Page 163 of The Drummer

Luke attempts to extricate himself from the ambush, but Callie isn’t allowing it. His baffled expression turns amused. “I went to get breakfast,” he explains, waving the takeout bag at us.

His smile fades as he scans our faces. “Wow, you guys were really scared.”

“The chair was gone,” Callie says, still clinging to him. “The lobby employees said you left with it.”

She finally frees him, and he deposits the food on the counter.

“Yeah. I returned it,” he replies in a casual tone.

We go still.

“You returned it?” Callie repeats.

I’m just as confused.

He nods with a shrug likewe’rethe ones not making sense. “To Jemma’s. I shouldn’t have stolen it in the first place.”

“But…”

“I don’t need it anymore, Callie. It’s not who I am, like you said.”

With a muffled yelp, she launches herself at him again. Her tears wet his shirt as he hugs her back, crossing an exasperated look to me.

If he’s expecting an ally, he can suck it.

“Dammit, Luke,” I mumble. “Can you leave us a freaking note next time?”

His grin almost makes me forgive him for scaring the shit out of us.

If there’s French toast in that bag, maybe I will.

“Want to hear the master?I just got it back from Julian.”

Luke glances up from his guitar, his eyes igniting with excitement.

“Sure. Of course. How’d it come out?”

I shrug. “Don’t know. Just came in. I thought we should listen together.”

His expression fills with warmth, but he doesn’t say anything as he nods.

I drop to the bed beside him with my laptop and hand him a pair of studio headphones. I insert my custom in-ears, also plugged into the splitter jutting from the computer.

I already have the .wav file saved on my desktop.

Once he has the headphones on, I start the track. Crisp piano explodes in our ears. Percussion, guitars, and finally…

Luke’s voice.

An army couldn’t tear my gaze away from his face when his shiver-inducing vocal breaks through.

His eyes widen a fraction. His lips hang open just slightly before tipping up in a smile.

His gaze cuts to mine, and the smile slides into a grin.

My joy slips out in return.

He blinks a few times, then settles an absent stare on the floor to truly listen.

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