Page 109 of Doc Rock
Scotty shook his head.“Don’t apologise for his actions. You didn’t make him do it.”
“Iknow, but if I hadn’t left—”She let the words hang in the air.
Scotty shrugged.“Maybe he would have ended upthereanyway. Maybeit would’ve been the pressures of fame. Maybe he would have left with you, andit wouldhave beenthe‘what ifs’that drove his demons. I don’tknow. I just need you toknowthat you can’t break his heart again. He won’t survive it.”
“I won’t,” Mai whispered.
“Good.”Scotty nodded and took a final swig out of his beer bottle.“Hey, Ford. Grab us both another drink,”he called over, then turned back to Mai.“Although if you want wine, I’ve got some white in the fridge and some red in the cupboard.”
“You drink wine?”Mai was surprised. She had never seen him with anything other than a beer in his hand.
“Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not twenty-two anymore. I drink more than cheap beer.”
“He drinks expensive beer now,”Ford teased as he brought three bottles of beer across to them.“Did you want this, or wine?”He shook the beer bottles gently at Mai.
“Do you mind, Scotty? I’d love a glass of wine. But don’t open the bottle just for me, I’ll only be having one, or I’ll be rough in work tomorrow.”Mai didn’t want them to go to any trouble for her. But her limit was one beer before they made herfeela bit sick, and she really did prefer wine.
“Nah. It’s all good. I’m sure Donnie will have a glass, and I will too.”
“Donnie will definitely have a glass if that’s the Penfold’s cab sav Isawyou put in the fridge earlier.”Donnie strolled into the room, not even pausing when henoticedMai.“Hi, guys. Sie, what happened to you?”
Mai lifted the ice away from her face.“I collided with the floor.”
“Right,”Donnie said slowly.“Ford has had a lot of collisions with the floor over the years. But you sound sober, unlike he was.”
“Cheers, mate,” Ford growled.
Mai laughed.“Yeah. I can’t blame it on anything else but holding too tightly onto the door handle, and being surprised when Scotty opened it.”
“You would have been a lot lighter to scoop off the floor than him, I would imagine.”Donnie gestured to Ford, who shrugged ruefully.
“I mean, he’s not wrong. I was a giant idiot for far too long.”Ford opened the three beers and gave one to each of the men, putting the third down on the coffee table.“I’ll grab a wine for you, Sie.”
Mai tried to keep her eyes off him as he strolled back to the kitchen, and she nearly succeeded. Looking back, she caught Scotty’s gaze, whose lips quirked upwards.
Ford brought her wine and then took his position back on the sofa next to her. His arm lay along the back of it, so close to brushing her hair that if she leaned her head back a little, she would be touching his hand.
Instead, she took a sip of her drink, then looked down at the glass in surprise and took another sip.
“Wow, this is good,”Mai exclaimed.
“It should be, it cost four hundred dollars,”Donnie said dryly.
Mai choked on her mouthful, coughing a few times. Ford patted her on the back as she cleared her airway.
“What now?” she croaked.
“Yeah. I like good wine.”Scotty shrugged.
“You opened a four-hundred-dollar bottle of wine on a random weeknight just so Icouldhave a glass?”
“What’s the point in having nice wine if I don’t share it? I like it, I can afford it.”Scotty shrugged again.
“What else do I need toknowabout you guys. Scotty has an insane wine habit. What about you, Donnie? Or you, Ford? What totally bewildering rich people things do you guys do?”Mai tookanother sip of the wine, mulling over how each mouthful must be ten dollars.
“Donnie collects Lego,”Ford blurted.
“What?”Mai spat her expensive mouthful out in surprise.“The kid’s toys?”
