Page 111 of Secondhand Smoke
The covers rustled as he slid in right next to her, his body heat engulfing her under the sheets. She couldn’t help the pull to nestle herself against him and rest her head against his chest.
His arms enveloped her, warding off that icy darkness inside her.
She sighed.
A soft brush resembling his lips pressed against her forehead, and she wondered if this was one of those dreams she would hate to wake from.
If it was, she’d rather die than open her eyes.
43 - Barrett
“Master of Puppetsis non-negotiable,” Barrett said, signaling for Paulie to add it to the list.
Paulie nodded and began scribbling. Their pie slices were half finished on the diner table. Picking out their demo track list had taken precedence over blueberry pie.
“It’s gonna take up, like, a fourth of the tape,” Dennis argued.
Paulie paused, looking between the two of them.
“We can cut it down,” Toni said.
Paulie continued writing.
“Cut it down? That’s like asking Michelangelo to carve the Statue of David out of butter.” Barrett rolled his eyes.
Toni scoffed. “I know you’re not pretending Michelangelo would not carve the absolute shit out of butter.”
“Ladies, focus please.” Dennis shook his head and took the chance to grab another bite of his pie. “While you all may have the time to sit here and argue about butter sculptures, I’ve got a demo to submit. Now, since I’m the one who has the 4-track and I’m doing all the mixing, I think I get the final say. Barrett, I’m vetoing.”
Barrett threw his hands up, exasperated. “Bullshit. We all put money into that thing.”
Dennis shrugged, unbothered. “Why don’t we ask Duncan what songs she wants?”
Oh, he was good. He knew exactly how to get Barrett to shut up.
They all turned and looked at Nell, who sat quietly, staring out the window.
Barrett hadn’t exactly forgotten she was there, but she was being so quiet. Actually, she’d been unusually quiet the past few days. Her presence was a constant, by his side endlessly since they’d gotten back from the Halloween show, yet there seemed to always be something distracting her.
She was always gazing away, lost in her head.
He laid a hand on hers, and he saw the surprise in her reflection before she turned back to them.
She blinked several times, looking between them all. “What?”
“We wanted to hear your thoughts on what songs we should include on the demo,” Dennis said.
“Me? I barely know the names of most of them,” she said.
Barrett raised a brow. Even when she was talking directly to them, her eyes were only half-focused.
“I guess I like that one that Scott plays. What’s it called? Something with puppets.”
Toni let out a sudden laugh while Dennis ran a hand over his face. Barrett, though, couldn’t enjoy the moment as much as he would like. She was looking out the window again.
He tightened his hand around hers and leaned in, ignoring the others’ accusations that he’d put her up to it.
“Wanna go out for a bit?” he whispered, pulling her away from her reflection again.
