“Cool.”
Trey tested his laptop keyboard to remind himself again where the right hits were. “Bear with me if I fuck up.”
Dominic winked. “Just have fun. We don’t have anyone around to impress.”
Except Trey wanted to impress Dominic, the world traveler and well-rounded food connoisseur. Trey did his best on the song, but he wasn’t practiced enough with the laptop keyboard, and Dominic’s violin outshined him by miles. That was okay, though, because Trey got to enjoy the ray of sunshine that was Dominic on his strings. They became one entity, creating beautiful music and baring the soul of a beautiful man.
By their third song, each ratcheting up the tempo, Trey was doing better, remembering where to hit at the right time. Dominic never missed a note, pulling words out of that horsehair bow, making each string sing the lyrics.
Dominic didn’t bother hiding a jaw-cracking yawn during their next break. “Sorry, dude. Two late nights in a row are catching up to me.”
“It’s fine. Not everyone works vampire hours like me. Hey, what else do you do, anyway? Or does XYZ pay the bills?”
“Hah. I wish it did. Unfortunately it’s hard keeping a job for very long, because of the band. Not everyone’s understanding about needing the night off last-minute for a gig. I actually had to quit my most recent job in a movie theater so I could go down to the shore last week.”
“That sucks.” Made Trey glad that Beatrice was so understanding when he needed off. She got the life. “What did you do in the theater?”
“Cleaned up mostly, but sometimes I was the guy with the little flashlight who walked through making sure no one was giving head in the top row.”
Trey snort-laughed at the mental image of Dominic hunting cocksuckers in the high seats.
“Thankfully,” Dominic added, “my uncle Wade always throws work my way when I’m between jobs. He restores antique furniture and sells it to rich people up and down the coast.”
“You know how to restore furniture?”
“I’m learning. Mostly I go to sites and pick up stuff he’s bought, haul it to his workshop. Sometimes he’ll let me do actual work on the stuff. Work I can’t fuck up.”
“That’s decent of your uncle.”
“Yeah, I lucked out in the family department, even though I’m not blood-related.”
Once again, Trey found himself incredibly jealous of Dominic’s family. To have been accepted into such an amazing, warm group of people, while Trey was born into disappointment and anger.
“I’m making you uncomfortable, aren’t I?” Dominic asked. His smile was gone, replaced by sadness that Trey didn’t like seeing.
“I asked, didn’t I? I like hearing about your family, but yeah, it does make me think about how much I don’t like mine.” Trey closed his keyboard program, because they weren’t playing any more tonight. “Anyway, I had a lot of fun. Thanks for waking up.”
“Anytime. Well, maybe notanytime, but you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Trey didn’t want to say good night, but Dominic’s exhaustion was showing fast. “I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Okay. See ya.”
“Bye.”
Dominic waved, then blinked out. Trey waited a beat before signing off. He shut down his laptop and put the headphones away.
On a deep yawn of his own he stood and turned. A shadow in his open doorway moved, and he jolted, pulse racing.
“Goddammit, Dani.”
She stepped closer, arms crossed. Instead of pissed, though, she looked kind of perplexed. “Was that the guy from XYZ?”
“Um . . . why are you up?”
“We share a wall and your laughing woke me up, now answer my question.”
“Yes?”
