I want him to be here.
It feels wrong that he isn’t, although I like the thought of him pulling out his guitar. Tuning it.
Wait…do people tune bass guitars?
Surely they do.
Briar, who’s opposite me, says my name, and I snap my attention to her. “Nora, what are you thinking about?”
I shouldn’t tell her, but the words trip out of me anyway. “Whether bass guitars need to be tuned.”
“Yes,” Liam says. “You ready to go watch the magic happen?”
He says it a little suggestively, and I notice Briar nudging him with her shoulder—her super tactful way of telling him to shut the fuck up.
The thought makes me smile, and I decide, again, that I might as well be honest.
“Yes, actually. Should we go?”
“Not until you all let me look at your tea leaves,” Dottie says.
A collective groan issues from the group, but you know what?
We let her.
This time she doesn’t see a snake in my cup.
This time she just smiles softly to herself and refuses to say anything definitive, looking so smug it would be infuriating if she were anyone else.
“All is as it should be.”
Hannah checks her phone and says, “And we’re officially running late.”
Text conversation with José
Seriously, you’re ditching me?
Yes, alas. You’re on dick duty all by yourself.
Garbage Fire is already playingwhen we arrive, and the music washes over us, the thrum of Cormac’s bass vibrating through the large, open space. It’s a big venue, with a bar at the back, equipped with a few tall round tables and chairs, and a sizable stage up front, flocked by people.
We help source seats for the older folks, by which I mean Hannah and I basically bully a bunch of twentysomethings into moving, and then we push our way toward the stage. Hannah says she always likes to be on the front lines so she can tackle anyone who has eyes on our guys.
Our guys, as if Cormac is mine the way Travis is hers and Rob is Sophie’s.
I open my mouth to correct her, but then I close it againwithout saying anything. I just follow her through the crowd, shamelessly stepping in front of people because I need to see him.
And I needhimto seeme.
I’ve wanted to come see him play before, since this thing between us began, but I didn’t want to give him ideas. I didn’t want to give myself ideas. I wasn’t sure what I could offer him, or if I could offer anything at all.
But now…
I’m still not sure, but I’m here because I want to be. I want to watch him in his element—one of his elements, that is. Cormac has so many skills.
He’s not tucked between the other guys quite as much as he was at the wedding, so I have a better view of him. He’s so compelling to watch as he plays, his body channeling the music as he creates it. A live wire. An outlet. His hair is mussed, and he’s wearing those sexy glasses, his eyes nearly closed behind them as he plays a bass riff.
“Who’s the new bassist?” I hear a woman shouting behind me over the loud music. She’s a tall, pretty blonde, I see, pointing out Cormac to the brunette friend standing beside her.
