He leaned in closer to my ear so I could hear him over the noise. “You all right?” His breath against my neck gave me a chill.

“I’m fine.” I stared ahead at the cash register.

“Nothing’s changed.” His voice was lower, and I knew exactly what he was referring to.

“I know. I promise I’m fine.” Everything seemed to have changed. He nodded and held up his hand to get the bartender’s attention. She made her way over to us, leaning over the wooden top toward E.

“Six buds, please.”

Her eyes drifted lower to where his shirt stretched tight over his chest. “Coming right up.” She turned to grab the beers from the fridge behind her and E laughed.

“What?” I snapped.

“Why do you look so pissed off?”

“I’m not. I was just thinking.” Why the hell was I pissed off? Women looked at E all of the time.

The bartender set the beers in front of us. I tried to grab money from my pocket, but E put his hand on my arm and slowly shook his head no as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

“I don’t need you to buy my beer.” I grabbed three of the bottles as he set money on the bar, and he grabbed the other three.

“I know you don’t.”

We made our way through the crowd and I managed not to spill beer all over myself. I gave a bottle to Chris and held one out to Derek. He took it without a glance and drank it half down.

“You could at least say thank you,” I snapped.

“Thank you.” His voice dripped with sarcasm but he was smiling sweetly.

“Not to me. To E. He bought it for you.” I rolled my eyes as I glanced over at the table. E was standing in front of Donna, his head bent down close to her, and I couldn’t tell if they were kissing. Derek’s gaze followed mine as he ran the chalk over the end of his stick.

“He looks happy.”

“Yeah . . . he does.”

His face studied mine for a moment. “So why don’t you?” His eyes were narrowed and his beer-laced breath blew across my face.

“I am.” I tried to hide my frustration with him from my voice, but I was sure he caught it. “I’m just exhausted.”

This caused him to smile and he pressed his body against my side. “We did have quite a workout earlier.” His lips pressed against my neck and I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes as his arm slipped around my waist.

“Want to play another game?” E asked, and I opened my eyes to see him standing behind Donna, his hands on her shoulders. “I think the twins gave up.” He motioned with his chin, and I turned around to see Chris and Terry in a deep conversation with the women at the table behind us.

“Couples?” Derek asked with an eyebrow cocked.

“I don’t even know how to play.” Donna shook her head, and E pressed his mouth against her hair and said something in her ear, but his eyes watched me.

“Just us,” E called out. “Unless you’re afraid I’ll kick your ass,” he added with a laugh, and Donna brought her elbow back into his side and shook her head.

Derek laughed humorlessly and shot him a pointed glare. I knew I would never hear the end of his hatred for E when we got back to our room. “Not afraid, man. Not as long as I got my good-luck charm beside me.” Derek kissed my neck again, but it wasn’t soft and sweet as it had been a moment ago. He was clearly marking his territory, keeping his glare squarely on E.

“Want to make it interesting?” E’s fingers moved softly against Donna’s shoulders, but tension was obvious in his grip, too.

“Name your terms.”

11

ERIC

IT WAS NO secret that Derek couldn’t walk away from a bet, and after last night I still didn’t feel satisfied that he had learned his lesson. I wouldn’t always be there to stop him from hurting Sarah, but maybe I could make her see that he wasn’t as good to her as she thought. It was starting to feel as if she’d never figure it out on her own. Maybe this wasn’t the best way to get back into the friend zone with Sarah, but right now it felt more important to get her away from that cheating ass**le. Show her what a dick he really was.

“You want to go see what we can find on the jukebox?” Donna called over to Sarah.

She nodded, but turned to Derek. “Keep it friendly.” She kissed him on the lips, and his hand slid down over her ass as he deepened the kiss.

I clenched my jaw as I waited for the girls to walk away out of earshot.

“Loser has to get a tattoo. Whatever the winner picks, wherever the winner picks. Just no face ink.” Derek was nearly head to toe with tattoos, and I didn’t have anything. I knew it was a risky move, but I wanted to prove a point. Hopefully, at the end of the night, neither of us would be getting inked.

Chris came to stand by my side and cocked an eyebrow as he heard the bet.

“Either way I win.” Derek laughed and grabbed the balls from the slot underneath the table, and I knew he wasn’t just talking about the tat.

“Interesting bet,” Chris said as he cracked his knuckles.

I nodded, sipping my beer. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Since when?”

“Just shut up and watch.” I shook my head and grabbed a stick.

THE BEER FLOWED freely and I was keeping the game pretty evenly paced to this point. The more I drank, the more I relaxed and joked around with everyone. Everything felt as it had months ago while we were on tour. Derek and I had never liked each other, but we tolerated each other. I pretended that nothing bothered me.

That was until Derek’s hand slid up Sarah’s bare thigh. I began to focus on the game and sank one shot after another.

When I knocked the last ball into the corner pocket, Donna wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. I had to give it to her, she was one hell of an actress. Derek tossed his stick on the table angrily and mumbled something about me cheating. I laughed at the absurdity of his accusing someone else of cheating and sat my beer on the edge of the table.

“I’m just better than you,” I called out as he walked away from Sarah, and she glared over at me.

“It’s just a stupid game,” she said as she grabbed his arm to stop him from storming off, but he pulled from her grip.

“Fuck him,” he snapped as he looked over her shoulder to me. “I don’t know how you could be friends with that prick.”

I waited to hear Sarah defend our friendship, but she didn’t say anything.

“Let’s go get this over with.” He stepped closer to the table.

Sarah looked from Derek to me, confused. “Get what over with?”

He just shook his head.

“You not gonna follow through?” I asked, knowing damn well he wouldn’t let me get the best of him. Not after I’d just embarrassed him in front of his girlfriend.

