Page 9 of Electric Touch

“You’re welcome.”

“Will you see her again?”

“Probably not,” he shrugs.

“Why?”

“Chemistry. There was none. Life is too short to waste it on something that won’t go anywhere.”

“I know that all too well,” I say with a sad smile.

“All I’m saying is, bite the bullet on the tattoo. Knock it off the list so we can work on that back flip. Decide over the weekend and give me an answer on Monday. If you don’t like my design, we’ll go see Conal and get him to do one. Something small and pretty to go between your toes, where no one will ever see it.”

I laugh but agree.

“Listen, don’t get mad. I got us tickets to a show tonight. It could be the perfect opportunity for you to kiss a stranger, too.”

“What? Apollo, I can’t.”

“You can. You have no plans for tomorrow. I promise, if you really hate the idea after we’ve visited with Yaya, we’ll go home. Think about it. You need time to relax, take a break once in a while. You’re always on the go. Even though school is out, you’re teaching summer classes. Taking care of everyone else.” He shakes his head at me. “Enjoy the weekend. For me.”

What is the point of arguing? He is right. I can’t remember the last time I relaxed.

“I got tickets for Vista Kicks at the Williamsburg.”

“Are you serious?” My mouth drops open.

He grins. “I can forego my musical standards for one night.”

“We can’t all be hip hop and R&B aficionados.” I roll my eyes.

“Yeah, well. You like that noise and you’re my best friend. Plus, I figure there must be some hot emo chicks looking for a taste of something exotic.”

“Oh my God.” I laugh out loud, and his smug grin grows bigger. We pull into the parking lot of the mansion Effy calls home. She has a parking space, even though she doesn’t have a car.

“Effy reminded me its pot roast night,” he rubs his hands together. “Plus, she challenged me to a casino war game. I’m winning back all the cash she stole from me last month.”

“You realise casino war has the most awful odds known to man?” I say, unbuckling my seatbelt.

“Yeah, but I’d rather take my chances playing something simple, not poker. She’d clean me out.”

“You’d deserve it.”

“You love me, Tia. And hey, if we knock nothing off the list tonight, that’s no big deal either. Loosen up and enjoy it.” He takes my hand and gives it a quick squeeze. “Sasha is gonna be so jealous. This is going to boost me to the top of the best friend rankings.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“Like hell it’s not,” he growls. “She’s the usurper. I’m the undisputed champion of best friends.”

I don’t answer, long since learning to leave Apollo and Sasha to their make-believe dispute about who I love more.

Chapter Four

As I stand outside the hotel building, I give my brother another wary look. Despite our current success, we aren’t raking it in. No jetting off to far-flung places or staying in a hotel above three stars. We don’t all have rich boyfriends willing to fly us off to an exotic resort. It will come, I hope. I’m not sure booking us a hotel room for the evening is a good use of cash, we don’t live a million miles away from Brooklyn.

But I can see his point about being able to drink and not having the ball ache of getting back across to the island after a night of partying. As soon as we started the two-week break, the band dispersed. Riley went wherever the hell it was that asshole was taking her and Ciro took off on a family trip to Mexico. Alessa went somewhere she didn’t want to tell anyone about. Dylan saw her getting into an SUV with a certain blond haired drummer though. Alessa isn’t stupid, she wouldn’t let Jordan near her if she thought he would get into her pants, then run. Jack is around somewhere.

“Come on, bro, this place is supposed to be cool. I got us our own rooms, so I won’t cramp your style if you wanna bring someone back.” He gives me a dirty grin and nudges my ribs. “Plus, they have these cool bathrooms with glass walls. You can get up to all kinds of fun shit in one of those.” He pushes me towards the entrance. I don’t want to imagine what he is referring to.

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