Page 25 of Tangled Up In You

Gavin wrapped her in his arms. “You’re hired as our manager, darlin’,” he said and she laughed.

“Fuck off with that,” Conor snapped.

The tension in the room was immediate. Martin avoided all eye contact and Shay alternated beseeching looks between Gavin and Conor. Sophie had sensed Conor’s irritation at her always being around before but this outburst felt like something more overt. Something bordering on hostile.

Just as she was about to offer to leave, Gavin pulled away from her and said, “Calm yourself there, pretty boy. You know I was only joking. You also know this band is us four and that only us four make decisions like that.”

She watched her boyfriend and his best friend lock eyes. Some unspoken communication between them seemed to ease Conor’s posture. Everyone knew Gavin and Conor were the closest of friends, but this proved that their bond went beyond words.

“Now.” Gavin leaned back. “What were you strumming there on that guitar?”

“The first number one song by Rogue, don’t you know?” Conor replied with a cocky smile.

Gavin grinned. “I do know.”

And just like that, the brief moment of tension between the two melted away and the whole room seemed to relax. It was the first time Sophie really understood just how connected Gavin and Conor were, and in turn, how their relationship affected everyone else around them. If they weren’t good, no one could be good. She’d never seen boys have that kind of closeness and it intrigued her.

“So,you’ve known Conor for the longest, right?” Sophie asked.

Gavin was walking her home, holding her hand in his and every now and then bringing it to his lips so he could kiss it.

“Yeah. Since I was seven. I mean, I sort of knew him before that even. But at age seven is when we became true mates.”

“That’s the same age when …” she drifted off when his hand tightened on hers. Though he’d told her the truth about his mother, he didn’t like to talk about her.

“He was one of the only kids who didn’t shy away from me at that time,” he said, acknowledging what she’d hinted at, that he and Conor got close at the same time that his mother left. “I was a bit of a nuisance around then. My brother and my da wouldn’t talk about her at all. They just acted like she’d never existed. I didn’t know what to do with myself in that silence. So, I took Ian’s music collection and got lost in the noise of it. It was company to me, having these other voices I could interact with by singing along. But I didn’t always quite know the words. At school, I’d pester just about everyone to see if they knew the lyrics to any number of songs. Everyone pretty much laughed in my face or ignored me.”

“Except for Conor.”

He looked at her with surprise, but his expression quickly gave way to relief of her understanding.

“Except for Conor,” he repeated. “He might have just been too polite to shut me down. Or he might have been curious about my … mania, for lack of a better word.” He laughed as if to make light of the situation.

“Maybe he sensed that you needed someone to escape the world with.”

He met her eyes for a long moment. “Well, what he did is hear me out. More than that even. He helped me figure out those missing lyrics. And so we formed this bond over music that just got stronger over the years.”

“That’s really amazing, Gavin. Makes me wish I had a good friend like that. You know, one that stuck by me when everyone else turned away.”

Squeezing her hand once more, he said, “You do now, darlin’.”

She smiled but the fact that her time with him was growing shorter each day sent a chill through her. Most of the time, she was successful at pushing away that thought and just living in the moment. But she couldn’t always deny their reality.

“Hang on,” Gavin said and pulled away from her.

She watched as he leaned over the low fence of someone’s house and dropped his hand into the mix of wildflowers struggling to bloom in the late spring weather. When he turned back, he held out a daisy, making her smile.

“You stole that for me?” she asked with a laugh. She took it from him and twirled it around, admiring its simple beauty.

“I’d do anything for you.” He wrapped his arm around her neck and kissed her long and sweetly.

12

GAVIN

The turnout at The Basement was larger than normal, which both excited and terrified Gavin. He only had himself to blame, though, as he’d been the one to spread the word to everyone in their school that Rogue would be performing their first live show that night.

Gavin had gone to the club before opening hours every day for a solid week, jumping in unsolicited to help setup while trying to convince the manager to give Rogue a spot to perform. He did his best to charm the man, but he likely only got the offer as a way to shut him up. He was fine with that.

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