Page 10 of What Happened Last Night

My jolt of awareness at being in the presence of rock stars was almost immediately erased by a feeling of…familiarity. Except for their hotness and their crazy job, these guys reminded me of my brothers.

“Billy, you have to listen to this,” Axel said. His phone was in his hand, and he started connecting it to the board so he could play something, expertly touching the input settings.

“No,” Will said. “Absolutely not.”

Denver ignored them and looked at me. “Hi. Who are you? I’m Denver.” He held out his hand.

“Luna,” I said, shaking it. I ignored the brief, weak feeling in my knees. “I’m Will’s new assistant.”

“Gosh, you’re pretty,” Denver said, and somehow it was the most flattering thing I’d ever heard and not remotely a come-on. He let my hand go. “You look like that actress. Ah, damn, I can’t remember her name.” He snapped his fingers, thinking.

“Hey,” Axel said. “That dress looks great on you.” He waved. “I’m Axel.”

“Hi. Thanks for the compliment.”

Denver snapped his fingers again. “Or is it a singer you remind me of? God, my brain is mush after a tour. Also the rest of the time, honestly. It’ll come to me, probably a week from now.”

“Billy, you have to hear this,” Axel said again. He had plugged his phone into the sound board and was scrolling.

“Don’t play it,” Will warned. “And stop flirting with my assistant.”

Denver put his hand to his heart. “We would never.”

“We need a new bass player, right?” Axel said. “Neal is taking a break after the next tour and we haven’t found someone to fill in yet. I’ve found this incredible band. You’ve got to—”

“No,” Will said. “Don’t play it. Do not—”

Before I could ask why he was so set against hearing Axel’s suggestion, Axel tapped his phone, and music played over the room’s powerful sound system. It was “Africa” by Toto at full volume.

Denver bent at the waist, putting his hands over his ears, and Axel moved one of the faders to turn the volume up. I heard Will shouting over the wave of 80s yacht rock. “For fuck’s sake, Axel, turn it off!”

Eventually, Axel cut the sound. “Come on, Billy, admit it,” he said. “You love the Toto Torture.”

“He does this every time,” Will explained to me. “Every time we let him in this room.”

Axel was laughing too hard to respond.

“Luna,” Denver said to me, getting control of his own amusement and trying to sound serious. “I’m very sorry you had to experience the Toto Torture the first time we met. It’s Axel’s favorite joke at the moment. Now imagine sharing a bus with him for two weeks.”

I crossed my arms, biting my lips so I wouldn’t smile too much. Smiling would only encourage them. “Toto Torture, huh? That’s creative. I might use it on my brothers.”

“Feel free,” Axel said. “If someone’s talking too long—Toto. If they’re annoying you—Toto. If you just want to randomly piss them off—Toto. It always works.”

“I’m definitely pissed off,” Will said, “so it works on me.”

“Shimmy,” came a dark, gruff voice from the doorway. “Are you playing fucking Toto? I swear I’m going to kick your ass.”

I turned to find a tall, muscled man standing there, dressed in black jeans and a black tee. He wore a beard and a fearsome scowl. If you weren’t looking, maybe you wouldn’t see the resemblance, but I did. This was Stone Zeeland.

Just about everything about Stone was different from Will, but I’d seen Will scowl like that. It wasn’t as fearsome on Will’s features, but it was just as serious. Stone had a familiar stillness to him, as if he was thinking something over.

Axel disconnected his phone and held his hands up. “I just had to get Billy with it. I’m done now.”

“If I have to hear that song one more fucking time,” Stone grumbled.

“Manners, Stone.” This was the last member of the band, Neal Watts, the bassist. He moved past Stone in the doorway and smiled at me. He had brown hair, an unshaven jaw, and a slim build. He also wore a vintage leather jacket that spoke my language. “Please ignore him,” he said to me. “He’s particularly feral today.”

“Fuck off, Watts,” Stone said.

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