Page 270 of Hot Mess
“Thanks. I’ve already tried everyone I know and respect who might be available,” I said. “No luck, though.”
“I’m also pretty bent on the right producer for our debut album,” Summer put in. “I have high hopes.” She threw me a glance. “We can see, once we get writing, but I want to make sure we work with someonehot.”
“Summer has ulterior motives,” I informed him. “She wants someone she can learn from. She wants to produce, in the future, and Summer doesn’t do shit halfway.”
“As long as she doesn’t leave us in the dust too soon,” Matt said.
“No chance. I’ll drag you right along with me to the top of the charts, kicking and screaming if I have to.” Summer smiled at him, then threw me a quick, pointed look and conspicuously got up, pulling out her phone. “I have to make a call. You guys hang out.” Then she jumped down from the stage and headed for the door.
Subtle.
She’d already told me, about a thousand times, that I needed to talk to Matt, face-to-face, asap, and clear the air about that drunken kiss.
I knew she was right.
Didn’t mean I was eager to do it.
“It’s been an honor, DJ Summer,” he called after her.
“Thank you, Matty!” she sang back. I watched her walk out and the heavy door close behind her.
Then I looked at Matt, and he looked at me. And all at once, the vibe changed.
He was definitely looking at me differently now than he had been all day, when other people were around.
It wasn’t exactlythe look, but it was… something.
“So—”
“So about what happened in England…” he started, kinda drifting off.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“Is it?”
“Yeah. We’re cool.”
At least, I definitely wanted us to be cool. This wasn’t exactly familiar territory for me, though. One, being attracted to someone in my band. And two, turning down a guy I was attracted to.
But I’d definitely been attracted to people I couldn’t be with before and had to deal with it, so there was hope for me not fucking this up, right?
“That girl I told you about?” I said. “Danica… We’re together.”
“Right.”
“So…”
“I’m sorry if I—”
“No apology necessary,” I said. It wasn’t like he’d done anything wrong. The whole drama of this moment just felt awkward to me; I was probably more uncomfortable about it than he was. “But you should know, Summer’s pretty serious about us all having a no-band-members-messing-around policy.”
I had trouble holding his gaze when I said that. Maybe I felt like a dick putting it on Summer. Or Danica.
Like it was their fault we couldn’t hook up or something.
But Iwascommitted to Danica.
And Summer was definitely right about that policy. I agreed with it.
