Page 255 of Rock Me All Night
"I am," Pete says.
"Better watch out," I say. "Meg is only loyal to whoever provides her with the most caffeine."
Miles makes his way to Meg. He takes her hands and pulls her to her feet. And then his arms are around her and his lips are on hers.
And they are making out.
Tom shakes his head. "What happened to the 'no girls' rule? It was such a great rule." He hurls his drumsticks in the general direction of the floor and makes his way to the door.
And then it's just Drew, standing next to his guitar and looking at me with all these expectations.
What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
"Let's leave them to it." He nods to Meg and Miles.
"Let's," I say.
He takes my hand and leads me back outside. It's not much here—a black concrete alley surrounded by warehouse buildings. There's music coming from down the street. It's vaguely familiar, certainly something I've heard on KROQ, but I can't place it.
No sign of Tom or Pete. No doubt they're both sulking in their own unique way.
"Hey." He rubs my shoulder, sweet. "You want to tell me why you look so miserable?"
"Not really, no." I hug my purse. "I'm here to listen to the music."
"I can rephrase it so it's not a question."
"I don't want to talk about it." The sun is beating down on the black concrete. I move toward the little alley on the side of the building. There should be shade there.
Drew follows me. He's close. A foot behind me maybe. I can hear his breath. I can feel the warmth of his body. My heartbeat always speeds up when he's around. My lungs always struggle to keep up.
I lean against the concrete wall. "I'm exhausted. Can we leave it at that?"
"I don't like seeing you upset."
"It's just stuff with my mom. I'll figure it out. I promise."
He runs his fingertips over the back of my neck. "I can help you figure it out."
"You can't." I look into his eyes. "It's something I have to do."
"Kara."
"Come on," I say. "It's not like I beg you to talk about whatever it is that made all your bandmates so cagey around the subject of you and relationships."
"That's just Tom being an idiot."
I shoot him ayeah, rightlook. "Why do you stop flirting with me the second someone else is around?"
"It’s private."
"Am I not good enough for your friends?” I press my fingertips into the concrete wall.
“How could you not be good enough?”
“I don’t know. You tell me. What quality do I need to have to be worthy of girlfriend status?”
“Kara.”
