Unstitched Read Free

taller. ‘I…ah…work in public relations, and we need bands all the time for functions. I think you’d be perfect for me. I mean…um.’ Anthea gently pressed her teeth into her bottom lip, her cheeks colouring. ‘I mean, you and your band would be perfect for me…my…the company I work for.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Do you have a business card or something so I can give you a call maybe?’
    I hesitated.
    ‘Only if you want to. It’s totally up to you,’ she said quickly, turning her body slightly away and shoving her hands in her jean pockets.
    ‘No. I do. It’s just that, you see — I don’t have a business card.’
    Anthea frowned. ‘Oh.’ She reached into her clutch bag, rummaged through it until she found a card, pulled it out and handed it to me. ‘Take this. It has my work details. You can drop in, or call your info through.’
    I smiled, took the card from her fingertips and pushed it into my pocket. ‘Thank you.’
    She grinned. ‘I really look forward to hearing from you.’
    I nodded, smiled, but deep inside my cells were jittering, ignited.
    Anthea turned to walk away, stopped and spun to face me again. ‘By the way, what’s the name of your band?’
    ‘ Perennial .’
    Her eyes narrowed. ‘ Perennial ? What? Like plants and flowers?’
    I grinned. ‘No.’
    She shrugged. ‘I don’t know of any other definitions.’
    ‘It’s more of a message than a name,’ I said.
    ‘A message? For who?’
    ‘A girl.’
    She released a breathy sigh through those sumptuous lips. ‘It’s always about a girl.’
    She was spot on and I laughed. ‘For me, yes. It’s always been and always will be about this girl.’
    ‘Why can’t you just tell this girl the message?’
    ‘If I told her now, she wouldn’t be able to see it. She’ll only understand it when she’s ready to understand it.’
    ‘And what will happen when she understands it?’ Anthea asked.
    ‘She’ll know that I know more than she assumes I do.’
    She stared at me for a moment, half her mouth curled with a grin. ‘Well, good luck with that.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    ‘And, enjoy the rest of your evening.’
    ‘You, too. It really was a pleasure to meet you.’
    She smiled and lowered her head. ‘Good night, Lucas.’
    ***
    Anthea
    I flopped back against the seat and closed my eyes to the darkened city sliding past the window. My head spun, my stomach a churning cocktail of acid, disillusionment and white liquor. Rachel placed a hand on my thigh.
    ‘You okay, sweetie?’
    I nodded.
    ‘Pretty boy must be insane to turn down a night of revenge sex with you,’ said Brendt.
    ‘Exactly,’ said Rachel. ‘Although, you didn’t have to phrase it quite so indelicately, Brendt.’
    ‘He didn’t turn me down.’ I opened my eyes and stared across at them, Rachel in the middle, Brendt beside her. My head was spinning and I had to really focus. ‘I chickened out. And I’m okay about it.’
    ‘Good for you,’ said Rachel, squeezing my knee.
    ‘I just couldn’t say the words to him. Even though he looked like a fucking sex god. Seriously, who looks like that?’
    Rachel giggled. ‘He was way too attractive. That can only be a bad thing.’
    I shrugged. ‘Bad, shmad. Who am I to know? My judge of character is obviously waaayyyy off.’
    ‘Don’t beat yourself up, Anthy. Leith had us all fooled,’ said Brendt.
    Then the tears began — drunken end-of-night, woe-is-me tears creeping down my cheeks. I sniffed and wiped them away with my palms. ‘Who sleeps with someone for a freakin’ bet? Who tapes someone while you’re having sex with them and passes it on to his mates as though it were a cheap porno?’ I groaned and scrubbed my hands over my face. ‘I can only imagine how many people have seen that footage.’
    Rachel winced, opened her mouth to speak, but sighed instead.
    I closed my eyes again to stifle the spinning, to stem the stream of tears.
    Who was I kidding? I didn’t chicken out with Lucas. Not exactly. He