Page 9 of Jinn

Finn shrugged as he settled on the couch, his heavy body sinking into the cushions. “Okay. Not that good, actually. I listen to mostly game soundtracks.”

“I love game soundtracks. Games, too, though it’s been a long time since I played any.”

“Why’d you ask about my band knowledge?”

“Another kind of game I play while on the road with the band. I’m the reigning champ.”

“How does it work?”

Ajax stretched, his biceps flexing. “We play the openings of songs and try to guess the band quickly. Before anyone else.”

“There’s just two of us.”

Ajax ran his fingers over his exposed stomach absentmindedly. Finn’s gaze stuck there as he imagined tracing that same path with his tongue. Tracing it up to explore the serpent tattoo on his ribs.

“Then we’ll just challenge each other. I’ll show you.” He picked his phone up off the floor and messed around with it a moment before a song started. “Know who this is?”

Finn listened, easily recognizing the melody. “I know the lyrics and the title. ‘Dust in the Wind.’” He wracked his brain. “Sorry. Blanking on the band.”

“Kansas. What decade had your favorite music?”

“I actually liked the seventies, so let’s stick with that, though really, I won’t be good at this.”

“Want me to guess first then?” He sat up and held his phone out. “You can use my app. Try to challenge me.”

Finn stayed in the seventies since it was before Ajax was born, but no matter what he played, the man barked out the band within a couple of chords.

Led Zeppelin.

Black Sabbath.

Steely Dan.

Ramones.

Chicago.

He even tried to trip Ajax up with disco and the softer music of The Carpenters, but he got every single one right. So Finn moved to the eighties, then the fifties and sixties. Didn’t matter. He dropped the phone on the cushion beside him. “Holy shit, you know your music.”

Ajax chuckled. “My parents played music all the time, and they had eclectic taste, so I was exposed to it all.”

“Are you still close to them?”

“Very. Even bought them a new house I had to work hard to persuade them to take.”

“Are they in New York, too?”

Ajax nodded. “I’ve always lived there, though I’m in the city and they’re about an hour out of it. I see them as much as I can, but I travel most of the time.” He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. A strand of wavy brown hair fell over one eye. “What about you?”

“I never knew my parents.”

“I’m sorry. What happened—if you don’t mind me asking?”

Finn shrugged. “Have no idea. I was found wandering a shipyard when I was seven years old. No memories before that.”

“That must be so hard. Did a family take you in? What happened?”

“I grew up in different orphanages. So I was…moved a lot.” That was an understatement, but he was surprised he was sharing this much.

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