Page 18 of Feral Touch
Still, I couldn’t ignore how long it had been. There was a reason we were having this reunion.
Ren opened his mouth as if trying to reply, then shut it, frustrated.
“You look good.” I tried to bring the conversation back around to a less delicate topic. “You hit a second growth spurt.”
“You didn’t.” Ren replied automatically, looking immediately horrified.
I laughed and brushed it off as he tried to apologize. “It’s fine. I know I’m lacking the height gene.”
The two of us stood there for a few more moments just staring at each other. I didn’t want things to get awkward, but I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t trigger a land mine of unwanted memories and emotions.
“So, who’s your friend?” Kell bounced over and threw his arm around my shoulder. I jolted back in surprise. He certainly was handsy. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Ren didn’t even blink. I assumed the man’s behavior was normal. “This is Ivy Derrick.”
“That tells us nothing.” Kell dismissed his explanation with a wave of his hand. “Where did you guys meet? How do you know each other?” He cocked an eyebrow and gave the two of us a wicked grin. “Howwelldo you know each other?” The innuendo was plain in his voice.
Morris came up behind Kell and threw him into a headlock, saving me from his clutches and his questions. “Stop bothering the kids.”
“No, please, ask away.” Jayce’s narrow-eyed smirk told me he would enjoy listening to Kell pester us with questions. “Ren has been surprisingly tight-lipped about you.”
“Really?” I side-eyed him, wondering why. I’d at least told the girls a few things about our past, even if I hadn’t divulged the whole sordid story. “What did he tell you?”
“Just that the girl he met after that concert was someone he used to know and hadn’t heard from in a long while.”
“Five years,” I said, nodding.
Kell gave Ren a sharp look, but the bassist was plainly avoiding his eyes.
“I knew Ivy growing up,” Ren said quickly. “We went to the same music school.”
“You play, too?” Jayce asked.
“Nothing like what you guys do. I’m a cellist.”
“Oh yeah, I remember,” Kell said, interest piqued. “You mentioned it in the video.”
“You guys all saw that?”
I don’t know why I was surprised. There would be no way for the band members to know the video was addressed to one person in particular before they played it.
“We did. It raised a lot of questions, let me tell you.”
Kell sounded like he was getting ready to start up a long, involved interrogation, but Morris cut him off.
“How long have you been playing the cello?”
“More than ten years. I started when I was nine.” The same age I met Ren.
“And you’re attending Opus Academy? You must be pretty talented.”
I didn’t want to brag, but yeah, I kind of was. I just gave him a smile in reply.
“I’m sorry guys, we’re going to have to cut this short.”
The young woman, Ailey, appeared next to Jayce with a regretful expression. “We’ve got an interview scheduled across town in thirty minutes.”
Panic rose in my chest. Ren and I had barely had any time to talk. Was this it? Was I going to have to say goodbye already?
