Page 31 of Crash & Burn

“She finally forgave Luke for standing up for her at the bar?”

I chuckle because I totally forgot Luke told us about that when we brought Mia to Lenny’s after her first practice with us.

Because of our upbringings, both Luke and I had to take on the protector role for our families, me for my mom and sisters and him for his younger brother, and it has definitely shaped us into the kind of men we are. We both have the tendency to let our protective, borderline-primal, instincts take over in certain situations, and it can most definitely be taken as an insult to women who don’t need it.

Annie, being one of those women who can handle herself, but Luke can’t help but try and take care of her, even though she wants no part in it.

I have been a witness to Annie and Luke’s turbulent relationship for months now because they both bartend at Lenny’s with me, and I have only just recently found out that they actually knew each other growing up. It makes a ton of sense now based on the way they treat each other, but there is a history there they both refuse to talk about.

“Sort of. With me needing more time off from bartending to be with the band, Emmett needed her to pick up some of my shifts, so she has had no choice but to be around Luke again.”

“So they will all be at Lenny’s tonight?”

“Yep, to kick off the first show tomorrow night. They won’t see a show until the last one here in town, but they still wanted to celebrate.” Life for the next three months won’t be too different with only being invited to play the six Midwest shows, but the shows are arguably the most important shows we’ve played because we have to make a good impression.

“Yeah, I think I’ll probably just head home.”

“Come on, Mia. What could be more fun than hanging out with your friends?”

She laughs at this but it is dry of humor. “They’re my brother’s friends, not mine.”

“They could be your friends too. I mean, look at me. I’m friends with both of you.” I smile at her, hoping to myself that my fake confidence isn’t too obvious.

It isn’t like I’m a prize of a friend to Mateo or Mia.

I think I’m actually the opposite.

“That’s still up for debate,” she deadpans, but her lips twitch when she says it, threatening to smile.

“It’ll be fun. You can meet Drew and Annie. They’ll love you. I’m sure they’re dying to have another girl around, especially one that can hold her own with Mateo, Theo, and Silas.” This past week, not only have I gotten to know Mia more, but she has come more out of her shell. The first two weeks she was coming to practice, she was soft-spoken and kept to herself.

Now, not only does she give me a hard time any chance she gets, but she does the same with Theo and Silas, and I can tell Mateo isn’t as worried about her. He gave up on the whole guard dog thing because it is obvious Mia doesn’t need one.

I mean, when I saw her three weeks ago, she did just punch a grown man in the face.

“I’ll think about it. Now, leave me alone,” she opens her laptop back up and her attention goes back to what she was doing before I distracted her. “Time to practice,” she says before shooing me away.

“Yeah, Ramirez! Quit flirting with Mia, or Mateo will kick you in the balls!” I hear Theo yell from where he, Mateo, and Silas are standing by their mics. “We’re waiting for you.”

Before I can say something back, Mia yells to him, “Aw, Theo. Don’t be jealous, you know you’re my favorite.” I learned Mia knows exactly how to get what she wants from Theo, and that is playing up his ego. Yesterday, she convinced him to give her his phone charger by telling him he was her favorite. The dumbass did too, even though his phone was at 2 percent and hers was above 30 percent.

“Hey! I thought I was your favorite!” Silas says, playing into this ridiculous exchange, and obviously also under Mia’s spell. She called him her favorite on Tuesday because he got her sweatshirt from Mateo’s car when it was raining.

“You are both idiots. Mia, stop distracting my band.” Mateo retorts as I walk back over to my drum set. He’s pretending to not be enjoying this, but I can tell his usual seriousness is absent from his voice. And I will be the first to admit, it’s absurdly entertaining to watch these two self-proclaimed womanizers be completely whipped by Mia.

But not in a romantic way.

Mateo would not letthathappen.

And I wouldn’t either.

“Actually,” Mia says, “I hate you all. Eddie is my favorite.”

Pride blooms in my chest when it shouldn’t, knowing this is all just messing around, but loving when her spark comes out.

Atta girl.

Chapter 11

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