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Someone tugged hard on his sleeve. “Gotta evacuate, now. Let’s go,” Lila commanded, reaching out for Chloe with her other hand.
He swallowed hard and grabbed his Takamine—no way was he leaving Jimi behind, even if the guitar wasn’t anything but potential wall art now—and followed them down the short set of stairs to begin the arduous push to the exits.
Once they were outside, Chloe wanted to find the friend she’d come with. He knew he couldn’t keep her with him any longer, and besides, he had band stuff to deal with. This was a clusterfuck, and the fire trucks were already screaming in the distance.
“I’ll text you later.” He cupped her face. “Promise me you’ll go straight home with your friend.”
She nodded, her long ropes of wet hair hanging in her face. Even her lashes were starred with water. “I will. Be safe, okay?”
“I will if you will.” He gave her one last hard kiss and tucked her soaked hair behind her ears. “Thanks for coming to the show. Maybe next time it won’t be quite so eventful.”
She smiled and squeezed his wrists. “You were amazing. So good you tore down the rafters.”
Laughing, he gave her a light shove and dipped his hands in his jeans pockets as he watched her walk back to her friend.
He picked up his waterlogged guitar and returned to where Lila and the rest of his band mates and Jazz were clustered near the smaller tour bus they used for local events at the back of the lot. Hunter and Tristan had joined them, as well as Harper and her brother, who seemed to be trying to extricate himself.
“I have to get back to the crew. We checked and rechecked everything but Jesus, something went haywire.”
“Let the firemen and women figure it out. That’s their job.”
“Harp, it’s mine to make sure equipment is up to code and that everything is ready to go. If something goes wrong, it’s—”
“Not an if something goes wrong in this case, Sparks. Something did go wrong in a big way, and I’d suggest you not try to get a job on our crew anytime soon.” Juliet marched past Randy, bumping into him as she went.
Michael cleared his throat. “She’s wet and pissed. Her hair’s all messed up.”
This time, he was the one who got bumped—by Molly, who beelined after Juliet. “Asshole.”
Women. They always stuck together.
Michael tipped back his head and stared at the slice of moon obscured by the thick dark clouds above. In the distance, more sirens were wailing.
So much for being ready to rock.
Chapter 20
Chloe sent back a text to Michael. It was sweet that he worried, even if she wasn’t used to it. She let him know that she’d made it home before stuffing her phone back into her pocket.
“You can stop here.”
Wanda slowed and pulled over. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’ll be easier for you to get out of here too.”
“I’m not worried about that. Fifty points if I hit a reporter.”
Chloe snorted and swung her feet out. They were a full block away from her house. “Thanks for the ride, sweetie.”
“Anytime, doll. Your man’s band is delicious. Extra points for excitement tonight and ingenuity.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Hope he brings that home, too.”
She closed the door and leaned through the passenger window. “He’s not my man.” When Wanda gave her an arched brow she rolled her eyes. “We’re still figuring stuff out.”
“I saw what was left of the couch. You’re figuring stuff out just fine.”
Chloe’s cheeks burned. “That was not on purpose.”
“Never is. Me and Carl have busted up a few couches in our time. We Time is what we called it.”
