Page 28 of Of Heartbreak and Harmony
Rocky tells usexactlywhat he’s going to do—find a port-o-john, takea piss, then scarf some mozzarella sticks—before he’s heading in the opposite direction as Ezra.
“Be back in a bit,” Pike says with a grin, then he disappears into the crowd, leaving Becket and me to ourselves.
“What do you think? You get drinks, and I’ll grab us food?”
I nod. “Sure. Any requests?”
“Nope. Just something to get me drunk.” Becket punctuates his statement with a slap to my ass. “You?”
“I saw a truck with kabobs,” I suggest, but Becket scrunches his nose. I laugh. “Fine. Just pick something that isn’t pizza. I’m sick of pizza.”
Becket slaps my ass again before he takes off to find food, so I turn to complete my mission as well.
I weave back through the crowd until I find a line for a beer tent, then I pull out my phone to scroll mindlessly through apps while I wait.
“Clever.”
The voice over my shoulder, deep with a hint of humor, makes me jump, and when I turn toward it, my stomach falls to my feet.
Torren King stands in front of me with a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth. He’s wearing a black baseball hat and mirrored aviator sunglasses, but I’d know those full lips anywhere. I’ve stared at them many, many times while watching clips of The Hometown Heartless perform. I’m surprised I didn’t recognize his voice right away, because the few songs where he sings more than just backup harmonies are always my favorites.
I force myself to swallow, wetting my suddenly parched throat, before speaking.
“Excuse me?”
His lips curve up slightly at the corner. It’s barely a smirk, but it’s amuchmore welcoming expression than I saw on him earlier in the day.
“Your outfit,” he clarifies. “A phoenix? It’s clever.”
“Oh. I made it.”
“Nice.”
“Thanks...What...Um, what are you supposed to be?”
He gives me a shrug. “A stoned musician.”
Well. I guess he’s not trying to hide who he is.
We fall back into silence as he takes a drag from his cigarette. I can’tsee his eyes, and it’s unnerving. Every part of my body is buzzing because I don’t know where he’s looking. I don’t even know if it’s at me. I don’t know if he wants to continue this conversation, or why he spoke to me in the first place.
He probably didn’t expect me to turn around. Just a compliment thrown over my shoulder and a thanks back. I take a deep breath and give him a tight smile, then start to turn around, but his voice stops me once again.
“Will you talk?”
I look back at him and furrow my brow in question. His dark eyebrow quirks up from behind his sunglasses.
“About what you saw.”
Ah. So that’s what this is. I can’t help the way my face falls.
“No, I won’t talk.”
“Because it would fucking suck if you did. And it wouldn’t work out well for you. Probably not how you’d want it to.”
I purse my lips. “I said I wouldn’t talk. I had no intention of talking. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it’s nobody’s business but yours.”
“Then why stay and watch?”
