I avoided her gaze and glanced at my phone. “Crap, gotta go. See you later.”
“Mari’s single, you know,” she added as I rushed to say goodbye.
“Hardly relevant.” I kissed her forehead as she gave a knowing raise of her eyebrows.
I hurried out to the silver sedan we shared. The drive went fast, but it took me a few minutes to find parking. I had to resort to the overflow lot, cursing the gravel that made my shoes dusty.
With a steadying breath, I opened the door with sweaty palms and stepped in. It was nicer than I remembered. A rich, savory smell of grilled filets filled the air. Several sets of eyes took me in as I stepped into Green Valley’s nicest steak house.
I tried to evoke the aloof manner of a drummer who had played at Coachella. I tried not to need anybody here’s approval, yet I hadn’t felt so exposed since I wasliterallyexposed to Mari in my front garden under my mother’s wrap.
“Name on the reservation?” the hostess asked after setting down the phone.
I raised my eyebrow. Was she serious? The back of my neck burned as I glanced around at the patrons of the restaurant. Several people looked up at me, one of whom I was pretty sure was my former boss at Pizza Hut years ago. He narrowed his eyes. Oh right. I had left without telling him I wasn’t coming back for a final shift. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come out.
Failure. Loser. Loner.
My eyes snagged on a familiar face in the back of the restaurant.
A wave of relief hit me when I spotted Mari helping set the band up in the corner, tightly squeezed in next to the swinging door that led to the kitchen.
“No. I’m just here to help Mari, uh, Miss Mitchell, with the band.”
“Okay, you can go back. I think she’s just gonna sit at the bar. You can order there, doll.” She looked at the tablet on her stand, pushing back her bangs. “Otherwise, if you want to get a table, I won’t be able to squeeze you in for a good hour.”
“No worries. Bar’s great.” I gave her a tight smile and made my way across the restaurant, refusing to make eye contact with any single person. It was the same when I was on stage. I would blur out the crowd by focusing on a fixed point above their heads. If I couldn’t see them, they didn’t exist.
What the hell was I doing here? Where had this compulsion to see Mari again come from? I wasn’t toying with her. If anything, I was toying with myself. As much as I understood wanting to help the kid, Mari needed to know some facts before she entrusted her pupil to me. So then, why had I acted like I was considering it when, after tonight, she wouldn’t want anything to do with me?
I had to come clean and end this charade once and for all.
Something had shifted between us when she found me under the bleachers. It was like we finally found the groove of our interactions. Or at least it had changed for me. Our first meeting hadn’t been friendly, but if I wasn’t crazy, our last exchange had almost been flirty. She had almost smiled at least once.
Being around her coursed an energy through me like the rush I hadn’t experienced since I nailed a particularly intense solo after hours of practice and everything clicked into place. A sort of confidence that gave me reckless excitement about the endless possibilities of the future.
She made me feel young. Or at least hopeful?
She glanced up as I approached, and her eyes widened after her gaze quickly flicked over me.
An instant surge of adrenaline pulsed through me once our eyes met.
Well, crap.
Was she happy to see me? Or was she happy for Cath? Did I care?
I must have, because why else was I here? Had her perspective of me changed, or was I still the spoiled little rock star who wouldn’t help out? What I wouldn’t give to have her look at me like I had potential instead of like I’d skipped her class to smoke weed.
Her mouth opened to a surprised little O before quickly clearing her features. She held up a finger to me—not the middle one, thankfully—before angling back to help the bassist tune. I took the opportunity to get a good look at her. Sue me. It was the first time I’d seen her hair down and styled. It was longer than I would have expected, with lighter pieces framing the edges in thelow light of the glass candles on every table. It flowed past her shoulders in feathery, soft waves.
She bent forward slightly to hear the strings that the bassist plucked over the background noise of the restaurant. A dark purple dress made of soft cotton clung tightly to her waist before flaring out over her hips. A deep cut in the front set the creamy skin of her cleavage on full display. I really tried not to ogle it in front of her students and the fine diners of Green Valley. Tried and failed. A portion of her legs were revealed where the material came together, and her calves were nicely shaped.
She was even more beautiful than I’d thought.
I swallowed, and something in the back of my mind that had been napping sat up and paid attention. A cartoon hound dog with droopy heart eyes, rapidly stomping his hind leg, howled, “Ayywoooga!” One more peek and I was done.
The jazz quartet was setting up. It contained a stand-up bass, an electric keyboard, a muted trumpet, and Cath with her drum kit. I lifted my chin in hello.
The teen’s brows pinched together, and she glanced away. I’d already made a stellar impression. Was she mad that I didn’t talk to her at the homecoming game? Had Mari not told her I saw her? Maybe I should have gone and talked to her? It didn’t matter. After tonight, I was sure I wouldn’t see any of these people again. And okay, now why did that cause my chest to lurch?
