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Chapter Seventeen

The next couple days were kinda weird on my bus. After getting out of the pool, Charley and I had dried off, redressed, and gone back up stairs, where Charley insisted on sitting in the hallway again instead of coming inside. And she remained distant like that. I kept trying to get her attention, but she got more and more obsessed with figuring out where Billy was and making sure I was protected aptly. One night, she actually stood by as they ripped the tickets at the front doors of the venue before the concert, making sure that every person was being checked for concealed weapons, especially the men that were coming in. She trusted no one. She even took away a box of special chocolate chip cookies a fan gave me during VIP.

I was starting to feel like Charley really was playing me.

I made the mistake of sharing my apprehension with AJ.

"Of course she's playing you!" AJ said with an air that neared jealousy. Being married had really made him want to live vicariously through me, so he was quite excited when I'd showed up and told him about the pool incident and Charley's cool exterior since then. He was grinning and leaning forward in his chair. "I would be damn excited about it if I were you!"

"About being played?" I asked.

"Yeah! Dude, think about it, it's like friends with benefits only you don't even have to pretend you understand her at all," he said, "No hassle, just free sex."

"I dunno if it's quite like ---"

"What is it like then, Nick?" he demanded, "Seriously... the woman's playing you hot and cold." He grinned. "Ah you lucky bastard."

I stared at my fingers. I was usually the one that played people hot and cold, not vice versa, and now that I was being played hot and cold, well I wasn't positive I liked it.

But if I thought AJ's advice - or at least definition - was less than satisfactory, Brian's was even worse. "Why don't you just talk to her?" he asked.

"I don't wanna sound like a tool," I replied.

"Girls like it when you talk to them," Brian said. We had Return of the Jedi playing on TV and the little Ewoks were running amuck. Brian kinda looked like an Ewok. I didn't say so. "They're into all those feelings and crap, you know? If you just talk to her then at least you'll know." He popped some popcorn into his mouth. "And knowing is half the battle."

I felt like he was one step away from breaking out nail polish and painting my toenails some shade like Red Trollup or something, so I changed the subject to who would beat who in a one-on-one light saber battle: AJ or Howie.

We both agreed AJ would win.

Which is why I didn't even bother asking Howie for advice. Howie, I decided, had already fucked up my situation enough by not letting me sleep on his bus the night Billy initially attacked. After all, if it hadn't been for Howie, I would've gotten the proper sleep and would've asked for more information about my bodyguard before they sent Charley and therefore I wouldn't have this problem at all.

Of course, I also would not have gotten laid in a hotel swimming pool, but that's besides the point.

All in all, it was an awkward couple days following sex. I wasn't used to such awkwardness. I found myself sneaking glaces her way and leaving the bathroom door open just a teeny bit in hopes that she'd decide to join me.

Finally, almost a week of hardly any conversation later, I sat down across from her while she was setting up a game plan for the show the next day - a large outdoor set we were playing in Chicago - and I stared at her until she looked up.

"What's up?" she asked.

"What's going on?" I asked, "Like with us?"

Charley's eyes locked with mine. "Seriously Nick? You wanna have the relationship status talk?"

"Yeah, kinda," I replied.

Charley cleared her throat. "Do you realize I'm working on a plan that could potentially keep you from getting shot tomorrow?" she asked, "Do you really wanna interrupt that?"

I nodded, "If I die tomorrow, I wanna at least die knowing what's going on between us. If you don't tell me, there's a really good chance I could haunt you, as you'd be the cause of my unrest."

Charley raised her eyebrow.

"You just never know," I said.

She shrugged, "I don't know what we are, Nick." She turned back to her paperwork and chewed the top of her pen carefully.

"But I need to know," I commanded.

Charley looked back up. "What do you think we are?" she asked.

I hesitated.

"What do you want to be?" she asked.

I shifted in my seat. "I dunno," I answered finally.

Charley nodded. "Okay, well that's your answer then. I don't know." She looked back down to her stuff. "Have a good night, Nick." Her tone was dismissive.

I stood up reluctantly. "Was I bad?" I asked.

"No," she said distractedly.

"Cos everyone always says I'm very good," I pointed out.

Charley looked up. "Everyone?"

"Yeah," I answered, "You know. All the other girls."

Charley rolled her eyes. "For future reference, Nick, no girls like hearing the terms everyone and all the other when talking to sexual partners about previous sexual partners."

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Good night, Nick," she said.

"Can you let me know when you figure it out?" I asked her.

"Figure what out?" Charley looked up from the papers. "How I'm gonna keep Billy out of the crowd tomorrow?"

"No..." I replied, "Us."

"Right," she nodded. "You do the same."