Page 36 of Hard Rock Deceit

Glancing at him, I tried to gauge whether he was just teasing, or serious. His eyes were alight with goodhumor.

August took my hand and led me to the living room area where the guys were gathered. His long, warm fingers engulfed mine. I stared at our hands, lacedtogether.

Those butterflies in my stomach returned. They were a welcomefeelingnow.

"We've got one more joining in," August said. "Better bring yourA-game."

"No fair, making us play against an amateur," Cameroncomplained.

"Playing terribly is as much a skill as playing well," Ian replied. "You need to understand how the notes fit together to know understand theywon't."

"Always the optimist," Damon said. "You're going to get your asskicked."

August placed an acoustic guitar in my hands, handed me a pick, and guided me to sit on one of the sofas. He took a seatbesideme.

I fumbled to put my arms and hands in the right positions. The guitar was big, and sat heavy inmylap.

"Do I hold it like this?" I askedtheguys.

"Sure," Damon said breezily. "Justlikethat."

"So that's ano,then?"

Taking a deep breath, I put the pick to strings and strummed anexperimentalnote.

The off-pitch squeal that sounded throughout the tour bus made everyone wince, includingmyself.

"Keep going," Augustencouraged.

I changed the position of my fingers on the neck of the guitar — I think it was called a fret board — and strummed vigorously, trying to imitate how I'd seen the twins play onstage.

"Ugh," the twins groaned in unison, covering their ears with their hands in an oddsymmetry.

"For the love of god,"Damonsaid.

"Please stop," Iancontinued.

"Our ears are bleeding," Damonadded.

"No." Cameron shook his head mournfully. "Justno."

"That's awful," Noah saidflatly.

I laughed. This was fun. Hanging out with the members of a popular rock band like Darkest Days wasn't as daunting as I'd initially imagined. They were chill, a normal bunch of twenty-something guys, minus the messy bathroom and smelly socks. The lead singer Noah was a bit stand-offish, but the rest of them were friendly. Damon had even opened up about his troubles withhistwin.

"Game over," August declared. "Cassie's thewinner."

While the guys gave me a round of ironic applause, Cameron's phone rang. His smile brightened when he saw who was calling. He put the phone tohisear.

"Hey Angel. Youmissme?"

Ian and Noah both took that as an invitation to pull out their phones, no doubt planning to call or text their girlfriends. They each wandered to the back of the bus for privacy. Damon's face twitched, as if fighting back a scowl. He caught me staring at him. His struggled to smooth his face and gave me a wrysmile.

"I'mtrying,okay?"

He stalked off toward the kitchen and pulled opened the fridge, rooting around in it. August stayedbehind.

"So what do I win?" Iaskedhim.