Page 41
Story: The Drummer
Good thing Luke and I are about the same size.
After wrapping a towel around my waist, I head to his room to raid his wardrobe. In the opposite direction, I hear the clatter of the main suite door, which means more people are leaving. The riotous atmosphere has faded into the din of murmured conversation. Hopefully, by the time I’m dressed, I’ll only have a few stragglers to deal with.
Callie looks up when I enter the room, and I manage a bright smile. I do feel a lot better than I did a few minutes ago.
“Man, you weren’t kidding!” I say, running a hand through my wet hair.
Her gaze locks on me, but she doesn’t speak. In completesilence, her eyes roam over my body in slow perusal like she’s mad at me again. Or confused. I don’t know, but it’s awkward as hell.
I break the weird staring contest by turning my attention to Luke’s dresser.
“Have you tried it? The wall one?” I call back in an effort to make conversation. “Completely ridiculous.”
“This morning, actually,” she says finally. “Well, I guess, technically, it was yesterday at this point.”
I find a pair of jeans that should fit and tug them on beneath the towel. Callie’s back to her silent treatment, and I face her again while using the towel on my hair. Her expression is still a mix of reactions I can’t interpret as she watches.
Intense hazel eyes scour my chest, down my stomach to my waist and…
Oh.
Hell.
Yes.
I suppress a grin and decide to torture her instead. Just for fun, I adjust to a more relaxed position against the edge of the dresser, leaning back in an open invitation to look. On cue, her gaze drops to the newly exposed skin along my hips. It might be the first time in my life I’m grateful Luke is slightly bigger than I am, because these jeans are the perfect amount of loose right now.
“Who the hell needs a wall shower? What’s that about?” I say casually, as if I haven’t noticed the energy shift in the room.
She shrugs. I don’t even think she heard me.
This. Is. Amazing.
When she randomly climbs off the bed to leave, I can barely keep a straight face.
“Where are you going?” I ask innocently as she’s forced to stop where I’m standing.
Her gaze darts to every point in the room except me. “Nowhere. Just thought I’d take a break from this room for a while. Luke is doing fine. He woke up a second ago and mumbled some stuff that made no sense, but at least proves he’s starting to work his way back to our world. Is it safe yet?” I swear she said all that in one breath.
So freaking funny.
“Out there?” I point toward the door. You better believe I’ll drag this out as long as I can.
“Yeah, is everyone gone?”
I shrug and clench the edge of the dresser on either side of me. Her gaze lingers on the flex of my bicep. Down to my forearm.Andback to some speck of invisible dirt in the ceiling.
“Got me,” I say. “Probably. I cut off bar service, so I doubt anyone will stick around much longer.”
“I’ll go check.”
Of course she will. But I can’t let her off the hook that easily.
I school my expression into concern. “You got weird all of a sudden. You okay?”
She blinks back a panicked response before forcing the worst fake smile I’ve ever seen.
“Fine, yeah, just need a change of scenery for a bit, that’s all.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41 (Reading here)
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164