Page 12 of Too Little Too Soon
Travis shoved the phone into his pocket before pulling his shirt over his shoulders and fumbling with the buttons.
“I gotta go,” he said. “I’m late for work.” The band was supposed to be inside the arena before they let audience members in. There were usually press conferences and sometimes meet and greets, warm-ups, photo shoots.
“You work at Madison Square Garden?”
Just as he’d envisioned doing a few minutes ago, he crawled across the bed and caged her with his arms. Dropping a swift, hard kiss onto her lips, he said, “Yes. Listen, I have connections. Is it just you and your sister going to the show tonight?”
She nodded.
“I’ll make sure there are two front row tickets in your name at will call. And if you want to, we can meet up after the show. Totally up to you.”
Another kiss and he was out the door, hurrying down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, and then, after he programmed the arena into the GPS on his phone, he hung a right and jogged down the sidewalk.
As soon as he walked on stage later tonight, she’d figure it out. And if she stuck around after the show—he’d make sure she had backstage passes too—then he’d know that she was as interested as he was.
He sure as hell hoped she was.
Because he really wanted to see her again.
* * *
“Ava!”Maria shouted her name a scant moment before Ava was enveloped in a breathtaking hug.
They hadn’t hugged like this since Maria turned five.
“Wow,” Ava said, pushing her sister to arm’s length so she could look her over. “You’ve changed.”
No longer was she a carbon copy of their mother. She was still petite, still had smooth, dark hair—Ava had always been jealous of how easily Maria could tame her locks into submission, whereas Ava almost always kept hers in a bun to combat the volume—but that was all that remained of Elaine Hearsy Junior.
The pearls and conservative, refined outfits Maria used to wear had been replaced by skinny jeans, suede ankle boots, a skintight T-shirt with a ripped neck and Demigoddess Revival—her boyfriend’s band—scrawled across her chest. She wore shiny onyx earrings and a Goth looking necklace and a jacket with gold brocade detailing.
“You look fantastic,” Ava added.
“Thanks.” Maria beamed. “Now that I’m the band’s publicist, I have to look the part. Well, Holly says that’s not true at all; her band’s previous publicist looked like a Bond girl, but I am so much more comfortable like this than I ever was as a socialite.”
“You’ve also become a hugger.”
Maria scoffed. “I always was a hugger. There just wasn’t anyone in my life who liked to be hugged.”
“I like it,” Ava said. It was true, although she hadn’t realized it until this moment.
Laughing, Maria hugged her again. “You look fantastic as well.”
She’d had no clue what to wear to a rock concert, and when she’d Googled it, she’d realized she had nothing in her wardrobe that would work. So she went with the most understated, simple thing she had: a pair of slim fit linen slacks and a stretchy Ralph Lauren top. She wore diamond studs in her ears, and she’d traded the pearls for a chain link gold necklace. Against her better judgment, she’d even left her hair down around her shoulders, although she’d stowed a hairband in her pocket, just in case she couldn’t take it when the locks started to grow in volume, like they always did.
“If you’re in town for a few days, maybe we can go shopping. I could use a wardrobe adjustment,” Ava said. And some quality time with her sister.
“I assumed you’d have to work. To be honest, I couldn’t believe you accepted my invitation.”
“As a matter of fact, I do not have to work, and I’ve recently had a revelation that involves spending more time doing things I actually like instead of the things I’m supposed to do.”
“Wow. How did this come about?”
“I got fired.”
“What?” Ava swore she could hear the sound of tires squealing as Maria came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at her with her mouth hanging open.
They’d met at a coffee shop that was only a block from the arena. Ava hadn’t been ready yet to let her sister see the inside of her apartment. The fact that Travis hadn’t made any snide comments when he saw it had given her a small boost of confidence, but one step at a time.
