicker with each mile Erik drove. Finally,
Sarah broke into his thoughts, “Look, just take me home. I can see you have
something on your mind, and quite frankly, I don’t have the energy to talk you
through it tonight.”
    He
looked over at his friend and noticed the tightness in her demeanor. “Sarah,
I’m sorry. I really am. You want to talk about it?”
    She
shook her head, keeping her focus out the side window. What a shitty friend he
was. She was obviously troubled, and he’d been so caught up in Lee he hadn’t
noticed. “Sarah…”
    “No.
Erik, really, I’m okay. You want to come over, and we’ll order in Chinese?”
    What
he wanted to do was go home, pull out the good scotch, and get wasted. It had
been a long time since he felt the need to drown himself in a bottle of liquor.
He knew it was a bad idea, so he said, “Sure.” Neither one of them would be
good company, but maybe they would at least give each other a couple hours of
forgetting their woes. He almost laughed out loud. His woes? Since when did
having the attention of a gorgeous man count as a woe? When that same man was
one of the biggest stars in the world. When that man could have anyone he
wanted and was just toying with Erik.
    A
couple of hours and a silly chick flick later, empty food cartons littered the
coffee table. Erik and Sarah were sitting on the floor, leaning against the
sofa. Neither had said very much in the last couple of hours, but they had been
watching a movie. When Erik stood to clean up his mess, Sarah grabbed his arm
and said, “Leave it. I’ll clean it up in the morning.” She knew that would
drive Erik crazy, but it was her house. “Why don’t you stay the night?”
    Since when did they spend the
night with each other? “Not tonight, dear. I have a headache,” he deadpanned.
He wanted to get home where he could just be. Alone. Erik eased his arm out of
her grasp.
    “Erik…”
Sarah started, but he cut her off.
    “Really,
I just want to pull an Al Bundy.” He didn’t have to explain what he meant.
She’d caught him asleep in his recliner with his hand down the front of his
pants more than once. It wasn’t sexual, just comfortable.
    Erik
grabbed his container and empty glass and took them to the kitchen anyway. It
just wasn’t in him to leave a mess. When he stood by the back door, she