Page 69 of Refrain
“Right. If I’m not allowed to ask, then can I at least see you?”
He didn’t want to be seen.
The icon flashed to turn it into a video call before he’d had a chance to reply. Spook accepted, but kept the phone angled away from his face. All there was of him on the screen was a slice of blond hair and one side of his chin, with the frets of his guitar in the background. At least thanks to Xane’s efforts of the night before last, she wasn’t staring at a forest wondering who the heck this beardy bloke was.
“Were you playing?”
“Dabbling, really.”
“You and Xane?”
He shot a glance towards the bedroom door. “Xane’s a little busy right now.”
“Oh, right. I guess that makes sense, seeing how you answered rather than him. Not that he ever does answer. Leastways, not often.”
Curious that Xane hadn’t mentioned her bugging him, or maybe not that curious at all. “Do you want me to get him?”
“Are you joking?” She grinned at him, her smile so wide it filled the screen. She was so familiar, so beautiful, the freckles on her nose peeping through the light dusting of powder. Wherever she was, it was sunny. The light shimmered amid the strands of her fiery hair.
“That’s just as well. He wouldn’t thank you for the interruption since he’s busy banging Luthor, or Luthor’s banging him. I’m not sure which, and I guess that’s not important anyway.”
“That why you’re playing answering service?”
“I’m not. It was… the ring tone was annoying. I was going to mute it.”
“You were going to silence me, Spook Mortensen? That what you’re telling me?”
The response came automatically. “Is that even possible?”
She laughed. “Shit, it’s so good to hear you. I thought…I feared. I just didn’t know—”
“Alle, please. Don’t.”
She nodded, but he could see the questions lurking in her eyes, watched her bite her thumbnail. He could hardly expect otherwise. What he’d done to her, it wasn’t fair, but he’d been functioning with only one thought in his head at the time. How his leaving would impact anyone else… Well, he’d deliberately pushed those thoughts aside. Long term, his departure was for the best—the best thing for everyone. The initial pain of it would fade. They’d forget about him. She’d forget about him. Move on.
But that wasn’t who she was. Allegra Hutton was the most tenacious being he’d ever encountered. She didn’t give in. She didn’t surrender. He doubted that quit ever featured in her vocabulary.
That made this call utter madness. There was nothing to be gained from it. Contact between them would only prolong the agony. “You have to let go.”
She pretended she hadn’t heard him. “Were you playing to drown them out?”
And he, fool that he was, responded. “Sort of. Ish. They make a not bad accompaniment.”
“Yeah?”
He held the phone up towards the door, so she could hear.
“You’re right, it’s very rhythmic. Maybe sample it.”
“Oh, yeah, that’d be good when the fans got hold of it. ‘By the way did you hear that bit in the bridge? That’s actually Xane and Luthor banging. I mean sex banging, not hitting the drums.’ He has problems enough. Xane does not need that sort of encouragement.”
“What does the rest of the track sound like?”
“I don’t sing, but I can give you the melody.”
“I’d like that.”
He nodded. “Okay, then.”
