Indigo Blues (15 page)

"What can I get you?" the barista asks.

"Tall mocha frappuccino." Oh, and I need to get Tripp
something, too. I turn to him. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you're having." He gently kisses the side of
my neck. It tickles.

"Okay, make that two."

"Your name?" The barista asks.

"Mine?"

"Yeah."

Tripp leans over my shoulder. "Indigo."

Crap, why did he have to answer for me?

"Indigo?" She asks loudly.

Please, oh please, don't jump on the are-you-from-thesong-Indigo Blues bandwagon.

"Yup." I nod.

She calls the order over to the guy making the drinks.
"Two tall mocha frappuccinos for Indigo Blues."

The drink guy's eyes shoot open wide. "Cool. Is Blues
really your last name?"

I look over at Sam and Krista in line behind us. A huge
smirk appears on Krista's face. "She even has a blog on her
new website, indigojackson.com. It's full of surprises."

I grab my drink and stomp over to her. "Somebody
make sure to get a picture of this." I pop off the top and
pour.

Krista's instantly covered in cold brown gunk. "You
bitch!" she shrieks.

"You wanted a story, you got a story." I throw my cup
in the trash and storm out of the store.

I don't look back. Not even to see where Tripp is.

ude, umm ... you might want to check this out."
This is the longest sentence I've heard Conjunction say. Ever. I'm over at the guys' place just chilling after
grabbing a few beers at the Local Bar (real name).

"What?" I really don't want to get up from this couch.
I'm totally wiped from recording, lack of sleep, and the
beer swimming through my system.

"Now." He points to the computer monitor.

I drag my ass to his desk. My face immediately drops as
a photo of Indigo pops up on the screen. "`Indigo's story'?"

Conjunction stares at me like a huge boulder just fell
on my head. I kind of wish one did, because I'm not liking what I'm seeing. "Why would she do that? It's not her
style."

"Man, she really trashes you. Says she's had enough of
you." He clicks to the next page. "They do say you never
know a woman until..."

"Until she fucks you?"

Conjunction's eyes bug out. "Yeah."

I'm shaking. I pull out my phone. "I don't even know
what I'm going to say to her. How could Indigo do this to
me? How dare she call me a liar!"

Tommy snaps up from his perch on the windowsill
and tries to snatch my phone. I pull it away. "Don't call
her," he warns.

"Send her a cease-and-desist letter," Zach offers from
the couch.

"I dunno." I walk over to the end of the room and
plunk down in an old plaid armchair that Conjunction rescued from his neighbor's attempt to toss it into the dumpster. I understand if Indigo's mad, but she should've talked
to me first. It's not like I haven't called her enough. If this is
her idea of revenge, I'm out. "How long has that site been
up? How did you even find it, Jack?"

"First time I've seen it. Just dicking around. Looking
for feedback."

Who knew Jack was working so hard behind the scenes.
Didn't even know he cared much for "feedback."

Dammit. I'm so screwed. People are going to think I'm
some dumb prick.

Zach finally gets up and peeks at the screen. "Buddy,
this is a good thing."

"How?" My heart feels like a ticking time bomb.

"It'll give us more publicity."

"Not everything is about making money." I don't want
to sell my soul to the devil. I know Zach doesn't think the
same way, but I like my privacy. I don't want to be taking
a piss in a public restroom and have someone ask for my
autograph. Zach, on the other hand, would sign the guy's
dick if he wanted him to.

"So far there are only eighty-four hits on the site, lame,"
Conjunction says. "And it's basement-made. Any dude with
half a brain can set this up."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I pull out
my phone again.

Zach grabs it from me. "No, but I have something that
will cheer you up."

I raise my eyebrows. I'm skeptical. Very skeptical.

"Got you a date tonight. Remember Hannah from the
bar?" Zach is practically yelling.

"Yeah. Hot bod. Plastic breasts."

"Tight ass. Anyway, we're meeting her and Erica at
Pirate's Booty at ten."

I shove my phone back into my pocket. "A hot chick
and a few beers, maybe that's what I need."

"That a man." Zach pats me on the shoulder. "Be ready
to get some prime boo-tay."

I guess scoring a little booty never hurt anyone, right?

I lean against the wall and try to remember Hannah's
sexy body the night we met at Hatchback. Why would a
girl like that want to go out with a guy like me? She seems like the type to swoon over bad boys, the guys who drag
race at three a.m. and chain smoke out by the dumpster.

I head back to my apartment just before nine, at Zach's
insistence. Of course, he reminds me before I leave, if I give
up my apartment and move in with the rest of the guys,
then I wouldn't have to walk the fifteen minutes home. But
three guys in a one-bedroom apartment is crowded enough
for me. My place may be tiny, but it's all mine.

Apparently I need to prepare for my date. I figure that
means I have less than an hour to shower and chug a beer.
Both are of equal importance-loosen up and smell nice,
and the night should be a success.

