Page 46 of Verses

“Are you handling that okay?”

Looking up, I decided to take Wolf at face value. He was a friend—an extremely good friend—but nothing more, and if I were smart, I’d stop entertaining any other stupid ideas. “Yeah. At first, it felt disrespectful. I know it sounds dumb, but I talked to him…his spirit, I guess—and I told him I hope he’s at peace now.”

“That’s a beautiful sentiment.”

For a moment, I got lost in his green eyes, immediately thinking of a peaceful forest or a quiet meadow. Why I associated the calmness on his face with serenity, I didn’t know—but I didn’t want the moment to end. As if to sayCheers, he lifted up his glass and brought it to his lips, taking a sip.

No longer mesmerized, I followed suit.

“Hey, this is pretty good.”

“I knew my little songbird would like it.”

“You have a regular Old Fashioned? How’s it different?”

Wolf smiled. “You can handle your whiskey, so I don’t think you’d hate it, but I’m betting you love the sweet one better.” Sliding his glass toward me, he said, “Try it.”

Once again, my insides began to tremble at the thought of putting my lips on the glass where his had just been.

God, how stupid I was. As I took that sip, I realized it was because the only adult relationship I’d ever been in was with Kyle—andthathad started when we were both kids in high school. Any other boys I’d been with before Kyle had been dalliances—and most certainly not adult. Aside from the little crush I’d harbored for Wolf, I’d never really pursued an adult male, nor been pursued.

Which meant I was fucking clueless.

“You’re right,” I admitted, setting the glass closer to Wolf. “Idoprefer the sweet.”

“I guess I’ve learned something tending bar then.”

I grinned, taking another sip of my drink. “After I finish this, I’m going to have to sing some more.” As if on cue, a country music song started playing, the twang of those guitars so much different from the music I loved to sing to. A guy wearing a baseball cap who’d clearly had half a dozen too many beers gripped the mike as if for dear life and started singing.

I wouldn’t have called itterrible…but he clearly wasn’t taking it seriously. He’d missed the cue and was playing catch up to sing the lyrics along with the music—I knew that much even though I didn’t really know the song. And it was clear that he couldn’t really hold the tune, either.

Wolf said, “Better hurry up before this guy drives all the customers away.”

“I don’t think that’s likely. His buddies seem to find him pretty amusing.”

“I guess that goes to show there’s something for everybody.”

Why did I feel like he was talking aboutus?

No…it was all in my imagination. Wolf was a friend and nothing more, and my slight infatuation was going overboard now that Kyle and I had split. It was just a dumb fantasy, a ridiculous idea that I needed to let go of before I became obsessed.

So I downed my drink quickly and told Sal, “Cue up ‘Adrenalize’ for me.”

“You got it, Moneymaker.”

I laughed—because both Sal and I were completely wrong about me.

And Wolf definitely had no clue—but I was going to make it damned difficult for either of us to figure it out, starting with that damned seductive song that might leave him questioning everything I said from here on out.

CHAPTER 13

At our Monday practice, I tried to pretend like Wolf hadn’t even been at Sal’s the night before—because I felt foolish for the emotions that drew me to him. But I’d been pondering our conversation over and over, and I was convinced there was something to the spark I felt.

It couldn’t just be me, could it?

A new week meant a new song to practice. This time it was “Eyeless” by Slipknot. When I’d been practicing the lyrics, I wondered just how the hell we’d manage to pull it off. Our band only had five members, not eight or nine or however the fuck many guys were in Slipknot—and, even though Adrian was a talented drummer, I didn’t think he could do all the other percussion in that song.

The drums would be challenging enough.

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