Page 33 of Silver Edge
I squeezed back, and I was rewarded with one of his ear-to-ear, teeth-baring smiles. The instant flicker I felt deep inside in response told me I’d done something right. A hint of pride filled me. Maybe I could learn how to be with someone, learn what made them happy. Maybe someday I’d feel like I was part of a real couple. I wanted to try to have what my mother only spoke of before she died.
“I want to try.” My voice sounded small even to me.
“Then we will.” He merged several lanes to the right. “So, I have a few CDs we should listen to on the way. Also, we need to strategize a date and time for the Battle of the Bands event. I’ve already had an agreement from two record companies. One’s a pop-punk label and the other death metal. I think that’ll draw in various bands, considering they both have serious ties in the industry. I’d like to host the event in less than six weeks.”
“That’s when the balloon payment is due, right?”Drake released my hand and gripped the steering wheel as he merged onto another interstate, heading west. “Yeah, that’s when my loan extension ends, and I’m afraid without something big, even selling this car won’t save Bands.”
“Then we’ll have the event the last Saturday prior to the six-week deadline.”
He popped the first CD into the player and I watched the buildings shrink from office buildings to homes until the terrain changed to trees and hills. By the second CD, Drake verged off the main street onto a winding two-lane road.
He put in the third CD, and I was disappointed yet again. “I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “These bands are stale and won’t draw a crowd. Where did you get these?”
“They’re ones the record producers sent. All of them almost signed, but didn’t quite make the cut.”
“That’s the problem. They didn’t make the cut for a reason.”
He turned down a long road. The crunching sound of gravel under the tires irritated me enough that my jaw popped from the pressure of my teeth clamping together.
“Where do we get bands then? Ones that will ignite enough interest that I can make some money and save Bands?”
“I don’t know, but you don’t do it like this.”
A moment after the words left my lips, he pulled into a parking place and shoved the gear into park, resting his head against his hands on the top of the steering wheel.
A deep hollowness gripped my gut. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to do this.”
He lifted his head and quirked one eyebrow. “Do what?”
“This conversation thing. I always say the wrong thing. I don’t understand social cues and what people need. I’m dead inside.” I grabbed the door handle to escape, but his hand grabbed my waistband, keeping me in place.
“Practice date, remember? I get the door for you.”
Sighing, I leaned back in my seat.
“You’re doing fine. I’m just frustrated. Not at you. At failing my brother, at being such a dick for so long, and for not knowing how to fix things.” He took a long breath and exhaled. “Remember, you have to keep me in check. I’m learning, too, but there are no grades here. No report cards or GPA.”
“That’s good. I flunked out of high school, and you’re Ivy League.” I shook my head and glanced out the window at several one-story buildings edged by single rows of the same kind of bush. “What am I doing here, Drake? Your grandmother is going to die instantly when she sees my purple hair and hears my ignorance.”
“You’re here as my colleague, helping me with the club. Besides, you’re wicked smart. You don’t need a diploma to prove that. Relax.”
Relax? “She’s going to assume there is something between us, and I’m all wrong for you. You should be with…with—”
“Margo? No thanks. I’ve been with that kind of woman, and they always leave me feeling empty. Now, stop trying to sabotage this.”
“I’m not—”
“Aren’t you?”
“I don’t belong here.” I squeaked like a field mouse.
Drake pinched my side.
“Ow! What’s that for?”
“Trying to keep you focused. If I can’t do it with words I’m going to start pinching.”
“You’d pinch a girl with sensory problems? That’s not being gentlemanly.”
