ACE

I ’d let two days pass since our first date. It’d almost killed me, but I waited. I’d made the mistake of looking too eager before. It never worked for me. This time… this time, I was going to do it right. Something different, something real. Something outdoors, maybe. Ideas swirled around in my head at what felt like the speed of light -but so did my nerves. I was restless and on edge and I needed a little pick me up to get me in the right head space.

Jax had been off the grid the past few days. Right after we had spoken, and he ribbed me about my feelings for Harley, he’d gone to Aria’s and never returned. He would have been my first stop for drugs under normal circumstances. His place, although an hour away, was still the closest to mine, but as he was off the grid, I’d have to go straight to the source- Kade. Kade was the only friend of ours from back home who wasn’t in the band. He wasn’t a musical guy, but he sure knew how to score the best drugs and knew how to stop a fight before it got out of hand, so for those reasons alone, we had brought Kade along for the ride.

“Kade!” I called out as soon as he answered. “Waz up buddy?”

Wind howled in the background as he spoke. “You caught me on my new car phone, man!” he responded joyously. When it came to the latest gadgets and the newest technology, Kade was always the first guy to have it. Car phones had been around for a couple of years, but he’d just installed the latest version. “Nothing like taking calls and getting shit done while on the road!” he laughed.

“Always showing off, aren’t you, Kade?” I chuckled. “Listen dude, where are exactly? Any chance you’re running close to my place sometime soon?” I asked.

“Uh… heading down to Malibu actually, but I can pass by before I go. Whatcha need?”

“Just a couple of little white baggies of confidence?” I asked.

“Haha, no joke, I just dropped off the same for Jax.” He chuckled. “He’s been in lockdown with that chick from the music video and had to duck out for a minute to grab some blow from me.” He laughed.

“No shit!” I shook my head and chuckled. “I figured he was still there.”

“Yeah, seems like all these women are pushing you guys a little too hard. Anyway, gimme about an hour and I’ll stop by.” I heard him bark at another car in traffic before the line went dead.

I passed the time waiting for Kade by grabbing a beer from the fridge and munching on the snacks that my housekeeper Gilda had left out for me. Although I cooked for Harley when I’d had her over, that was just for show. I much preferred Gilda to do all the cooking and planning. After eating, I made my way over to the music room and picked up my guitar. Jax was supposed to have been working on a new song for months now. He hadn’t shown us anything yet, and I was beginning to sweat. I was no songwriter like Jax but also, no one could beat me at guitar. My chords were always perfect and my melodies were unbeatable. Soloing, though, was my absolute favourite part. Jax would pretty much always write a solo section into each song, and we would all take turns with it.

I strummed my fingers, and within a minute or two, I became absorbed in the music. Music healed my soul in ways that I never even knew were possible. When I was younger and we’d just been starting up the band, my home life was very tough. I’d grown up with only my dad and my brother. My mom had died when I was nine and my step-father was a very tough man. He used to yell, scream and often hit my brother and I with his belt until we were black and blue all over. My brother ran away when he was fifteen and left me behind with the old drunkard when I was only twelve. I had little memories of my childhood, but what I remembered was the hours and hours of playing guitar until my fingers bled out back in the field behind our house. My stepdad hated the sound and after he’d smashed my first two guitars in a drunken stupor, I never made the mistake of playing inside the house again. After that, my music was only for nature. The birds, insects and trees were the best audience. Sure, not a lot of commentary or mentorship, but they offered me a peaceful place to practice and learn and somehow soothe the broken and sad little boy inside me. Both then and now, music was my saviour.

A loud banging on the front door jolted me out of my memories.

Jumping up, I made my way there and opened it up. “Kade!”

“Hey there, my friend,” Kade answered as he made his way inside.

“Dude, I was just messing around with this melody. I gotta show ya!” I called out to him as he set up on the kitchen table. “Grab a beer. I’m just getting my guitar.” I called from down the hall.

“Don’t mind if I do!” he called back to me.

Kade had the white powder all over my marble table by the time I came back and he was splitting it into straight lines with his credit card.

“Shit man, you didn’t waste any time, did ya?” I chuckled.

“Busy day dude… got places to be and just like you and Jax, I got women to fuck.” He smirked.

“Ooh… spill it!” I sang.

“Nah, nothing like you two little lovebirds,” he laughed, before rolling up a hundred-dollar bill, leaning over the table and snorting a line

I pulled out a chair and joined him. “Damn, I needed this right now.” I muttered under my breath before sucking that blissful white powder up into my brain.

“And we’re hardly lovebirds, Kade. One date and it didn’t really end well. I’m not sure if she’s actually into me or just playing the game because she wants to be close to the band. Or like… whatever… you know how it goes.” I trailed off.

“Okay,” Kade nodded. “I hear that, but how do you feel about her?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Truly?”

