Page 57 of Edge of Unbroken

The moment we step foot into Sterling’s, Miranda’s soulful voice winds its way into my ear from the stage. Her voice is instantly recognizable with its slight grittiness like she’s yelled too much. I had already forgotten she said she was going to play a set here tonight.

“Table or bar?” Devin asks Tensley, who looks around the crowded place, then points toward an open table in the center of Sterling’s.

“What do you want to drink?” Devin asks the three of us, but I only shake my head at him while Tensley and Elias tell him their beverage choices. “Nothing for you?” he asks me.

I shake my head again. I haven’t had alcohol in months. Plus, someone has to be the designated driver. But mostly it just wouldn’t feel right to defy my grandmother who very clearly admonished me not to drink tonight. So I won’t. I don’t have much of a desire for it anyways.

“Wow, she has a beautiful voice,” Tensley says with a smile, tapping her foot along with the sound of Miranda’s guitar when we’re seated around the table a few minutes later.

“That’s Miranda,” Elias tells Tensley and Devin. His eyes are glued to Miranda, whose own eyes are closed as she sings, her fingers moving so softly across the strings of her guitar it’s as if she’s making love to the instrument.

“Oh, you know her?” Devin asks, equally as captivated. Miranda’s stage presence matches her personality; she’s a damn force to be reckoned with and it’s best not to underestimate her.

“Yeah. She and Ran used to be a thing,” Elias says, and I note the coolness in his tone.

Both Devin and Tensley turn their attention to me. “Really?” Tensley asks.

“Yep,” Elias answers for me. “Like three years ago,” he says, just as Miranda finishes her song and puts her guitar down, apparently either taking a break or finished with her set.

“Wait, I thought you’re from New York?” Devin asks.

“I’ve lived on the ranch off and on.”

I’m spared further interrogation, because Miranda spots me.

“Rony!”

She bounds toward me, a huge grin on her face. Her long brown hair is wavy today, her beachy curls bouncing as she walks with a little spring in her gait before she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tightly. “I didn’t think you’d be here tonight.” Her voice is muffled against my jacket.

“Me neither, but Devin and Tensley here wanted a night away from the ranch,” I say, and introduce them formally to Miranda, who smiles at them. “And you obviously know Elias,” I say.

Miranda’s eyes gleam mischievously as she moves her attention to Elias. “Yeah, except the last time I saw him he wasn’t quite this tall. Man, you guys just sprouted,” she says to Elias and me.

Elias smiles broadly at Miranda, inflating his chest. I’m about ninety-nine percent certain Elias has always had a thing for Miranda because he became suddenly standoffish when she and I got together. Elias had always spent more time with Steve, probably because they’re closer in age, but his preference for my brother definitely amplified the more Miranda sought me out.

“You were amazing up there,” Tensley chirps at Miranda.

“Thank you so much,” Miranda says graciously.

“Why don’t you come and sit down with us, unless you’re playing another set,” Elias says, already in the process of pulling up an additional chair for Miranda to sit next to him.

Cat

The moment we arrive at Shane’s apartment this evening, I scour the place for Steve. I corner him in the kitchen as he retrieves a bag of popcorn from the microwave.

It’s been too cold to drive to the beach, and these past few weekends we’ve been convening at Shane’s apartment to hang out. Shane obviously made sure Tori had a key to his place, and we’ve been spending time here even on the nights Shane works. He’s assured us that he doesn’t mind, but it still felt like we were intruding upon his privacy when we first started coming. It helps that Shane doesn’t yet have a roommate we’d pester with our frequent presence. Shane’s the only one of us with his own place, the only one outside the purview of parental supervision, and the rest of us enjoy the heck out of it.

“I’m sure Vada told you that Ran called me Thursday night,” I start off my conversation with Steve.

Steve turns to lean back against the kitchen counter. “Actually, she hasn’t.”

“No?” I ask, surprised. “Oh. Okay, don’t tell your dad, okay? I don’t want Ran to get into trouble.”

Steve chuckles wryly. “Cross my heart and hope to die. I’d never rat on Ran for calling you. You know how I feel about this bullshit about him not being allowed to talk on the phone.”

I grin. “And I love you for it. Anyway, so he called me at like four in the morning on Thursday. It wasn’t a number I recognized, but I tried calling him back on my way to school that morning and a girl answered. She introduced herself as Randi.” I can tell Steve knows who I’m talking about as he studies me. “Vada told me she’s Ran’s ex.”

“Yeah. They were together before we moved back to New York about two and a half years ago,” he says cautiously. “What did Vada tell you?”

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