Page 21 of Loved Out Loud
“Yeah, we’ve been wanting to switch it up lately.”
“What does the label think of that?” Jade asks. “I can’t imagine they’ll be happy if you write in a completely different vibe.”
“We don’t really give a fuck what they want,” Xan pulls out his vape pen and hits it. “Especially when the suits are pushing us so hard to have our next album complete so soon after the tour.”
“They aren’t giving you time off?” Hazel’s brow furrows. “It seems like touring would be exhausting.”
“It is.” Xan blows smoke out of his mouth. “Apparently they think the two-week break between the Texas shows and the rest of the tour is enough time to rest.”
“What about you? When do you need to turn in your manuscript?” I ask her.
“They want my editor to have a first draft by October.”
“That’s before the end of the tour,” Jade says incredulously.
Hazel nods. “I can do it. I don’t sleep well, so I usually write late at night.”
Something she and I have in common. I know why I don’t sleep. It used to be because I was high. Now it’s because of pain.
“Stone is a night owl, too,” Jade says. “Speaking of sleep, I’m going to go grab a couple hours of it. Goodnight.” She stands and opens the door.
“Wait up, I’m going, too,” Xan pushes to his feet, telling us both goodnight over his shoulder.
We look at each other as the door closes behind him, another game of chicken. She looks away first and runs her finger over the textured wall beside her.
“I take it this is sound proofing?” she asks.
“Yep. It’s not the best, you can still hear some of the music from the front of the bus, but everyone sleeps with ear plugs anyway. Darren snores like a freight train.”
She smiles, and fuck if my heart doesn’t skip a beat at the sight. It’s a soft, quiet smile, different from those earlier. It’s mine. I’m going to claim all those smiles from now on.
“Do you listen to music when you write?” I ask, desperate to keep her with me.
“Sometimes.” She looks down at her nails. “It depends on what I’m writing. The vibe of the scene.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for scenes with a lot of dialogue or banter, I do best with silence, so I can imagine it. But if it’s a sex scene or something, I’ll usually listen to a song on repeat. If the scene calls for something slow and sensual or hard and fast.”
“Depending on what type of fucking you’re writing.”
Her cheeks turn pink.
“Exactly.” Her eyes meet mine briefly and then dart back away. “Other times I’ll listen to low-fi coffee house type music or classical.”
“A little bit of everything, then.”
“Exactly.” Now that we’re not alluding to sex, she’s back to holding eye contact. “What type of music do you listen to when you’re not writing or performing it?”
“Everything. Breaking Giants, The Hometown Heartless, Of Men and Wolves are some of my current favorites. Then classic southern rock and nineties grunge.”
“Julian Ashburn is so—talented.” Her cheeks turn pink again.
“Talented, sure.” I give her a knowing smirk. “I’ll let him know you think so.”
“You know him?” Her eyes widen.
“The Seattle music scene is pretty small. We’re all acquainted.”
