Chapter 8
Dane
Sydney’s friend was good. His music had a folksy rhythm to it, and she had told me that he wrote all his songs himself. The guy had a good husky voice, his lyrics were mostly all about fucking women…but more artfully put. I could see that everyone at the pub, mostly the women, were all glued to him. To his every word and every turn in his tune. Sydney beside me was enthralled as well. She had said nothing all this while since he started singing, neither had she looked at me. She couldn’t look away from Leo.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t slightly jealous. I knew enough guys like Leo to know exactly who he was. The way he smiled when he caught the eye of someone in the audience, the way he looked directly at a woman, sometimes even at Sydney when he sang a particularly romantic line. Those were all tactics in strumming the heartstrings. Captivating his audience. He was doing a good job and I could already predict his success.
Although at the same time, I wished Sydney would see right through him. I wished she wouldn’t fall for his sickly trap. But who was I to judge him? Who was I to take the moral high ground? My relationship with women was nothing more meaningful. I didn’t want to commit either, but unlike Leo, it wasn’t a game to me. I always made it very clear to every woman I slept with, that I was looking for nothing more than a good romp in the bed. Leo, on the other hand looked like he enjoyed seducing women. Making them fall for him. He was a collector of broken hearts. Even though I barely knew Sydney, I didn’t want to see her getting hurt.
“Your friend is a talented guy,” I said, leaning towards her to say. I got a whiff of the floral scented shampoo in her hair and I tightened the grip on my glass of whiskey. Sydney turned just a little to look at me, and she smiled, before turning back to Leo. He had her hooked.
I took the time instead to study her. Her brunette hair was silky, like a delicate curtain, hanging around her shoulders. She was petite and slender, and yet had wide curvaceous hips. Just like her full butt, she had a generous bosom. Her breasts swelled under the black blouse she was wearing, and I couldn’t stop imagining what color her nipples were.
I drew in a deep breath, took another stiff sip of my whiskey and looked away. She had eyes only for Leo, there was no point in me fantasizing about her. I should have known there was a good reason why she hadn’t been interested in me.
The music stopped suddenly, Leo and his band were taking a break. The audience broke out in a massively loud applause. When I saw Sydney clapping and smiling, I joined in as well. It would have been rude not to. I could see that she was following Leo with her eyes, watching him as he jumped off stage and shook the hands of a few people in the audience.
Then he was walking towards us. I prepared myself with a few sips of the whiskey. I hadn’t been jealous before. I wasn’t a jealous guy. I was surprised to find myself not looking forward to talking to a guy who I was competing with, only in my head. Sydney technically owed me nothing. She was just the hostess at my B&B.
“You were great, Leo!” Sydney broke out in smiles as he drew closer to us. Leo’s eyes flitted over me, and I noticed that they narrowed for a few moments before he suddenly threw his arms around Sydney and hugged her tightly.
I could barely stand it. Watching them hug in front of me. I could see his hands on the small of her back, Sydney’s eyes closed as she savored the moment. He was the one to pull away from her.
“So, what did you really think?” he asked her, ignoring my presence completely, although I was standing very close to them.
“I thought you were great. Your lyrics are beautiful, your guitar skills are mad…I, I don’t know what else to say really,” Sydney said, laughing nervously along the way. I could tell that she was flustered. Leo was smiling at her and nodding.
“Like I said, Leo, I’m no expert on music. I can’t give you constructive criticism on this,” she said, blushing to a bright red. That was when Leo swung his head to look over at me.
“She’s only being modest. She used to work for a big record label in San Fransisco. She’s the only expert in this town,” he said to me and I arched an eyebrow.
“Hi, I’m Dane. I’m just here for a vacation, and you were great,” I said and stuck out my hand to him. Leo shook it and nodded his head.
“Staying with Sydney, is it?” he asked me and we both had our eyes on each other, sizing each other up.
“Indeed,” I replied, and I could sense Sydney staring at us at his side. Our handshake continued for much longer than was necessary and eventually, he pulled his hand away.
“Welcome to Tramore, and I’m glad you stopped by man,” he said and placed a hand on Sydney’s shoulder.
“We should talk more, but later,” he said and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“Sure, yeah,” she said and before she could say anything else, Leo had walked away from us. I noticed how small Sydney’s eyes had gotten, she was watching him walking away and going over to talk to another group of women at the end of the room. She was jealous too. I could feel the envy radiating from her as she watched Leo flirting with those girls.
“Do you want to get some fresh air?” I said to her, and she snapped her head over to look at me like she’d forgotten I was even there.