Page 31 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)
Dallas
P laying with the kittens as a shelter task sounded way easier than it was. While dogs had the strength to trample you, they didn’t have what kittens did—nails. No, razors at the tips of their paws.
Thankfully, I had Raina with me on Friday afternoon. She had every kitten trying to get on top of her, so I’d be spared from some scratches and bruises today.
“I see you grinning,” Raina said as two cats walked over her stomach. She was lying on a blanket on the floor, her hair flowing so elegantly. Since when had she been so freaking gorgeous?
My grin only widened. “You have to admit that watching them play with you is adorable.” And a little bit hot. I fought the blush that crept its way to my cheeks. Stop it. Stop betraying me.
Raina scoffed as Moonlight licked her chin. “You mean watching them walk all over me like I’m a bridge?”
A freaking hot bridge.
Gosh, where were these thoughts coming from? Had being in love with her not been bad enough ?
I should’ve paid attention during the hormone section of Health class.
“Exactly what I meant,” I said, pretending that my mind wasn’t running wild.
She craned her neck forward. “Fireball wants your attention.”
“What?” Fireball, a feisty orange cat, reached for the strings of my jacket and got his nail stuck in it. He let out a cry, and I slowly freed his nail. He thanked me by glaring at me and scratching my hand.
I winced as a small stream of blood oozed out of my hand. “Are you kidding me?” I sighed, getting up from the floor.
Raina picked Moonlight and Sunshine off her. She examined my hand, her eyes going wide with fear. “Oh, gosh.”
My chest tightened as I thought about how incidents like this made Raina’s anxiety run wild. “Um, I’ll take care of it. It’s not a big—” She hates it when people say it isn’t a big deal . “I’ll fix?—”
Raina left the room, and Moonlight and Sunshine cried as they looked in her direction.
I shot a glare at Fireball, who feigned innocence with his big green eyes. “You stink.”
He had the nerve to rub himself against my leg.
This is why I’m a dog person.
Not even a minute later, Raina came back in the room with a first aid kid. “The nurse has arrived.”
“Much needed.” I smiled as she examined my hand, not a single trace of fear in her expression.
Raina sat down again. “He broke your skin, but it’s a shallow wound.” She grabbed a cotton ball and a bottle of scrub before cleaning my wound. The area burned, but a tingle traveled down my spine as she kept rubbing it.
This was not supposed to feel good .
“Is it stinging?” she asked me, her frosty eyes looking into mine.
“A lot.” I managed to squeak.
Her gentle touch made my skin spark to life as she wrapped my wound in gauze. “I hope I did that right,” she said as she touched my shaking hand, sending another tingle down my spine.
“I think it’s fine.” I gave her a smile, trying not to get lost in her gaze. “Thank you for treating it.”
“I don’t want to get kicked out of here because I let my fellow volunteer bleed to death.” She studied my bandage before touching it again. “Are you sure it’s good?”
“My hand or the fact you don’t want me to bleed to death?”
A grin spread across her face, her eyes twinkling. “Just your hand.”
I laughed, ignoring the fluttering sensation in my stomach. “I’ll take it.”
Her gaze went to her hand again. “Are you sure your hand is okay, though?”
“It is.” I was waiting for the last time she’d ask me. She always checked things in fours. Never more, never less.
She looked one last time, but she didn’t ask. “Okay, I believe you.” Moonlight let out a deep meow and rubbed against her, and she stroked her fur. “I just want to make sure you’re okay and won’t get an infection or anything. My mind worries too much.”
“I understand,” I said as Sunshine sat in my lap. I was about to put my hand on hers before realizing that it wasn’t appropriate. “I’m always a mess, too. Not that you’re always a mess?—”
“Trust me, I am.” Raina laughed, holding Moonlight in her arms. “But it’s okay. We both have good reasons to be a mess.”
“Yeah, it’s been rough.” I held Sunshine in my arms as well, my heart melting as she looked me in the eyes and let out a high- pitched meow. “I think Moonlight and Sunshine like us the most.”
“They do.” Raina kissed Moonlight before putting her down. Moonlight meowed, rubbing herself against Raina again. “I’d adopt them if I had the chance.”
“My dad would flip if we got another pet.” I chuckled. “He already hates how high-maintenance it is to take care of my dog.”
“It’s always worth it to me.” She looked up at me, rubbing underneath Moonlight’s neck. “So I heard you turned down being the lead singer in Hayden’s band. I didn’t know you were into music.”
