Edging around him, I drop down into a chair in the seating area near the computer station.

I start with a simple question. “How are things going with the band?”

He sits down in the chair across from mine, so we’re facing each other, our knees barely inches away. “They’re doing well I guess, but don’t know… I think I might try to do some stuff on my own.”

“But I thought you were happy with being on the road,” I say. “And I thought you liked your band.”

“Not really.” He inclines forward and relaxes his arms on his knees. “Honestly, I’m not sure if I was ever happy with the situation. Dylan’s freaking annoying and Chase barely talks. And Naomi, well she’s getting on my nerves.”

My thoughts drift to his lip ring and my mouth salivates to taste it. “Then why were you on the road with them for so long?”

His gaze flicks to my lips and hunger flashes in his aqua eyes. “Because I love to play and they were my ticket in, but I hate being on the road all the time.”

I tuck my hands underneath my legs to keep from reaching over and running my fingers along his lips. “Where will you go? Back to Star Grove?”

He shakes his head. “No way. I have a couple ideas, but I have to run it past a few people first.”

The way he says “people” makes me wonder if they’re important to him. My mind races with the idea that he’s met someone else. It’s been only a couple weeks since I crushed his heart, but Micha is amazing and most girls see that.

“You’ll have to let me know where you end up.” I gently bump my knee into his and fake a smile. “I just might come visit you.”

He lets out a quiet laugh, but his gaze is relentless. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

He seems so happy and I don’t want to ruin it for him.

“No, not really, other than I’m starving.” I get to my feet, tugging down the bottom of my shirt. “Lila said she was buying dinner.”

He offers me his elbow. “Then to dinner it is.”

I loop my arm through his and we head toward the door, side by side, just like we used to do when we were friends.

Chapter 7

Micha

I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand what goes on in that head of hers. I gave her the perfect opportunity to tell me she never cheated and she totally dodged it. But in her eyes, she probably thinks that I’ll move on.

Maybe it’s time, but how am I supposed to move on from the one person I know I’m supposed to be with?

“Dude, I can’t pronounce a single thing on this menu.” Ethan runs his fingers along the list of appetizers, blinking his eyes. “Are these prices in US dollars? Fuck.”

A stuck-up-looking couple point their noses up in our direction. The restaurant seems overdone, with the trimming in gold, small chandeliers hanging over the top of each table, and silverware more shiny than the sun. It kind of reminds me of my dad’s house. And I haven’t seen or heard from him since our awkward meeting in New York.

Ella shuts her menu and tosses it into the center of the table, looking at Lila with an entertained expression as she bats her long eyelashes. “Oh Lila Dila, I think you might have to order for us common folks, who can’t read French.”

Ethan and I shut our menus and toss them into the middle of the table, agreeing with her.

Lila sighs and tosses the menu on top of the stack. “Do you guys want to bail and walk to the Applebees I saw on the corner?”

“Yes,” Ethan, Ella, and I all say at the same time.

We leave the table in a hurry, before the waiter can come back and try to bill us for the rolls and drinks. We cause a scene as we dash out of the stuffy restaurant laughing our asses off. It’s Friday and the sidewalk is as crowded as the traffic on the street. Lights dance across our faces and there’s excitement buzzing in the air.

Ella raises her hands above her head as she squeezes through a group of guys and my protective instincts kick in. I put my hand on her back, keeping her close as one of the guys tries to check out her ass. I can’t really blame him, since I’m doing the same thing.

She has a tight pair of jeans on and a black shirt short enough that there is a sliver of space between the top of her jeans and the bottom of her shirt. Her pale skin looks soft and I let my finger run along it gently, as if it’s accidental.

She peers over her shoulder and the lights reflect in her eyes as she shouts over the noise, “This reminds me of senior year when we took that road trip to New Orleans!”

“The one where you took your shirt off and flashed everyone.” I wink at her and she swats my arm.

“That didn’t happen and you know it,” she says, forcing back a smile.

“I know!” I yell over the loud music from a band playing in front of a gift shop. “But that night was much more intense than this!”

The noise fades out as we walk into the restaurant. There’s a row of people waiting for a table, but it’s still much better than the other place. Lila heads up to the hostess standing at the front to put our names down on the waiting list.

