Page 29 of Deliverance

“Don’t worry about it. I got it.”

“Thank you!” Kristof bellows, folding his body in half in an attempt to hug his legs.

I leave the two of them in the studio and hurry downstairs to pick up the food. We’ve barely unpacked it when Kristof’s sister calls to remind him that she’s picking him up in twenty minutes because he has an evening class. Time simply got away from us, so the kid never gets a chance to eat. He jumps into the shower to scrub his body clean and takes his sushi to go, leaving Drew and me to our own devices.

As soon as he’s out the door, she walks over to the fridge behind the divider and pulls out a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind. It’s been a crazy week.”

“Not at all.” I shake my head.

We’re seated across from each other at one of the plastic tables, containers with food and packaged condiments laid out in front of us. The windows are still covered up and for a second, the room feels strangely quiet without Kristof, despite the music still playing in the background.

“Did you get everything you needed?” I ask, watching Drew fill up both glasses.

“I think so.” She hands me one and returns to her chair. “I’m going to have to look through all the shots and see if what we did today is enough. Worst case, Kristof and I will schedule another session. He can always use the extra money.”

“He seems…” I pause to think of a word that could describe his bubbly personality best.

“He likes to be the center of attention,” Drew finishes for me. She picks up her chopsticks and plucks one of the rolls from the container. “His sister had been his legal guardian since he turned thirteen. Their father’s in jail and their mother’s seriously ill, so he had it rough for a while, but he’s been modeling on the side and just got signed by a big agency.”

“That’s good.”

“He’s a very smart kid. He still wants to get a college degree. It’s always better to have a backup plan if you’re in our line of business.”

I try to think back to the moment when I realized that college wasn’t for me and that I wanted nothing else but to be in a band, but I can’t remember a time when doing anything but music occupied my mind. “I don’t think I ever had one.”

“You didn’t?” Surprised, Drew arches a brow.

I poke around my plate with my chopsticks, scanning the assortment of rice and fish. “Nope.” My stomach is ripe with hunger but the intensity of her gaze on my face wipes my brain clean of all my physical needs.

She puts a roll into her mouth, shuts her eyes, and chews slowly. An expression of pure delight settles on her features and I watch her in reverent silence as if this is some kind of a magical act.

“How come?” Drew asks with a pleasured sigh once she’s done.

“I always wanted to play drums. Ever since I was a little kid.”

“You didn’t eat anything.” She points at my sushi and sips her wine.

I indulge her curiosity by tasting one of the rolls. The fish is so good, it literally melts on my tongue. I’ve tried so many foods during my trips that nothing surprises me anymore, but this darn lunch is no joke.

“Orgasmic, huh?” Drew gives me a cheeky smile and I almost choke on the rice.

I don’t know what exactly it is about her that attracts me the most—her eccentric ways or her obvious confidence—but she’s undoing me little by little, because the word “orgasmic” coming from her lips sends my blood where it shouldn’t be headed right now. Thank fuck there’s a table between us that makes a decent cover. I will myself to calm down and concentrate on the food rather than my sudden sexual fantasies that involve the two of us and the walls of this studio.

“What about you?” I decide to change the subject. “Did you have a backup plan? College?”

Drew stares past me as if she needs a few moments to dig up the memories, then says, “I wasn’t into it.”

“What was your major?”

“It’s not important anymore.” The unexpected crack in her voice tells me she’s not comfortable discussing that part of her life and I don’t press for more, but she quickly regains her composure. “So you always knew you’d play drums?”

“I think at some point I had a lapse of judgment and thought it would be cool to be an Air Force pilot.”

“No way!”

I nod.

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