Page 117 of Hot Mess
“Okay. Is he leaving his band?”
“Not yet, but if we can promise him something he’s not getting with them, maybe. Dylan says he’s unhappy with Steel Trap, and he seems like he might be willing to leave them, for the right gig.”
“You talked to him?”
“Yeah, just now.” I flopped into my usual recliner. “I’m telling you, we need this guy in the band. He’s shit-hot. I know I’m drunk right now, but I mean it.”
“Sweetie, if I didn’t believe anything you said when you were drunk, I would’ve stopped listening to you years ago.”
“Ha ha,” I said. She grinned at me. “Do you know him well?”
“I’ve met him a few times,” she said, crossing her arms under her chest. “Which means he’s hit on me a few times.”
“That’s par for the course.”
“Yeah, I got the feeling he hits on everyone.”
I smirked. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, babe. He hits on hot people who have vaginas. The man is definitely discriminating.”
“Well, then. I’ll take it as a compliment,” she said sarcastically, sitting down in the other recliner.
“You turn him down?”
“Oh, sweetheart. You know I don’t go for players.”
“Present company excluded.”
“Anymore,” she qualified. There was a knock on the door, and the girl from the couch slipped in. She handed us each a martini and slipped back out. “Thanks, hon,” Summer called in her wake, smiling at me.
“Your latest fangirl?” I ventured.
“They like making me drinks. Who am I to deny them such pleasure?”
I sipped my drink and grimaced. “The fuck is that, paint thinner?”
“It’s gin, vermouth and olive juice. You’ve never had a dirty martini before?”
“Fuck, gin tastes like paint thinner. I don’t know how you can drink that shit.” I set the martini aside with a shiver.
“They don’t call it panty remover for nothing,” she said, and took a generous sip of hers.
“Fuck.” I rubbed my hand over my face, agitated. “Xander’s a fantastic drummer. I’ve always been a fan of his style. Like he’s that guy who should be at the next level in his career already, or beyond, but he isn’t because his band just isn’t at that level and maybe never will be. You know what I mean? He’s the guy that could help take us to the next level.”
“Yeah, of course I know what you mean,” Summer said. “Supergroup, remember? So let’s get him. What will it take?”
“No idea. He gave me a big sweet maybe.”
“So how do we turn that maybe into a yes? How well doyouknow him?”
“I know I fucked him out of the drummer position in a band he wanted to join, fucking years ago. You may have heard of them. They were called the Penny Pushers.”
Summer frowned. “What do you mean, ‘fucked him out of…’?”
I gave her a scowl right back. “Not like that. I just screwed him over. At least, that’s how he saw it. Coop and Janner had told him he could join the Pushers, back when they were putting the Pushers together. But then they found me and wanted me, and I said no to Xander. I wanted Pepper and I told them if they didn’t bring in Pepper as our drummer, they’d lose me. Me and Pepper were a package deal.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. I mean, I was a kid. The fuck did I know?”
