Page 24 of More Than a Spark

Twisting my lips, I nodded once. “Thanks, Gabe.” I stuck out my arm.

He fell into me, and side hugged me. “No problem, man. You’re about to be a band wife. I can feel it.”

As I followed Gabe out of the restroom, I thought back on our discussion. This week, I’d talk to him and Jeremy some more and get my head together. I’d probably be able to reach them on the Instagram band account when I was ready.

SEVEN

MILO

“Ryder sure is taking a long time in the bathroom. I hope he’s okay.” I swayed my head, peering through the crowded bar, hoping to see Ryder coming back.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Archer grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

My attention drew to him. “Yeah…” I took him in from head to toe. With Ryder around, it felt like I’d been going through the motions with Archer. I wasn’t really feeling it like I had before. It wasn’t fair to Archer to make him think this was going to go anywhere if it wasn’t. “So, you and Ryder were hanging out the whole time we were playing.”

“We were. He’s a good guy.” He set my hand on the bar, covering it with his own. “I can see why you like him so much.”

Pressing my lips together, I exhaled a rush of air through my nose. “He is a good guy.” I squeezed Archer’s hand, then hopped off my barstool. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to make sure he’s okay.”

“Sure. I’ll hold the seats.” Archer swung toward the bar and drank his beer.

I wove my way through the crowd, a few people telling me how awesome the band was along the way, then I stopped at the doorway to the casino.

Gabe and Ryder strolled side by side along the walkway between the wall and the slot machines, smiling and talking with one another.

Good, they were getting along like I knew they would. I sauntered to them, and they stopped. “Everything okay, Ryder?” I clasped my hands over my chest.

He threw a knowing glance at Gabe. “Yeah, everything’s good. Just uh, met Gabe in the bathroom and we had a little chat.”

Tapping Ryder’s shoulder, Gabe said, “I’ll leave you to it. I need to see what trouble Jeremy’s gotten himself into.” With a quick grin at me, he left.

I tongued the corner of my mouth and planted my hands on my hips. “What were you and Gabe chatting about?” Was it about Archer?

“I was just um, getting some clarification on a few things.” He gnawed his lower lip a moment. “How are you and Archer doing?”

“We’re okay.” I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know if this is going to work out. He’s a cool guy, but I don’t know if I’m feeling it.” Probably because Ryder was here, and things were a little awkward. I shouldn’t have invited them both. I wasn’t sure I was getting clarification on anything the way Cash thought I would.

“Listen, Milo.” Ryder grabbed both my hands and stepped closer to me, his deep brown gaze locking to mine. “We need to talk about something. But not here and not until you…” He looked off into the casino for a heartbeat, then fixated on me. “Until you figure out what you want to do about Archer.”

I wrinkled my forehead. “What’s going on, Ryder?” My gaze darted between his eyes. This looked serious. “Is there something I need to know about Archer? You two were sitting together for a long time.”

“No, Archer’s a stand-up guy as far as I can tell.” He frowned. “I’ve really enjoyed watching your band play tonight. But I’ve gotta go.”

“What?” My heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

His gaze raked over me from head to toe and he slid his tongue over his lips. “I have things I have to do in the morning. I need to help my dad with some uh, stuff.” The corners of his mouth tensed.

He was lying. I’d caught him in another lie. I held my chin up. “Okay, sure.” I wiggled my hands free of his grasp. “Guess I’ll see you next weekend sometime?” An ache filtered into my chest. Something had happened and he didn’t or couldn’t tell me about it. This wasn’t like him.

He blinked a few times. “Um, oh, yeah.” He combed his fingers through his bangs. “You have to work all week and I start the academy.” He twisted his lips, dipping his head. “Maybe I’ll call you tomorrow and see how?—”

“Yeah, call me tomorrow when you’re done helping your dad with…stuff.” Heat burned inside my chest. I rarely got mad at Ryder, but this shit, the lying, had to stop. This was not how the night was supposed to end with him. “Talk to you later.” I pivoted on my heel and my arm tugged backward.

“Milo, don’t be mad at me.” Grasping my bicep, his brows wrinkled. “Please. We will talk, okay?”

My heart melted. “Uh, okay. Sorry.” I gave him a quick hug, then strode into the bar, barely noticing all the people talking at me and pulling at my arms, then found Gabe at the band wives table, sitting next to Jeremy. He knew what was going on. I slapped my hand on the tabletop. “What happened?”

Gabe dropped his mouth open and looked up at me. “What do you mean?”

---