‘Clearly.’ I try to keep my voice steady. ‘So what’s your solution?’
He casts his eyes around again as if he’s looking for someone and then turns back to me. I take advantage of his momentary silence.
‘Why do you care so much anyway? Surely any normal person would give in and just let a “deranged fangirl” keep this?’ I ask.
He keeps his eyes locked on mine, his gaze softening slightly. For a second I think he might relent when his chin lifts and he raises his hand to bring the drumstick between our chests again.
‘Okay… what do you think of this – and keep an open mind, alright?’
I narrow my eyes at him out of necessity but nod anyway.
‘Simple: whoever holds onto the drumstick the longest gets to take it home. That’s fair, right?’
I shake my head in disbelief. ‘What do you mean? We both just… walk around Firecrest Festival together holding this drumstick until one of us lets go?’
That surely can’t be what he means. That is demented.
‘Yep.’
Oh.
‘You wantusto genuinely walk around attached like this? The two of us? Together?’ I point my free hand between us both.
‘Why not? It’s clear we get on very well,’ he says with the faintest hint of a smile.
Oh, good. Now he’s fucking with me.
A breath of laughter escapes me, and I can’t help but notice a glimmer of amusement in his expression.
‘But what… where would we sleep?’ I ask him. ‘What about both of us seeing the music we want to see? What about going to thebathroom?’
What about mysanity?
He cringes and awkwardly uses his free hand to swipe a lock of hair out of his face. It’s the first time I’ve seen a whisper of humanity in his expression. Interesting. Perhaps he has a soul.
‘We’ll… work that out as we go. Of course I wouldn’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable. The second I do, the stick is yours.’
I drum my fingers against the stick and consider the idea. While I know I can’t trust this man for even a moment, I can’t help but feel reassured that heseemsto care about my wellbeing, at least enough to put the drumstick on the line if I wasn’t comfortable. I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t push me in front of a bus, anyway.
Whilst the ideaiscompletely abnormal, maybe it isn’t the worst idea? It would be a fair fight. And at least it gives me a chance of actually keeping the drumstick at all. Otherwise we might stand here and argue all night. And ideally, I’d like Hennie to enjoy Firecrest. She loves music as much as I do and if there’s anything she wants out of this festival, she’ll have it. If I have any say.
I also know for a fact that I will still be holding onto this thing by Sunday night.
If it actually goes that far. Which I’m sure it won’t. I have every intention of being so insufferable he has no choice but to let go to escape me.
I feel Hennie’s hand grip my arm and she eyes my newly attached companion warily. ‘Harty, I support you all the way, but please know we can save up our earnings and buy you Queen Ego paraphernalia online if you need. Freedom is an option.’
There’s no way I’m letting her spend that much on anything for me. I know how much this sort of thing sells for. They are not cheap.
‘I love you, Hen, but you mustn’t spend that many British pounds so I can have two pieces of wood.’
His deep voice pipes up again. ‘Doesn’t really sound like you care much for our drumstick in this moment.’
I turn back to him in bewilderment. ‘Ourdrumstick?’
He smirks, his gaze never leaving mine. ‘Well, it looks like we both own it currently. And we’re still both in for a chance of winning it.’
Oh God. His cool stare makes me feel unreasonably flustered, which makes it much harder to summon a compelling argument.
