Page 128 of Paint Our Song

Miles puts a hand on Calvin’s knee, squeezing it, mostly to stop him from getting up and hitting Chase with his own guitar.

“You’re such an ass,” Gil pointedly says, and Chase grins wide at him and starts playing a song.

A few minutes later, Gabby arrives. She’s got documents in her hands, and the first thing she does is push Miles away so she can take the seat beside Calvin. “Pleaaase help me with these financial statements. I’m not sure they’re correct.”

Miles doesn’t miss how Chase switches to a love song as soon as Gabby’s there.

“You should take a course on this,” Miles suggests, “Or hire an accountant.”

She nods. “We should hire someone for it. We have the budget. I think.”

Miles grins at her. “We have the budget,” he confirms.

Maybe. Like Gabby, he still hasn’t gotten the hang of these statements. It’s a good thing they have Calvin, who’s a genius and can look over it for them. He trusts him when he says their inn’s finances are excellent. In fact, they’re so excellent that they’re on track to pay off all their loans within a year.

“Looks accurate to me.” Calvin hands the statement back.

“Thanks! Love the new place,” Gabby says, waving around theroom. “Let me guess, you did the studios first?”

Miles and Calvin nod in unison. She knows both of them very well.

“Show me.” She jumps up and grabs Miles by the arm, and he yelps as she drags him to the hallway.

Gabby’s expression brightens up as she looks at the music studio, then at the art studio. The two rooms have very different personalities. Calvin’s studio has all sorts of equipment that Miles doesn’t really understand, and his many guitars hang from the walls. It’s also a lot neater than Miles’s studio, which is a disarray of canvasses, sketch pads, and art materials.

“I’m happy for you, Miles,” Gabby says softly.

“Ugh.” He scrunches his nose and pretends to hate her sappiness.

When they get back to the living room, the guitar is with Calvin and he’s playing a tune that Miles hasn’t heard before. A new song, maybe. Chase is beside him, talking in a low voice, and Gil is also intently listening.

The band’s been taking their time to get back on the scene, though Miles is already excited about what they have in store. After a lot of grueling months of trying to figure out how the separation would go, they came to an agreement that the three of them would keep the band’s name.

Miles isn’t so sure what Theo’s up to now, though he did hear he’s still getting royalties. Calvin had blocked his number six months ago, and Miles couldn’t be happier to have no news from him aside from what Calvin had told him about the separation agreement.

“Are you working on a new song?” Miles asks.

Gil’s the one who answers. “Hopefully. Cal, you see the audition videos Derrick sent? Anyone catch your eye?”

Calvin shrugs, still continuing to play on the guitar. “That guy who sang while playing the keyboard was pretty good.”

“The guy who went viral last week?”

“Yeah.”

The three of them look so comfortable like this. He joins Gabby, who’s sitting on a stool near the kitchen, and she offers him a beer. She must have taken it from the fridge and the two of them watch the band play.

“Remember when you were so obsessed with this band?” Gabby teases. “Who knew you’d be living with their lead guitarist one day, and that they’d be writing songs in your apartment?”

“It was on my vision board,” he jokes.

***

Later, when their friends have all left, Calvin disappears to his studio to put his guitar away. Miles finds him there, standing in the middle of the room with a thoughtful expression.

“What’s on your mind?” Miles asks.

Calvin, seemingly startled, turns to look at him. A beat of silence passes, then a smile spreads across his lips. “You,” he says, simply. “Always you.”