“Yeah.” Kade leaned back in his chair and tilted his chin up at me as he spoke. Casual but direct.

“I’m confused… my heart is telling me she’s amazing, everything I need and like… that this could really be something. But my mind… damn, I don’t know, man. Maybe I’m just scared.”

“Of what?” Kade exploded into laughter. “You’re a fucking rock star with a life that everyone envies. You can have any girl you want. Have this one and then move on to the next!”

Coming up from another snort, I shook my head as the euphoria rushed my brain and made me laugh. “You don’t get it Kade. I don’t want a constant stream of girls in and out of my bed. Been there, done that, and it didn’t make me happy.” I shrugged as I reached for my beer on the counter.

“Maybe because you kept giving them all your money too,” Kade laughed before pushing back from the table and standing up. “Listen, I’m sorry dude. I’m not trying to dissuade you. If you really think this could be something special, then you fucking go for it. I just don’t get the hype.” He shrugged. “If I had as many women as you do clamouring to get in my pants, that’s all I’d care about!”

This conversation was pointless, just like all the others with my friends. No one got me. No one understood. I just smiled and nodded before shrugging, “Guess I’m just a fucking mystery to you.”

“Damn right you are,” Kade laughed. “Okay, so I left you a couple more lines,” he motioned back towards the kitchen, “but I would save a couple for tomorrow. Don’t go too crazy.”

“Who do you think I am… Jax?” Kade and I chuckled and slapped hands before pulling one another into a brief hug.

Kade was a great guy and the one that I was closest to after Jax. If those two didn’t get me, then no one would.

Except for maybe Harley…

I just couldn’t shake that feeling that there could be something special between us.

That second date call was starting to sound really good about now. The coke had flooded my brain instantly, and I’d done enough lines for it to last a little while.

It was time.

Heading back to my bedroom, I dropped on to the bed and grabbed the phone from my bedside table to dial her number.

I was angsty… on edge… jittery. Sure, it was probably the coke, but it felt different. It felt like I was inching closer to the edge. The edge of possibility with Harley. On the third ring, her low, sultry voice floated through the speaker and into my ear, making my lips part in a grin that felt a mile wide.

“Hello?” she answered.

This was my moment and fuck, was I ready to crush it. “Harley! How are you? It’s Ace.”

A silent pause.

I could hear her breathing.

My body instantly flew up from its relaxed position on the bed, and I paced the room.

“Uh… Harley? You there?” I asked cautiously.

She answered slowly. “Yeah…”

“Everything okay?” I questioned. Something was off for sure. Maybe this was a mistake?

“Yeah.” She repeated. “I guess I’m just surprised to hear from you. I wasn’t sure if I would.”

Fuck! She didn’t think I’d call? Did she not realize I was interested? Or maybe she wasn’t anymore.

“I’m sorry that you assumed I wasn’t interested. That’s very much not the case, and I’d love to take you out again.”

For fuck’s sake, Ace! I slapped my face. Why did I sound so fucking formal?

I waited, holding my breath, desperately trying to seem casual, but even I knew when my desperation was showing.

“Really?” she asked. “Because I’m not so sure. To be honest, Ace, I was really excited to go out with you, but it seemed like you were not that into me, so I just didn’t expect this call.”

Holy shit, I’d fucked up badly. But how? I had no idea.

“I deeply apologize, Harley. I am very interested… if you would give me a second chance?”

I was making every effort to sound calm and contained, but the rage inside me was about to boil over. Squeezing my fingers into a fist until my hand ached was the only way to keep a lid on the scream that was about to break free from my chest.

“Okay, fine. You don’t have to twist my arm.” She giggled, sounding much more agreeable now.

A small exhale of relief whistled out from between my lips.

“Awesome. Tomorrow at noon?” I asked. I wasn’t letting another day go by before seeing her again. This might be my last chance with Harley, and I refused to blow it. This girl was going to be mine.

“And wear something comfortable. We’re going to go hiking.”

“Hiking?” she repeated, sounding about as surprised as I was.

Where the hell did I just suggest? Hiking?

The last time I’d been hiking was back in Kelowna with my sister, Paige. Paige had always been the outdoorsy type and used to pull me out of the garage where I been practicing guitar and drag me along with her. But that was years ago and now here I was suggesting a hiking date to a girl like never really met? I had to be losing my mind. Maybe was just the drugs and booze. I’d done a quite a lot…. Probably should curb that if I was going to go hiking.

“Yeah, hiking!” I repeated, trying to sound more confident. “It’s one of the few things I can do outdoors that doesn’t get me mobbed.”

A sudden realization must have hit her. “Of course,” she agreed. “I totally understand. Hiking it is. Looking forward to it.”

“It’ll be epic. See you at noon tomorrow.”

“Cool. See you tomorrow.”

Then the line went dead.