“I’m more of a listener than a performer.” Fireball reached his paw at me, and I shooed him away. “Plus, Hayden had only heard me sing once before asking me. It’s not like he’s that one talent show judge who hears the contestant sing one line before saying, ‘You’re going to be a big star.’”
“And that person ends up becoming a music teacher,” Raina said with a giggle.
“Yeah, he asked me, too, because Arielle told him to. I never even sang seriously before, though I admit I don’t sound too bad.
” Fireball reached at her with his paw, but she ignored him.
“Arielle and I used to perform for our parents for fun sometimes, but we haven’t done it in years. Hayden’s just too desperate.”
“Do you miss singing to your parents?” I bit my lip. “Sorry, that’s too personal?—”
“It’s fine.” She scooted closer to me. “We’re friends.”
Friends . Every time she said that word, the hairs on my neck prickled. Friends don’t lie to each other. And neither do more than friends.
Which you can never be.
“What’s wrong?” Raina glanced at her wrist, and it took me a moment to realize I’d been staring at the friendship bracelet. “Why do you always look at my wrist like that?”
Shoot . “S-sorry, your bracelets are just pretty,” I said, my heart pounding all over my body.
“Thank you. I have my own jewelry business. I made these.” She traced her hand along her left wrist. “Well, my dad bought me some of them. My pen pal also made me one, but I might stop wearing it because he moved to Boulder Valley and completely ghosted me.”
The blood drained from my cheeks as she pointed to the purple-and-green bracelet. The big black star mocked me. You’re waist-deep in the mess you started, my friend .
“Oh,” I barely managed to say. “That’s cool.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Something’s wrong.”
“Sorry, I just remembered I forgot to do an assignment.” I nearly wiped my forehead from how naturally that lie came from my lips.
“You know . . .” Raina glanced at the bracelet again. Fireball swatted at it. “Boulder Valley is only a town away. And you have some things in common with him.”
My heart almost fell out of my chest.
I was going to throw up. I was going to puke all over the cats and her freaking lap and?—
“But I think it’s just a coincidence.” Raina waved a hand. “I don’t understand what I did wrong, though. He abandoned me when I needed him the most.”
“I’m sorry.” That I did that to you .
She shook her head. “Sorry, I got off topic.”
“It’s fine.” Sunshine sat back in my lap, and I rubbed her yellow fur. “But best friends shouldn’t ghost each other like that.” Except for when they have complicated feelings for you and don’t know how to be friends with you anymore.
“The last time I talked to him, he got really sick, so maybe he’s in the hospital or something.” Her eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh, what if he is?—”
“Don’t spiral,” I told her, touching her bracelets. “H-He wouldn’t want you to worry.”
“Then why else would he drop me?”
Good question . “I don’t know. But I do know you deserve . . .” I swallowed, the blood rushing back to my cheeks. “You deserve someone who’s honest and doesn’t run away from things.”
And he isn’t me, who has every opportunity to tell you the truth but won’t take it.
Raina nodded, studying my face like she wasn’t sure where I was coming from. “Thank you.” She brushed a hand through her hair. “Back on topic, I do miss singing to my parents and spending time as a family.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“There’s nothing I can do to change it.” Raina sighed, her gaze wandering off into space again. “You know, maybe I will go to the band practice tomorrow. I don’t know, maybe having something to work toward will help get my mind off everything.” Her eyes met mine again. “Want to come too?”
After this conversation? Hell no . “I’ll think about it.” I rubbed behind Sunshine’s ears before looking at my watch. “Shoot, we went five minutes over play time.”
“Aw, I was having fun.” Raina got Moonlight off her lap before standing up. Moonlight let out a distressed meow. “Okay, kitties, time to go back into the cage.”
I got Sunshine out of my lap, and she let out a smaller meow, looking up at me with sad eyes. I rubbed her head. “I know, girl. We’ll play again Sunday, okay?”
She meowed again and rubbed against my leg. I’ll wait until then .
Despite my best efforts, I hadn’t been able to shake Hayden’s and Raina’s words out of my mind. After songwriting until I’d fallen asleep, I’d texted Hayden for Oliver’s address in the morning.
Now I rang the Landers’ doorbell, my rhythm guitar strapped around me. I hoped I wasn’t too late. Hayden said they usually started at one, and it was already a quarter after.
A giant man with dirty-blond hair opened the door, and I stepped out of the way. “One of Oliver’s friends?” he asked, looking down at me with his piercing blue eyes. He made my six-foot-one frame feel like nothing.
I nodded, extending my arm. “I’m Dallas. Nice to meet you.”