Page 35 of Forever and Ever

“Virgin.” Cassie smiles.

“Thank you.”

It’s no secret that all of us girls drink, but this is Noah’s house, and even if he doesn’t care how much I drink or if I smoke weed when we’re out partying, I know better than to bring that shit here.

Whether he opens up to me about his struggles with drugs and alcohol or not, I sense sobriety is hard on him. It’s something he tries to hide from the band and pretends he doesn’t live with. But I see it. And I’m not about to be the person who makes things more difficult.

I’m proud of Noah for getting sober, and for staying that way in the environments he’s always in.

I get up and walk across the kitchen to get four glasses out of the cabinet.

“Look at you, knowing where the glasses are.” Cassie smirks.

“They’re glasses.” I roll my eyes, already knowing where this is going.

“Noah’s glasses.”

“Still just glasses.”

“Sure, they are.” She winks.

I set them down on the island and level my gaze at her. “Just get this over with already. What do you want to know?”

Cassie gives me a fake questioning expression, but Quinn doesn’t hold her tongue. “You fucking Noah yet?”

“There it is.” I pick up the virgin margarita mix and start pouring. “No, we aren’t fucking. Never have, never will.”

“Never is a long time,” Cassie says. “Especially under one roof.”

“I’m not fucking Noah Hayes,” I repeat, as she starts slicing up the limes.

“Why not?” Stacy asks, and it catches me off guard. Not because I didn’t expect the inquisition. I did. But because Stacy was the one to say it.

Of all the band’s staff, she is by far the most professional. She’s never caught out partying and doesn’t believe in mixing work with pleasure. But here she is, joining the rest of them.

“I’m just saying,” Stacy continues, with a shrug. “It’s Noah, and it’s you. Under one roof.”

“We’re friends.” The word almost sours at the thought of our almost kiss last night. “And we’re very different. Total opposites. That would be a bad idea on so many levels.”

All three of them are looking at me like the words coming out of my mouth are total bullshit, but I’m not going to justify whatever romantic comedy they want to write for my relationship with Noah in their heads.

“How’s Sebastian?” I veer the conversation, which gets me a giant eye roll from Cassie.

Luckily, she might be annoyed, but she allows it.

“Good. Busy.” She squeezes a lime into each of our drinks and passes them out. “Him and Eloise have been spending a lot of time writing the new album. He seems excited about it.”

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

Stacy and Quinn nod their heads in agreement.

It’s been almost two years since Enemy Muse has put out new music. Sebastian and Eloise are the primary songwriters for the band, and after Sebastian’s best friend, who is also Cassie’s brother, died, Sebastian went into a drunken spiral I wasn’t sure he would ever come out of.

Between meeting Cassie and seeing a therapist, Sebastian is finally breaking out of his long-lasting slump, and it’s good to hear he’s writing music again.

“What about you?” Quinn asks. “When do you start recording?”

“Tomorrow.” The nerves in my stomach kick up again.

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