Page 18 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

Five Years Ago

DAVE

“Icalled that place in Cleveland and left a message. Should hear back soon,” I say, bursting through the door to Sam’s garage and easing onto the stool behind my drum kit. Reaching forward, I adjust the cymbal and tap my foot on the right bass.

“Sorry?”

My eyes widen as I look up and realize Sam isn’t here. Instead, there’s a brunette with bright eyes and long legs.Fuck, she’s pretty.

“Oh,” I say, jumping to my feet and nearly toppling over the bass pedal. “Hi, sorry, I thought you were Sam.”

She grins. “He’ll be back in a few minutes. He just went to grab some sodas.”

“Right.”

“I’m Emily,” she says, walking forward and holding out her hand for me to shake. I take it gently, noticing the way her bare arms are covered in beauty marks, like a constellation.

I manage to swallow. “Dave.”

She smiles again then takes a step back, clasping her handsbehind her. “You must be the drummer I’ve heard so much about.”

Heat rushes into my cheeks. “I . . . uh, really? I mean,” I say, fidgeting with my drumsticks to expel the nervous energy that’s suddenly coursing through me. “I am the drummer.” As if to prove it, I hold up the drumsticks, but in my enthusiasm they fly out of my hand and shoot toward the back wall, nearly hitting the window.

Thankfully, Emily doesn’t laugh at me, and I can’t help but notice her smile. “So, what’s in Cleveland?”

“Huh?”

“You said you left a message for someone in Cleveland?”

My brain finally catches up and I part my lips. “Just this little recording studio.”

She angles her head, brown eyes probing. “Really?”

Nodding, I continue, the words spitting from my mouth uncontrollably. “We’re trying to record a demo track to send to some record labels out west.”

“That’s amazing! Sam told me he was in a band, but he didn’t make it out to sound like it was anything serious. I thought you guys just got together to jam and drink beer.”

I rub the back of my neck. “It can be that way sometimes, but the dream has always been to make it big.”

“You and Sam go to school together?”

I hastily pick up my drumsticks and tuck them into the back pocket of my jeans. “Yeah. We’ve, uh . . . gone to school together since kindergarten. Weird to think we’ll be graduating high school in five months.”

She nods, and for a long moment, we just stare at each other.

“Uh, so . . . how do you know Sam?”Please don’t say girlfriend, please don’t say girlfriend.

“He’s my cousin.”

Yes!“Oh, cool. He’s never mentioned a cousin.”

She shrugs and walks over to the counter where Sam’s dad stores all of his tools, then hops up on top of it like she’s made of air. “We never got to see each other much growing up, as my dad was usually deployed, but since he’s been back, home has been rough. My mom took off, and my dad apparently can’t be bothered to do anything except drink himself into an early grave, so I’m staying with my aunt and uncle for a while.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, that sounds awful.” So she’ll be around for a while. Perfect. “My mom took off too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, when I was five,” I say, walking toward her.

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