“Let’s f**king do it. What do you have in mind?”

I pretended to think it over. “I’ll figure it out when we get to the tattoo parlor.”

“You bet a tattoo?” Sarah asked, narrowing her eyes at me. I nodded but avoided her glare. I knew exactly what she was thinking. I didn’t have any because I refused to put something permanent on my skin when everything in my life to this point had always been so temporary.

“Fuck it. Let’s go,” Derek mumbled.

I grinned.

“What are you up to?” Donna asked quietly as we made our way toward the exit.

I pressed a kiss into her hair. “You’ll see.”

She shook her head but didn’t press any further. As we walked down the main drag toward Tit for Tat, Chris and Terry had a field day f**king with Derek about what I should make him get. Some of the more humiliating ones were tempting.

As we reached the door to the parlor, I pulled it open, waiting for everyone else to step inside. Sarah glared at me again but didn’t say anything.

I walked up to the shop manager and asked if he had any openings. The tattoo would be small and wouldn’t take long, so they said they could take us.

“What are you trying to get and where?” the manager asked as he put on his black-frame glasses. He reminded me of Clark Kent, only covered in ink.

I glanced over to Derek and raised an eyebrow. He pulled his shirt over his head and I examined the bare patches of skin.

“Chest will do. Right over the heart. I’ll make this easy on you since you did have the balls to come down and do this. Says a lot about what kind of man you are.” But I knew what he did next would really tell the truth about who he was. “Get Sarah’s name. Any font you like. I’ll buy.”

The look in his eyes was priceless. For a guy covered in the dumbest f**king tattoos imaginable, it was shocking he would hesitate, but I knew he would. A part of me almost felt guilty. I knew this would hurt Sarah. I knew it was a dick move. But I also knew it would force him to show his true scumbag colors to her.

Sarah’s eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open slightly. I looked down at Derek, towering over him by a good six inches and my frame at least twice as wide. He flicked the long hair from his face and his lip twitched. I had him backed into a corner. He would either have to get the tat to avoid upsetting Sarah or he would hit another nail into the coffin of their relationship.

“That’s stupid. I already have a tat for her.” He pointed to his arm, which had a black star in the same place Sarah had her tattoo that read ROCK.

“What’s one more?” I shrugged.

Derek didn’t respond, and Sarah turned, shoved open the door to the outside, and disappeared past the shop windows.

“What the f**k is your problem?” Derek took a step forward, getting in my face.

“I’m not the one who just pissed off my girlfriend.”

“That’s right. You’re the one who pissed off my girlfriend.”

As much as I hated to admit it, that stung. I knew Derek wouldn’t go through with that kind of commitment to her. I knew it would hurt her when he didn’t, but through the alcohol haze, I only saw exposing him for what he was.

Chris’s hand clamped on my shoulder, and Terry stepped up behind Derek.

“Pissing match is over. Let’s get the f**k out of here.” Chris kept his voice low so we wouldn’t disrupt other customers.

Derek sneered at me and turned to the door, slamming it open and disappearing into the night.

“What the hell was that?” Terry asked as he shook his head and laughed.

“I had to. Sarah thinks he is some kind of f**king hero after last night. It was this or hit him again.” I shrugged as I opened the door and waited for Donna to walk out.

“Do you think he went after her to make sure she makes it back okay?” Everyone stopped and just looked at me as if I had grown another head. “I’ll call her. You guys can go ahead.”

“I’ll text you where we go,” Donna said as Terry looped his arm over her shoulder and they began to walk across the street.

I pulled my phone from my pocket along with a crumbled piece of paper I had forgotten about. I held it in my palm as I called her and hoped she would answer.

After two attempts, she finally did and she wasn’t happy. “What?” she snapped.

I took a deep breath. “Where are you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, E. I’m at the corner of Pissed Off and Go Fuck Yourself.”

“Fair enough. I know I deserved that.”

“You humiliated me. Why would you do that? Huh? What if you would have lost? Would you have gotten a tattoo?”

I shut my eyes as I silently berated myself for being so f**king stupid. Having Sarah angry at me sobered me up quickly. “The real question is, why didn’t Derek?”

The line went silent and I pulled it back from my ear to make sure she hadn’t hung up.

“I’m f**king sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I never meant to hurt you.”

“That is exactly what you meant to do.”

The line went dead and I struggled not to throw my cell phone and bust it into a million pieces. I clenched my fist, crumbling the scrap of paper tighter. I slipped my phone into my pocket and unfolded the paper as my eyes danced over the familiar handwriting.

I drove all night trying to escape,

the truth of you I cannot take,

On E and broken-down,

why is that bad luck follows when you come around?

My mind raced as I read it half a dozen times. Was she talking about me? It clearly said on E, but that could have meant exactly what it said. There it was, the dull ache in the back of my mind. But then I reread the line about bad luck and I couldn’t help but feel I had destroyed our friendship.

I took off down the street, needing desperately to forget everyone and everything. As I neared the end of the block and turned the corner toward the hotel, I stopped at the sight of Sarah, her head in her hands as she cried quietly to herself.

“Sarah . . .” I wrapped my arms around her and she pulled away from me, but I tightened my grip, holding her against my chest.

“Get off me,” she sobbed as her tears continued to flow.

“I’m not letting go.”

“You should. Derek is the one that should be hugging me right now.”

The mention of his name infuriated me. For the millionth time, I considered telling her what Derek had done last night. But I knew that would only make things worse. Unless she saw it for herself, she’d never believe me. Especially not now.

And it’s not as if I had any solid proof to show her—it was my word, my obviously jealous word, against his.

“But he’s not here, Sarah, I am.” I rubbed my hand down her back trying to calm her. “Friends hug. Let me hold you.”