Page 78 of Barron's Second Chance
It reminded him of the limited time he had left with her. And he was still at a loss on where they stood.
Much later, when they were seated around the living room, their moods subdued after so much food and drink - he took his chance to speak with her.
He had been trying to get her alone all night, but someone was always there, monopolizing her time.
Now, she was seated at the dining table across from him, stacking dirty dessert plates.
"How are you?" He asked.
She glanced up at him, smiling in response. "I'm fine. Are you good?"
"I'm so good, baby." He let the word slip out before thinking, but instead of correcting himself, he pushed forward.
"Can we talk at some point? Tomorrow?"
"I have my final talk tomorrow with the girls. I might have some free time, but Josh wants to play his set for Kelly and me."
Jealousy ate at him as he pictured the rockstar crooning away to Eden. As nice as Josh was, he didn't want Eden watching him sing and getting sucked into his star quality and aura. It had happened before; it could happen again.
"Please text me when you know." He sounded desperate, but that’s because he was.
"Barr -"
"Sweetheart, do you mind starting up the coffee machine?"
Eden gave him an apologetic look, recognizing that he was growing frustrated by their interruptions.
"Sure, Mom. How many of you want one?"
Barron pushed back his chair in muted irritation. He needed some fresh air before he yelled at everyone to shut the fuck up for two seconds so he could have one uninterrupted conversation with Eden.
Instead, he stormed out the back door towards the covered deck overlooking their backyard. He put his hands behind his head and bent his body, giving out a stifled scream.
"You look like you need a hit."
He turned in surprise at the sound of Josh's voice. He didn’t realize that he wasn't alone.
Barron stared at the lit-up joint in Josh's outstretched hand. He hadn't smoked weed since his teen years.
"What the hell," he said as he took the offered joint. Whatever happened, at least he could say that he shared a meal and smoke with the lead singer of The Living English.
"I figured out what your story with E is," Josh said out of the blue after Barron took a hit.
"Oh, yeah?" He asked, coughing a little as the smoke hit the back of his throat. "What's that?"
"We have something in common, you and I."
Barron turned to him, offering his joint back, his eyebrow raised in question.
"We were both in a relationship with Eden."
Barron watched him take another draw of his joint before blowing it out into the night air.
"What gave it away?" He didn't bother to deny it. In fact, it thrilled him that he had picked up on their sexual chemistry.
"The timeline. You were mentioned in all of her stories tonight. From the time she was a kid until her teen years. She's close with your parents, and you seem tight with E's mum. And yet, the only friends Eden mentioned to me before tonight were Sofia and Ryan."
Barron inclined his head. "Well done, Sherlock."
