Page 65 of Midnight Dissonance

She still hadn’t surprised him with one of her outfits. But she had plans for Friday night next week to welcome him home with a special dinner wearing one of her raciest outfits. She had a feeling they’d be reheating dinner, but they had a tendency to do that, so she wasn’t worried.

When she pulled up to the warehouse, her phone chimed with an incoming text. She smiled because she knew who it was before she even pulled it out of her purse.

Josh: Leaving work now. Mind if I stop by your practice, and then we can grab a bite to eat together?

Lexi: Not at all. Here’s the address. Practice shouldn’t run too long either.

She even gave him the access code to enter the building. Tonight was more of a formality to do a full run-through of their set for the following Friday night. They didn’t have a gig this week, but that was okay. She had the ballad she wanted to add to the rotation, so that would give them a few practices before performing it in front of others.

She retrieved her guitar from the trunk and headed inside, taking the long hall down past the loft apartments in the rather utilitarian hallway to the warehouse space in the back.

When she entered, the guys were already set up and waiting for her to begin.

“There she is. We were beginning to wonder if you were going to show,” Robbie said.

“Like I’d miss practice a week away from a gig. No, I got out of work late, and then the traffic was a bitch. Did you guys send in the demo?”

Cliff clapped her on the shoulder. “Well, we’re glad you're here. Why don’t you get set up and we can begin? And yeah, we uploaded the demo last week. Now, we just have to wait to hear back from the event planners on whether we got an audition.”

“That’s great. I know we’ll get an audition. I can feel it. And once they hear us, we’ll be a shoo-in. And uh, just so you know, this guy I’m seeing is going to stop by. I hope that’s all right.”

“Is it that old dude we saw you with?” Cliff asked, taking his seat behind the drums.

“His name is Josh, and he’s not that old.” But looking at her bandmates, who were near her age, whom she adored and considered her brothers from other mothers, they seemed so young. Amazing what a solid week with Josh had done to her perception.

But it also made her wonder if his age was something she had always needed. Because even Travis had been a few years older.

“So, you’re looking for a daddy, not a boyfriend?” Nate teased.

“What? Ew, no. It’s not like that. He’s cool. You guys will like him.”

“What does he do?” Robbie asked, connecting his bass up to the amp.

“He’s an attorney. And I know what you’re going to say. No, he’s not my attorney.”

Cliff held his hands up with a shit-eating grin. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“So, it’s serious then? Cause you’ve never allowed any other dudes you’ve gone out with to come to rehearsal,” Nate asked from his spot behind the keyboards.

“I know. But it’s headed in that direction.” And she still was uncertain because, in her experience, good things never lasted—at least not for her.

Nate whistled. “Never known you to say that. It must be serious.”

“I like him a lot.” She thought she might be in love with him. Not that she would tell these guys that. Especially when she had not mentioned her feelings to Josh yet. But she figured it was far too soon for the talk. And when she did tell him, she wanted to be certain of her feelings. “Are we going to practice tonight or talk about our feelings?”

The knuckleheads looked at each other and grinned.

“Let’s talk about our feelings,” Robbie said, pressing his hands over his heart with a cheesy smirk.

They busted up laughing and grabbed their instruments. Cliff picked up his drumsticks and played an entertaining ba dum tss.

“Y’all are hilarious. Did you have time to look over the new song?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty dope.”

“Let’s add it after the fifth song in the rotation.”

Once her guitar was plugged in, she tested the strings and made sure they were all in tune. Glanced at Cliff to give them the count.

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