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He leans in to whisper. "You want to answer this one?"
I shake my head. "Let him wonder." My cheeks are still at my ears. I have to admit, I love being part of the band family. They can be intense, moody, or bossy and annoying and insensitive a la Malcolm Strong, but they mean well, and they're fun.
"Shit, this must be juicy with the way they're whispering," Joel says.
Mal shoots Joel a cut it out look. "You're on your own if Ethan hits you."
"He's the guitarist," Joel says.
"Got two days till our next show," Mal says. "And Drew owes him one. Bet he'd fill in for Ethan, especially if Ethan punched you for pissing off his girl. Drew understands that kind of thing."
Joel folds his arms. "She's not his girl. They're having fun. They practically wrote it on their foreheads."
"What do you say?" Ethan takes my hand and rubs the space between my thumb and my forefinger. "Want me to kick Joel's ass?"
"Maybe later." I take a long sip of my tea. The beverage is hot, but that's not why I feel warm all over. I want Ethan protecting me. I want Ethan defending my honor, even playfully. That's no good. Need to focus again. I look back to my textbook. "I appreciate the concern about whether or not I'm getting enough cock in my mouth, but I have to work. It's something people who aren't rock stars have to do. I… Well, I don't want to ruin the surprise."
Joel shakes his head with mock outrage. "That hurts me, Valentine. You think I don't work hard?" He pulls his t-shirt up enough to show off his defined abs. "You think this body comes easy?"
"I try not to think about your body coming," I say.
"I can offer some vivid details if that will help," Joel teases.
"Shit, I might punch you at this rate." Mal shakes his head.
Ethan laughs. "Watch yourself, Drummer Boy."
Joel shrugs. "Everybody knows guitarists hit for shit."
"Sure, but Violet does karate. She can kick your ass." Ethan nudges me playfully.
I nod. "I have a purple belt."
Joel takes a step backwards. "Violet doing karate. Now that is scary." He winks at me.
I wink back.
Ethan laughs. The way his laugh lights up his face makes me warm and gooey.
He leans down to plant another kiss on my lips.
That, too, makes me warm and gooey.
"I'll make sure everyone else lets you work too," he whispers.
"Thank you." I bite my lip so I won't add how about I answer Joel's question about whether or not I suck you off right now, in that bunk over there? Who cares about the audience?
Ethan smiles that same megawatt smile then he turns, pours himself a cup of coffee, and joins the video game action on the couch.
Ethan, Kit, and Joel shift into senseless teasing and smack talk. Mal hangs out in his bunk on his laptop. I'm not sure if he's working or playing. Either way, he manages to shoot me I really hope you know what you're doing looks every twenty minutes.
I keep my headphones on and my eyes on my textbook. At this point, I'm too far ahead of the lesson plan. I don't have much left to study in here.
That's no good. I need something concrete and easy to understand. I need numbers.
There's only one thing in the world I'm really good at and it's numbers. Beautiful, tangible, concrete numbers.
If I really want to excel, I need to get serious about what field I want to specialize in. I start looking at genetics jobs in New York City.
