“One AM. You passed out about an hour ago, just before you and the guys were due to close the show.”
“Oh shit.” The guys and I were supposed to be singing the final song. “Is Elle mad?”
“No. I don’t think she even noticed the rest of them on stage. Too busy staring at Kip. You ready to get up?”
The room swirled around me. “No.”
“Tough. Come on.”
Alex lowered his arm toward me and I grabbed on to his wrist, using his strength to help me pull myself up.
“Whoa…Dude, I think I’m gonna hurl.”
“Oh for God’s sake,” he muttered, pulling on my arm. “Hold it in till we reach the bathroom.”
He pulled me through the double doors and led me along the corridor to the bathroom. I started retching and with one hand on my back he shoved me forward toward the toilet where I spilled what seemed like my body weight in alcohol.
“I don’t think I’m gonna make it back to our hotel. Can you try and make a reservation here for the night?” I asked, doubled over with my hands on my knees.
“Already done. Seventh floor.”
“Not the top?”
“Sawyer and Jake have the entire top floor.”
“Bastards.”
“I’m afraid you’re not in a position to make demands tonight. Besides, you’ll be asleep in seconds. You won’t even notice the room. Here.”
I glanced up to see Alex holding out a wet paper towel for me. I straightened up and took it from him, patting down my face and neck.
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You ready to walk to your room?”
“My room? Where are you staying?”
“They only had a double left. I’ll crash on the floor or something.”
“Oh fuck…” Turning sharply, I started heaving once again into the toilet. When I’d finished Alex handed me a fresh towel and I wiped myself down. “We need to go now or I’ll be here for the night.”
It seemed to take hours to get to our room. The end of the corridor seemed to move further away with each step I took. My head felt like it was trapped in a vice, tightening with every movement. Alex was right. I didn’t give a rat’s ass what kind of room I was staying in. When I walked through the door the only thing I could see was the plush red couch beneath the window. I thought I heard Alex mumble something along the lines of, “Bedroom’s through there,” but I was already curled up in the fetal position on the couch.
“G’night, buddy,” I said. I was asleep before he could reply.
Chapter Two
~Alex~
G’NIGHT, BUDDY. I repeated the words in my mind. Matt was my buddy. My best friend. It amazed me how close we’d gotten in such a short space of time. It was an unlikely friendship. I mean, he was a freakin’ rock star. A womanizer. Or like his British band mates called him, a bit of a twat. Trouble is sometimes I couldn’t help thinking of him as my twat, and that scared me. He could never be mine and I knew that, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t dream. There were a thousand reasons it would never work. Relationships weren’t on the cards for either one of us. Oh, and of course the fact he was straight.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I whispered to myself when I found myself staring at him curled up on the couch.
After pulling off his shoes I draped a thick blanket over his body before heading to the shower where I washed away the day’s dirt and jerked away my inappropriate thoughts of my best friend. Feeling refreshed, I took myself into the bedroom, flopped down on the double bed and switched on the TV, watching reruns of The Walking Dead until I drifted to sleep.
One month later…
“Shit, sorry,” I muttered before hurrying out of Matt’s room after finding him balls deep in a brunette. I had a key and access codes to his house but really I should’ve learned my lesson about walking in unannounced by now. This was the fourth time in two weeks I’d walked in on him screwing some chick. At first it made my chest ache but now it just made me angry. At Kip and Elle’s wedding he wanted to change his life. Find some stability. A purpose. But since we got back he spent most of his nights wasted and his days curled up naked next to a different woman.
Why do you even care? I asked myself that same question daily yet I still hadn’t come up with an answer. This was the Matt I became best friends with. He hadn’t changed so why did it suddenly matter? Maybe I’d changed. Maybe I was tired of watching him waste his life. Maybe I didn’t want to see him end up a lonely old man. I mean a day would surely come when his looks and fame faded and the fact he had money wouldn’t be enough of an incentive for anyone to stick around.