Page 39 of Play Dirty (Brooklyn Dawn 1)

I strode back into th

e living room and sat down as far away from Lindsey as I could get. They were laughing and replaying the song they’d written in the light of pure fun.

That was something else that was no longer part of my existence.

I cracked my knuckles. “If you’re done fooling around?”

She blinked at me, her laughter falling away. “Sure. Sorry. It felt good to play something not my own.”

“You just wrote it didn’t you, duchess? You own that one too.”

She tilted her head. “I guess I do.” She glanced at Logan. “Guess we have a new song.” Then she turned to me. “All of us, since I pulled the song out of your random chords.”

“It’s not mine.”

“Too bad. You’ll be listed just the same. I don’t hijack songs without giving credit where it’s due.”

“I don’t need your charity.”

Her eyebrow lifted. “You’re a real asshole. But I’m a real bitch and your name’s going on it.” She set the guitar next to her. “Now let’s hear this Christmas song you want me to play.”

Logan leaned forward and grabbed his notebook off the tray. “Here’s the lyrics.”

I picked up my guitar and nodded to Logan. We started off the slow build song. She listened as Logan sang it through once, then twice. She came in on the third.

The song didn’t suit her voice, so we rearranged it and tried again. Increased the tempo and moved around the verses. Still didn’t suit her or the talent I knew she had. And still, I made her sing it over and over. Logan grew more frustrated with each repetition.

She wouldn’t give up.

When her voice cracked, she uncurled herself and took a long swig of her wine and started up again.

“Stop.”

We both swung our attention to Logan.

“It’s not working.”

“I’ll make it work.” Lindsey flipped her braid behind her shoulder. “I can just add some piano to it. Slow it down.”

“No.”

Her gaze snapped to mine. “No?”

“Lo’s right. It doesn’t suit you.”

Her gaze narrowed. “I can sing anything.”

“Obviously not.” Christ, I wanted a cigarette. I’d given those up too. Vices were for the weak and I refused to be weak. And yet everything about her made me want to sink balls deep in things that were no good for me.

Starting with her.

“You’re such a fucking rude bastard.”

I shrugged. “You’re the one who’s having trouble.”

“I’ll get it.” Her tone was ice. “We don’t have time to build a song from scratch.”

I crossed my arms. “What, like you two did a few hours ago?”

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