Page 87 of More To Us

"And have you sitting there looking at some other girl's phone number?" He shakes his head. "That was fucking rude. I can't believe she did that after I told her you're my girlfriend."

"Does that happen a lot? Girls coming up to you like that?"

"Yeah." He leans back in his chair and stretches his legs out. "It's not just because of the band, but because of the Wheeler name."

"Have you been offered that before? Two girls?"

"Do you really want to talk about this?"

"I just wondered. You said to be direct so I'm asking."

"Then yeah, it's happened before."

I'm about to ask if he's ever actually been with two girls, but then decide I'd rather not know.

He changes the subject and we remain there, talking, until it's time to go to the bar. When we get there, Dylan and Van are setting up.

"Am I late?" Austin asks, checking the time on his phone.

"No," Van says. "We're just a few minutes early." He smiles and comes over to me. "Hi, I'm Van."

He has one of those lazy smiles that puts you at ease but could also be trouble. He seems like someone who could talk you into things without you even realizing it.

"Hi. I'm Kira."

"The girlfriend," Dylan says, smiling at me. "Austin's told us all about you. You're pretty much all he talks about."

I look at him to deny it but he just shrugs.

"You guys have girlfriends?" I ask, but I'm most curious about Dylan.

Van answers. "We're both single. So if you know anyone..." He grins.

"Sorry, but I'm new to town. I don't know anyone here."

"Other than her roommate," Austin says, "who's burning her kitchen down right now."

They look at me to explain. "She's cooking dinner for her boyfriend, but she doesn't really know how to cook."

"At least she's trying," Dylan says. "I've never had a girl try to cook for me."

This is so weird. I'm standing here talking about Amber with Dylan, the guy she's obsessed with, to the point that she can't stop talking about him. I wonder if he even remembers her.

"So this is the first time you're hearing us play?" Van asks. He keeps tapping his drumstick on his leg. He seems like a fidgety person.

"I heard you play last weekend, but my roommate wasn't feeling well so we had to leave after the first song."

"What are we playing first tonight?" Austin asks Dylan. "Your song, or something else?"

"We can start with something else. Let's put mine near the end."

Van laughs. "Maybe your mystery girl will show up tonight and hear it."

"Mystery girl?" I ask.

"Don't listen to him," Dylan says, shooting Van a look to shut up.

"He wrote the song about some girl," Van tells me. "He was hoping she'd show up and hear it."

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