Page 55 of Verses

“Mmm.” Wolf turned his cup, examining it as if it held the secrets of life before returning his eyes to mine. “What you think you see is an illusion. I can play a good game. I seem like I’mall these things you think I am—but it’s one of those things that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. You’ll see.”

“I don’t believe it for one second, Miles Jackson.”

Although his eyes narrowed, I could see the sparkle in them. I gave him a moment, waiting for him to tell me I wasn’t allowed to call him by his real name.

But he didn’t say a word.

“You heard me. I imagine you got called that when your mom wanted your attention.”

I would have wondered why his expression grew sorrowful had he not told me. “I lost my mom when I was young. I would have liked her calling me that.”

Jesus. I thought I knew the guy but there was so much I had no clue about. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. How would you have known?”

I nodded, looking down at the sandwich bag and pressing the two sides together so it would seal and keep the bread from drying out. Kind of useless if I wasn’t going to eat it.

Wolf’s voice caused me to look back up at him. “And you are theonlyperson in the band allowed to call me by my real name.”

Why the hell did that even matter?

I didn’t know it at the time…but I would eventually find out.

CHAPTER 15

After a couple of weeks, I could tell the entire band felt the way I did.

Damn.We were getting good.

No. Notgood.Great.We actually had a shot at something—and, although The Apothecary would always be our home base, we risked outgrowing it.

Even though we weren’t ready to perform shows yet, there was no ignoring the fact that business had picked up in the little bar. It had been subtle at first, but the first Wednesday night in November brought a crowd that felt like a Friday night. A little laid back, rowdy energy—and all eyes on us, even while we paused and talked and worked through the latest addition to our setlist, one of my picks: “You’re Gonna Listen” by In This Moment.

And screaming the chorus at the audience felt more liberating than it should have. I almost wished I’d written it, because it encompassed so many of the things I felt and yet couldn’t vocalize.

After nailing the solo, Wolf started adding his own touches to it, making it sound even cooler. I wanted to write lyrics like the ones Maria Brink had written in that song, even though a few ofthe customers didn’t seem to appreciate the F word as much as others.

Not like I cared.

I would have thought our growing successes as a band, not to mention our split, would have helped my relationship with Kyle. Although it had to some degree, especially at first, he wasn’t the best roommate and his apathy in that department was beginning to wear thin. And because the weather was getting downright cold, it wasn’t like I could go hang at the park or take long walks at all hours.

Still…even though I was sure Kyle was beginning to heal, I still felt like I had to handle him with kid gloves.

So, on Sunday, my day off, I didn’t say a word until he got out of bed and had been awake for a while.

Inspired, I was sitting on the couch, trying to write awesome lyrics like the rock goddesses I worshipped, but it felt like a struggle. Sitting at the tiny kitchen table, Kyle had already polished off a can of Coke and was scrolling some social media feed on his phone when I decided it was time to chat.

I got up from the couch and asked, “Mind if I sit here?”

“You pay rent too.”

Ah…that wasnota good sign.

But I needed to forge ahead nonetheless. “About that…”

“Don’t start with me, Hayley. Yeah, I was a day late with November, but I paid my share.”

“No, that’s not it.”

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