Page 73 of Secondhand Smoke
She leaned her body forward over the bike, and Barrett barely had time to register her nearness before there was a soft peck on his cheek.
He wished he had expected it, so he could savor the millisecond before it was gone. “Oh, uh . . . Yeah, okay.”
“Thank you for helping me. I can go the rest of the way from here. Have a good night.”
Barrett stayed still until she disappeared over the top of the hill.
Only once he couldn’t see her anymore did he brush his fingers over his cheek.
29 - Nell
The next couple of days, Nell couldn’t bring herself to indulge in anything except for water, whiskey, and the occasional wafer.
She would have taken away the whiskey as well, but she was convinced she might actually die without it, so a mouthful or two to stay alive was all she allowed. But her stash of pot was off-limits, even though she found herself staring at it and wishing she could give in just this once.
She didn’t deserve any better.
Jake was right. Everything he’d said was valid, and she hadstillallowed herself to kiss Barrett on the cheek and give in to the one thing she wanted.
Once she felt she had properly punished herself, she emerged on a day she knew the band would be practicing. She left a note for her mother that she was going to see her friends and left the house before her mother could witness her in her state.
Toni’s garage was open when she arrived. She had expected there to be an air of gloom over the fact that, last she’d seen them, they’d lost their gig. Instead, they were in the middle of a new song.
They didn’t play like they were bummed out.
Toni’s whole body went into the movement as he crashed his sticks down into the middle drum, and Dennis strummed his guitar enthusiastically along to the beat. All of them appeared to be in extraordinarily high spirits.
Barrett grinned when he saw her come in, and when Nell’s heart leaped, thinking back to the last night she saw him, she pinched her leg until it stung then sat down.
The song ended, and Toni whooped. Paulie hit his bass strings in a final strum, satisfied.
“Perfect timing,” Dennis said, setting down his guitar and taking a seat on a chair near Nell, wiping dots of sweat from his forehead. “We just got the news.”
“News?” Nell looked around, nervous. News of any sort put her on edge, but hopefully she didn’t need to be. Based on their grins, it had to be good.
“Dennis’s uncle called earlier to let us know he managed to dig up more gigs for us in Bellevue, to make up for losing The Pour House.”
The unnecessary worry in Nell melted. Her hands rose to her chapped lips as she gasped. “Oh my god! That’s great news!”
She could sense Barrett the second he walked into the periphery; despite her punishment, she couldn’t help looking his way to catch his grin. She just couldn’t help herself when he was around.
She smiled back. “When do you guys start?”
“Friday. Tomorrow,” Toni answered. “We get all three weekend slots, so we’ll be there until Monday every week.”
Their contagious excitement faded from her, and her hand on her lips started picking at them.
“That’s great.” Her smile was a little harder to hold.
Shewashappy for them. They’d worked hard for this. It was Barrett’s dream.
He was happy, so she was happy. Shecouldhandle a few days away from them every week.
She could.
A few days were nothing.
The taste of iron flooded her mouth, and she winced as her tender tongue flinched away from her teeth.
