Page 2 of Resonance

Laughter rang out as I broke my fall on one knee—couldn’t just let me have that one thing, huh, Universe?It was all I could hear as I scrabbled upright again and raced toward the bar’s tiny back room where I’d left my case.

Drenched in sweat and shaking, I burst through the doorway and yanked my guitar from my neck. I wanted to keep going, tear every article of clothing off me until there was nothing weighing me down. The guy who was supposed to go on after me, Lars, glanced up from where he was tuning his instrument and rolled his eyes before jabbing his elbow into the ribs of the guy sitting next to him.

“Second week in a row someone’s choked. Temple needs to get better about screening for titty babies.”

I stiffened, then took a breath and set my guitar carefully in its case. I was an easy target for guys like him. Always had been. The sugary sweet petit four among doughy, cinnamon-sharp bear claws. I mean, if I were a pastry instead of a human being.

I snapped the locks, took another deep breath, and squared my shoulders, swiveling to face the guy. “He doesn’t screen for hack assholes, either. So maybe his standards are all-around low in general.” Lars’s eyes flared, and I gripped my case tighter, shifting my balance to keep from dropping it when the handle slid in my hands. My heart had gone rogueAlien, and was definitely going to hatch from my chest in the next five seconds. I wasn’t typically confrontational like this. “I’ve watched you play open mic night here for the last six months. You flub the break on ‘Black Velvet’ every single time, and you play ‘Cry Me a River’ way too fast, and I swear to god if I never heard you destroy a Coldplay song with that stupid slide gimmick thing you do again, it’d still be too soon. And you’re… you’re… you’re—”Wrap it up, Harper, you’re spinning out,inner cheerleader suggested “—just fuckingrude.”

Spewing that tirade at his bewildered expression felt good for all of a handful of seconds, long enough for me to leave the room, head down the hall, and straight out the back exit.

My stomach lurched as I scurried across the parking lot to my car, and I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the neon sign before tossing my case in the back seat and then sinking into the front and resting my forehead on the steering wheel. I blinked rapidly against the gathering sting in my eyes.Brush it off,inner cheerleader suggested cheerfully.

I groaned and the voice went silent. About damn time.

I’d liked the Sparrow. Too bad I couldn’t show my face there again anytime soon. Probably ever.

I thumped my head against the wheel a couple of times and waited until the burn in the back of my throat faded before digging out my phone and opening my messages.

Owen:Done

Ru:How’d it go

Owen:I tripped running off the stage

Ru:Shit

Owen:But I didn’t wet my pants because 97% of the water in my body had already come out of my palms and forehead by then

Ru called me at that point, and I answered with what I thought might be a Guinness World Record–worthy sustained “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”

Ru chuckled good-naturedly, the jerk.

“I’m not really in the mood for vocal interaction right now,” I told him.

“Damn, that bad, huh?”

I grunted in response.

“I’ve never known anyone to actually wet their pants from stage fright, by the way. Puke, maybe.”

“I’ll take that as a personal challenge in the future.” I slumped in the seat.

“I’m laughing with you, not at you. Promise.”

“You’re laughing alone.”

“I’m just messing with you.” Ru’s voice gentled. “Look, I once had to race off a stage at Pointer’s Inn because I got hit with the runs after a chili dog from that place in West End. Know the one?”

“Heavenly Dog?” I asked tentatively. God, if he ruined Heavenly Dog for me, the night would truly be shot. It might even be a sign of the end times.

“No way. Heavenly Dog is divine.” Ru snorted at his own pun, and a tiny smile tested its mettle against my frown. “I meant the little shack without a sign. That place,” he tacked on.

“Oh, yeah, even I know that’s a mistake.”

“I was starving. Anyway, I’m sure it was obvious what was happening because I got the shit sweats all of a sudden and mowed down half the front row leaping off stage. But I still play there.” I could hear the unaffected shrug in his voice. But that was part of Ru’s unflappable nature, and I… well, I was highly flappable. Whatever the hell that meant. “What I’m saying is don’t worry about it. It was your first try.”

“I know this is somehow supposed to make me feel better, but now all I can think about is getting the panic shits next time.”