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Andrej picked up the bass and plugged in a cable. “Pass me the tuner.”

As Leaf handed it to him, José sat down with the drumsticks beside Andrej.

“One hundred days!” he said, drumming the sticks on the wooden table and putting on a proud grin.

“One hundred days of what?” Leaf asked, leaning back.

“Shortly after you checked into rehab, I smoked my last cigarette. Oh yes, I now consider myself a nonsmoker.”

“Congratulations!” Andrej said.

“Did you have any relapses?” Leaf asked dryly.

Andrej rolled his eyes. “Very encouraging, Parker.”

“What? That would be normal.”

“I didn’t have relapses, just slips,” José clarified. “But I cut myself some slack—picked that up from the app.” He paused, frowning. “Not that you should look up to me as a role model, buddy.”

While Andrej stood there, mouth agape, confused by José’s words, Leaf laughed in amusement.

“Don’t worry. I’m not stupid.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” José countered wittily.

“Haha,” Leaf replied with a serious tone.

“Is it …” Andrej cleared his throat and looked between José and Leaf. “Is it okay to joke about this? I mean, you almost died.”

“Let’s hope that was the last time,” Leaf said, lighting a new cigarette and winking at Andrej. “As long as José is here, you don’t have to worry.”

“Wha …” Andrej was at a loss for words.

“That wasn’t the first time he almost kicked the bucket,” José explained casually. “What was that now? The third time? I stopped counting.”

Leaf nodded. “Yeah. Three times. That’s enough.”

“Stop it!” Andrej exclaimed, horrified. “That’s not funny!”

“No, it’s not,” José agreed. “But what are you going to do? You can’t lock him up.”

Leaf snickered and tapped the ash into the ashtray.

“Oh yeah!” José made a gesture as if he had just remembered something. “We tossed around this idea of hypnosis. Leaf, what do you think about it?”

Andrej chimed in, “That was just talk, nothing serious.”

“I’ve tried it before,” Leaf replied. “Didn’t seem to stick.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, after the last big crash, before … When was that?”

“That was just before you met Milo and Tristan,” José recalled. “You tried hypnosis back then? You never mentioned it to me.”

“It was offered at the clinic,” Leaf said, shrugging. “Maybe I missed the refresher.”

“You never cease to surprise me, Parker,” Andrej said admiringly.