Part 73 (2/2)
”Sweet,” mutters Nate and stands.
He walks to the door and I step to one side as he says, ”Don't hold out on him. He won't hang around. I know my brother better than you.”
I meet his eyes in challenge, now aware how people who know the twins well could tell them apart before the hairstyle change. Something in Nate's demeanour is distinct. Subtle differences in his expression, how he holds himself.
”Will already changed himself for her!” calls Jax with a laugh. ”Look at his hair.”
I glance at Will, expecting him to retort, but he rests against the wall, drinking.
As Nate leaves the room, Will follows.
WILL.
”What's your deal, man?” I call after my brother.
Nate halts and turns. ”No idea what you mean.”
”Fleur. Why are you f.u.c.king rude to her all the time?”
”I'm not.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t.”
Nate scratches the corner of his eye. ”I don't think she's good for you. You've nothing in common, and the way you wander around after her all starry-eyed is pathetic. You screwed her yet?”
”None of your business.”
Nate snorts. ”That's a no? Good luck. Even if she does, bet she won't be enough for you. Has she ever seen a c.o.c.k before?”
”That's out of order, Nate. And what the h.e.l.l does who I screw matter to you, as long as she's not your girl?”
”I don't have a girl.”
”Maybe you should.”
”Seriously, dude?” He waves his hand around. ”This! One by one, you morons are falling into relations.h.i.+ps that are bad for you! If she breaks your pathetic, love-struck heart, you won't cope. Seen it before. That s.h.i.+t is a waste of energy.” He pauses. ”This whatever you have with her doesn't suit you.”
Realisation crashes through my irritation. ”No, it doesn't suit you.”
Nate makes a derisive noise. ”I don't give a f.u.c.k. Once the novelty is done with, she'll find a squeaky-clean guy to settle down and have her beautiful children with. Someone like her won't put up with someone like you.”
”My life. My problem.”
”Have you ever stopped to ask yourself the question though?” he asks.
Yeah, I have but why think hard about something? Let life happen. ”Is this about Charlotte?”
”Don't mention her f.u.c.king name.”
”I thought you were over her?”
”I am. I'm warning you not to get caught up in s.h.i.+t with girls and end up treated like c.r.a.p.”
”You ended things with Charlotte, not her.”
”I had my reasons.” Nate's mouth thins. ”Enjoy girls, don't stick to one. Believe me, life's better this way.”
”I did, I tried. I'm happier with Fleur.”
”For now. I thought we were having fun together, man. Living the dream.”
”When we were at school, you pretty much kicked me to one side because you spent your whole life with Charlotte!”
”Like I said, I was stupid.”
”You were eighteen. We're nearly twenty-two now. Get over this c.r.a.p.”
”Whatever. Fleur hated you two months ago. One day she'll wake up and realise how wrong you are for her.”
As Nate walks away, I chew my lip. Nate's moodiness p.i.s.ses me off and I've seen this before. He's jealous because I have the s.h.i.+ny thing he wants. Not Fleur, but a loving relations.h.i.+p he denies he does. Since the day he and Charlotte broke up, Nate's never been with a girl longer than five minutes. Sometimes literally.
When they were together, I couldn't understand how he could spend so much time with Charlotte. We were seventeen and he already had his life full of music. Jax didn't like her because she distracted him from the band; and at one point, Nate threatened to leave. I saw Jax's point, Ruby Riot was becoming noticed around the time we left Oxford, and Nate's distraction interfered.
By the time we left for London, it didn't matter. Nate and Charlotte's relations.h.i.+p ended after almost two years and he never mentioned her name again.
My teasing Nate about Charlotte has come full circle, as I have the brunt of his taunts over Fleur now. My teasing back then is also the reason he's never told me what happened, and why we never discuss his dark days in the weeks that followed.
33.
FLEUR.
Sitting alone in the Green Room instead of watching the performance wouldn't be right, and would give Nate some ammunition against me. Despite telling Will I don't like the band, the last time I watched them, I understood the hype and was forced to admit I enjoyed that night. Up until a certain point. The real issue I have is the last time I watched Ruby Riot, I paid more attention to the drummer and this is a reminder of Will's earlier lies.
I push aside the memory and watch from the side seats.
The reason for the band's success is obvious. Concerts I've watched in the past have been stage-managed shows filled with special effects. Costume changes and dance troupes created a spectacle detracting from the musical performance. Ruby Riot doesn't need this. Their raw talent plays out against a backdrop of lighting effects and nothing more.
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