“At least this place is fully detached.”
Taking a sip of my water, I flicked my gaze to the drummer. He stood with his arms crossed, his eyes fixated on the window. I got the sense he was trying to look anywhere but at me. “We used to get noise complains about Ade’s playing,” I said, “and the closest neighbor was at least twenty feet away. Some people are just cranky like that.”
The mention of my sister finally earned me a glance. “How is she, by the way?” he asked.
“On tour in Europe. She’s doing well. I told her about us working together. She was… surprised.”
“Hmm. I think we all were.” A moment passed before he cleared his throat. “You changed your hair.”
Piper convinced me to dye my tips a bright magenta color since I kept complaining how bored I was with the blond. I told her I wanted to go dark, but she said it would have been a travesty. I’ve always loved my hair, but Cory had said something to me a few weeks ago that had made me want to change it.“There’s something special about blond girls. You’ll always be my favorite.”
Ew. Just remembering it made my skin crawl. Why was it so hard to get that creep off my mind? I really needed to find a new apartment.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I felt like mixing things up. What about you? You’ve gotten a lot more inked since the last time I saw you.”
He glanced down at his crossed arms. “Got a bit addicted after I got the first one.”
“I hear that’s the way it often is with tattoos.”
He shrugged. This appeared to be the end of our small talk. What happened to the friendly, easygoing boy from my hometown? I felt like I was interacting with Mason on shut-down mode, as if he was trying his hardest not to let me in.
Reaching for my camera, I told myself I’d just have to deal with it. “Where’s Kaz? We should get started.”
“He’s downstairs in the basement. Come on.”
We made our way back to the hall before descending a flight of stairs. The first thing I noticed about the basement were the foam soundproofing panels covering the walls. Looked like they were determined to get ahead of the noise problem. Guitars hung on hooks scattered around the space. At the back of the room was Mason’s impressive drum set, and to the side was a DIY desk made out of a wooden door, laden with all types of music equipment. Kaz sat in a chair behind it, working on a laptop.
He looked up once we arrived and nudged one over-the-ear headphone off his ear. “I thought you were grabbing our lunch?” he asked, his gaze slowly sliding past me to land on Mason.
“Molly came as I was about to leave,” Mason said. “I wanted to bring her down here first.”
“Can’t she just get it then?”
My scowl was instinctual. “I’m not your butler,” I clipped out. “And hello, by the way.”
He dragged his headphones all the way down to his neck and tilted his head back. “Didn’t your boss say you’re supposed to help us however you can?”
“I’m sure she didn’t mean fetching your lunch for you.” I don’t know how I managed to have any pride left at this point, but my mouth kept moving even if the logical part of my brain screamed at me to just get them their goddamn lunch.
“Why don’t I call her and ask?” He pulled out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans.
Damn it. He was calling my bluff. I was not at all sure Trinity wouldn’t tell me to get my ass out the door and bring them whatever they wanted.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mason said. “I was already on my way out.”
I looked at him, surprised he was saving me from humiliation.
“Be back soon.” He left so quickly, I didn’t even get a chance to stutter out a thank you.
Kaz let out a low chuckle, forcing my attention back to him.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“You when you squirm.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I said, rolling my eyes.
He cocked a brow.
