When I came out of the bathroom on the second floor, it was to find a couple making out against the wall by the door. It startled me because they hadn’t been there when I had gone in just a few minutes ago. As I moved to walk past them, I happened to take a closer look at them and was unable to contain my startled gasp.
No way! There was absolutely no way I was seeing this. Life was not that cruel! It was not that fucked up! Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh. Shit!
The couple heard my gasp and the man raised his head. Chocolate brown eyes narrowed on me when they met my gaze. His eyes were blood shot, and I knew he had to be drunk or high, or both. That didn’t stop the recognition I saw cross his face or the way those narrowed eyes turned into a cold glare.
He pushed the girl away from him, and I was sickened to see that she wasn’t much older than Lana. What the hell did that little girl see in a sixty year old man? “What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded.
I swallowed my revulsion and returned his glare. “I’m here with my boyfriend.”
Tommy Kirkman sneered down at me. “What idiot would be stupid enough to get involved with you? Some sap with more money than brains obviously.”
Rage burned in my veins, and I clenched my hands into fists so that I wouldn’t be tempted to smack the jackass. “Well, it’s nice to see you haven’t changed much over the years. Still the same slime, ball horn dog you always were. Tell me, is she legal?”
“Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson.” He took a step closer to me, and I almost took a step back. I wasn’t scared of this man. I would never be scared of him. All he was now was a washed up rocker. He was lucky enough to have invested his money well over the years because he didn’t have that same big money coming in on a regular basis now that his career was over.
“What? You check their IDs before you screw them?” I asked, tossing my hair over my shoulder. “Or do you make them bring their birth certificates just in case? Does the guy that lives here know that he has a nasty old man running around trying to bed all the little girls?” Even as the words left me, the truth hit me, and I felt all the color drain from my face.
Tom…Tommy. Yeah, I was definitely on slow motion tonight in the brain department. I should have put it together by now, but I didn’t let thoughts of this creep enter my mind all that often. Now that I had realized my mistake, I knew that my heart was about to be shattered into a million pieces.
A strong hand touched my arm, and I jerked. Jesse frowned at my reaction but I looked away, avoiding his eyes. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. When I didn’t answer, his eyes moved to his friend. “Tom?”
I felt Tommy stiffening. “You?” he asked, his voice rising. “You are with her?”
“What’s going on here, Tom?” He spoke with more force now. “You and my girl not hitting it off?”
I felt bile rising in the back of my throat, but I took several deep breaths to keep it down. I wanted to hit a rewind button and have this night never happen. If I didn’t know that Tommy Kirkman was the great man that Jesse had told me so much about I could ignore the rest. I could keep from shattering. I wouldn’t have to leave him or Emmie or the guys.
But there wasn’t a rewind button or even a pause button so that I could soak in the man I loved one last time before I walked away from him forever…
“How did you get involved with her?” Tommy demanded, stepping closer to Jesse.
Jesse seemed to grow bigger before my eyes. “What’s it to you?” he demanded in a tone that I had never heard him use before. It was cold and full of steel, and I chanced a glance at him to see that his eyes were changing by the second.
“Jesse…” I started to touch him, but Tommy grabbed my arm and jerked me away from him.
I cried out, his hold on my arm so tight it would leave bruises. “You don’t get to touch him,” Tommy snarled down at me, his face getting so close to mine the stench of whisky and smoke on his breath made me gag. “He’s too good for the likes of you!”
I flinched, his words just as painful as his touch. I hated him. Hated him to my very soul, and yet a part of me loved him too. A tiny little part of me would always crave his love and acceptance. Didn’t all daughters want that from their fathers?
Tommy released me so quickly I wasn’t sure what was going on. I raised my head to find Jesse pinning him against the wall, his eyes full of white hot rage. “You touch her like that again, and I will make you swallow teeth!” he roared at his old friend.
Tommy stared up at the drummer with a dazed look in his chocolate brown eyes. “You would turn on me over a girl like her? Over some little whore that…” He didn’t get to finish what he was going to say. Jesse’s fist connected with his jaw making his head snap back, and I wasn’t sure if Jesse had followed through with his threat or not because blood gathered in the corner of Tommy’s mouth.
“You don’t get to talk about her like that either!” Jesse shouted at him.
Someone turned the music off, making the place unusually quiet. I glanced over my shoulder to see all eyes were on us. Fuck! I did not need this now. I grabbed Jesse’s arm. “Jess, please. Just take me home,” I pleaded.
“Not until he tells you he’s sorry.” Jesse tightened his hold on Tommy’s shirt. “Tell her.”
Tommy turned his head and spit right at my feet. “Fuck off.”
Tears gathered in my eyes, but I refused to let him see. “I don’t need an apology. Just take me home.”
“Layla…”
“Layla!”
My head snapped around at the sound of Lana’s voice. I didn’t know how she knew I needed her, but I didn’t question it; I was too glad to see my sister. She was running through the doorway with Drake right behind her. “Layla, let’s go,” she commanded.
I released my hold on Jesse’s arm. She ran up the stairs and took hold of my arms, inspecting me as if she was scared I had lost a limb or something. “Are you okay?” she demanded, shooting Tommy a vile glare.
“I’m fine.” I whispered. “Can…Can you take me home?”
“Of course.” She pulled me into her side, and I didn’t look back as she led me away. Drake fell into step behind us. I kept my eyes down as I passed through the crowd of partiers. I couldn’t bring myself to hold up my head like I had the right too. No one would believe anything but what Tommy Kirkman told them anyway.