Cash cursed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I can’t lie!” I said defensively. “Milo nailed it. Gin and tonic.”
Milo leaned over and stuck his face into Cash’s. “You hear that? I nailed it.”
“We try not to encourage Milo,” Cash explained to me. “He’ll be gloating about this for the rest of the tour.”
“I’m impressed,” I admitted as the bartender dropped off my gin and tonic. Then, trying to sound casual, I asked, “Riot and Violet aren’t joining us?”
“They’re working on a song together right now,” Milo said. “They don’t want to be disturbed.”
“Interesting. If I didn’t know that Violet was married to a woman, I’d make a comment about the two of them spending time together in a hotel room. Alone.”
They shared a look, then Milo said, “Nah. Nothing like that happens anymore. We’re all just friends and bandmates.”
“Anymore?”I asked.
“He misspoke,” Cash said firmly.
Milo’s cheeks turned red, which he tried to cover up by taking a long sip from his drink.
I’ll have to remember that, I told myself.
I pointed to the book on the table in front of Cash. “That’s a different book than the one you were reading in Houston. Anything good?”
“Doubtful,” Milo replied. “He reads the most boring shit you could possibly imagine.”
“Ignore my drumstick-twirling friend,” Cash said dryly. “I read a lot of nonfiction. This isThe Blue Machine. It’s about oceans, and how they operate on an energy level, beginning with solar absorption.”
“Oh wow, that’s a lot more educational than I expected!”
Milo threw an arm around Cash and said, “He’s a real life Good Will Hunting.”
Cash pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that movie.”
“He’s asecret genius.” Milo leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “He had a full ride to MIT but turned it down to rock out with his cock out.”
“I rock out with my cock fully concealed, thank you very much,” Cash said. “Don’t listen to Milo. His understanding of the world is rather narrow.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds too crazy to believe. Getting a full ride to MIT and turning it down to join a rock band…”
“Oh, that part’s true,” Cash said. “Althoughtechnicallyit wasn’t a full ride. My tuition was mostly covered by scholarships, but there was a gap that I needed to fill with supplementary loans.”
I gawked at him. “You seriously turned down MIT? To play bass guitar?”
“See? She thinks you’re insane, too!” Milo said.
Cash ignored him. “Joining Cherry Midnight was a unique opportunity, and after a lot of careful consideration, I decided it was the best option for me. I can always go back to school in the future if this doesn’t pan out.”
“Wow,” I said. “What’d your parents think about that?”
He smiled. “They hated it, of course. They claimed I was throwing my life away, and that Cherry Midnight wouldn’t amount to anything important.”
“They must be proud of you now that you’re headlining your own tour!”
Cash barked a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, right. They still won’t speak to me.”
