Page 13 of A Way Out
“Oh, that’s right. When are you flying out?”
“I’m not. I’m driving out on Thursday. My band is playing at the reception.”
“You’re driving? God, what a long drive. Wait, you’re in a band?”
He chuckled at the surprise in her voice. “Yeah.”
Her gaze swept over the kids playing in the pool. “You’re all going?”
He shook his head. He imagined his nieces and nephews would love it, but the food bills alone would cripple his nearly empty bank account.
“My mother is coming over tomorrow and will stay until I’m back.”
“How long are you out there?”
“Just through the weekend.” He had to be back to work at his landscaping job on Monday morning.
“Oh my God, you’re driving halfway across the country and back in a single weekend? That’s insane.”
He shrugged. He didn’t have much of a choice. Well, he could have turned down Holly and Sam when they asked Demigoddess Revival to perform at their reception, but that wouldn’t have been fair to the rest of the band.
“Why don’t you fly?” she pressed.
“Can’t afford it.” He put it right out there, didn’t even hesitate to make it clear that they were from opposite sides of the tracks.
Years ago, when he joined his first band and started playing quinceañeras, he got hit on regularly by the single ladies at the parties. Sometimes even the married ones.
None of them cared about him; they all just wanted to brag that they’d slept with the guitarist in a band, even though that band wasn’t worth bragging about.
In the beginning, he’d taken them up on their offers. Who wouldn’t have? But it quickly became obvious that he had nothing in common with these women. They had nothing to talk about when they weren’t having sex. When his bed partner chatted about her life, he was clueless, having zero experience with the types of situations that were everyday occurrences for people with an abundance of money at their disposal. And when he talked about his own life, they looked down their nose at him, every single one of them.
He eventually developed an unhealthy chip on his shoulder and quit accepting the offers.
Maria was undoubtedly no different. Yes, she was running away from an abusive situation, which gave them common ground, but come on. Who wanted that kind of common ground?
Not him. He hated thinking about what his sister went through, how hard it had been to help the kids adjust to life without her.
Which meant yes, he’d be a sounding board for Maria, but he was going to quit looking at her gorgeous legs and quit thinking about how cute Izzie and her daughter were together.
Maria was Holly’s sister, period. Nothing else. To him, at least.
“I could?—”
“No. I got it.” He had no idea what she was about to say. She could pay for his ticket? She could drive with him? She could stay at a hotel instead of here at the house?
Didn’t matter—he didn’t want to hear it. She had her life, and he had his.
And that’s the way it was going to stay.
Chapter Five
Four days before her grandmother’s funeral. That’s the last time Maria had sex. Ten months ago.
That had to be the reason her ovaries were doing a jig over the prospect of hanging out with Oz for the next few days.
Although it certainly didn’t hurt that he was almost painfully gorgeous. That thought still took her by surprise because she’d never allowed herself to speculate over what her type might be until now.
Clearly, it was hot Hispanic men who were also in a band. A band good enough to play at her sister’s wedding. After all, her sister’s band was super famous, so Maria could not imagine Holly would select a run-of-the-mill wedding cover band to play at her reception.
