my calling with drums finally.”
“Please?” I asked with a smile, then batted my eyes at him.
“Stop that,” he said.
“What?” I asked. “This…”
I stuck my bottom lip out.
I pouted.
Sebastian groaned. “You’re a pain in the ass again, Bree.”
“And you love me too much to say no,” I said.
Sebastian pulled himself to his feet and when he left the bedroom, he shut off the light.
I climbed under the covers and waited.
When I saw his figure appear, guitar in hand, I felt butterflies in my stomach.
I shut my eyes.
Sebastian started to play.
It was soft, slow, sad, yet soothing.
He started to whistle and then sang in this whispering voice that was just… melting…
I took a deep breath and rolled to the other side of the bed.
He kept playing.
The whiskey told me to fall asleep.
But my heart wanted me to cry one more time.
5
SAB
“You know, it’s kind of hot when you play guitar.”
“Of course it is,” I say. “Why do you think I play? I would love to just jam out on drums all the time, but I can’t carry a drum kit with me. When I do this, Bree, this rock star thing… I’m going to be the greatest drummer ever. And the best part is that I can just pick up a guitar and jam it too. People aren’t going to know what to do with themselves.”
“Neither will the girls. They’ll be throwing themselves at you.”
“That’s the plan.”
Bree punches my chest. Then she puts her head back down on it. “Don’t talk like that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to picture that.”
“I do.”
“Sebastian…”
“Sorry. It’s just dreaming. You know? You have dreams too.”
“Not like yours. I’m just happy to be here. I kind of think I want to run my own business. Like Mia’s mother does. It’s so cool, you know?”
“Hell yeah. You’d be great at it. You have the personality. You’re pretty, you have a great smile, and you can be mean when you need to be.”
She lifts her head and looks at me again. “You think I have a great smile?”
“Killer smile, Bree. You know…” I laugh. “Never mind.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She jumps up. “Tell me.”
“No.”
We’re in the bed of my pickup truck, hiding from the world.
Bree is on her knees in front of me.
Pushing at my chest.
I keep laughing at her and she hates it.
“Tell me right now,” she says.
She gently slaps my face.
“Look at you,” I say. “You’re so damn touchy, babe.”
“Don’t babe me,” she says. “Spill it.”
“Okay, fine. Sometimes when you smile, I look at you and it… you know… makes me smile. You look… pretty. Beautiful. Hot.”
“Oh, wow,” she says.
She blushes.
That’s when time freezes between us.
We just stare at each other.
It’s an oh shit moment because I think we want to try kissing each other.
But that will ruin a lot of things between us…
I don’t think I give a damn though.
So I lean closer to her.
I pause.
It’s her turn now.
She leans closer to me.
She pauses.
It’s my turn again.
So I lean…
I felt a crushing blow to my stomach that woke me up so fast, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.
My eyes opened as I grabbed…
A foot?
Bree screamed as she fell forward and put her hands out to brace herself as she fell right toward the wall.
I sat up and couldn’t stop the scene from happening.
She turned and her shoulder hit the wall.
Then she rolled with her back to the wall and pointed to me.
“You slept right there?” she yelled.
“Of course I did,” I said. “I told you I was sleeping right here.”
“There’s a couch in the living room,” she yelled. “Why didn’t you sleep there?”
“Because I said I was sleeping here,” I repeated.
“The floor is uncomfortable,” she yelled.
“I know that. I slept on it all night. Why are you yelling?”
“I have to pee,” she announced.
“Okay,” I said. “It’s your apartment. You know where the bathroom is, right?”
“Funny,” she said.
She hurried to the door and left the bedroom.
I pulled myself up to the bed and sat there for a few seconds.
My back and neck ached.
It had been a while since I had slept on the floor of an apartment and woke up sore.
I turned my head and looked at her pillow.
The indentation where her head had been resting.
I put my left hand to the spot and took a deep breath.
I stretched my jaw, stood up and slowly moved out of the bedroom to the hallway.
I needed to figure out what places were still open in town so I could get us something to eat and drink.
As I snuck down the hallway, I