Tigerland by Sean Kennedy

Author:Sean Kennedy [Kennedy, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi

FRAN and Roger decided to ride back with Abe and Lisa, leaving Dec and me alone in my car. Dec was leaning his head against the passenger side window, his breath fogging it.

“It’s not like you to get so drunk,” I said.

“I’ve gotten drunk plenty of times.”

“Not as a way to deal with stress.”

“So I wanted a drink! You’ve done it before too.”

“Yeah, I guess. But then you worry about me when I do it.”

Dec sighed. “I just wanted to forget he was even going to be on. But I switched the TV over anyway. And then he dropped his bombshell.”

“I know. I was there.”

“He’s a fucking bastard, do you know that?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” A light rain began to fall, and it made the lights of the city glow even brighter through the windshield. It was a thing of beauty I couldn’t even appreciate at the moment. Heyward ruined everything, it seemed, even petrichor and the reflection of light through water.

“And I’m a fucking idiot.”

“That, I don’t agree with.”

“You don’t?” Dec asked.

“We’re not going through this again, Dec.” I pulled the car over into an empty parking spot—at this time of night there was hardly any traffic on the roads. I switched off the ignition and reached for his hand. “It was, to quote that dicky song, a bad romance. We all have them. Unfortunately, Heyward is exploiting it publicly when the rest of us who have them just end up suffering in private. But that doesn’t make you an idiot.”

“It’s just I thought you said we were going to be in control if your show did this interview?”

“I know I did. I thought it was the best way to deal with it, but Heyward made sure he yanked that right out of our hands. For fuck’s sake, Dec, he must have been planning this from the very beginning.”

“I still feel like an idiot.”

“Well, stop it.”

“You have an instant cure?”

I kissed him. His breath was foul with drink, but I didn’t care. His hands travelled under my jacket and curved at my back, pulling me in deeper to the kiss.

“Its effects may only be temporary,” I said, still leaning my forehead against his.

“It’s a good start,” Dec said, giving a smile that was the first I’d seen since meeting him at the lift.

“Coffee is the next round of treatment,” I told him, “and plenty of it. We need to sober you up.”

“It only affects me so much because I feel like I’m dragging you into my shit again,” Dec said. “I just want you to know that.”

“I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to love Declan Tyler,” I laughed, starting the car again. “Besides, I got the better deal. You had to end up with my family.”

It was an old joke, and one I didn’t even believe any more, but it helped lighten the mood as we made our way to our apartment, where the others would be waiting.

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