Chapter Thirty-three

Nick quietly chewed on a bagel, pretending to be interested in the morning edition of the LA Times, but secretly studying those at the breakfast table. Megan and AJ sat across from him, not speaking. Kevin and Dana sat to his left, not speaking. Everyone else was either still sleeping or off doing other things, leaving just the five of them sitting uncomfortably with each other.

No doubt about it, he concluded. Things have definitely changed since Phoenix.

Although he didn’t have all the details about what happened, no one did, since Megan refused to say anything about it, he knew that Megan had come back with Carlos, and Kevin had arrived some time later. Ever since that day, things had been tense between the two of them.

Nick was worried. Normally they were at least poking fun at each other, annoying the piss out of each other. Now they acted as if the other person didn’t even exist. Kevin seemed to be slowly pushing himself away from Dana, and everyone else as well. Dana had tried talking to Megan, but she wasn’t able to get anywhere and had finally given up. She now spent more time with Leighanne, who had rejoined them a day after the Phoenix thing had taken place. Megan often wandered off by herself now, not even inviting AJ along with her. Even the air between Kevin and AJ was strained.

What the hell is going on?! Nick wondered in frustration.

He set the paper down and reached for his juice glass.

Okay, Nick, you’re not dumb. There’s gotta be something you’re missing here! he thought, sipping carefully. But what the hell is it?

He picked up the paper again, rustling the pages loudly on purpose to see if anyone would react. Nothing, not even a flicker of annoyance.

Megan suddenly stood up and tossed her napkin to the table.

“I’m going to make a phone call,” she announced to no one in particular.

AJ watched her leave, his eyes sad and confused. After she’d left the room, he rested his elbows on the table and looked at everyone.

“I wish I knew how to help her,” he said.

Dana nodded her agreement while Kevin picked at a bowl of fruit, seemingly uninterested.

“Kevin,” AJ said sharply, getting the other man’s attention. “Will you please tell us what the fuck happened in Phoenix? I know you know, don’t be like this with me, man.”

Kevin stabbed a heart-shaped strawberry, marveling at how slowly the red juice oozed from the pierced fruit and dribbled down into the bowl. It reminded him of how he felt -- stabbed through the heart. The woman he loved, and yes, he had come to the conclusion that he did love her, had basically told him to piss off.

It hurt.

“Kevin!” AJ cried, accenting his word by pounding his fist against the table.

“Nothing happened,” Kevin answered quietly, removing the fork from the strawberry and dropping both of them on his empty plate. “I found her at her old house and sent her back with Carlos.”

“But why didn’t you go with her? Why did you leave her alone?” Dana asked.

Kevin shrugged. “She was upset and didn’t want to be around me. So I left her alone. I thought it would be best for her to be with you, AJ.”

A deep sigh exited AJ’s lips and he slumped in his chair.

“She won’t tell me anything. She hardly talks to me at all now. She’s depressed, I know this, but I can’t seem to help her.”

Nick remained silent, taking in everything that was being said, and wondering what wasn’t. When Kevin excused himself a moment later, Nick watched him go. Kevin’s stride wasn’t as confident anymore. In fact he seemed almost as sad as Megan.

Was it because of Megan? But what would she have to do with him being depressed? Nick thought, rolling ideas around in his head.

Megan entered the room a few minutes after Kevin and made his departure, talking on a cell phone. She was actually smiling, and seemed happier than when she’d left.

“All right, see you tomorrow then. Bye,” she said, clicking off the phone and sitting down.

“Who were you talkin’ to, babe?” AJ asked, draping an arm over the back of her chair.

“Casey. She and Myra are coming to tomorrow night’s show, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Nick said, nodding. “I forgot about that. Is she excited?”

“Is she ever!” Megan exclaimed. “She can’t wait to see you guys perform.”

Dana folded her linen napkin into a neat square and placed it on the table. “Well, maybe she can make Kevin smile again. Excuse me.”

With a scrape of her chair, she got to her feet and went off in search of Kevin. Megan’s eyes dropped guiltily to her hands folded in her lap.

“I wonder what’s going on with those two,” AJ mused. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Kev was ready to move on.”

“What do you mean?” Megan asked, her head jerking up.

AJ and Nick exchanged nervous glances.

“Well,” Nick began. “Usually when Kev’s all moody like this, it means he’s trying to come up with a nice way to say good-bye.”

“But he can’t do that! Dana will be crushed!”

“That’s why he gets moody,” AJ said. “He doesn’t want to hurt her, but he knows he’s got to.”

Megan felt like crying. Her best friend’s relationship with one of the greatest men on the planet was about to be flushed down the toilet, and all because of her. But there was nothing she could do about it. Kevin was his own person, and she certainly couldn’t tell him what to do. He’d proven that already by kissing her and making her feel things for him, even when she told him not to. She caught sight of the mangled strawberry that was now bleeding on Kevin’s plate and felt an ache in her heart.

“So what time do Casey and Myra arrive tomorrow?” Nick asked, his head tilted to the side as he watched several emotions race across her face.

Curiouser and curiouser, he thought.

Megan blinked at him. “Um, around noon. I told them I’d pick them up at the airport.”

“Marcus will go with you,” AJ said.

“Thanks, but I don’t really think we need protection.”

“Humor me.”

Megan smiled and poked AJ in the side. “Fine. I’ll humor you by taking him with me, but maybe he won’t come back?”

“Megan,” AJ groaned, grinning.