up, like maybe she does want one but won’t admit it. I take the marker from the white board on the wall and sign all six balloons.
“Thanks. They will be beyond excited.”
“Now for that picture.” I crouch next to her chair and lean close, snapping a photo of the two of us with my phone. When she turns to speak, our mouths are inches apart. I resist the urge to kiss her, knowing she’d deck me.
“I’m supposed to take the picture,” she says.
“Right. Go ahead.”
I plaster on my best smile as she takes one.
A young man comes through the door with a wheelchair.
“Your chariot awaits,” I say. On the way out, she reminds me I’m only to drop her off. “Fine by me. I’ve got somewhere to be. I can’t wait to show this new song to the rest of the band.”
“What’s it called?”
“That’s for Crew and Bria to decide. But I was thinking something along the lines of ‘Ode to a Goose Egg’.”
Jesus, her smile has more melodies bombarding my head.
~ ~ ~
After leaving Ella’s, it’s a short subway ride to Bria’s place. Crew comes downstairs to let me into the building. I immediately shove the sheet music at him.
He follows me up the stairs, taking twice as long as me because he’s preoccupied with what I gave him. “When did you write this?”
“Pulled an all-nighter last night.”
He’s confused. “Back in Stamford?”
“Locked myself in a hotel room here in the city.”
“Why?”
“I was inspired.”
A smile splits his face. “The girl you took to the hospital?”
I shrug, not wanting to admit it took a woman to get me out of my slump.
He shows it to Bria when we walk through her door. She runs to fetch her notebook. “I think I have some lyrics that will work perfectly with this. Maybe we can even start rehearsing it this week.”
I sit heavily on her couch. “About that. I’m not sure we’ll be welcome to keep practicing in Dirk’s barn. Not after what happened.”
“But he owns the company,” Crew says. “Surely he wants us to have a place to practice.”
“Do you think we can afford to rent another place?” Bria asks.
“We should talk to Jeremy and Ronni about it,” Crew says.
Ronni. I almost dread all of us being in the same room. Will they be able to tell something happened between us? But she’s our IRL rep, and there will be no avoiding her.
I glance around Bria’s tiny apartment, guilty because I’m staying at Crew’s much larger one while they are crammed in here. “The two of you should be living in Stamford. I could stay here; it’s more suitable for one.”
“Musical apartments?” Bria asks. “We’re fine here. Plus, I love living in the city.”
“I think I’d like it, too,” I say. “In fact I think we should all live here.”
Bria eyes her bed and the couch. “Here?”
I laugh. “Not here. The city. We play in New York more than we do back home. It makes sense.”
“Rent is expensive,” Crew says.
“But we’re starting to make money. We’d be able to afford it if we have roommates.”
Bria looks at Crew and back at me. “Are you trying to shack us up?”
“Like you don’t practically live together anyway. I bet if I check your closet, I’ll find a shit ton of Crew’s clothes. Hell, he probably has a toothbrush here.”
“He doesn’t,” she says with a smile. “He uses mine.”
I cringe. “That’s fucking gross.”
Crew pats me on the back. “Someday, brother, you’ll want to share a toothbrush with someone and then you’ll know.”
I have the urge to hit him with a snarky comeback, but images of Ella float around in my head. I push them away, knowing I could never have what they have—a normal, healthy relationship. Fucking Ronni—that’s what I get. That’s what I deserve.
“Say we all agreed to live in the city,” Crew says. “You’d have to bunk with Garrett or Brad.”
Bria shakes her head. “Brad is moving in with Katie.”
“Really?” I say. “But she doesn’t even like us. And she lives in Stamford.”
“So live with Garrett. He won’t want to stay in Connecticut if the rest of us are living here.”
“I wouldn’t even begin to know where to start,” I say. “I’m not familiar with the city except for the bars.”
“My stepdad, Gary, works in building management,” Crew says. “I’ll talk to him when we return from Florida and see what he knows.”
Florida. Right. With everything that happened last night, I almost forgot we go on tour in a week. “Can you talk