Something about the way hedemandsI do it has me scrambling. I huff about it, though, and he chuckles.
“There, happy?”
He gives me a sideways smile. “Yes.”
He’s in bed too, and he’s shirtless. The low light from the room he’s in shows me just enough to see his smooth chest covered in ink. “Like what you see?”
My face burns. “You’re not wearing a shirt,” I blurt out, my nerves getting the best of me.
“Does that bother you? I can put one on.” He sits up straighter, reaching for something off camera.
“No. No. It’s fine.”
What is wrong with me?
He nods and relaxes back against a black headboard. “How was your party?”
My stomach dips, thinking about his dirty text confession, but I do my best to play it cool. “Tiring. How was your day?”
“Good. I had dinner with my mom and Travis.”
“That’s nice. What about your dad? Did you get to see him?”
His eyes leave the screen, traveling somewhere around the room, and the mood instantly shifts. “No, I didn’t.” His response is somber, so I hurry to change the subject.
“Did Travis see you get hard carving a turkey? I hope so. I feel like that would be great songwriting inspiration,” I joke, hoping to lighten the mood.
He laughs. A throaty laugh, with his head tipped back. The sound sends a little jolt to my heart. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that one, Barbie.”
I smile sweetly. “Bring it.”
17
PENN
“This is un-fucking-believable!”Travis yells. He and Liam are jumping up and down, hugging like two schoolgirls, and I can’t hold back my smile. We’ve been in the garage practicing for the last two hours and Tanner, the sneaky motherfucker he is, dropped some news on us. Somehow, he got us moved to a prime spot for the New Year’s Eve show. Eleven o’clock. It’s not midnight, but it’s the next best thing.
There are only two days until the show, and we’re getting antsy. We haven’t played any gigs in over a week.
I love being able to play close to home. Traveling is my least favorite part. Probably because I hate being too far away from my mom or sister. I’m constantly worried I’m going to be hours away and get the call we’ve been dreading since my dad died. Unfortunately for me, traveling is a big part of what I do.
“The gig isn’t paying much, but the exposure alone is going to be priceless. After we pay the videographer, we’ll only have a couple hundred to split,” Tanner says.
Not great, but this time last year, we were playing more unpaid gigs than paid.
“How’s the writing coming?” Tanner looks at me, making everyone else follow suit.
“I’ll get there.”
He gives me a curt nod, and I can feel the urgency radiating off him.
At one point, I had so much shit to write about I could fill a notebook with lyrics and music in one day. Lately, it’s been harder to find the motivation to sit down and purge my soul. There’s so much shit going on upstairs. I know if I just put the pencil to paper, it’ll come out, but then I have to face shit, and I’m not ready to do that right now.
We call it quits, and Travis and I head inside.
“Is there anyone you’re going to be kissing at midnight?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me with a sly grin. “A little blonde maybe?”
“She’s out of town, remember?”
