“Fuck me to the moon and back. Two thumbs up for this one, babe.”Sophie wrote.
My giggle was interrupted by a loud burp. I jerked my gaze away from my phone to find Charlie standing in the kitchen in a T-shirt and sweatpants, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
“’Sup?” he asked in a hoarse voice, reaching for the coffee pot. He looked rough, his eyes bleary, and his hair resembling a bird’s nest.
“Nothing much,” I said. “Have a good night?”
Leaning against the counter, he gave me a dark look over the rim of his mug. “Peachy. Literally. I don’t know why the fuck they were serving peach schnapps, but they were.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Gross.”
“And you? Do anything your brother shouldn’t know about?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Who was Charlie to judge my behavior when he and his bandmates had gotten trashed the night before a big show? “My brother didn’t come back to the bus last night.”
At this, Charlie’s brows rose. “He’s not in his bunk?”
“Didn’t you see? The curtain is open.”
“Fuck,” the guitarist swore. “He probably rented a hotel room and went there with his girl. We’ll have to track him down for soundcheck. Can you give him a call?”
I huffed. “No. I’m not here to shepherd him back whenever he gets lost. That’s band business, isn’t it?”
Charlie pursed his lips. “So much for you being nice. What’s got your panties in a knot this morning?”
If Charlie thought my aspiration in life was to continue being known as a “nice girl”, he was about to be sorely disappointed.
“Cole lectured me on not getting drunk and staying close to you before we went out last night. Turns out, you all got trashed, and he disappeared. Hypocritical, don’t you think?”
Charlie snorted a laugh. “Jesus. I told him this was a bad idea. A bunch of guys in their twenties should not be taking care of a teenager, no matter how straitlaced he thinks you are. You’re either going to cross over to the dark side or lose respect for all of us by the time you go home. Cole didn’t like either of those outcomes, but he still let you come.”
I tapped on my coffee cup as I considered his words. “What if I come up with my own outcome?”
Charlie shook his head and turned back toward the bunks. “Whatever you come up with, you won’t leave here unscathed.”
Yeah, well, maybe I didn’twantto leave unscathed. After all, scars typically came with interesting stories, and I was willing to bleed for a few of those.
I returned to my bunk to listen to Ritual Disruption’s discography, while the guys tracked down my brother. Cole met us when we stopped at a small diner for brunch around eleven. In two hours, they were due to be at the venue for sound check.
“Sorry for leaving last night,” he said to me as we sat down. He wore a bashful smile. “You had a good night?”
I swallowed down my frustration with him, knowing that despite his hypocrisy, it was good he was giving me free rein. “Great. I met a few people. Everyone was nice.”
Cole patted my shoulder. “That’s good to hear. Yeah, it was a good crowd. Mom and Dad will be glad to hear you’re putting yourself out there and meeting folks. Maybe talking to artists will get you inspired to dabble with something while you’re in college.”
“That’s doubtful, but sure,” I said from behind my laminated menu before Cole wrapped his fingers around the top and pulled it down to look at me.
“Seriously, Ives. There’s more to life than getting a good job after you graduate.”
I jerked the menu out of his grip. “Just because my goals are different from yours doesn’t mean they’re any worse.”
Cole sighed. “I’m not saying that they are. I’m saying you should keep an open mind. You haven’t settled on a major yet, right? You might still discover something that interests you and catches you off guard. I just want you to be open to that possibility.”
“I am, okay? Can we please order now?”
While the guys put in their orders, I thought about how I’d already been caught off guard, just not in the way Cole was hoping for. Meeting Oliver had tilted my world on its axis. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and how he’d made me feel.
Replaying the way he’d looked at me made my skin prickle. It felt like I’d met him for a reason, as if he were my reward for putting up with being ignored my whole life. I wasn’t being ignored now. Last night, he’d only had eyes for me.
