Page 53 of Verses

“I only have half an hour—and I brought a sandwich. I’ll share if you’re hungry.”

Although he didn’t respond to that invitation, he cocked his eyebrow again. “How about I find us a different place to sit?”

I gave him a quick nod, loving the sound of that. Then I went behind the counter, dropping the rag back in its bucket before clocking out. After grabbing my sandwich out of one of the coolers, I poured a cup of water and said, “Thanks again, Ben.”

“No prob.”

Wolf had chosen the perfect spot in the entire tiny coffee shop—the booth at the window that looked out at Charlotte’s West Main Street. In the fall, like now, you could see the trees planted in various spots along the sidewalk turning beautiful colors and, as of this moment, the leaves hadn’t yet dropped to the ground. In the winter, between the Christmas lights and the snow, the view was spectacular, like a painting of an idyllic small town—just so long as you didn’t gaze too far to the left where you’d spot the first bar.

The college girl was tucked away in the corner studying, and Ben seemed engrossed in whatever he was watching on his laptop by the time I sat across from Wolf…a guy who was starting to feel like more than a friend.

Even if it was mostly all in my mind.

“So what’s in your sandwich?” Wolf asked, because it was hard to tell in the clear plastic bag.

“Peanut butter.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. I was in a hurry this morning. I have an apple in the cooler too, but I’m not feeling it.”

“But…justpeanut butter?”

“Usually I make ham and cheese or something. I dunno. This is fine. I was running late this morning.”

“I could buy you a burger down the street. But since you need something quick—we could get a fast patty melt at the bowling alley.”

Smiling, I said, “Maybe we can do that next time.”

His green eyes were warm and I felt like they were almost caressing me. “I like the sound of that.”

Removing half the sandwich from the bag, I kept my eyes focused on my hand. “So tell me the real reason why you’re here.”

“I thought I had.”

This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow…but I didn’t say a word.

He finally said, “I wanted to spend some time with you—without the rest of the band.”

Oh, God. I wanted to askwhy…but I knew I might be disappointed with the answer.

“Kind of a natural, I guess. Lead singer, lead guitarist hanging out.” I took a bite of my sandwich to keep my mouth shut.Thatwasn’t going to work, though, because the sandwich was bland. In my haste earlier that morning, I’d only spread a thin layer of peanut butter, so it was mostly bread.

Not what I was hungry for. But did I really know what I wanted?

“Yeah, maybe. There’s a lot to your story that I don’t think you talk about, Hayley—and being surrounded by a bunch of dominant, overbearing guys, you don’t have much of a chance.”

My mind brought me back to the dream that had plagued me all night. Not really a dream, but thinking of it that way helped me keep some distance from it where it couldn’t hurt me. Sliding the sandwich back in the bag in case I decided I was hungry later, I picked up my cup of water. Finally, though, my eyes reconnected with Wolf’s. “After that song yesterday, don’t you think it’s better if Idon’ttalk about my story?”

“What do you mean?”

I suspected he already knew what I meant, just based on something that looked like recognition in his eyes—but I chose to answer him anyway. “I was bawling like a baby after I sang it.”

“But didn’t you feel better after?”

I pondered it for all of two seconds. “I don’t know.” And I needed to change the fucking subject, because my past was the last thing I wanted to talk about. “What I felt good about was what’s happening with the band as a whole. And I don’t think any of this would be happening if you hadn’t joined us.”

After sipping some coffee, Wolf said, “Maybe. You guys just needed something to focus on other than discord. Kyle blames himself for his brother and feels guilty going on without him—but the music calls him. That kid’s got a lot of shit to work out, but I think the music will help.”

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