Page 25 of Midnight Dissonance

“Yep. Me Mercedes is in the parking lot. Bugger it. I don’t want to leave it here, though, in a neighborhood such as this.”

“Give me the keys. I’ll drive you home.” It was the least she could do.

He grumbled but drew the keys out of his pocket. “A sub giving me orders. Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“It’s only because you’re a little high right now,” she explained, trying to be supportive without laughing at him. He was cute when he was grumpy too.

“And whose fault is that?”

“I take full responsibility. Come on.” She jerked her head toward the exit.

“Aye, I will, yeah. You can take me home. I’m not a total gobshite.”

She had no idea what a gobshite was, but she kept her smile to herself. Lexi steered him through the dwindling crowd toward the exit.

“Bollocks, I’m famished. Are you peckish? I think we should give it lash on the way home because I’ve got a mouth on me.”

“You’ve got a what on the what?” she asked as they stepped outside. “Where did you park?”

It was cold, and she didn’t have a coat. Mainly because she had nowhere to store it so that it wouldn’t get taken. She’d learned to put her license and cash in her pocket.

“We should get food.” He pointed at a black sedan. “That’s me there.”

She blew out her breath when she saw the Mercedes. His car cost more than she made in a year, but she kept the eye roll to herself as she helped him into the front passenger seat. After storing her guitar in the back seat, she carefully slid into the driver’s seat.

“Where are we headed?” she asked once she had adjusted the seat so her feet could reach the pedals. Josh had a good foot on her.

“Here.” He fumbled with the navigation system for a minute. “There. Just follow that, and it will get us to my building.”

“You live downtown?”

“Aye, you’re an astute one. There’s no fooling you, is there?”

She drove out of the lot and followed the navigation system to the highway. “I get fooled plenty. I’m sorry about the pot.”

“S’kay. I had a grand aud time. But now it’s bloody late. I need to eat. You should eat too. You likely burn a hell of a lot of calories up on stage. Have you always wanted to be a musician?”

She liked him when he was high. All his pretenses dropped away, and he was sweet. “If you’re good while I drive, when I get you home, I’ll make you some fancy grilled cheese and then put you to bed.”

Josh scoffed. “I’m always good. But you didn’t answer me question.”

“Which one?” She grinned, enjoying the fact that all his defenses were down and he was being honest with her.

He rolled his eyes with a head shake. And then waved his hands. “Have you always known you wanted to play in a band and be up on stage?”

“It was something I always thought about from the time I was little,” she admitted. It was a dream she kept hidden under lock and key until she couldn’t any longer.

“That still didn’t answer my question.”

“How about a question for a question?” Because while his defenses were down, he wouldn’t lie. And she hated that she was curious about him, except she was. Because no guy had ever gone to the lengths he had to be near her.

He sighed as if it were a great imposition. “Fine. But you need to answer the one I’ve been asking first.”

“No. I haven’t always wanted to play in a band. When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut. Now you. Why are you really coming to see me?”

“Because I want you.”

Lust curled in her belly at his response. “That’s it?”

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