***Chapter Fifty-Six ***
Walking into the bar, Keegan was attending to the few people who sat around him. He didn't notice us yet as we walked over and grabbed seats. I'm not sure how I should be approaching this. It was a weird discussion to be having. This should have never happened in the first place, but here we are. Whatever his end goal was, it didn't play out how he thought it would.
After five minutes of not gaining his attention, I decided to call out. "Hey bartender, could I get some service?" I say tantalizingly.
His head turns in surprise to see me here. I wave with a small smile on my face with Drew giving him a small greeting. He didn't expect to see either of us. Especially me since he's been ignoring my text messages. Keegan and I were going in such a good direction. What happened that made him want to lie to me?
Still surprised, he walks over to us not knowing what to say. All he did was look at me cautiously waiting for me to start the conversation. It's no doubt that he knew what I was here for. It did only just happen.
"Anna, Drew, what are you doing here?" He asked leaning over the bar.
I raised my brow. "I think you know exactly why I'm here." I stare dead in his eyes.
Smirking, he nods understanding what's happening. "Fine, but can we talk...alone?" He glanced at Drew.
Drew sighed, getting the message. "What? I'm not even mad at you about it!" Drew exclaimed. "I completely get why you did it."
"You do!" Keegan and I both look at him like he's crazy.
What was there for him to get? Keegan lied and didn't explain to me why. Whatever Drew was seeing, I wasn't. Knowing that he's okay with Keegan after all that is great, but it made me want to talk to Keegan alone even more. I got here thinking Drew was gonna be my backup and he's siding with Keegan. How pathetic.
Drew stands up with a soft smile. "Sure do, but I'll let you explain it, Keegan." He says before walking away.
Now there was Keegan and I alone in this awkwardly quiet bar. Neither of us was willing to say anything at first. I wanted to hear what he had to say. Why he thought lying to me would be this great idea? We were doing great and he ruined it with one dumb move. Surely he could tell that I truly did like him, right? We wouldn't have gone on a date if I didn't.
Keegan starts doing what he does best and makes a drink. I watched him carefully realizing the one he made. It was the same fruity drink he concocted that first night I was here. The apology was a nice idea but it still didn't give me the answers I wanted. The drink tasted just as good though.
Sighing, his face went from smiling to sorrow in a matter of minutes. "Anna, I'm sorry alright." He says. "I shouldn't have lied like that."
"Why did you? Things were going so well." I say, slurping down my beverage.
He shrugs. "Don't play like you don't know why," he snickered.
I laugh. "I'm seriously confused." You could see it all on my face.
"It's obvious you two have something going on, Anna. I see the way you both look at each other." He comes right out and says it.
My cheeks flushed not realizing he would ever say something like that. We could've been better about hiding it, but it was hard when we were both jealous. Especially Drew who has a girlfriend! Everyone around us was catching on except for Julie. She's the last person we need to know. However, Keegan's noticing made things even more awkward. How could I be such an idiot?
That still didn't excuse him from lying to me. If he had come to talk about it like a normal person I would have explained. It was wrong of me to keep having a crush on Drew and still have Keegan pursuing me. What else was I supposed to do though? My situation with Drew is more complicated than he could have even imagined.
Understanding, I sigh. "Keegan, believe me, it's not what you think." I try to reassure him.
"Maybe but no one can deny the sexual tension between you two." He smirked. "Point is, I know you'll never feel that way about me. Whatever it is you may feel."
I bit my lip nervously. "I do like you, Keegan. It's possible to like two people at once." It's true, I did like Keegan.
"But you like one of us more," he stated. "Doesn't he have a girlfriend anyway? How does that work?"
That's just it, it doesn't work. There's so much wrong with what Drew and I were doing. He had a girlfriend who he expressed to me that he feels things for her. Even if it's only sometimes. Maybe Keegan and I shouldn't date but I'd be damned if I sit back with no one while Drew has Julie. It just wasn't happening. More importantly, I realize now that I could've communicated better with Keegan. He at least deserved that.
I respond with a roll of my eyes. "Yeah, it's Julie," I say with annoyance.
He chuckles. "Someone's not happy about that." He snickered.
"I told you, it's complicated and shouldn't even be a thing to begin with," I say, eager to get off that topic. "Anyway, I should apologize too for not saying the whole truth about Drew and me."
That made him smile. "I guess we both kind of screwed our relationship, huh?"
As much as I'm mad that he lied, I couldn't blame him for wanting answers to things I was vague about. If we both went in honest this wouldn't have happened. That didn't change how much I did enjoy my time with Keegan. Things with Drew are still up in the air and if he didn't mind, I would love to continue to see him. Plus, everyone's warmed up to him now. He's part of our group whether he likes it or not.
That led me to ask him an important question. "Does this mean it's over for us? Whatever it is we had going on." I wonder with a purse of my lips.
He leans down to eye level, with a huge grin on his face. "How about this, we still see each other with no strings attached and whoever is swooped up first then we'll always be good friends?" He explained.
I smiled. "That's fine with me...friend."
It's nice being able to stay friends with him. The worst-case scenario would be us never talking to each other. Unfortunately, it didn't look like a relationship would play out the way that we thought. Maybe we just weren't made for each other. Though I know we'll always be close friends. My close, hot, sexy friend. God, how does any girl be friends with Keegan? He's too gorgeous.
Either way, that's what was going to happen. Julie and Dillon would be disappointed to hear the news but they'll get over it. In the meantime, it was best to warn Keegan not to talk about this in front of Julie. She was the only person who didn't know about anything. Not even about my feelings for Drew. That was one person we didn't want to know anything.
"Listen, even though not much is going on, don't speak about this to or around Julie," I warn him.
He looks at me confused. "Oh, because she doesn't know about your feelings?" He asked me.
My face scrounged up. "Well...it's more to it than that but yes." I refrain from saying more.
Keegan huffs. "She is pretty bitchy so I guess I can keep this secret for you." He winks.
I smile back at him before feeling a pair of hands on my shoulders. Looking up behind me, I see Drew standing there as if he were ready to go. Keegan and I handled our differences already. There wasn't much more for me to say to him and I'm sure everyone would probably be wondering where we are. We should get back to campus as soon as possible.
"Did you figure it out?" Drew looked down at me.
I nod. "It's all taken care of," I say happily. "Keegan, make sure to keep practicing your guitar skills!"
That lit Drew up. "Oh, yeah I've been working on some new songs too. We guys need to meet up sometime." He didn't want us girls there.
Keegan agreed giving Drew his number so they can start planning stuff for their band. It's exciting to see them work so hard. They were already building a fan base on campus. If they put on a couple more shows, they'll surely get somewhere. Maybe not where Drew wanted to go, but he seems enthusiastic about it now.
As for Keegan and I, we were going to do what we said. Staying friends with him was a lot easier than cutting him off completely. Things could also change in the future as Drew isn't exactly an option for me. We could end up with one another in the future. For now, we were going to hold back on the labels and enjoy each other. As one should.