Catch 22

5

"Oh geez, Cal." Luke laughs. 

"What?" I ask defensively, frowning as he laughs at my predicament. I've just spilled everything from earlier today to he and the other boys. 

"You spend an hour with the girl and then blow her phone up with messages and a stalker picture and then you wonder why she hasn't spoken to you."

"Fuck, Cal. I thought I was the one with zero game but holy shit, that's bad." Michael says, amusement clear in his voice and facial expressions. 

"It wasn't a stalker picture." I groan, squeezing the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger as I let my head fall back against the back of the couch. "We were at the aquarium, I was taking pictures of the fish, she was in one and I thought she might like it for her social media. Her Instagram has all these super cool like, model worthy pictures. I don't know, I thought it was good and I wanted her to see it."

"So you also stalked her Instagram?" Luke questions and I ignore him as Ashton speaks.

"Uh-huh, but then instead of waiting to see her and casually asking for her number to send it to her, you hunted down Mark and made him give it to you and then blew up her phone. It comes off a bit creeper, mate." Ashton adds and I groan. 

"This is why I never fucking try with girls." I huff.  

"So you admit that you think she's attractive and you would try to date her." Luke presses. 

I lift my head up and stare at him. "Are you fucking serious? She's the most fit girl I've ever seen in my fucking life. If nothing else I would definitely fuck her."

"Wanting to fuck her and wanting to date her are two different things." Ashton says. "So, which is it?"

"Right now? In this moment?" I ask, contemplating. 

He nods.

"I mean I don't know her well enough to want to date her. I'd for sure give her a proper lay though."

Luke and Ashton groan collectively and I shift my gaze between them.

"What? That's my honest answer." I say exasperatedly. 

"That may be the problem mate." Micheal comments and I furrow my eyebrows. 

"Whatever, she's just a girl. If she doesn't want me, that's her loss, not like there aren't thousands who do." I say, knowing I sound like a cocky prick but my pride is still a bit bruised from her leaving me on read. 

"Ten minutes!" A voice calls from outside our dressing room and we all scramble to finish our last minute preparations before we head to stage. I had looked for Sage today during soundcheck but I'd been unsuccessful in locating her and I had pretty much given up hope of finding her in the hoard of people that would be in the arena now. 

My heart skips a beat when I hear the trill of her voice behind me and I turn to find her small hand holding my bass out for me.

"Hey!" I greet her excitedly, hoping she can't hear Ashton and Michael's jokes about me from mere feet away. 

"Hey." She says back, her voice flat and my mood dipping slightly from her cold words. "I'm teching for you tonight, so just signal if you need something." She says, failing to meet my eyes. 

"Everything okay?" I ask, glancing nervously towards the stage and the other boys as Ashton heads up to his place, knowing I'm running short on time. 

"Yep. Just doing my job." She says, finally looking up and into my eyes. Her eyes are an icy blue, almost grey in color and my heart seems to stop as she stares through me. She pauses for a moment letting her words sink in and I understand that there is a double meaning to them and I give a defeated nod.