“You look nice,” Cassandra says once I’m in their car, sitting comfortably in the middle of the backseat. I smile at them both, thanking them for picking me up, and we spend the rest of the drive talking about the latest episode of trash TV, while Harleysits with his jaw clenched and fists gripped tight around the steering wheel. He pretends to not care aboutHate or Date Me,but Cassandra says he watches it religiously with her.
“Oh, that reminds me,” I interrupt her. “When we get there, I have to tell you all something that you’re never going to believe.” I smirk cheekily as I look in the rear-view mirror where Harley’s eyes meet mine suspiciously. My best friend claps her hands together excitedly. “Robbie will be there tonight, too, right? He’s in town?” My question is directed at Harley, and he nods awkwardly, eyebrows pinching together.
“Are you and Robbie finally admitting you’re in love with each other?” Cassandra gawks at me, hands on her flushed cheeks, and I roll my eyes while gently slapping her on the shoulder.
“Fortunately, no. That will never happen,” I remind her for what feels like the hundredth time. “Besides, I think he has a thing for brunettes.” I watch Harley as I wiggle my brows at him, trying to figure out if he knows something that his wife clearly doesn’t, and by the mortified look on his face, I have a feeling he knows and has been sworn to secrecy by his best friend.
Even from his wife.
I, on the other hand, haven’t sworn anyone, anything.
The three of us find Lizzie and Robbie quickly through the crowd, managing somehow to secure seats right up front before Olive gets on stage. “So what’s this thing you want to tell us?” Cassandra asks, sipping on a glass of water that she poured herself from the jug that sits on the table. I can hear her over the crowd only just, but I don’t imagine I’ll be able to for much longer.
“I have a feeling Olive might tell you with one of the songs she sings tonight,” I say decidedly, hoping like hell she’s written something about sleeping with a super hot, retired NFL star.
You can imagine my utter joy when it’s the very first song on her set list.
Our table—along with every other person in the room—doesn’t so much as whisper a single word until she strums out the last chord and the applause of the crowd rings through my ears.
“That was some song. Right, Robbie?” I ask him with a sip of my drink, watching his face turn beet red at the realization of what I’m doing.
Harley kicks my foot under the table with a quick shake of the head.
“Isn’t it? She said she wrote it about me and Harley.” Cassandra swoons, chiming in, and I can easily seewhyshe would think that, and I hate to be the one to burst her bubble, but I can’t wait to see her reaction to finding out her baby sister isn’t as innocent as we all think she is.
“I didn’t realize Harley had fair skin and freckles across his nose. Robbie, do you see any freckles on Harley’s face?” I edge myself closer to Harley, my eyes an inch away from his face, squinting with an obvious shake of my head.
All while Lizzie smirks knowingly, imitating zipping her lips closed. She refuses to throw her twin under the bus, but is happy to let me do it.
“Robbie has… You fucked my sister? You took hervirginity?” Cassandra stands from her seat, finger pointed at her husband’s best friend, who frowns at me, then shakes his head while raising his hands in his defense.
“Did I fuck your sister? Yeah, I admit it. I’d do it again, too, if she wanted me to. But if you think for one second that I took that girl’s virginity, you have another thing coming, Herring.” He huffs. “That girl is fuckingwild, and I would confidently bet my entire net worth that I didnottake her virginity.” He smirks behind his beer glass, but the blush on his cheeks is undeniable.
“That’s my girl.” Lizzie proudly shouts, raising her glass as if to toast her sister, while I watch my best friend cover her ears, decidedly having enough of this conversation.
“La la la la, I don’t need to knowanyof this,” she says, eyes squeezed shut, fingers in her ears.
The table bursts into a fit of laughter until Cassandra calms down and she asks Robbie very seriously if he plans to date her sister. When the answer is ‘no’, they come to an agreement that it will never happen again.
It was a one-time thing, apparently.
We spend the rest of Olive’s set in silence, staring in adoration at a girl who underestimates her talent, knowing this time next year she could be a huge star. Especially if the production company picks her songs up for the soundtrack.
She’s going to take the music industry by storm, one steamy, sad song at a time.
“I heard Cole Green is in the building tonight. You’ll have to introduce me,” Lizzie says, wiggling her brows, nibbling on the straw in between her lips. She bats her eyelashes at me, as ifI’mthe one she’s flirting with.
“I would, but I haven’t even met him yet, so that grand introduction will have to wait,” I reply casually, and she sighs, placing her drink back down onto the table.
“Ol, my wild girl!” Lizzie squeals as Olive approaches our table, guitar still in hand. Robbie excuses himself and Cassandra rolls her eyes, unsure if she’s more pissed off at her husband for keeping it from her, or Robbie for banging her sister after being given strict instructions to stay away, or at Olive for telling everyone but her.
“Thanks for coming, guys,” Olive says, taking a sip of her room-temperature bottled water, wiping sweat from her top lip. “It felt so good to be up there.” She smiles, sitting down on the seat Robbie just left vacant.
“That song you wrote…” Cassandra begins to question. “About the football player and the girl?”
“What about it?” Olive asks nonchalantly. She picks at food scraps from the middle of the table without a care in the world.
“I thought it was about Harley and me?” Cassandra asks, and every pair of eyes at the table are locked on them.
