Page 88

Story: The Drummer

I swear Luke has an alarm that goes off when food enters this suite.

He grabs the unopened container and drops to a chair at the table.

“TJ would want you to consume a well-balanced meal,” Callie explains in her apparent quest to turn salad into my next fight with Luke.

“TJ Barringer?” Luke directs at me.

Guess we’re going there since…. We’re already there.

To my surprise, Luke huffs a laugh as he opens his lunch. “How does she know TJ?”

“I don’t,” Callie says, way too late to turn this train around. “Only by reputation.”

“Oh, really? Interesting,” Luke muses.

I try to read his face, but he’s not giving anything away.

“She was with me when TJ called about the new tracks,” I explain, studying his every movement.

He hesitates for just a moment before digging into his salad.

Still can’t get a read.

“Not to mention you guys talk about him. I remember stuff,” Callie chimes in.

“Don’t we know it,” I grunt.

Callie’s glare is inversely correlated to Luke’s smirk.

At least I’m not the only victim of her otherworldly recall.

“Heard you kids working again,” Luke says when the conversation dies.

I glance at him in shock. I don’t know which rocks me more,the fact that he spoke when he didn’t have to or the fact that it was about music.

I stay casual, not wanting to break the spell. “Yeah, Callie has a lot of good ideas.”

“Oh, please,” she huffs in a dismissive tone. “I sit there and offer moral support while you work your magic.”

I return a playful warning look that’s also kind of… not.

“Those aren’t my lyrics,” I point out.

“They’re not lyrics, they’re verses,” she quips. “It’s a poem.”

“Not anymore,” Luke cuts in.

She stiffens and lasers a look at him. “Wait, whose side are you on anyway?”

Luke lifts the corner of his mouth. “Sorry, hon, but poetry set to music is called a ‘song.’”

She tries to play it off, but a late smile betrays her. “Fine, whatever.”

“Accept it, Callie. You’re a songwriter now,” I say.

I don’t know why this is so hard for her to grasp.

“No, I’m not. Wait. Really? But…”