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“Is it?” she asks.
“You should have your head examined.”
“Just give it some thought, okay? You don’t know what it’s like to like someone,reallylike them, beyond a physical attraction. This is new to you, but I think that’s what it is.”
My nose scrunches up at her, and she laughs.
“Can I see a picture of him?”
I type Bren’s name into a search engine on my phone and show her.
It’s Ileana’s nose that scrunches up now. “He’s ugly,” she says.
“He is not! Give me back my phone.”
She laughs as she hands it back. “He is the ugliest in the band. All the other guys are really cute, though. Maybe you should trade up. Like the drummer. Now, he is hot!”
I shake my head. “No! The drummer is too . . . pretty. I think Bren is the hottest. Sure, he isn’t pretty, but I like that beastly handsomeness of his.”
“That’s new too,” Ileana says.
“What is?”
“You always take the hottest people to bed. This is the first time you’re physically attracted to someone for another reason.”
“I think it’s his voice.”
“Oh?”
“It’s deep and beastly too.” I grin, and Ileana smirks knowingly at me.
“What?” I ask.
“Beauty and the Beast.”
I laugh. None of this matters anyway. I’ll never see him again.
SIX
Bren
We’re supposed to be on our way to our next tour stop the day after our Chicago concert. Instead, Roger, our band manager, calls a band meeting in my hotel suite, but it’s Karl who shows up first.
“Do you know what this is about?” Karl, the youngest member of the band, asks. It’s early morning, and his blond hair is a mess while he looks half dead.
“Not a clue,” I say, ignoring his ghastly appearance and choosing not to comment.
Fritz shows up, followed shortly by Roger.
Roger tries to start the meeting, but I have to stop him. “Wait a minute. Shouldn’t we wait for Adrian?”
We are all used to our drummer showing up late and causing trouble in general, but we always wait for him.
Roger shakes his head. “He’s not coming.”
My jaw tightens. Whatever this meeting is about, it has everything to do with Adrian. We’ve budged a lot for Adrian because no one wants to replace a second original band member. Our original guitarist fell into addiction, along with Adrian, during our first year touring. The guitarist declined rehab, so we had to find a replacement—which is how we ended up with Karl.
But Adrian agreed to get help, so we work with him.
