Swallow

Chapter 1.11:

"Hey, Sean."

The smallish guy with light brown hair looked up at me with a crooked grin as he licked the edge of the paper he was using to roll a joint.  He smoothed it down and checked it to make sure he had it tightly packed in.

"Ez, man. What the hell brings you here?" Sean asked curiously as he stuck the joint between his lips and lit it.  He took a huge hit and slunk back against the stained couch. 

This place always smelled like piss and vomit. I didn't even want to know what the stains on the couch were.

"I heard you had a contact that could score some Camo tickets." By contact, I meant him. He was the overnight maintenance guy at Bannon's. He had bragged to me once at a party that he would swipe tickets and scalp them for four times as much as they were worth. It was about time to see if this guy was all talk.

"Eh, Camo. Sorry, dude. All out, I just let my last tickets go yesterday." He sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth like it hurt him to tell me he couldn't come through for me.

"Can you get more?" I was almost pleading with him. I had to get these tickets. It may be my only shot to see her again. 

"Why do you want them so bad? I thought you said they were inferior musicians or some other dramatic Ezra Miller bullshit like that." He started laughing between coughs as he exhaled.

"They are." I couldn't lie about my opinion when it came to music. Camo was good for only playing about four chords during their sets. Most of their songs sounded exactly the same. Their drummer was decent, but the rest of the band held him back. I had seen a video of him playing solo and he could hold his own.  They were another example of expertly crafted, overly-produced bands in the studio.  They never even remotely sounded like their records live.

"So, the tickets aren't for you then?" Sean cocked his head at me.

"No. Yes, sort of. I'm going to the concert, but it isn't to see them." I admitted.

"Ahh, for some bitch then." Sean shook his head in disbelief. "You usually don't have to work this hard to get your dick sucked."

"It's not for that." I denied it. I would keep denying it. I wanted a girl I couldn't really have and it was killing me.  It was driving me so insane that I would go see a band I had absolutely no interest in. I was secretly starting to wonder if I was developing some masochistic tendencies.  It would explain why I was trying to find a way to keep her close to me, knowing I would never be able to act upon my urges.

"Sure," Sean nodded sarcastically. "I'll tell you what, I might know a guy who can get them, but it won't come cheap. I can get you four for $200.00 each."

Fucker. The door price was an even fifty at Bannon's for tickets, but I was desperate.

"Four isn't enough." I was trying to find a way to strategically make this work if I had to settle on four.  It would be impossible to go to JD and ask him to invite Anna and his sister. If I brought home four, he might just offer them to Mark and Aiden instead.  If I got five, he would bring Anna without Riley.

No matter how hard I tried to make it work, Riley was always left out of the equation. There would be no point in getting these tickets if she wasn't coming with us.  That was the whole point of trying to make this happen in the first place.

"I need six," I grumbled. 

"That will cost extra. Now the price is $1,500 for the six." He sucked on his joint again.

"But you said $200.00 each. That would be $1,200." I gritted my teeth.

"Bigger risk of getting caught. That's the deal. Take it or leave it." He exhaled with his head leaned over the back of the couch.