Page 24 of Thanks for Coming Along
"Don't feel too bad for him," Eden said to Ronan. "He only performed his poetry 'piece' to impress this hot barista at the coffee shop."
"Oh, he was cute. And it almost worked..." Finn said dreamily.
"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!" Ingrid chimed in. Eden burst into laughter while Beck smiled small at Ingrid.
"Scooby-Doo reference?" Ronan asked with a laugh.
"Finn looks like Shaggy, and Reef is literally Scooby-Doo," Beck remarked. Reef looked up with his hand in a bag of chips, munching happily. "I have no clue what you are talking about," Reef mumbled as he continued munching. Finn pushed his shoulder-length sandy blonde hair over his shoulder with a smirk.
"The part of the story Finn neglects to tell is that his other flame was also working that night at the same coffee shop, and he found Finn and the other barista necking in the hallway," Eden added, focusing solely on Ronan.
"I didn't realize she was also working that night. It was a bisexual nightmare. Lesson learned: never date two coworkers who work together," Finn said with a nonchalant shrug as he pulled a sip from his beer.
"Sage advice from the romance expert," Beck said with a laugh, a teasing smile on his lips. "You haven't dated seriously. Well... ever."
"I will hold my retort because I am nothing if not a gentleman. But please know I am silently destroying you in my mind's eye," Finn added, wiggling his fingers theatrically in front of Beck's eyes as if casting a spell.
"Mr. Abstinence talks a big game," Reef teased, a grin spreading on his face. His eyes were locked directly on Beck, who coincidentally took a sip of his water. When the words registered, Beck choked on his water, and Eden slapped his back as he continued to cough.
"At what point do you become a virgin again? Asking for a friend," Finn added with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Somuch for being a gentleman, Finn.
Ingrid looked like she wanted to melt into the floor as she stared at the wall at the opposite end of the trailer.
"Finn! Put a sock in it!" Eden hissed at Finn as Beck shook his head in annoyance.
"I would say… one year? Or maybefouryears," Reef stated with resolution. Beck's jaw tightened, and his gaze turned icy. Didn't Ingrid say that Beck and her broke up four years ago? The air in the trailer tensed. "Then you become a born-again virgin. Thoughts?" Reef directed the question at Beck with a deadpan expression.
Eden, facepalming, whispered, "Idiots. The lot of them."
"Enough! We are going to miss the set," Ingrid declared abruptly, her cheeks flushed, as she shot up from her seat and headed to the trailer's door with the speed of a bat out of hell. Eden nodded in agreement.
"Hold on!" Eden called after Ingrid, a mischievous grin spreading as she dug into a bag and pulled out a pile of obnoxious wigs. She quickly pulled on a dark navy bob with bangs. "See? I can totally pull off bangs!"
She shot a look at Ronan, who nodded with way too much enthusiasm. Honestly, he was convinced she could make anything work. Toss her in a garbage bag and call it fashion—she’d still look unreal. Then again, he wasn’t exactly an unbiased source.
Ingrid grabbed a long, pale pink wig and slipped it on, though her effort was more half-hearted than anything else.
"Let's go!" Eden declared, her blue wig swinging. Ronan, momentarily drawn to his camera on the couch. "Leave the camera, Murphy!" Eden called out as they all piled out of her trailer. Ronan felt a slight fuzziness around the edges, courtesy of the tequila shots, as they walked into the festival's backstage area. The air was filled with a cacophony of sounds – snippets of song rehearsals, laughter, and the distant roar of the crowd. The ground beneath their feet seemed to vibrate in rhythm with the music that echoed from the main stage.
"Time to initiate our innocent journalist into the art of letting go,” Ingrid said, her lips curled into a wicked grin. Eden, donning a mischievous smile, looped her arm through Ronan's.
"He'll be a fun one to break," Eden mused, her fingers teasingly grazing Ronan's hair as he cast a wide-eyed glance, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
"Don't look so scared, man. Fear only makes them stronger," Beck whispered reassuringly to Ronan, a seasoned grin playing on his lips as the two girls erupted into wicked, conspiratorial laughter. It was clear that this was going to be a long night.
Navigating through the pulsating crowd, they arrived at a stage throbbing with loud electronic music reverberating through the night. They stood about a football field's length away from the stage, and the sound should have been distant, yet the bass was so loud that Ronan felt it resonating all the way down to the soles of his feet. Eden and Ingrid were caught in the throes of electronic music, their bodies pulsating to the beats under the starry sky and a display of neon lights.
"You like her, don't you?" Beck's voice cut through the music, pulling Ronan's attention. Ronan turned his head towards him, and a shot of apprehension ran through him.Was he that obvious?
"Look," Beck began, his voice sincere. “Don't take it the wrong way, but I can see it in the way you look at her." Ronan hesitated, his eyes reflexively gravitating back to Eden, who continued to sway to the music.
"Just a word of advice," Beck continued, his tone taking on a more serious note. As Ronan redirected his gaze to Beck, he noticed Beck's eyes had shifted to Ingrid. "When you start falling for someone like her, there's no turning back. She'll be in your bloodstream until your dying days, a part of you until your very last breath." Beck's words held a weight of experience, his tone almost reverent as he spoke. His unwavering eyes remained locked on Ingrid, and as if she sensed his gaze, Ingrid's eyes turned toward Beck's. Her once-beaming smile gradually faded.
"Just don't hurt her, or there will be a group maiming." Beck's voice took on a low, almost ominous tone, his eyes narrowing as he held Ronan's gaze for a heartbeat longer. Then, Beck lightly tapped Ronan on the shoulder before making his way toward Ingrid. Beck's tendency to gravitate toward Ingrid was almost masochistic. It was like the pair couldn't stay away from each other. Ronan was becoming familiar with the feeling.
Through the pulsing crowd, he caught sight of Eden’s navy-blue hair bouncing as she made her way toward him. She was still wearing those ridiculously high platform boots, giving her a few extra inches on her petite frame. She glanced over her shoulder, motioning for him to follow. He fell into step behind her.
As she stood before him, the stage erupted with fireworks that burst loudly behind her, the sky exploding with a rainbow of colors. The abrupt explosions from the fireworks startled Ronan for a moment, causing him to flinch, but he inhaled deeply, regaining his composure. The resounding cracks from the fireworks echoed through the air, sending anxiety to pulse in his veins.
