Rockstar Lost - Taryn Quinn Page 0,2

that last step that would put me into his line of sight.

Woman up already, would you?

I finally got a good look at the guy crouched over the keys. It sounded like my Myles, and his signature frenetic style of playing the piano was so familiar my chest ached. But the long, shaggy curls were gone. Instead, a closely cropped shock of dark curls fell into his eyes. A handful of tattoos had become a sleeve climbing his forearms and disappearing under the wrinkled cotton of his cuffed button-down shirt.

This wasn’t the same man who’d run from me that rainy night. This new version was probably even more dangerous for me right now.

A shout from the pub as a basket was made on TV by my beloved team got me moving again. Myles lifted his head and those blue eyes found me. He didn’t miss a note as he continued to play, singing right to me as if we were having a conversation. Which we were not. Could not have been, because I was fairly certain my vocal cords had seized.

I flipped my braid over my shoulder, pushed my way through the rapidly growing crowd, and escaped back into the pub. Yep, I definitely wasn’t ready. Two years should’ve been long enough, and yet…nope.

Stall tactics? Who, me? Never.

I ducked under the pass-through at the end of the bar. “Sorry about the tray.” I nodded toward my discarded tray that was now behind the bar.

Jon Bolton, one of the owners of The Alley, waved it off. “Don’t worry about it.” He sighed as he built two pints of Guinness. “I had no idea he was going to sing that song. I actually barely recognized him.”

I hated the flush that climbed up my throat and burned in my cheeks. I ducked my head and started pulling taps for the beers I’d let go flat while freaking out. “It’s fine.”

“That song seems a bit more than–”

“Jon…” I gave him a warning glance. My boss was a great guy, but he treated me like a little sister. And that included all the button-pushing that family knew how to do.

“So, who is this guy?” Phoebe, one of the other waitresses, asked as she entered the pass-through to the bar after me.

“An old friend,” I said as I headed back out from behind the bar. “No big deal,” I said to Jon with narrowed eyes. He was leaning against the sink next to the cash register, his arms crossed with a crooked smile.

I really didn’t like that smile. I leaned forward to snag the tray I’d refilled.

“Old friend, is it?” The warm, low voice behind me made me stop. “Did you find a new best friend while I’ve been away?”

My tray rattled again and Jon rushed forward to save all my new drinks from certain peril. “I could never.” Oh, how I wished I could.

I turned to face Myles. Up close, everything was even more intensified. My lungs constricted and my breath backed up. I hadn’t been this close to him since that night. My gaze lingered a shade too long on his full lips, somehow more prominent when surrounded by that sexy scruff.

Which made my response sharper than I intended, but he had no right to ask me that. No right to be here making me crazy with that freaking song.

I crossed my arms. “What about you? Can you say the same?”

Two

My Felicity.

So much the same, and so very different all at once. Huge dark eyes pulled at pieces inside of me that had long been buried—drowning me in emotions I didn’t want to face. To be honest, I didn’t want to face much of anything these days.

I didn’t even remember driving this way. It wasn’t like The Alley had been my main hangout even when I’d lived in Turnbull. But it was hers. Had always been hers.

And yet I’d been drawn to the bar.

Drawn back to her like a damn compass.

Even with my head still full of the faces of my band members when I’d told them I couldn’t do it anymore, I’d headed here. I needed a break. I needed to get my head back on straight.

There’d been no fights.

No screams.

No real surprise, to be honest. More like resignation and relief in their eyes.

They’d known even before I did, which was the worst part. I’d been so miserable even my band hadn’t fought for me to stay.

So, I went back to where I’d always belonged. With this girl who had always been my touchstone,