How could everything turn around so quickly?
Jesse shrugged. “Why don’t you ring her?”
Although I wanted to, I was afraid of what I might find out if I did. I didn’t know how I’d cope if I heard him in the background.
Shaking my head I put my phone back in my back pocket. “Come on, we’re due to go back on.”
I climbed off the barstool. But when I turned, I walked straight into a douche bag from Fat Tony’s who had run into Harlow and Dean earlier.
And what he had to say to me was the final straw.
Chapter Eight HARLOW
My phone rang just after midnight. The screen told me it was Piper.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
“No. The big dummy went and got himself into another fight.”
“Who? Jesse?” I asked, surprised.
“No. Heath. The big jerk.” She paused. “Listen, I know you might be, you know … busy. But can you come down to the hospital? I think seeing you might … it’s just …” She sighed. “I think he needs to see you.”
She gave me the address for the hospital and I took Bridget’s car. When I arrived twenty minutes later Piper and Jesse were out the front.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’s alright,” Jesse replied sagely, his tone indicative of someone who’d been there many times before. He drew on his cigarette, his brows drawn in. “He’s getting stitched up now.”
“He needs stitches? What happened?”
Jesse and Piper looked at one another and Jesse shrugged in a you-tell-her gesture.
“He got in a scrap with Danny Woods at the show. He was pissed you didn’t turn up. Then Danny said he saw you with Dean—that you guys were looking pretty cozy together and it was no wonder you hadn’t shown. And that he was pretty sure where you two had ended up.” She bit her lip and looked down. “It was too much for Heath. He warned him to shut up.”
Jesse continued to explain. “But Danny was out to push Heath’s buttons. He knows you are Heath’s Achilles heel. He said if Dean was smart he’d be seven inches deep into you by now.”
I blushed. “The jerk!”
“Heath didn’t hold back then. He broke Danny’s nose and a couple of teeth,” Jesse continued. “It took three bouncers to get him off. I’ve known Heath a long time Harlow, and I’ve seen him fight. But I’ve never seen him like this.”
“This is bad,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Piper agreed. “He’s already on probation. If Danny presses charges, then he’s gonna be in some serious shit.”
“That douche bag won’t press charges,” Jesse said blowing out a funnel of cigarette smoke. “The guy’s got so many warrants out for him, he won’t be going anywhere near a police station.”
I exhaled deeply. It was almost one am. “If you guys want to go, I can make sure he gets home.”
“Are you sure?” Jesse asked. “I mean, if you have somewhere you need to be …”
He and Piper looked at me weirdly and I twigged. They were wondering if Danny Woods was right. They were wondering if I had come here from Dean’s bed. Seriously, what sort of girl did these people think I was? Was it a stretch to think I was just hanging out with Dean as a friend?
“You guys go. I’ll make sure he gets home safe. Thanks for calling me.” I started to walk away and then swung around. “And guys … when you called, I was in my bed asleep. Alone. Dean is just a friend. No more. And just in case it matters, if I were to date anyone, it wouldn’t be him.”
Because they both looked so relieved, I shook my head as I walked away and entered the hospital.
Inside, I told the triage nurse I was there to pick up Heath and she buzzed me in. I found him in a cubicle in the ER receiving stitches to a small gash in his left eyebrow.
I leaned against the doorway. “So I miss one gig and this is what you get up to?”
It was a feeble attempt to lighten a dark moment and it didn’t work. Heath’s face was pure thunder. He was pissed at me. So pissed I doubted the pain from the needle was even registering.
Just like Jesse and Piper he thought I’d come from Dean’s bed.
Not that it should matter. How many groupies did he have for dinner tonight?
But he wouldn’t look at me, instead he studied his fingers. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to take you home.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll hitch with Jesse and Piper.”
“I sent them home.”
He looked up, his face still thunder. “Why did you do that? Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
“I am where I need to be.”
“Aren’t you on a date or something?”
How many times did I have to tell him it wasn’t a date? I gritted my teeth and was going to snap something at him but the nurse dropped the suture into a stainless steel bowl with a clang.
“All done,” she said. I watched as she stuck medical tape over the cut. “You just need to sign out at reception and you’re right to go.”
“Thanks babe.” He winked at her and I couldn’t help but feel it was for my benefit.
We walked in silence to the reception where I watched him sign insurance papers, observing his drawn in brows and the anger simmering just beneath the surface. He still wouldn’t look at me. Wouldn’t talk to me. I wasn’t stupid. He was angry at me for not showing up at his show and was now determined to make me pay.
I sighed. “You’re pissed at me. I get it.” I unlocked Bridget’s car. “I’m sorry I didn’t show up tonight.”
Heath said nothing as he climbed in the car and slammed the door.
Inside I turned to him. “Heath, I’m sorry I didn’t make it tonight. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal. I did send you a text message.”
He snickered. Actually, it was more like a scoff. “Yeah. Nothing like a bit of salt in the wound.”
I shook my head. “I don’t get you. Why are you so upset with me?”
He didn’t say a word but just glared ahead, his big arms folded across his broad chest.
“Now you’re just acting like a child.” I inserted the key in the ignition but looked at him before turning the key. “Jesse and Piper told me what happened.”
He turned away from me to look out the window and I could see the thick beat of his pulse against his throat.
“The guy is a jerk,” he said.
Nodding, I said, “Yes. And he was wrong.” I sighed and asked quietly, “Can you answer me one question?”
He turned to look at me, his brows drawn in, his lips full, his chin dimple deep in the shadows of the car.
“Did you hit Danny because he said those things about me? Or because I went out with Dean?”
His eyes held mine and then slowly he turned his head to look out the window again.
“Like I said, the guy is a jerk. He has trouble keeping his mouth closed, so I helped him shut it.”
I shook my head and started the car. We drove the few blocks to his home in silence.
When we pulled into his driveway he ripped open the door and stormed up to the house. Something inside of me ignited.
“Oh no you don’t!” I snapped, jumping out of the car and following him up the front path to the porch. “You don’t get to treat me like that and then just walk away,” I yelled at him.
Ignoring me he slammed the key into the front door. He pushed the door open and disappeared inside.
Angrily I followed him in, determined to put an end to this ridiculous tantrum.
Inside, a single couch-side lamp barely made a dent in the shadows. The house was quiet. Leigh was at work and Nikki was out of town on a modeling assignment. I let the door bang closed behind me. Heath stood across the room with his back to me, his broad shoulders stiff. The distance between us was tense and I didn’t need to see his face to know how angry he was.
“Heath!” I was ready to fight but stopped when he turned to face me.