Chapter 4
Nothing better than a shopping trip to soothe my Mia frazzled nerves. After lunch I couldn’t just go home and stew, I had to distract myself from how annoyed and anxious I was. Of course I was still unemployed so instead of the mall, it was a visit to my favorite vintage store instead. As I browsed the rack of sunglasses, my phone buzzed.
The ComeShift alert popped up on my screen. Nicholas Berry wanted to meet up with me.
I’d like to meet you tonight. I’ll be playing with my band at Reggie’s. The set starts at 9:30. Please tell me you’ll be there.
Holy shit. Nicholas wants to meet. That shouldn’t be such a big deal, but it sure felt like it! “Okay. Calm down, Nic. You’re just meeting him and that’s it.” I pep talked myself for a few more minutes before finally responding.
9:30 is perfect. I’ll be there. I’ll be wearing red.
Message sent. No going back now. I’m meeting Nicholas Berry, bass player of Bear Knuckle Brawlers tonight. Now, what to wear?
……..
I pulled up to the club at eight-thirty and was shocked at the crowd of people. For a Wednesday night, Reggie’s was packed. Nicholas’s band must have a bigger following than I thought.
Or it was the fact that they were opening for Halestorm. A huge poster of Lzzy Hale was up at the box office sneering down at me as I bought my ticket.
The clerk pushed my debit card back toward me. “No charge tonight, miss. This ticket was set aside for you.” He held up the flimsy strip of paper and slipped it under the glass to join my card.
“Are you sure?”
“I am, Miss. I have a sticky note with your name on it.”
I took my card and ticket and pushed my way through the crowd. Once inside it was cocktail time. I needed a vodka buzz to take the edge off, stat.
Before long the opening bars of Bear Knuckle Brawlers’ first song began to play. The floor wasn’t packed in yet, so I pushed my way to the front to get right in Nicolas’s sightline. It worked. The red, cleavage bearing maxi dress set off the bright blonde of my hair. I spent a little extra time getting my effortless waves to look just right.
He noticed. I watched Nicholas’s gaze sweep over the crowd one time before settling on me for the rest of the set. Every minute of the forty they played sent more butterflies into flight in my belly. By the time the singer said goodnight, anxiety had been replaced with the tingle of excitement. Especially, when Nicholas waved as he exited the stage. I could feel the blush creep up my neck. I was glad it was too dark for the rest of the concertgoers to see me.
I had to hustle to get out of the pit. Once Halestorm hit the stage, there wouldn’t be any room to maneuver at all.
I spotted Bear Knuckle Brawlers at their merch table schmoozing and signing autographs for anyone willing to drop twenty bucks on a t-shirt. As I approached, I could see Nicholas scanning the faces and half paying attention to the fans trying to engage him in conversation. I couldn’t make out his words, but I could tell his answers were clipped and not entirely friendly.
A short brunette in a half shirt and her pink-haired friend brushed past me. “That bass player is cute, but he’s such an asshole!” I had to bite my cheek to stifle a giggle.
I guess I’d put poor the poor bastard out of his misery.
I took a deep breath and put on my cheeriest smile as I approached the table. “HI! Nicholas?”
He turned his deep brown eyes at me and I could see his body relax. “Nicole?”
I nodded, my smile spreading wider as he came out from behind the table to me. “Guys, I’m out of here. I got a date. Have a good time!”
The drummer chucked a black marker at his head as we took off. “Your friends aren’t going to be mad at you?”
“Not really. Usually, I’m the one left behind when Dan, our singer, takes off with his random groupie for the night.”
“Fair enough. So it’s finally your turn for some groupie action then?”
“Exactly,” he said with a wink. He took my hand and led me through the bar and out to the sidewalk. The cool fresh air after the stifling body heat inside the club felt so good. Breathing was easy again. I looked down at my hand. Well, mostly. There was the odd hitch.
“Where are we going?”
“We are taking a walk to this sweet little diner up the street. We’ve been out of town for almost two weeks and I have a hankering for an Italian beef sandwich.”
“Oh, perfect.” Low-key, no pressure and definitely not fancy. I glanced down at my flowy red dress and sandals Gussied up, but not overdone. Now, if I could swallow every insecurity that has been popping up in my head, I would have a chance at having a good time.
The tiny diner was quiet for the moment, but I had no doubt that as soon as the concert let out, everyone would trickle down to this end of the street for a post-drinking nosh.
The sign at the door said, “Seat Yourself” so Nicholas pulled us into the most private booth he could find.
Once we ordered our food, Italian beef for him, an iced tea and chicken sandwich for me, we were left with an awkward silence between us. Not such a great start for our little date.
I figured the band was a good topic to start with. “Um, so how long have you guys been together?”
“I’ve been with the band for about two years, though the other guys were playing together for three before that. It’s an exciting time right now because we’re starting to tour outside of Illinois, which is huge for us.”
Our server came back and dropped our plates. “Can I get you two anything else?”
“No thanks. I think we’re good,” I said.
With a nod the server left us alone again.
“That’s fantastic to hear. I know it’s kind of a big deal to start getting that kind of exposure.” I bit down into my sandwich. It was a little spicy and so good.
Nicholas nodded and swallowed the huge bite of food he had taken. “It is good. We’re pretty stoked. What about you, what do you do?”
I almost choked on my food. If I flat out said I was unemployed, chances were good he would go off and probably run screaming from the restaurant. “I was just let go from a job last week. But I’ve worked in advertising for a long time.”
“Why’d you get let go?”
Was that alarm in his voice or was I hearing things? I also wasn’t entirely comfortable telling him the truth, but I figured what the hell? At least that way I wouldn’t have such a negative light cast on me. “I was dating my boss. We didn’t work out and he decided I shouldn’t be able to keep my job either.” Nicholas’s eyes grew wide and hurried to finish my thought before he interrupted me. “I have about six months’ worth of savings and after a short time out, I’ll be on the job hunt again.” I took a huge bite of my sandwich before I babbled myself into a corner.
“That’s awful. I’m really sorry that happened to you.” His full mouth flattened into a hard line. “Guys like that are disgusting. Let me guess, he didn’t want to commit, but was willing to fuck you every chance he could, right?”
Damn, he was good. “You nailed it.”
I didn’t want my misfortune to ruin the evening. “Look, it’s no big deal. It was actually a blessing. After five years I was learning to hate that job more than anything. It was long hours and high stress, and this is really the first vacation I’ve been able to take since I started there right out of college.” Shit, had it really been that long? Getting fired was really the best thing that could have happened to me.
“As long as you’re happy then it’s no big deal right?”
“Exactly.” I folded and unfolded my napkin. The fidgeting helped me think. Do I address the elephant in the room? “So, Nicholas.”
“Yes?”
“ComeShift is an app meant for those that are more than human and the people interested in them. Are you a- are you a shifter?”
Nicholas’s mouth quirked up on one side into the sexiest smirk. “I am. Would you like to know what kind?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Well, if you’d like to tell me, I wouldn’t mind knowing.”
“I’m a bear shifter. My dad is a bear shifter and my mother is full human. It was a fifty-fifty shot whether I’d be like my dad or not. My sister and I both wound up shifters, my baby brother got the short straw and wound up human.”
“Short straw, huh? Last I checked, being human’s not so bad.” I haughtily sipped my tea. I tried to maintain my angry face, but I busted out into a giggle fit instead. Nicholas joined me and I was so pleased to see him smile. His face lit up with a sexy glow when he laughed that drew me in. I suddenly wanted to kiss him. When our eyes met, I had a feeling he wanted to kiss me too.
Nicholas waved for our server. “Check please.”