“Yeah.” He backed toward the hallway. “If you really need to work, we can set you up in here. The fridge is filled with snacks and drinks. Mi casa es tu casa.”
I blinked rapidly. If he’d manipulated my day job just to stick me in the corner, I was going to lose my shit. “Uh. Lars expects me to record your new songs. If that’s okay.”
He brightened. “Of course. That was one of my better ideas, yes?”
I relaxed, laughed, and agreed. “Do I have time to change?” I ran Vanna White hands over my day-old outfit.
“Yeah. They’ll be tuning their guitars forever. If you want to hide in the waiting room until we play our new stuff, I’ll understand. Or you could come watch for a bit.” His lower lip disappeared between his front teeth, and it suddenly registered that he was nervous to have an audience of one: me.
“Are you kidding? I plan to catch every second.”
Noah’s voice exploded from the other room. “Kind of need a drummer in here.”
Shane gave me a quick kiss, and I said, “Go on.”
As he turned, I swatted his butt, and he took a step without peeling his eyes off me, which resulted in him tripping over my computer bag. He recovered with a little flourish, and I wished I could have a few more minutes alone with that adorkable boy.
Once he’d closed the door, I dug into the bag Jo had kindly packed and stripped off the day-old duds. I appreciated slipping into fresh-smelling clothes, even if I had to exchange a nice blouse for a T-shirt. At least she’d packed another skirt as an option.
Out of all the possibilities, she’d selected my well-worn Theater of the Absurd shirt, and I had a brief moment of panic picturing her discovering my disproportionate amount of Walking Disaster merch. What would she make of that treasure trove?
When I found the bag of makeup, my toothbrush, and a tube of toothpaste, I decided that Jo would be my forever friend even if I never saw her again after this week. I prettied myself up and shook my hair out. I felt human again when I walked out into the rehearsal hall.
Noah wolf-whistled when I crossed the room and said, “Hey, Ginger Spice.” I couldn’t believe I’d thought he was the attractive one just a few days earlier. I ignored his taunt and settled cross-legged on the sofa, studying the camera with feigned interest.
Shane hollered over, “I know this can get boring, so let me know if you need to take a break.”
That made me chortle. “You have no idea how not boring this will be for me.”
Micah’s voice reverberated low through the amps as he pressed his mouth to the mic. “Love the T-shirt.”
I rolled my hand with a regal bow of my head.
“Super fan.” Shane grinned, and I knew he meant it as an endearment.
Noah shook his head. “Did she promise to fuck you if you brought her here?”
Shane rose off his stool, eyes narrowed. Crash cymba wobbled. “Noah, I’m giving you one warning. Don’t start.”
Noah laughed. “I guess that answers that.” He lifted his guitar strap over his neck and turned his back to Shane.
I had no idea what was going on between them, but I didn’t think I’d ushered in the tension. This was the Behind the Music moment when the narrator announced, “Backstage things were falling apart.”
Micah strummed a chord and said, “Come on. I don’t want to be here all day.”
Shane settled in behind his drumkit, and once in place, he ruled all he surveyed.
Chapter Fifteen
The minute I was settled in with my camera, Shane smacked his sticks together four times and yelled, “We are Sex Ba-Bomb!” Then he attacked his set in a passionate but undisciplined drum solo.
The other three looked at him with varying levels of disgust, waiting until Shane stopped.
In the sudden silence, Noah asked, “What the hell was that?”
“Improv?” laughed Shane.
“It’s from Scott Pilgrim,” muttered Rick. “Great movie.”
Micah imposed order on the chaos. “We were planning on the Black Keys cover? But Layla suggested we try a Walking Disaster song. Maybe we could give ‘Expulsion’ a go?”
At the mention of a cover, I checked the camera battery and flipped my phone to airplane mode just to be sure it didn’t interrupt.
Noah groaned, but Rick just said, “Cool. It’s been a while since that song was a hit.”
“You can play it, Noah? Right?” Micah’s taunt did the trick. Noah