Page 137 of Next to Everything We Wanted

“Me too.” Sienna opened her basket and laid out sandwiches and fruit salads. “I hope this is enough. I made turkey sandwiches, turkey and cheese, cheese and bacon, and bacon with egg and cheese. I couldn’t decide what you’d like the most, so I made them all.”

“It’s perfect.” I picked up a sandwich and took a bite, the delicious flavor of the turkey meat and cheese greeting me. “Whoa, this is good.”

“Thank you.” Sienna picked up a bacon and cheese sandwich and devoured half of it in only a few seconds.

I snorted. “You seem to like it, too.”

“Sorry.” She wiped crumbs from her mouth. “Bacon and cheese sandwiches are my favorite. Not the healthiest option, but I can’t resist.”

“No need to apologize.”

After Sienna devoured a few more sandwiches, she spoke again. “What do you guys have planned for the future ofSomewhere in the Sky? Would you be open to trying to get a record deal?”

I shrugged. “Maybe we’ll hire a manager or assistant down the line, though we’re pretty content with releasing our own music. I have no interest in being signed to a label any time soon. It’s suffocating to be under someone else’s rule and not have full creative control.”

Sienna nodded. “It’s amazing how much you’ve done on your own.”

“Well, we wouldn’t have a place to perform without Eli’s aunt and uncle, but yeah, the rest has been all us. We’re proud of ourselves.”

“As you should be.” She looked around as if she was looking for something else to say. “Is it okay to ask who played the worst part of a record label? Like, not names, but roles. Like the owner, manager, stuff like that.”

I blinked. “Why?”

She bit her lip. “I want to know what to look out for. Just in case Like Airplanes gets signed to a label one day.”

“Um . . .” My past was the last thing I wanted to talk about, even if it was vague. I thought Sienna and I could pretend it never happened after all the drama went down. She’d even told me that I didn’t need to explain it. “I guess the people we worked with directly—our managers and marketing team. They treated us more like products than people.”

“Interesting.”

I furrowed my brow. “Is there something specific you want to know?”

Her eyes widened. “No, I-I was just interested.”

Yeah, she was lying. “Did you find something online you wanted to ask me about? I’ll answer it.”

She twirled a strand of her hair. “I’m sorry, I ruined everything?—”

“What are you talking about?” My heart hammered against my ribs. “Did you find something you don’t like about me?”

“I didn’t!” She held up her hands. “Sorry, I know I said you didn’t have to explain your past, but sometimes I get curious about what that life was like. It’s so different from your quiet life in April Springs—which is a good thing.”

“So, you didn’t find anything you don’t like about me?”

“I’ve barely looked at stuff about you. Mostly just stuff about your label and the work environment.” Her hand shook as she put it in mine. “It’s just that I never thought about that side of the music industry, so I just looked into it more.”

The number of times she saidjustdidn’t comfort me. “Are you sure you’re not lying? Because if you want me to address something I did, I will.”

“Gavin,” she whispered, leaning closer to me. “There’s nothing you could’ve done that will make me like you any less.”

“Nothing?”

“Well, unless you violated or killed anyone, yes.”

I laughed, the tightness in my chest loosening. “I didn’t.”

“Then everything is perfect.” She smiled and kissed me. “Now, let’s get back to our sandwiches. We can’t let them go to waste.”

“We sure can’t.” Now that the knots in my stomach were untied, I felt like eating again.