Page 162 of Verses

But I gave my friend a hug first…and then, as Christian followed, walked around a couple of tables so I wouldn’t run directly into Wolf.

I needed way more time before that.

CHAPTER 45

By the end of March, Charlotte’s lawns were starting to green—and Intent to Murder was better than ever. Even though our “public practice” had done well, garnering us a few new fans, we’d continued writing new songs and tweaked our setlist. Finally, we settled on an ambitious collection of twenty songs—eleven new ones, five old ones, and four covers we’d put our own spin on.

Although that decision had been made, we had yet to decide on the order, so every practice, we changed the sequence, trying to find the best arrangement for maximum impact.

But we were growing excited because we knew this was the last step before we started playing live for people. Not just a live practice, but a live show.

Wolf and I barely talked anymore, and it was only in our capacity as band members. His emerald eyes looked almost sad and he acted like he had something he wanted to say, but I scowled every time he looked like he was going to try.

One night, I was at the apartment by myself, lost in my thoughts, and I wasn’t drowsy, even though I needed to get some sleep. So I pulled out my laptop and sat on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa, watching YouTube videos, trying to keep mymind off the relationship that had crumbled before it really had a chance to get off the ground.

After a while, Kyle showed up. After he closed the door, I said, “What are you doing?”

“Last I checked, I live here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his obvious answer. “Yeah, but don’t you have to work?”

“Not tonight. I have the night off, so I, uh…I was out on a date.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He walked to the kitchen area and opened the refrigerator.

“Anything serious?”

As he pulled a can of Coke out of the fridge and shut the door, he said, “Maybe. Time will tell. This was just a first date.”

“Good luck.” I started scrolling through the list of videos again. I’d already watched cute puppies and funny cat videos, so I was looking for something different.

To my surprise, Kyle sat next to me on the couch. The faint scent of his cologne wafted into my nostrils, and I wondered why he’d never worn cologne for me. When he spoke, his voice was light and amused. “Cat videos?”

“Just watching funny stuff.”

I typedstand-up comedyin the search bar at the top and Kyle popped open his can when I started scrolling. After a bit, he said, “I know we don’t hang out as friends much anymore, but you want to tell me what’s going on?”

I didn’t look up from my laptop. “What do you mean?”

“What’s going on with you? I can tell something’s wrong.”

Hmm. How had I never noticed before that Kyle was far more sensitive and caring than I’d ever given him credit for?

Sighing, I looked at him. “I know we’ve evolved past who we were, but I don’t feel comfortable talking to you about myrelationship problems—and I’m sure you don’t want to hear it anyway.”

“You’re wrong, Hayl. You’re my friend. I’ll always care about you—and that’s why I asked. And when I ask, I don’t want to censor you.”

Wow. Either he was really enamored about this woman he’d dated earlier that evening or his psychotherapy was working well. Either way…I was pleasantly surprised. Still, I shook my head in disbelief and began scrolling through videos again. “It would feel weird talking to you about it.”

“All right. I just want you to know I care about you as a friend and as a bandmate.”

“Okay.” Taking his persistence as a sign, I shut the lid on my laptop, thinking it might be good to get a male perspective. “I, um…I told Wolf a couple weeks ago that I needed a break. He’d been growing more and more distant and he didn’t want to talk about it. And the longer we were together, the more he was finding excuses to not spend time with me. But when I’d try to talk to him about it, he’d blow me off, saying everything was fine. But I’m not stupid. I could tell it wasn’t.”

“Do you think I have something to do with it?”

“Why? What do you mean?”

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