Rafe (Inked Brotherhood 5)

“And then we’re thinking of going for drinks,” Tessa concludes whatever it was she was saying, beaming at me.

I blink. “Tonight?” I clearly missed a good chunk of what she was saying. “But—”

“Not tonight. Next Saturday, after the concert. You are invited. You haven’t forgotten, right?”

“Concert?” I make an effort to focus on what Tessa is saying. I honestly like her and it’s not her fault I keep spacing out on her.

“Deathmoth will be singing at Halo. You know, Deathmoth, Dakota and Rafe’s band?”

His name brings me back to earth with a thump. “Right. Deathmoth.”

“Halo isn’t far from where you work. Say you’ll come, please, please, please?” She bats her long lashes at me, and I can’t help it: I laugh. She’s so cute.

“I don’t know if I can,” I begin, and she lifts her hand to stop me from going on.

“Yes, you can. I’m giving you a week’s warning. What in the world can keep you from going out on a Saturday night?”

I roll my eyes at her. “How about work?”

“Get someone to cover for you.”

I bite my lip before I tell Tessa she knows nothing of the real world. I mean, I just landed this job. The coffee shop is classier, the salary better, but the boss is stricter, too.

I don’t say it, though, because it wouldn’t be fair. Her life has changed. She doesn’t depend on her parents’ money anymore. She’s put college on hold, got a job, and helps Dylan take care of his two little brothers. She’s a working girl, like me.

I sigh. “I’ll see what I can do.” Then her words finally sink in, and realization dawns. “Rafe will be playing?”

“He’s the drummer. Can’t have a punk rock concert without a drummer, can you? Ah, I guess I should have just said he’ll be at Halo next Saturday, then you’d have said yes from the start.” She winks, seeing right through me, and grabs the still full glass from my hand. “Thinking of Rafe makes a girl thirsty, doesn’t it?”

I snort as she sips at the water, wagging her brows. My cheeks heat up. “Shut up.”

“Imagine him all sweaty and shirtless, banging on the drums. You know how he loses himself in the rhythm, going faster and faster, and—” She slaps a hand over her mouth but a giggle escapes her. “Oh God, that sounded different in my mind.”

“Yeah, I bet it did.” God, if I splash my face with cold water now, I’m sure it will evaporate on contact, because the image she’s painting is enough to set my blood on fire.

Get a grip on yourself, Megan Durant.

“What’s wrong with imagining a gorgeous guy banging the drums? You’re single, he’s single. You want him, he wants you.”

“Yeah, about that… Not so sure.”

“He’s always looking at you.”

“He does?” I’ve caught him looking a few times, but I thought it was all in my mind.

“Yeah. And he’s always searching for you. Like, if he doesn’t immediately see you, then he asks where you are.”

This is news to me. Still… “Maybe he just likes looking. He has barely said a word to me all this time.” I run a hand through my bangs. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“I’m with Greg,” I blurt out.

A lie, of course, but maybe it will keep everyone off my back for a while. They seem set on getting me and Rafe together, and well, no matter how heated the looks Rafe sends me are, that doesn’t mean he wants anything from me.

Or I from him, I tell myself. Because, no matter how handsome he is, how his pain speaks to me, makes me want to help him, save him—it’s all a bad idea. I tried saving my mom, and look where that got me.

“Greg,” Tessa repeats, her face blank. “The guy who used to hang around the café-bar where you worked in the summer?”