“Nice to meet you all,” Molly said, rolling her eyes at me. “It’s really cool that you’re working with my sister.”
“Hey, it’s been a ton of fun,” Cole said. “Your sister might not be funny, but she’s a badass guitarist. And she knows how to put Abel in his place, which might be even more impressive.”
I barely suppressed a wince as Abel shot Cole a dark look.
Molly remained oblivious. “You know, I’ve been telling her for years that she can have a career in music if she wants to, but she’s never listened to me.”
“And why’s that?” Ezra asked.
I scowled at Molly from across the table, but she ignored me. “It all started when that stupid music school didn’t—”
“That’s enough, Molly,” I cut her off. Jesus, she’d warmed up to them quickly enough. “Look, the waiter is coming back, do you know what you want to order?”
“We ordered a bunch of stuff already,” Cole said, glancing between my sister and I. “Thought we’d share everything. You ladies okay with family style?”
“Yeah, that’s great. I hate deciding on what to order, I always just want to try everything,” Molly agreed, casting Cole a shy smile.
Moments later, a waiter was at the table with the appetizers they had ordered.
“Could I get a beer?” I asked him, needing to take the edge off. Molly was talking to Cole about something, seeming completely at ease, and now I was the one feeling awkward. My interrupting her hadn’t gone unnoticed, and I wished I hadn’t made it so fucking obvious that I didn’t want her to keep talking.
Silas’s palm landed on my knee under the table, swallowing it whole. The friendly gesture sent a thrill up my spine. I turned to look at him, my brow raised in question.
He was looking at me with a contemplative expression, his eyes darker than normal. I wondered how many drinks they’d had before we arrived.
“You okay?” he asked under his breath, giving my leg a gentle squeeze.
“Fine,” I answered, enjoying the sensation of his hand on my skin a lot more than I should. “You?”
“Great. You’re picking things up quickly.” He pulled his palm away, sending shivers down my thigh.
“Yeah, I have to if we want to start recording next week.”
Silas shrugged. “It won’t be a problem. A lot of the techniques repeat throughout the songs, so now that you’re getting used to them, it should be smooth sailing.”
“Why didn’t you just record the two guitar tracks yourself? Clearly, you’re more than capable of playing them.” This question had been needling at me ever since I saw how proficient Silas was at playing both the rhythm and lead parts.
“It’s not just ability that matters. It’s also a matter of style. Charlie and I had two very different sounds and that’s a big part of what made us stand out. Him and I complimented each other well, just like I know you and I will too.”
Our conversation was silenced by Ezra clinking on his beer glass with a butter knife. I saw that my beer had arrived as well.
He jumped right into his impromptu toast. “Been a long fucking time since we’ve done something like this,” he stated in his smooth voice as he looked around the table. “To new friends, new albums, and new dreams.” He looked directly at me as he said the last part.
We clinked our drinks together and drank to his toast. A few moments later, the mains arrived.
The conversation began to flow once again, and when the entire table laughed at some joke from Cole, the sound fresh and easy, I caught Ezra’s sky-blue gaze from across the table. His smile no longer seemed sad.
“Molly, Adeline told us you’re going off to college soon. Studying marketing, I believe?” Cole asked my sister.
“Yep.”
“What are you planning on doing after you graduate?” He frowned. “Jesus, I sound old.”
Molly giggled. “I want to be a social media manager, or maybe a talent manager down the road. I think it’s fascinating how people are now able to connect and grow their fan base online through new engagement channels.”
Silas sipped on his beer, somehow drinking half the glass in one go. “That stuff didn’t even exist when we were getting started.”
She grinned at him, “Well, you managed to figure it out eventually. Or your team has. You guys have over ten million followers on your band page. That’s impressive. Abel has…what? Two million?”
