mad about something.”
“Is that right?” Andie looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she shrugged and popped a fry in her mouth. “My brother can be a moody-ass bitch sometimes. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“It was probably nothing,” Mia said. “We all have our bad days.”
“Hey, you know what we should do?” Andie sat up straight and smacked her palm on the table. “We should go to the Rusty Spoke tonight. Wyatt’s band is playing.”
Mia’s eyebrows lifted. “Wyatt’s in a band?” Not only was the guy hot, rich, and handy around the house, he was in a band too? Talk about an unfair advantage.
“It’s just him and a few guys from high school goofing around, but they’re pretty decent.” Andie grinned. “Especially after you’ve had a few beers.”
“Sounds like fun,” Mia said.
She could certainly use a night out. And maybe it would help take her mind off Josh, who’d been occupying far too much of her thoughts.
“Great,” Andie said. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
The Rusty Spoke was hopping when Mia and Andie got there. The band hadn’t started playing yet, but the patio was nearly full and there was a line to order drinks at the walk-up bar window outside.
After they stood in line to buy a bucket of beer, Andie dragged Mia over to the low stage where Wyatt was standing around with a group of guys. His face split into a wide grin when he caught sight of Andie, and he bellowed her name, flinging his arms wide. Over her laughing objections, he lifted her off the ground and spun her around. It was a good thing Mia was holding the bucket of beer, or they’d have been left with a bucket of undrinkable beer grenades.
After Wyatt set Andie down he turned his attention to Mia, hugging her like an old friend instead of someone he’d met for the first time two days ago—though considerably less boisterously than he’d hugged Andie.
He helped himself to one of the beers from the bucket Mia was holding, earning a swat from Andie, though she didn’t actually seem to mind. While Wyatt threw his head back and guzzled a truly impressive amount of beer, Andie introduced Mia to his bandmates, Tyler, Matt, and Corey. She learned their band was named Shiny Heathens, and Wyatt was the lead singer.
“Thanks for getting my new AC up and running,” Mia told Wyatt once he’d finished chugging half his beer.
“De nada.” His gaze flicked over to Andie, who was chatting with the other guys, before returning to Mia. “It’s Josh you should thank. I got paid for my labor, but he was there out of the goodness of his heart.”
Mia didn’t want to think about Josh tonight. He inspired too many contradictory feelings. It had been easy to talk herself out of her attraction to Wyatt, but Josh was another matter. Despite his hot-and-cold attitude—or maybe because of it—she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him all afternoon.
She took a swig of beer and surveyed the crowd around them. “You guys seem to be quite a draw.”
Wyatt shook his head in an uncharacteristic display of self-deprecation. “This is just the regular Friday night crowd. No one comes just to see us.” He relieved her of her beer bucket and set it on the edge of the stage next to them.
“Are you any good?” Mia asked, watching a man in a backward baseball cap tinkering with the sound equipment.
“We’re all right.” Wyatt shrugged and took another drink of beer. “It’s just for fun.”
He wasn’t being nearly as flirty as before. Mia suspected it was because there were so many other women here. If what Andie had said about him was true, he’d want to keep his options open. Which was fine by Mia. He was easier to talk to when he wasn’t laying the charm on so thick.
“You never wanted to pursue it seriously?” she asked him.
He dragged his hand across his mouth. “I don’t have the discipline to take it seriously.” His lips took on a bitter twist. “Besides, one rock star in the family is enough.”
Mia raised her eyebrows. “There’s a rock star in your family?”
“You heard of Ghost Ships?”
“Yes.” Everyone had heard of Ghost Ships. Even Mia, whose favorite playlists consisted mostly of ambient noise to aid her concentration while she was working. She didn’t pay a lot of attention to music, but Ghost Ships had been an inescapable fixture of the pop culture landscape for the last ten years or so.
Wyatt stared