Page 46 of Shattered Chords

“My mom doesn’t know what she likes.”

“Is that so?”

“It’d be cool if you dated her.”

“You think?” For some strange reason, it didn’t bother me at all that Ally’s imagination had taken her there. Hell, ever since I met her mother, my own imagination had taken me to the wildest places. Problem was, Camille didn’t want to go with us.

“Yeah.” Ally looked away for a moment, and her voice grew tiny. “I think if she was dating, she’d let me date too.”

“I see what’s going on there, Hendrix.” I laughed softly. “So there’s a boy in the picture then?”

“Well.” She scrunched up her nose. “Sorta… Yeah. But don’t tell her. She’ll flip.”

“I won’t,” I agreed. “You got any more shows coming up?”

“Still working on it. We’re meeting with Jesse Catchum next Saturday in his studio in Burbank.”

“Is that the dude who used to sing for Monochrome Summer?”

“Yeah. He still does.”

“They haven’t released a new album in years.”

“True.” Ally nodded, and when she spoke, her face was like a cartoon—animated. In a sweet, childish kind of way. “He was at the club on Friday. Didn’t you see him?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“He’s pretty dope.” She turned to look at me. “But you’re pretty dope too.”

It’d been a while since anyone had actually complimented me on my personality. “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself, Hendrix.”

She bit back her smile the same way Camille did.

“So I heard a rumor that you need a new guitar teacher?” I said, shaking the wrinkled pieces of grass from my palms.

“Who told you?”

“Uh, one of your mom’s friends...I believe. Renn?”

There was a long pause. “I don’t think we can afford you,” Ally finally said, her voice meshing with the soft rustle of the leaves above our heads.

“I’m sure we can work something out, Hendrix.”

She perked up. “Are you going to tell my mom or do you want me to?”

“How about we do it together?”

“Okay, but get some Kevlar first.”

We shared a laugh and got to our feet.

“Let’s do this now,” Ally murmured, dusting off her skinny jeans. “While she’s with Harper. If he likes you, we win.”

6 Camille

“No,” I said loudly, which prompted a few heads to turn to see what was going on at the table I shared with Harper.

Ally’s face instantly slackened, the light in her eyes going out like a candle in the wind. “Why not, Mom?”

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