“Jesus, JD, where do you come up with this shit?”
He shrugs and downs a bottle of water just as we’re told we can go on stage now because it’s a commercial break.
“You good?”
Liam nods, but I know he’s not. He walks on stage slowly and picks up his guitar. He’s going through the motions, but something’s missing. He’s back to being the Liam Page of old.
“Hey, Page,” I yell from my stool. He turns and looks at me.
“Do you have this or what, because my girl is out there and we’re about to show the world this song and if you fuck it up, I’m going to be pissed.”
He looks at me for a minute before answering. “Yeah, I got this.”
He fucking better or I’m going to be pissed.
We get the cue that we’re back on TV and that the presenter has just announced us. I bang my sticks together four times, one for each kid watching from home, and bring my sticks down on the drums to start us off. As soon as the spotlight is on us, Liam Page is wooing the crowd like he’s been known to do. I wish I could see Katelyn and watch her face as Liam sings
about her, but it’s impossible to see anything with all these lights.
JD plays out the last riff much to the crowds delight. When the lights go down, I can finally see again. I have to blink through the black spots, but it’s nice not to be blinded. We go back to the green room to get something to drink and freshen up. We have to look somewhat decent when the camera pans over us.
“You okay?” I ask Liam as he sits down.
“Yeah, I’m just stressing and Josie is going to know something’s wrong.”
I sit down next to him and polish off a couple of bottles of water. I don’t envy him. Even though he and Josie weren’t together, she took their break-up hard, and to find out the love of your life got someone pregnant isn’t going to sit well with her, especially when that person is Sam.
“I’ll tell her. I have to. If she finds out from Sam… I don’t know what she’ll do.”
“Just remember that she was engaged, so it’s not like she didn’t move on.”
Liam shakes his head. “Somehow I don’t think it’s the same thing.”
He’s probably right, but what do I know? I’m tired of being away from Katelyn and tell him as such. I leave him and JD to do whatever and head back to the seating area. I tap my seat filler on the shoulder and motion for him to vacate. Josie looks at me questioningly and I nod toward the stage. I don’t know if she understands or not and hopefully I won’t have to explain myself. I don’t want to be in the middle of this showdown.
I sit down and put my hand on her lap. She looks at me and smiles before sliding her hand under mine and locking our fingers together. At this point, I need to be done caring about who sees us. We’ll just have to tell the kids when we get home. Simple as that.
I lay on the chaise, watching a blond woman in a barely-there bikini flirt with the lifeguard. I’m trying to determine if it’s working, if he’s going to give in to her not-so-subtle flirting or if he’s going to push her away. Every so often she dives in to cool off, and while he should be watching the pool for drunken women, his eyes stay on the woman. He climbs down from his chair and helps her out of the water.
I sip my daiquiri though the straw and watch these two interact. He has to be at least ten years younger than her, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Maybe he likes older women, or maybe he knows that she has money and that’s what he wants. She shakes her wet hair, it flings back and forth, but not like the shampoo commercials. It’s stringy and very unflattering. Lifeguard boy wipes the water droplets from his chest in slow motion. I try not to laugh, but my resolve is not that strong.
We’re out in the middle of the desert, surrounded by rolling hills. It’s much hotter here than in Los Angeles, but you won’t hear me complaining. We have a private cabana, an unlimited tab and nowhere to be for two days. The only thing missing, at least for me, is Harrison. After skipping the planned after party and being in his arms all night, the last thing I wanted to do was leave.
I was shocked when Liam and Harrison presented us with a spa package. At first, I was hurt because I wanted to spend time with Harrison, but when he said they were heading back to have some “dad” time with our kids, I conceded. It was when he said our, I realized I wanted to give him a chance to bond with the girls.
Josie and I said good-bye to the guys at the hotel and were promptly whisked away in a black stretch limousine that was stocked with fresh fruit, cheese and champagne. If this is Liam’s idea of a bachelorette party, we need to have a few more of these.
The woman bends and starts rifling through her bag. The lifeguard bends too, but clearly for other purposes. He rubs his chin with his forefinger and thumb while he openly gawks at her ass. I swear she shakes it for him, but can’t be certain.
“What are you doing?” Josie asks. I look at her briefly before turning my full attention back to the cougar and her prey.
“I can’t help it, it’s like a train wreck waiting to happen.”
Josie lets out a bellowing laugh and throws a pillow at me. She almost hits my drink, earning her a nice glare. No kids, no responsibility; I’m going to relax and have fun.
“I bet it’s common around here.”
“What’s that?” I ask.