Damn, I really am sad.
“All right, I guess I’ll have to come up with something that’s better than that, huh?”
“Wow, I set the bar really high for you,” I deadpan.
He chuckles again. “Seems that way.”
“What about you? What do you do besides play guitar?”
“That’s pretty much it. I work at my uncle’s garage, but I don’t consider that fun.”
“Oh, so you can fix cars and stuff, too? That’s nice.”
“Is it?” he throws back.
“Yeah. You never get ripped off by the dealer because you can just do it yourself, right?”
“I can.”
“Could you like change my oil and stuff?”
His voice gets all low and teasing when he says, “Yeah, Barbie. I could service all your needs.”
A tingle swoops through my stomach, making me bite my lip. I opened the door right for that. I bet he could. He just looks like he’d know exactly what he was doing. Under your hood, I mean.
We talk more about his upcoming gig, which sounds amazing. When I can’t stop yawning, he forces me to hang up the phone. For the second night in a row, I fall asleep with a smile.
15
PENN
“If you could putyour phone down and join us, that’d be great.”
I flick my eyes to Tanner, who stares impatiently at me, then proceed to ignore him.
“Oh, leave him alone, he’s getting inspiration,” Travis says, hopping off the stage we built and walking toward me. “That right there.” He points at the phone in my hand. “That’s going to get us some great song material. I can feel it.His muse.”
My eyes roll back into my head, and I finish texting Olivia before tossing my phone on the chair and grabbing my guitar. I don’t bother responding to Travis. I’ve never had a muse before, but I can’t deny that I’m being pulled toward Olivia in a way that’s unfamiliar but not unwelcome.
In high school, when I started writing, I was in a long-term relationship, but I didn’t write a single song for her. I used my relationship experiences as inspiration, sure, but I never considered writing one abouther. She didn’t inspire me like that. Besides, he’s one to talk. I’ve never seen him spend so much time on one girl like he has with Ellie.
By the time we finish practicing the songs we’re going to play for the New Year’s Eve show, I’m ready to go home and crash, but Tanner has other plans.
“We need to work on content,” he says, staring at his clipboard.
I swear he takes that thing everywhere. I bet that’s how he plans his nights with his girl, too. Dinner-check, shower-check, sex-check. If he’s this anal in his everyday life, I can imagine what he’s like in the bedroom.
The rest of us groan in unison. Fucking content. I hate social media. I was born at the wrong time. I wish it were as simple as putting out a record and playing shows. Advertising with cool flyers, not reels and shit.
“We haven’t had enough traffic on our YouTube channel because we haven’t posted a new video in months—eight, to be exact,” he informs us.
“Because it’s so fucking expensive,” Travis says.
He’s not wrong, but neither is Tanner. If we want to get our name out there, that’s the way we have to do it.
“What if we get someone to film the NYE show and upload it to our channel?” Liam suggests.
Travis snaps his fingers. “Yes. Let’s do that.”