“That night was intense, but only because of you.” Ethan smirks maliciously. “If you could have just kept it in your pants, then we wouldn’t have had to run away from the club.”

Lila returns and her eyes scan the three of us. “I’m so lost. Who couldn’t keep it in their pants?”

“It’s a good thing that you’re lost, trust me.” I pat her arm as Ella and Ethan start to laugh. “These two are just trying to embarrass me with a drunken mistake of my past.”

“ ‘But she looked so hot when we were dancing,’ ” Ella says mocking me in a deep voice. “ ‘And I swear she looked younger.’ ”

Ethan busts up laughing, leaning in toward Ella, who’s laughing just as hard. Ethan told me about their little shake thing with Mikey and it seems like it kind of broke down a barrier between the two of them.

I shove Ethan and he staggers into a tall blonde with a big rack and his hand ends up touching her boob. Ella whirls toward the wall laughing her ass off.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan apologizes to the blonde with an amused grin. “I didn’t see you there, sweetheart.”

She’s probably around the same age as us, maybe a little older. She narrows her eyes and stomps off toward the seating area with her arms crossed as she sinks down at the end of the bench.

“Thanks for making me look like a perv.” Ethan scowls at me and then glances discretely at Lila.

“You don’t need my help with that, man.” I notice that Ella is still facing the wall and her shoulders are shaking. “Oh pretty girl, are you alive over there?”

Shaking her head, she turns around with her hand covering her mouth and tears streaming out of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she says between laughs. “I just can’t stop picturing that lady in New Orleans and how you almost did her in the bathroom. And then we had to drag you out of the club as she chased after us.”

“That’s what happened?” Lila starts to giggle and her legs almost buckle from under her as she hunches over, clutching at her stomach.

“She wasn’t that old, like maybe thirty-five or forty,” I argue, moving aside as some people walk in through the door and let in a cool breeze. “And I was drunk.”

Ethan pats my shoulder and gives me a sympathetic look. “It’s okay. We all love our cougars.”

I punch him in the arm and Ella laughs so hard she can barely stand. I decide she needs to be punished too so I fix my gaze on her. She stops laughing and her lips shift to a frown.

“You don’t scare me, Micha Scott.” She backs toward the corner. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

“You’re right. I won’t ever hurt you.” I spread my hands out to the side, so she’s got no place to run. “But I did see a water fountain down the block.”

“Please don’t,” she pleads with her hands out protectively in front of her. “It’s like fifty degrees outside.”

“You deserve it.” I easily pick her up and throw her over my shoulder.

“Micha.” She squirms as I push out the doors and onto the sidewalk. We turn heads as I march toward the fountain at the end of the street just in front of a park. When I reach the marble edge of it, I pause, deciding what to do. Jump in and toss her under the spraying water? Or just set her down in it?

“What is it with you and water?” She elevates her head and brushes her hair out of her face to look me in the eyes. “Whether it’s sprinklers or showers—you’re always getting me wet.”

Unable to help myself, I spread my fingers along the back of her thigh and give her ass a squeeze. “Am I making you wet right now?”

She looks like she’s going to cry, which was not the reaction I was expecting. “How can you joke around with me? After what I did?”

I shrug, tug my pants higher up onto my waist, and step into water, which fills up my boots instantly. “Fuck, that’s cold.” I wade out to one of the various streams of water that surround two angel statues slanted together with harps in their hands. Water soaks my jeans as I set her down in the middle of it, letting her get drenched.

She squeals, panting from the cold. “You are the meanest guy I’ve ever known.”

Water rivers from the fountain and down her rock-hard body. It takes me back to the time in the shower when I touched her all over for the first time. God, I fucking miss touching her like that.

“You know that’s not true.” I step forward, to the edge of the stream, and take in her wet clothes. “In fact, I think you know I’m the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.”

She doesn’t argue, just moves out from the water, and wrings out her hair. “I think we need to talk.”

A weight falls from my shoulders and I open my mouth to tell her we should go somewhere to talk, when someone screams. Our eyes dart to the edge of the fountain where Lila is sitting in the water, her clothes and hair soaked, and Ethan is standing on the marble step, laughing hysterically.