Page 65 of Wish You Would

“Sorry, sorry.” I tore my eyes from the stage. “I’m okay. I…didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

Uh huh, my brain chimed in. You wanna elaborate on that?

I pressed my lips together and shoved the thought aside. Onstage, Ryan wrapped up his song, and the music transitioned into what I knew from sitting through countless Patti Mayonnaise shows was their last song. Gigi reclaimed her place at the front of the stage, placing her mic in its stand. “So, anyway,” she said, “here’s ‘Wonderwall’.”

A quiet laugh left me, which earned an annoyed growl from my sister. “Can you stop thinking with your clit for, like, five seconds and have an actual conversation with me?”

“Sorry, yes.” I straightened. With force, I tore my eyes away from Gigi and faced my sister. “Want to go grab a drink?”

She nodded and looped her arm through mine. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

Together, we maneuvered through the crowded bar until we reached the bar, where Dante had served the last guest.

“Perfect timing, ladies,” he said, grinning. “What can I get for you?”

Anya ordered a whiskey neat, and I opted for a soda. I needed the caffeine kick desperately. We thanked Dante and grabbed two stools at the end of the bar. As we sat, Patti Mayonnaise was bringing their show to a close, to loud cheers and whistles. I watched Gigi take her bow, grinning bigger than the whole sky, and I couldn’t help but smile, too.

She belonged up there, truly. I didn’t know why she hadn’t accepted the band’s offer, but I fully planned to find out, and do my best to change her mind. Because the Gigi on that stage right now? The Gigi with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes? She was almost as beautiful as the version of her I’d been in bed with this morning.

“So, I take it your date went well,” Anya was saying when I turned my attention back to her. “Since you can’t stop staring at the stage with heart eyes.”

Before I could stop it, a laugh slipped past my lips. I clamped a hand over my mouth and looked at my sister. Her sharp brows dropped low, suspicion in residence. “Or…not?” she amended.

“The date was nice,” I said before I took a long sip of soda. “Definitely a nice time.”

“Uh huh.” Her fingers drummed against her glass as she assessed me with a sharp gaze. “Nice isn’t exactly a glowing review, sister dear. Nice doesn’t vibe with that look on your face.”

I exhaled, slow and long. I was going to have to tell her. She’d get it out of me, anyway. Should probably make it easier on both of us and spit it out now. No tiptoeing. No preamble. Just…out with it.

“So, the date last night,” I started. “It was—”

“There you are.” Gigi threw her arm around my shoulder and leaned close, her nose brushing the space behind my ear. “I knew I saw you in the crowd.”

Anya watched the exchange, eyes narrowing to slits. My stomach flipped. “Here I am,” I said back, the warmth of her nearness immediately sending signals to my lower regions. “You were so good up there!”

She grinned, eyes twinkling like diamonds. “Thank you. I had a blast. Oh, hey, Anya.”

Anya lifted her whiskey in greeting, but said nothing. Instead, she sat back in her seat and took a long draw from her glass, eyes drinking us in.

Oh, I was in for one hell of an interrogation later.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she sat her glass down with a thud.

Or…right now.

Gigi stiffened against me, but didn’t retract her arm.

“I thought you were into the drummer girl,” Anya continued. “I thought you just had a date with her.”

“I was.” Reaching up, I linked my fingers with Gigi’s at my shoulder. “And I did. Halle and I went out, and it was very nice. But…” I shrugged, then looked over to find Gigi watching me, brown eyes soft. I squeezed her fingers. “There’s something better here.”

Gigi squeezed my fingers back, and that took the edge off of the skepticism in my sister’s face. “So, what?” She looked between us, eyes lingering on our linked fingers. “The flirt lessons got a little too real? Is that what happened?”

“Something like that,” Gigi said, her tone dropping a few degrees in warmth.

“Hmm.” Anya threw back the rest of her drink and stood. “How convenient.”

Gigi straightened, her arm dropping from my shoulders. “Hey.”

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