What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (6 page)

             
Waking up, I grab
bed
my
head.
Christ,
how much did I drink last night? Finally getting the courage, I open
ed
my eyes. Shit, where the hell
was
I? Sitting
up,
I looked around,
and
I saw
that
I was
in a bed, but not
in
my
hotel room.
Oh crap, what did my drunk self-do last night? I look
ed
at t
he nightstand and the clock displayed
8:34. I pull
ed the covers off and took
a huge sigh of relief that I stil
l had
a
ll my c
lothes on from the night before
.

             
Even though my head felt like a marching band was playing inside of it,
I manage
d
to get out
of bed
. I quietly walk
ed
out of the room
and
int
o the main sitting room. Alex was
sleeping on the couch. I quickly grab
bed my bag and sandals and left
the room. I jump
ed
on the elevator and head
ed
to my room.

             
Once
inside,
I decide
d I
needed to
take a shower so I could feel human again. While in the
shower,
all I could
think about was the night before. Remembering the conversation between Alex and
m
e,
and how he actually seem
ed
interested in my
life,
I start
ed
to really think about it and realize
d
he probably wasn’t
interested in anything I had said
.
I was
sure he was hoping I would shut the hell up and be drunk enough to j
ump in bed with him. I still couldn
’t remember how I got into his bed last night.

             
Still feeling hung over and confused with the whole night, I put on my running clothes and head
ed for the elevators. There was
nothing like a good, hard run to shake a hangover and to clear a clogged head.  Exiting the
lobby, I put my ear buds in,
h
it play on my
iPod, turned my Garmin on,
and
ra
n along the river heading tow
ard Cobo Hall.  After I surpassed
the puke stage of the run, I
was
finally
able to use the time to think. I realized that last night was nothing. Alex proba
bly
took
girls back to his room all the time and I was
lucky enough to keep my head
and clothes on. I started
to run
harder, probably trying to outrun the fact
that
I
wished
my cl
othes hadn’t remained on. I kept thinking about his
blue eyes, mouth
,
and those tattoos.
God,
how much
I wanted that mouth on me.

             
After I ran
myself
into exhaustion
, I walk
ed
back to the entr
ance to the hotel lobby. I stood
outside and stretch
ed. Man, was
I going to be sore after
that
run.
I looked
at my Garmin
and saw that
I ran my f
astest splits in months. I felt
a tap on my
shoulders.
I turne
d around and took out my ear buds
, looking
right into the blue eyes of Alex.

             
“I said your name
a few times, but you must not have
heard
me.
I didn’t want to scare you again.”

             
“Sorry, I was engrossed in the music.”

             
“Why did you leave this morning without saying anything?”

             
I looked
at my feet, then at my
hands,
I finally respond
ed
,
but I
still
didn’t look
at him. “You were asleep and I figured with another show coming
up,
you needed your sleep.”

             
“I wish you
had
woke
n
me. I tried calling you this morning, but you didn’t answer. I see why now.”

             
“How did you get my number
?
I didn’t give it to you last night.”
  I was f
eeling a bit of irritation in my voice.

             
“When you fell asleep, I used your phone to call mine. Now I have your number and you have mine.”

             
“Seriously, you went into my purse?”
I felt
pissed off at his point.

             
“I’m sorry, but I’m glad I
did,
since you just disappeared this morning and you never did tell me your last name.”

             
“Well, you never asked for it and
honestly
, I
just thought m
y
leaving was easier for all of us.”

             
“What do you mean
, easier for all of us?” Alex was
starting to look a little pissed at me.

             
“I thought it eliminated the awkwardness of you asking me to leave this morning. Save you from coming up with a lame excuse
as to
why I needed to leave.”

             
“
Wow, seriously, after the conversation and
time we
spent together
last night you think that’s how I am. I ordered room service thinking you were still asleep and hoping I could spend a little more time with you until I had to leave for Chicago.”

             
I look
ed at him and I swear I saw
hurt in his eyes. I
wasn’t
sure how to respond. He ordered me breakfast. Nobody has ever done anything like that, not
even
David,
the whole time we were together. If I wanted to eat, I needed to get the food myself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

             
“
Obviously,
” that seemed to come out a bit harsh from his mouth.

             
“Are you leaving now for Chicago?”

             
“Yeah, Sam moved my flight up since I didn’t
have a reason to stay
around.”

             
“Well, have a good flight and thank you for everything with the concert last night. I really appreciate it and I will
never
forget last night.”
I wanted
to say
all of last night
, not just the show, but
couldn’t.
His
comment about
how
he didn’t have a reason to stay around hurt a bit.

             
“Abbs, Abbs, over here.”
I turned
towards
the
valet
and I
saw
Derek getting out of his silver BMW.

             
“What t
he hell are you doing here?” I was completely
shocked to see him out front of the hotel.

             
Derek ran
over, scooped me up into a hug,
and spun
me around.  “Well, I know I had
to let you go to the concert a
lone
,
being the rules of the list, but I won’t let you go to the Pirates game alone.”

             
“Actually, I am going
to
the Tigers game.”

             
“Anyway, we are going to the game.”

             
“Seriously, you drove all the way from Pittsburgh for one day to go to a baseball game?”

             
“Ye
p.
”

             
Hearing
a throat clear, my attention was
turned back to Alex a
nd the conversation we were
having.  “
Alex,
this is my friend
,
Derek
.
Derek,
this is Alex.”

             
“Holy shit, when did you become friends with the lead singer of
Awakening
?”

             
Before
I could
answer,
Alex spoke
to Derek. “Last night, we became good friends last night.”

             
I felt
pisse
d because I felt like Alex was
impl
ying I slept with him the night before
. I
turned
to Derek and explain
ed
the seating situation at the show. I look
ed at
Alex,
and he kind of looked
hurt
again
at my explanation.  I didn’t want to talk about bein
g in his hotel room and his bed, at least not
with
Derek. There were so many unsaid feelings on Derek’s
end and he came all the way here to be a friend.

             
“So what are the plans for
today?”

             
“Well, I’m starving and I ran out before I had any coffee this morning.”

             
“I didn’t want to say it, but I
am.
You
stink;
you must have
had
a ton
to drink
, because the wine is seeping out of your
pores.
The
sweat
added to it
makes it worse and you look
and smell
like hell.”

             
“Wow, thanks for the honesty.”
I wondered
how
badly
I really
did
stink and
how bad I
look
ed.

             
I looked at Alex.
“I really appreciate everything you did yeste
rday and last night
.
”
I thought
of how he put me in his bed and didn’t take
advantage of my
drunken
state, but there was no way I was saying that in front of Derek.  “Have a safe trip to Chicago and
have
a great tour. You guys really don’t need it, the concert last night was by far the best I’ve been to in my life.”

             
“Actually, the concert isn’t until tomorrow night and I don’t need to be there today. I could fly out tomorrow morning. I was thinking of taking in the baseball game today.”

             
“What, you said you were on your way to Chicago
,
”
f
eeling a bit confused at that
point in the conversation
, “
and that y
ou didn’t have a reason to stay around.” Knowing I said it with a harsh undertone.

             
“Well, I didn’t, but I love baseball and didn’t realize there was a game today.”

             
“I hope you enjoy the game.
” Feeling a bit irritated with
the
whole conversation.
“
Again, thanks for everything and tell Sam it was nice meeting her last night.”

             
“Why don’t you tell her
yourself?
”

             
“Huh
.
” Really
,
huh was all I could come up with.