Page 304 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

his hand raking through his hair.

“Allison, nah. C’mon.” He looks over at me. “You gotta be kiddin’ me. I just played his fuckin’ song on a Strat he once held in his hands?” He squints with a stupid smile. “You serious right now?”

After a beat passes,

he breaks free from the awe,

carefully lifting the Strat off him

and hanging her back on the wall.

I turn to leave, opening the door,

but then he’s right behind me,

arm shooting up over my shoulder,

palm flat against it and pressing it shut.

“Hey,” he whispers,

the heat of it making me shiver.

His other hand snakes around my waist.

One tug,

and my back’s flush against his body.

His mouth dips to my ear,

and he breathes out warm,

pressing a kiss to my temple.

“Thank you.”

53 / COFFEE

MIGUEL

// DEC 20, 7:14 AM - PENTHOUSE - UPPER EAST SIDE, NYC //

“Shit, shit, shit.”

The clock’s tapping its seconds out like—tsk-tsk, dollface… might wanna hurry, these hands ain’t turnin’ back for you.

It’s already seven,

the day of Callista’s board meeting.

My stomach’s now the Globe of Death, stunt riders revving their engines, tires using it as a cage as I yank open a drawer, searching for the coffee machine’s instruction manual.

If I screw this up,

if I fail Callista,

I’m fucking done.