Page 64 of The Sound of Us

I put on my headphones and reached for the mic. “Buttercup, prepare to be schooled.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE“Blame It on Me” by George EzraSKYE

On the surface, everything seemed fine between me and Dante after our unsettling encounter in Noah’s office. Although we couldn’t be seen in public together—Noah had spies, Dante said—we spent the next two weeks stealing kisses in hallways, sneaking into buildings for secret sexy times in hidden rooms and passageways, and making forays into the basement storage room for “spare parts” that involved quickies on a table that he’d cleared off for the sole purpose of keeping my feet off the floor. We messaged on the days we didn’t see each other and had a blast on Thursday afternoons doing our show. But still, I couldn’t shake a sense of unease.

When we were alone together, we talked about music, school, work, and my journalism investigations. We discussed weather and world events, Isla and Nick’s obvious attraction and Chad’s determination to find a girlfriend before the end of term. I told him stories about my life growing up, the articles I’d written for my high school newspaper, and the guilt I’d felt when I got more satisfaction from breaking a story than winning a basketball game.

We talked about me, but we never talked about him. It was liked he’d locked a mental door the day after he’d told me after his sister and his family home, and no matter how gently I pushed, he wasn’t going to let me through.

“Earth to Skye.” Haley waved a hand in front of my face, blocking my view of the espresso machine while I was trying to pouran Americano. “Hot dude. Twelve o’clock. He’s staring at you. I think he might be a stalker or else he’s trying to mentally project his coffee order into your brain.”

I looked up and laughed when I recognized the man walking toward us. “It’s just Blake. He’s on the men’s basketball team. I got to know him at the bar the other night when Ethan introduced us. We’re meeting after I’m done with my shift.” I waved as the tall, blond, lanky wing shuffled up to the counter with a smile so wide I could count all his pearly white teeth. I introduced Haley because I knew she wasn’t going to leave my side until I did. Blake gave her a polite smile, but the spark wasn’t there.

“I’m off in ten minutes,” I said to Blake. “Do you want to grab a table and I’ll meet you in the student lounge?”

“I’ll see if I can find a booth in the corner.” He glanced from side to side. “I don’t want anyone to see us talking.”

“What’s that all about?” Haley asked after he’d gone. “It’s Friday night and you’d better not be planning to ditch Isla and me for hot stuff over there because you promised you’d come to hear me at the open mic tonight.”

“He’s helping me with an assignment.” I desperately wanted to tell her I had found my first-ever informant—he had sent me a cryptic message about some tea he wanted to spill—but disclosing his identity was a surefire way to ensure I’d never win the trust of an informant ever again.

“Is he helping you with an assignment?” she asked, keeping her voice even. “Or…” She rocked her hips. “Helping you with an assignment.”

“Haley!” I had to turn my face away so she couldn’t see me laugh. “I’m shocked.”

“Someone who gets all the hot guys can’t be that shocked.”

“What guys? I have no guys.” I pulled a row of cups from the box on the floor and stacked them on the counter.

“Seriously? You have Dante, and don’t pretend nothing is going on. The minute he walks into a room, your face lights up. Sparks fly. Then you’re scurrying off somewhere together on the pretenseof getting things no one needs. Nick figures there’s nothing left in the basement storage room. Why don’t you guys just come out and say you’re together? Or, were you together and now you’re not together and you’re moving on with Beautiful Blake?”

“Blake is just a friend,” I said. “And, I don’t know what Dante and I have together.” I bristled at having my biggest worry dragged into the light. “We haven’t DTRed and I kind of want to keep it that way.”

“Sounds like a situationship to me,” Haley said, refilling the tea bags. “Do you do things outside of the bedroom?”

I glanced over to make sure there were no customers waiting who might overhear our conversation. “We’ve never been in a bedroom together.”

“I did not want to know that,” she said. “Where’s the bleach? I need to erase that image from my brain.”

“He told me he lives in the suite above Noah’s garage, but he’s never invited me to visit.” I grabbed cloth and scrubbed at the already clean counter. “For all I know he doesn’t even have a bed.”

“Okay. That’s not normal. So far so bad.” Haley raised an eyebrow. “Have you met his friends?”

“I’ve met everyone at the station…”

“We weren’t friends with him before you and Chad showed up,” Haley said. “So, the answer is no. When someone starts making you a priority in their life, they’ll start to introduce you to people that are close to them.”

Dante had lost the people closest to him. He’d quit his band. He had Noah, Nick, and the people at the station, but as far as I knew he didn’t have any other friends. “How many psych classes have you taken?”

“When something interests me, I go all in,” she said. “The problem is I don’t stay interested for long.” She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the screen. “One last question. Do you have a deep emotional connection or are you just a hookup or a booty call?”

I didn’t need to think about that one. Dante and I connectedon so many levels. Music. Ambition. Losing a parent. Past pain. “Connection.”

Haley twisted her lips to side. “I was going to diagnose you with a bad case of situationship, but the connection thing kinda throws that off. You should talk it through.”

“That’s what Isla said.”

“Isla thinks he’s seeing someone else.” Haley left me hanging as she took the next order.

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