Page 9 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

seven

C ara took a deep, cleansing breath as she walked up the cracked sidewalk toward The Hideaway Room, a small music venue tucked between a vintage clothing store and a tattoo parlour.

The venue’s giant neon sign flickered intermittently, casting purple shadows across the crowd gathered outside building as the throbbing of loud music permeated through the brick.

She had left early, expecting to arrive first, so she was surprised to see Antonio waiting for her near the venue’s metal entrance doors, leaning against the dark wall and looking down at his phone.

Damn. He looked good. A little too good, actually.

Even in the dim glow of the streetlight, she could see how attractive he was. He’d worn dark jeans that fit him perfectly, a charcoal button down and a black jacket that looked both casual and expensive. His dark wavy hair caught the light as he tilted his head, examining his phone screen.

She wondered how Jalen would react to her having a “friend” that looked like Antonio. And well dressed. With expressive eyes and a perfect smile. That was also brilliant and smelled like a million bucks.

She shook it all off as she approached him, her heels clicking against the uneven pavement. No matter how attractive he was, he was taken—sort of—and had made it very clear, on several occasions, that he wasn't interested in anyone but his wife. And especially not his friend's little sister.

He didn't even want her uttering the word “sex” in his presence.

"Hey!" she said, trying for the most “I like you only as a friend” tone she could muster.

Antonio looked up, their eyes met, and he smiled. "Hey," he said, pressing a button on his phone and slipping it into his pocket.

"Scrabble?" she asked as she came to a stop in front of him. She had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the music coming from inside.

He gave her a smile and pushed his hands into his pockets. "I'm getting better."

"You've overcome your fear of q's?"

"Not entirely, but I'm making progress."

They smiled at each other for a moment before falling back into silence. Why did she feel so awkward around him? It was probably because she was trying to act like he was just a friend when she knew she didn't think of him that way.

At all.

She needed to fix her brain so she could look at him and see a friend, not a funny, smart, caring, hot guy who she wanted to make out with.

She banished the thoughts from her mind, focusing instead on thoughts that would place him alongside Ethan and Adam in her mind.

"So how do you and Max know each other?" she asked.

His forehead creased a fraction. "We played hockey together when we were teens."

She scanned his face again. "I should have met you before."

He shrugged. "It was a triple A team when we were eighteen. I only played for half a year before I broke my leg and had to stop. But we stayed in touch."

Cara nodded. "And you reconnected after your separation?"

"Yeah," he said. "I reached out to see if he was still in Mapleton when I moved to my apartment here. I lived with my parents for a while, but I couldn't stay there."

Cara scoffed. She couldn't imagine living with his extremely disapproving mother would have been easy. "I wondered whether—"

The thought exploded in her mind as she caught sight of the last person she expected to see on that sidewalk.

Cooper.

He was striding toward her with a grin, and when the crowd cleared, she saw he wasn't alone.

"Lily?" she asked, even though they weren't close enough to hear her.

Lily seemed to read her lips and faltered her steps, but Cooper kept marching toward her.

Oh no.

Her rage bubbled at seeing her ex and her old friend together at a concert that she paid for. She forced herself to calm down so as not to make a scene.

"Who's Lily?" Antonio asked, turning around and scanning the crowd.

"My best friend," she said, seeing nothing but red. " Former my best friend."

"Cara," Cooper said with a smile as he strolled toward her. "I was hoping you'd be here to sort this all out."

His audacity shocked her into silence.

Did he actually think she was there to help him get into the concert? And were they… together?

Lily had told Cara she was wrong for breaking up with Cooper, but she hadn't expected her to swoop in later.

Cara swallowed down the hurt. "Are you two together?"

Cooper nodded as he slung a casual arm around Lily's shoulders.

Her anger and shock and sadness faded, leaving her with only pity for Lily and irritation at his ongoing harassment. She couldn't believe she actually cried over this guy.

"Cooper," she said, trying to stay calm, "I know your brain struggles to connect simple dots, so allow me to explain things clearly."

He stared at her with his mouth open slightly, as if not realizing she was being incredibly rude and sarcastic.

"There is no universe in which I would come here to help you and your new girlfriend get into a concert that I paid for."

Her voice had started low, but by the last word, she was yelling.

She couldn't stop.

