Page 34 of Melody

They’d had a long, hard road together but, today, Kyle was glad to call herfriend. And all that time as a couple, including years spent growing up together, meant that they understood each other better than most. He knew she knew he had a thing going with Scarlett, but she didn’t mention it often.

He appreciated that—and, the times she did say something, he didn’t mind.

“Not much. Just pounding water,” he said, holding up the bottle he’d gotten backstage.

Wolf said, “We made more tonight than ever.”

“Oh, yeah? Merch table?”

“No, I’m just talking about what Al pays us. When he gave me the money, he said he pays a bonus in December because having bands is a way to get people to come here instead of other bars in the area.”

Kyle twisted the cap on his bottle. “We’ll never get the country crowd.”

Hayley’s eyes lit up. “We don’t want ‘em.”

“Maybe they’re less rowdy.”

Wolf snorted. “I assure you, they’re not.”

All three laughed, barely audible over the music. Kyle asked, “How’s the merch table doing?”

“Let’s just say we’ve been making enough so we can constantly increase inventory.”

Hayley added, “You missed it. Maria did some fancy PowerPoint projections last week before practice. She said we should be fully stocked by the time we go on tour.”

Kyle finished off the bottle of water, apparently thirstier than he’d realized. “Why didn’t I see that?”

“She showed us before you got there.”

He nodded, realizing he actually wasn’t upset about it. While he wanted to stay informed about all the ins and outs of the band, things like finances and merchandise weren’t necessarilythings he could do a lot about, so maybe his presence during that discussion hadn’t been important.

Holy shit.That was what his therapist would callgrowth. A year ago, he would have flown off the handle not being informed or asked. Now, he hardly cared.

Was that because of the therapy—or the distraction of pursuing Scarlett? For a second, he told himself it didn’t matter…but he knew it did. He got the vibe from Scarlett that she didn’t want anything serious and, even if she did, he couldn’t lean on her to force him to have a healthy perspective on a situation. That had to come from within.

And wow. Itwas.

If only his therapist knew how much she’d influenced his train of thought.

“Earth to Kyle,” Hayley’s voice, raised over the roar of the crowd, coupled with waving her hand near his face got his attention.

“What?”

“I asked if you wanted Maria to show it to you sometime.”

“Uh, yeah. I think so.” As he spoke, the rest of them—Pedro, Adrian, Maria, and Claire—gathered around the table, close. “I don’t wanna be clueless.”

“Too late, my bro!” Pedro said, all but cackling at what he thought was a joke. Kyle just let it slide off his back. After all, the bad jokes were part of Pedro’s charm.

Wolf said, “Since we’re all here and we’re talking about the spring tour, has everyone asked for those two weeks off from work?”

Kyle had floated the idea past his boss and her icy reception made him realize he’d probably have to quit when the time came—not that he minded. It was just a job and he’d be able to get another.

But Pedro spoke up first. “Hell, yeah, dude. Our boss didn’t like the idea of being gone for two weeks, but we have the PTO saved up and it’s not like it’s during the holidays when they don’t like anybody to take off. When we told him that, he said only one of us could be gone at a time, so I told him I’d quit.”

Kyle smiled. No wonder they were friends.

When Wolf frowned, Pedro said, “Look, dude, it’s not like I’m gonna work there forever. The tour—that’sour future.”

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