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Brysen nodded, his blond curls bouncing. “Sick Beat. I love them.”

I, on the other hand, couldn’t stand them. They were nothing but electronic music with some dubstep and guys screaming like demons. The only thingsickabout them was their sorry excuse for music. But Brysen loved them, and I didn’t want to be a Negative Nancy.

“We can go if you really want to,” I said, as I looked into his wide eyes and too-innocent face. There wasn’t anything truly innocent about him. As Kyler liked to say, Brysen was a demon in disguise. Probably why he liked his crazy scream-o music. “I’m sure I can get us VIP wristbands from the station. Then, we’d be able to go backstage and meet all the acts.”

One of the perks of having aninwith the community? I was often given free shit; concert tickets, basketball or football tickets…I’d even been invited to a big drag show once, which I had one hundred percent attended and loved every second of.

“If I got to meet the lead singer of Sick Beat, I’d probably die,” Brysen said, his smile growing wider. “And after coming back to life, I’d ask if he wanted to fuck.”

“Of course you would.”

“You only live once, R. The worst that can happen is he says no.”

“No, the worst that can happen is he has his security guards toss you out. Or have you arrested. So try to keep your hands to yourself untilafterhe consents. Not before. Okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand before hopping off the bar stool and padding into the living room.

I heard the Xbox turn on, followed by the crinkling of a bag, and I walked in there after him. He’d taken the bag of chips I’d just bought and had it ripped open, grabbing big handfuls and stuffing his face as he waited for the game to load.

“Don’t get crumbs in my couch,” I said, as I saw chips fall to the cushions.

He was my best friend, but sometimes it felt like I had a teenage child.

Or my baby brother back.

My throat tightened at the thought, and I looked away. “I’m going to take a shower. Don’t trash my house.”

“Is an orgy considered trashing the house?” he asked, as I walked down the hall. “Asking for a friend.”

“If I get out of the shower to find a bunch of dudes banging in my living room,” I called from my bedroom, as I gathered clean clothes, “I swear to god I will kick your twink ass.”

Brysen laughed.

Around two, I arrived at the station to have my daily meeting with Rick, Michelle, and some of the other members of the crew. We discussed recent stories and narrowed them down to what we were going to talk about on air.

I’d be covering the Spring Fever Festival again, giving updates about verified bands and celebrities who’d be in attendance, and Michelle was going to discuss the construction on Main Street. Addersfield was getting a few more hotels, a new shopping center, and a water park.

After the meeting, I looked at my phone.

Grayson and I had texted back and forth that morning, but I hadn’t heard from him in a few hours. Two days had passed since he’d received the letter from Ameinias—as they’d started calling him—and I hadn’t seen Gray within that time. It sucked. I guess being the target of a serial killer would’ve sucked even more, though, so I’d suffer through the Grayson withdrawal.

Me:Any updates on the case?

It was nearly four, so he should’ve been getting off work soon. However, with the hunt for Ameinias, his hours were unpredictable.

Grayson:Why…you wanting to talk about it in the news? :p

Me:Fuck you. You know I’d never do that.

Grayson:lol I love when you get all feisty

I rolled my eyes and called him.

“Detective Riley speaking,” he answered in a deep, intentionally sexy tone. “Is this my five o’clock massage appointment? I fully expect a happy ending.”

“You wish, asshole,” I scoffed. “You’re the one who insists we can’t see each other.”

“For your—”