Page 41 of The Drummer

Good thing Luke and I are about the same size.

After wrapping a towel around my waist, I head to his room to raid his wardrobe. In the opposite direction, I hear the clatter of the main suite door, which means more people are leaving. The riotous atmosphere has faded into the din of murmured conversation. Hopefully, by the time I’m dressed, I’ll only have a few stragglers to deal with.

Callie looks up when I enter the room, and I manage a bright smile. I do feel a lot better than I did a few minutes ago.

“Man, you weren’t kidding!” I say, running a hand through my wet hair.

Her gaze locks on me, but she doesn’t speak. In completesilence, her eyes roam over my body in slow perusal like she’s mad at me again. Or confused. I don’t know, but it’s awkward as hell.

I break the weird staring contest by turning my attention to Luke’s dresser.

“Have you tried it? The wall one?” I call back in an effort to make conversation. “Completely ridiculous.”

“This morning, actually,” she says finally. “Well, I guess, technically, it was yesterday at this point.”

I find a pair of jeans that should fit and tug them on beneath the towel. Callie’s back to her silent treatment, and I face her again while using the towel on my hair. Her expression is still a mix of reactions I can’t interpret as she watches.

Intense hazel eyes scour my chest, down my stomach to my waist and…

Oh.

Hell.

Yes.

I suppress a grin and decide to torture her instead. Just for fun, I adjust to a more relaxed position against the edge of the dresser, leaning back in an open invitation to look. On cue, her gaze drops to the newly exposed skin along my hips. It might be the first time in my life I’m grateful Luke is slightly bigger than I am, because these jeans are the perfect amount of loose right now.

“Who the hell needs a wall shower? What’s that about?” I say casually, as if I haven’t noticed the energy shift in the room.

She shrugs. I don’t even think she heard me.

This. Is. Amazing.

When she randomly climbs off the bed to leave, I can barely keep a straight face.

“Where are you going?” I ask innocently as she’s forced to stop where I’m standing.

Her gaze darts to every point in the room except me. “Nowhere. Just thought I’d take a break from this room for a while. Luke is doing fine. He woke up a second ago and mumbled some stuff that made no sense, but at least proves he’s starting to work his way back to our world. Is it safe yet?” I swear she said all that in one breath.

So freaking funny.

“Out there?” I point toward the door. You better believe I’ll drag this out as long as I can.

“Yeah, is everyone gone?”

I shrug and clench the edge of the dresser on either side of me. Her gaze lingers on the flex of my bicep. Down to my forearm.Andback to some speck of invisible dirt in the ceiling.

“Got me,” I say. “Probably. I cut off bar service, so I doubt anyone will stick around much longer.”

“I’ll go check.”

Of course she will. But I can’t let her off the hook that easily.

I school my expression into concern. “You got weird all of a sudden. You okay?”

She blinks back a panicked response before forcing the worst fake smile I’ve ever seen.

“Fine, yeah, just need a change of scenery for a bit, that’s all.”

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