Page 25 of Paint Our Song

Miles pretends not to see her.

“I, uh,” Miles says, awkwardly, when it’s only him and Calvin left. “Hey. So, yeah. That was our digital marketer.”

“You said you didn’t have one.”

“She’s new.”

“I thought she was going to ask if I could help out with your marketing.”

“Nah.” Okay, yeah, definitely. “Hypothetically, would you have turned her down?”

“Yes.”

Well, there was… that. Miles can’t help but cover his mouth and cough, hiding his wheeze.

Calvin leans his arms back against the deck’s railing. His shoulders slacken, and he fixes a stare at Miles. It’s a view that makes Miles want to gaze anywhere else.

“Are you leaving Ridgeford soon?” Miles asks, as if he doesn’t know the exact answer to that.

“Yes, tomorrow morning. We’ve got a gig in the city this weekend and need to prepare for it.” Judging from the grimace, he’s not happy with the idea.

“Right, the music festival.” The same three-day music festivals he’s been trying to get tickets to for weeks now. It’s sold out and the only tickets he can find are from scalpers, and he’s pretty sure they’re going to run off with his money.

“You’ve heard about it?”

Miles laughs. “Everyone’s heard of it.”

“Oh. Are you going?”

“I’m going to try,” he says, which is a lie considering he can’t find any tickets. Pouting, Miles unwraps the lollipop that Megan had given him. He loves cherry, and he’s been wanting to eat something sweet some day. He rolls it around on his tongue and melts with happiness. It tastes really, really good, and the sugar is the perfect reward to a morning that sucked the energy out of him. He says, talking around the candy, “I’ll be in the city for an exhibit.”

“I’d rather go to your thing,” Calvin mumbles. “Playing as a band after announcing the break-up sucks. Then I found out we’re going to announce our farewell concert soon.”

“Where will it be?”

“It’s in…uh…”

When his voice trails off, Miles turns to him. Calvin is glaring at his mouth, as if bothered. He can feel that his lips are slightly damp, maybe red from the candy, and maybe Calvin hates the mess. Miles pulls the lollipop out and it makes a wet, smacking sound. “You want one? We’ve got a bowl at the front desk.”

Calvin’s frown deepens. “No.”

“Suit yourself.” He pops it right back and sucks it against his cheek. Calvin grimaces.

Honestly, he can be so odd and hard to read.

“Phoenix stadium,” Calvin grumbles after a taut pause. “That’s where we’re doing the farewell concert.”

“Oh… where you held your first one?”

“Yes.”

Miles wouldn’t pretend that he knows a thing about what goes on when a band breaks up, and he can only guess that it’s awful. Seeing Calvin like this, so clearly distressed, makes his chest pinch. He wishes he could do something about it.

An idea forms in his head.

“About the commission you wanted,” Miles says. “I want to do it. It’d probably help me keep my mind off things, anyway.”

Calvin frowns. “You don’t have to do that.”