The hot shower relaxes me. I vow not to talk about
Indigo for the rest of the night. To not even think about
her. Instead, I concentrate on reconstructing Hannah's physique from memory. At first it's a bit forced, but it doesn't
take me long to get inspired. Her straight teeth. Big brown
eyes. Smooth curves, soft brown hair, firm ass. I stay in the
shower until the water goes cold.

I towel off and reach for a gray T-shirt, but figure I
better find something to match my new mood. There's a
lot of color in my drawer, thanks to Gina taking on the
role of personal shopper. A red shirt that I don't remember
buying calls my name. It still has the price tag on it. I rip
off the tag and slide the shirt on. As usual, I'm ready early.
I need to do something about my perpetual earliness. The only thing I can think of is chugging down another Bud.
I do that until it looks like I might actually be late, which
freaks me out a little. I give Zach a call to tell him I'm on
my way. And of course, he says he'll be leaving in a minute
and to chat up the girls until he gets there. Figures.

Pirate's Booty is just three blocks from my place, sandwiched between a dry cleaner and a coffee shop. It's a small
dive with a skull and crossbones carved into the front door.
I go inside and give the place a scan. No pirates in here.
It's still early for the bar crew, so it's pretty mellow-a few
couples hanging around and a group of women in their
office gear. I can't even imagine working in a cubicle right
now. I was going to study engineering like my dad, but
now I'm not so sure. I know Dad's less than thrilled that
I'm taking my second year off from college, but it's better than spending all that money for something that might
not be my thing. And since I inherited some money after
Mom died, I was actually able to keep my pad this year
after Dad announced, "No college, no rent money."

It's funny that while Dad's always been a big fan of
music, it's solely as a listener. He could spend hours soaking in Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles on the back porch.
Does he think I'm not good enough to sing on his backyard stage?

I'm standing here in the middle of the bar like a statue.
I peek outside and see the girls round the corner, and it
looks like they found Zach. No denying it-they do look
fine. And almost like twins. It takes me a second to realize
which one is Hannah. Longer hair and bigger boobs?

"Hey, Adam," both girls say, giving me hugs. Strawberry and Mango. Zach slings his arm around Mango, so
it's confirmed-Strawberry is mine. We all go inside and
take a window table. Can't beat facing the New York streets
nestled next to two sweet-looking girls.

We order a couple of appetizers and a pitcher of beer.
Damn, these two fish can drink! By now my head is pretty
much doing the beer backstroke, since we started early
today. I wouldn't say I was in the deep end, but I'm happily
treading water.

Hannah's playing with one of her many silver bracelets.
I lean over. "You look really pretty."

"Thanks. And has anyone ever told you how cute you
are?" She scoots in so close that she tickles my ear with the
heat of her words.

"Do relatives count?" I ask.

She laughs. "You're so funny." I don't tell her that I'm
not trying to be a comedian. Besides my crazy relationship
with Indigo, no girl has had time to say that about me. I've
had a couple short-lived flings, one back home and one the
first week we moved to the city. I don't know if I'm proud
of them. I stayed with the first girl long enough to lose my
virginity to her, but not long enough for her to develop
feelings for me. My experience with the second girl was
even faster. I never even learned her last name.

"Thanks. So how's school?"

"I'm only taking half a load of classes this semester."

"Why?"

"Working on my career. Trying to go to as many modeling auditions as possible."

"I know what that's like. Well, not modeling." I blush.
"But it's hard to balance a career and go to school full time."

"Exactly."

So maybe Hannah and I have more in common than I
thought. And she did call me cute.

"Let's get this party revved up a notch. Everyone in?"
Zach asks.

"Yeah," we all agree.

The place is filling up and I see that a couple of brunettes in the corner are checking out Zach. No doubt wondering if he is, indeed, really Zach.

The waiter passes our table and Zach flags her down
for a round of shots and another pitcher. Hannah slides her
leg against mine and I throw my arm around her back. My
whole body tingles. It feels good to be this close to someone.

We down the shots and that's all the courage I need
to kiss Hannah. I pull her face up to mine and it's on. She
sucks me in, and her mouth is warm and inviting. I only
come up when I need some air.

"I bet Indigo never kissed like that," Hannah says, a
little too loudly.

"No." I can still feel Hannah's lips pressed against mine.

"She probably slobbered." Hannah laughs. Not true.
She was a great kisser. I remember the first time we kissedit was at my nineteenth birthday party. Her full lips were
like ripe berries, but I never got to taste the juice that night because it ended as abruptly as it started. Zach walked over
and interrupted us to say that my dad was looking for me.
I guess it was better that Zach was the one who stopped
me, not my dad. But that night, I felt like everything was
perfect.

"No, she was fine," I quickly say, in Indigo's defense.

Hannah pouts.

"But nobody kisses like you."