Page 115 of The Drummer

He squeezes before dropping his arm, and I stare at him, speechless. I have no idea how to respond to the unexpected apology, but it doesn’t matter when the rest of the band makes their way back.

Their animated conversation dies when they reach us.

“Whoa. Vibe shift,” Sweeny observes. “What’s going on?”

I shoot Luke a pleading look. No one else can know about Orin.Hewasn’t even supposed to know.

“Nothing,” Luke says with a quick smile. “Casey’s ordering Mexican food, but we just did that last night, so I wanted something else,” he lies.

I breathe a sigh of relief. “This place is fast and close,” I say.

“Fast and close sounds good to me,” Eli chimes in.

Of course it does. The dude can put away calories like I’ve never seen. We always joked that we should have two riders in our contracts—one for Eli and one for the rest of us.

We catch up for another twenty minutes until movement in the hall draws everyone’s attention. All gazes shoot to Callie as she emerges. My breath catches when I see why it took her so long.

Damn. She looks amazing.

The guys toss me a discreet glance of appreciation, and I whisper a prayer they’ll contain their inner asshole for the foreseeable future.

“There she is,” I say before they get a chance to screw this up.

I can tell she’s nervous as I introduce her to the band, so I lean in for a quick encouragement kiss on the cheek. It was supposed to be innocuous, but once I get a whiff of her shampoo, all kinds of inconvenient memories of what just happened in her room come racing back.

Her heated glance tells me she’s feeling it too. We’re going to have to figure this out at some point. Soon.

We exchange more small talk, until Eli turns to me with a change in expression.

“Oh hey, it’s still downstairs, but we brought some of your stuff, Case. TJ said you were looking for a few things to prepare for Friday.”

A rush of excitement shoots through me. “My gear?” I ask. I thought I was going to have to wait until Friday to do any serious production on the song.

Eli grins like he knows he just made my day.

He says they couldn’t bring all of it, but what he lists is plenty to get started.

I don’t even realize I’m bouncing like I have to piss until Luke scans me with amusement.

“Just go, Case,” he says, knowing I don’t want to wait for the porter.

That’s all the encouragement I need.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mara is not happy that I try to tip the bellhop supervisornotto deliver the luggage for 403. She assures me someone will get to our belongings soon, but the crate and guitar case resting on a cart five feet away call to me like mythological luggage sirens.

“I need the workout,” I explain, grabbing the cart beneath her scowl.

She would have to physically stop me at this point, and I’m pretty sure an altercation with a guest over the transport of their own belongings isn’t a hill she wants to die on.

“Peter, take this one next!” she calls to a porter. The man releases his grip on a cart with the most button-up shirts I’ve ever seen and joins us.

“Thank you, Mara. You’re the best,” I say in a sweet tone.

She returns a stiff smile and spins on her heels to stomp toward the next crisis.

Aiden is more enthusiastic when we enter his elevator domain.

---