"I stayed awake until midnight," she continued. "I refreshed three screens a billion times, and I paid an absurd amount of money to get these tickets, and then you broke my heart."

Cooper continued his slack-jawed stare while Lily made herself small behind him.

"What makes you think I would then go out of my way for you?"

When she looked away from him, she realized she'd drawn the attention from the crowd waiting in line, including the people scanning the tickets.

Then she remembered Jalen was there, somewhere.

Shit.

Scanning the crowd, she didn’t see him— thank God —but it would probably be best to stop berating Cooper on the sidewalk before Jalen caught her acting like a raving lunatic.

She turned away from Cooper and took Antonio's hand.

"Come on," Cara said, marching them to the front of the line.

The two guys at the front of the line looked a little scared as she approached. "Can I cut?" she asked. They nodded and stepped aside.

"Thank you," she said as politely as possible. She showed her QR code to the attendant and stepped inside.

As soon as she was through the doors, she wanted to leave. The music pounded so loudly it triggered an instant headache. The room was tiny and packed and she hated it, but she'd come this far. She could stick around a little longer, to at least see if she could run into Jalen.

Luckily, the opening act finished the song and announced they were done, and that the headline act would be out shortly.

Cara’s shoulders dropped in relief.

Antonio leaned in close. "You okay?"

She shook her head. "I'm mad at myself for getting so angry. Thank God Jalen wasn't around."

"That guy deserved to be yelled at," Antonio said. "No wonder Max hates him."

Cara nodded. "Still, I’d rather Jalen find out later rather than sooner that I’m a spiteful bitch who’ll yell at someone on the sidewalk.”

Antonio laughed. "I'm sure he'll love your temper." As a crowd walked past and bumped into him, he moved closer to her, and she tried not to react to his closeness, but it was impossible. He smelled good, and he was being so nice to her. She wanted to fall against his chest and never leave.

"Thank you for coming with me."

He slid that gorgeous smile her way. "I owed you. Besides, this beats stewing at home, wondering what Fran and Blake are up to."

She lifted the corner of her mouth. "I'm sure I'll think way too much about Cooper and Lily now that I know they're together."

Antonio nodded. "But you won't get back together with him?"

Cara puffed out a laugh. "Absolutely not. Been there, done that. I've cut him out like a gangrenous toe, and I have no intention of re-infecting myself."

Antonio laughed. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but a tap on her shoulder had her spinning around.

"Cara?"

Her eyes popped open, and she turned to find Jalen. "Oh, hi," she said.

Jalen leaned in and gave her a hug. It felt easy. Comfortable. That was how she'd wanted to greet Antonio.

She pushed away the thought and forced herself to focus.

"I'm glad we ran into each other," she said.

Jalen pulled back and flashed a brilliant smile. "Me too. This is my friend Paul."

"Hi, Paul. This is Antonio," she said, and waited for them to all shake hands while internally yelling at herself for not saying “my friend Antonio.”

Jalen placed his hand on her upper arm and leaned in. "Can I talk to you, just for a second?"

She nodded and let him lead her away from Antonio and Paul.

"I was wondering if you want to go out with me sometime this week? Maybe Thursday?"

She nodded way too emphatically and had to tell herself to be cool.

"I'd love that."

"Great," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'll take your number and call you to arrange it."

She smiled and gave him her number just as the band came on stage.

"We better get to our seats," he said. "Paul will kill me if I make him miss anything."

She smiled as he came in for another quick hug.

"See you later," he said as he pulled back. He walked off with Paul.

Antonio came back into her vision. "All good?" he asked.

She broke into a nerdy smile and did a little dance, letting the excitement out. "He asked me on a date!"

Antonio laughed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "So, mission accomplished then?"

"Yes," she said as a deafening wave of feedback hit her in the ear and everyone in the room winced.

She glanced from the stage to Antonio. "Freezing?" she asked.

His head jerked back slightly. "You want to go already?"

She nodded before remembering what he'd said about sitting in his apartment alone, thinking about his problems.

Maybe they should stay so he wouldn't have to be depressed all night. She really didn't want to be there but abandoning him so soon after she just used him to get a date with Jalen seemed wrong. He'd got dressed and came out with her. Plus, he was clearly going through a really shitty time.