“I honestly don’t want to think about it. Sometimes she can be scary.”
Harlan laughed with that boisterous noise I’d grown accustomed to as our friendship grew. “All women are scary, my man. All women can be downright terrifying. But we love them anyway.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“So, do you have a list of the guitarists you’re going to consider?” he asked, changing the subject again. This was a topic I was definitely interested in, though. Harlan knew everyone in the music industry. If there was a guitarist he thought would be a good fit for me and the band, then his knowledge and choice was golden.
“Actually, I have one in mind. It is really surprising Addison didn’t mention it before.” I didn’t want to remind him that she hadn’t had the chance, but my best friend and I were back on solid ground. No reason to shake that up.
“Who?” I asked.
“Ryan.”
“Your son?” I had forgotten that he played and was part of a small local band while he worked for a financial firm in Asheville, North Carolina.
“Yeah. He’s growing tired of his job and is the only one dedicated to the band. The rest of them would rather stay at a garage level if you know what I mean. He has the skills to do better things.”
“I thought you didn’t want your kids anywhere near the entertainment industry.” It was something I remember him having conversations about over family vacations whenever we’d run into paparazzi or reporters. Harlan and Cassidy didn’t want that life for them.
“He’s twenty-seven and has a good head on his shoulders. I’m pretty sure he can handle it.”
“You know how it goes, he’d have to audition for us, but if he can get to the stadium on Friday, I’ll make sure he gets in an interview.”
“He’ll be there.”
Finally, the women came back downstairs, Addison now wearing a pair of light denim, torn at the knee, a white shirt with a red and black flannel over the top, and a pair of boots. I wasn’t sure where the outfit came from, but Addison reminded me of what I had worn the other day when she called me a sexy lumberjack.
As I made eye contact with her, she seemed to remember the same moment and the fun times we had in her makeshift fort afterward.
“So, I’m glad to see there is no blood to clean up,” Cassidy walked over to Harlan and slid her arm through his. “Let’s give them a little privacy, then we can go help Addison collect her things before Asher has to leave.
“Asher, it’s good to see you and I’m really happy for you and Addison. I’ve seen this coming for years.”
“What?” Harlan and I said in shocked unison, but the girls just giggled as Cassidy tugged Harlan out of the room.
“I’m not mad, Asher,” Addison said as she approached me, grasping my hand with hers. “Mom helped me understand why you did it and said she would have done the same. You did it out of love and not because you were ignoring what I had asked. You wanted what was best for me.”
“That’s all I want, beautiful. So, you’ll go to the interview even if the lady is an Asher Blake fan?”
“Yes, I’ll still go, along with some others I’m going to put applications in for.”
“That’s great,” I said solemnly. I didn’t like the fact that she wouldn’t be with me and I had no timeline on when we’d get to be together again.
“You’re still leaving today?”
“Yeah, I need to meet with the band and tell them everything. And if all goes well, they’ll help me go through a roster of guys to interview.”
“I really think that’s best. And maybe it will give you some time to look into treatments and how to prevent the attacks.”
“You help prevent the attacks.”
With a giggle, she asked, “How so?”
“I don’t know, but they were less frequent when you were with me. I used to get five or six spasms a day. Last week I had maybe four total.”
“It’s because you weren’t thinking about it. We had other things on our minds.” She gave me one of those saucy grins and it killed me not to make use of the empty bedroom down the hall. I couldn’t do that with her parents here. I’d just fallen into Harlan’s good graces.
But just because I couldn’t carry her to the room to have my way with her body, that didn’t mean I could lean down and kiss her. When she stormed out of my house, I was afraid that was the last chance I’d ever have to feel her lips.