Page 87 of Crash & Burn

The knock on the door helped clear the cloudiness in my vision, and Eddie looks exactly like someone still drunk with lust, and I’m sure I look no better. His hair looks exactly how you would picture after having fingers running through it, and his cheeks are flushed.

He runs a hand through his hair, smoothing it down. His lips gather to one side, curling into a smirk. Whoever knocked is probably still there, waiting, and here I am having an existential crisis over what the hell just happened and what the hell I can do to make sure it happens over and over again.

And Eddie is looking at me like he just saw me come.

Because hedid.

He leans down to whisper in my ear. “Be a good girl, and stay quiet.”

My mouth opens slightly, and he doesn’t have to worry about a thing because I am left utterly speechless.

Eddie unlocks the door and cracks it to see who it is.

He turns to me and says, “False alarm,” before opening it wide and walking right out.

What the fuck did I just do?

Part 2

Chapter 29

Eddie

A lot can happen in a year. So much that your life, in some ways, looks the same. Then, in other ways, it does not look even remotely like how it did before. You can go from being a part-time bartender/part-time drummer for a small local rock band to a part-time bartender/full-time drummer for a newly-signed rock band going on their first US tour in less than four months.

You can go from not having the time or energy to worry about anything other than work or the band to worrying about your best friend finding out about you and his sister.

A year ago, I barely even knew Mia. I knew her as Mateo’s little sister, and now she occupies my brain in ways I never thought possible.

“You ready to go?” Mateo asks me.

We are getting ready to head to Lenny’s to do a small show to kick off the summer and a certain celebration for something taking place as we speak.

Cross My Heart has four months before we go on our first official tour. Before then, we have a handful of local shows to do, and we have a busy-ass schedule with recording and PR responsibilities now that we signed with Thousand Suns Records.

Thanks to all the work Mateo and Mia did last summer, Xander Drake, the tour manager for our upcoming Heartbreakers Tour, introduced us to a few connections he had. Once again, Mateo and Mia worked their asses off, and we signed with Thousand Suns Records this past spring.

“Ready,” I call from my bedroom before grabbing my drumsticks and sliding them into my back pocket.

We’re headed to Lenny’s with our usual crowd plus a few more because we are surprising Drew, who will be newly-engaged by the time we see her tonight, before we play a few songs.

Emmett figured that tonight would be a perfect night to propose just the two of them at their apartment, using the elevator they met in for the proposal spot. Earlier today, I helped him put up a bunch of pictures from their relationship all over the inside, and Drew’s friend, Lacey, is at their apartment complex making sure everyone takes the stairs for the next hour while Emmett gets Drew into the elevator.

Mateo is worried about being late to the surprise, but I know for a fact that Emmett will be in no rush to get to Lenny’s with a bunch of people after Drew puts that engagement ring on her finger.

We get to Lenny’s with plenty of time before the guests of honor, and we all spend time placing bets on what time they willactuallybe here.

Theo and Silas already set up all our equipment, not that they had to move it far, so we are ready to start the show in an hour. We are still using Emmett’s warehouse next door as our rehearsal space, but it is more for old time’s sake rather than the need for it.

Now that we signed with Thousand Suns, we have time in a recording studio, but the four of us made a pact when we signed with the record label that we wouldn’t forget our roots, and that warehouse is part of our roots.

Annie and Luke are working behind the bar tonight, and they’re busy talking with Tyler and Calvin. Tyler is Lacey’s partner, and Calvin is Drew’s brother. His girlfriend, Emma, is with them too. Tyler, Lacey, Calvin, and Emma join our crew every once in a while, but they don’t frequent Lenny’s as much as the rest of us.

I look around the bar for the one face I haven’t seen yet, the one I look for in any room I walk into.

“She isn’t here yet,” I hear, and I turn back to the bar to see Annie in front of me.

“Who?” I ask, even though I know exactly who she is talking about.

---