Page 76 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

Her face crumples. “I would’ve said no, but . . . it’s the only internship I’ve been offered.”

“What do you mean the only one?” I ask.

She stubs the toe of her shoe into the concrete and takes another drag of her cigarette. “All of my applications were rejected,” she admits, her voice cracking on the last word.

My heart drops. “Shit. Isabella—”

“I hate feeling like a charity case, but . . . I really need this,” she whispers. “And it came up out of the blue. I didn’t even apply. In fact, I don’t even think they have an internship program but—”

“It’s fine.” I say, interrupting her rambling.

She sighs. “It’s not a problem?”

“I . . . no, it’s not a problem. Why would it be a problem? This is great. And you’ll be amazing.”

She arches a brow, clearly not convinced. “Really? You’ll be okay with my lame ass tagging along while you and the guys become superstars?”

I shrug and take a drag. “Yeah, of course. And this will be amazing for you too. You’ll leave that fucking toe rag Samuel in the dust.”

She grins. “You mean, Simon?”

“Yeah, that idiot. He’ll choke when he finds out you’re doing an internship covering a band on tour.”

“Well, this could be big. But I wanted to check with you first.After . . . well, after Vegas and what we talked about.” Even in the darkness, I can see her cheeks flame. “I needed to make sure you would be okay with it.”

“You thought I wouldn’t want you to do it?” I ask.

She shrugs and takes the last drag of her cigarette before flicking it off into the darkness, her dark lips blowing out the smoke into the air between us. “I just want to make sure we’ll be able to maintain being friends. We’ll be around each other almost every day for a few weeks. I want to make sure you meant what you said. That it wasn’t just some roundabout way to reject me. That you really want to be friends.”

I finish my cigarette, flicking it off to join hers in the dark, and take a step toward her. “Of course. Isabella, you have to do this. And for the record,” I say, my voice quieting. “I can’t think of a better person for the job.”

“Thank you, Dave,” she whispers, then smiles. “I’ll have to thank Al the next time I see him.”

“Al?”

She nods. “Yeah, he was the one who sent Harold Lewis my articles. I owe all of this to him.”

She slides open the door and heads back inside where the others are at the kitchen counter mixing up Christmas cocktails. Meanwhile, my stomach is in knots. I asked Al if he knew of anyone looking for an intern weeks ago after I found out what happened to Isabella. I didn’t think he’d find her a job atEarworm Magazine. That the job would be to follow me on tour. Should I tell her? What kind of message would that send? That’s crossing the friendship line, isn’t it? Even if it wasn’t, she might interpret it as meaning more than it does.

The truth is I do want her to know. I’m just terrified of what that might mean. That she’ll realize how much I do care for her. That I’m scared of how it seems to consume me more and more, every day.

Shaking my head, I turn against the cold wind and head back inside to find Isabella taking a mug of hot chocolate.

“So, guys,” she says, wrapping her hands around the cup. “I have some news.”

CHAPTER 23

Five Years Ago

DAVE

Loading the last few things into the van, excitement is coursing through me so much I’m almost vibrating. It’s finally here. The day I worked all those extra hours to make back the money that went missing from Sam is finally here. It’s demo recording day, and the first step toward actually making it.

I still haven’t confronted Emily about it. I think part of me isn’t ready to accept that it might be true. Also, I don’t know what it means for us if she did do it. I love her and I want to help her, but if she stole money and lied about her job, I don’t know if I can look past that.

“I think that’s the last of it,” Sam says as he closes the van doors. “Ready to go make a demo?” he asks with a wide grin.

“Fuck yes.” Charlie claps his hands together.

---