“What exactly did I interrupt?”
“It’s embarrassing but it was this strange flirtation. We were close enough to kiss but we never closed the gap.” I gripped the sides of my hair with my fists. “Gah! She is like no one I’ve ever known. She drives me batty.”
“And Sam?”
I shook my head. “Sam who? She’s a poor man’s Harper Bailey.”
“Damn, boy. Never thought I’d see the day you got over Sam.”
“Sam’s Charlie’s, anyway.” I said without thinking. I cringed when I realized what I’d said then peered over my shoulder at Cherry. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She pretended.
“I know you’re in love with Charlie.”
“I’m not,” she said, her eyes wide.
“Cherry, come on. You and I are the king and queen of unrequited love.”
She shoved her shoulder into mine. “Am I as transparent as you?” She teased.
“Shut up,” I laughed then smiled stupidly. “Probably not.” I watched Harper’s mouth. “I want to kiss her so badly, Cherry.” I turned back to Cherry, leaning my head on the railing.
“What ya’ tellin’ me this for? Tell her,” she said, bringing my attention back to Harper, who was now staring and smiling at me.
I stood and walked over to Harper, grabbing her hand, barely acknowledging Sam. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” She asked.
“We go on in fifteen, Callum! Don’t stray too far!” Freddy yelled.
“We’ll be there,” I yelled back, keeping my eyes on Harper.
I looked across the rooftop deck and found a dark corner with our names written all over it but Harper surprised me by bringing up the furthest topic from my mind.
“Callum, when Charlie comes back from touring. Where are we going to stay?”
What surprised me the most in that question wasn’t the fact that she was concerned about what was going to happen but what’s going to happen to us.
“Don’t worry, Harper. I’ll take care of us.” And I meant it. I’d figure out a way. “We’re going to be fine. I have two weeks to figure something out. We can save our money and cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, for tonight, stop worrying?”
“Alright,” she grinned.
I tucked a stray hair behind her ear and hugged her tightly.
“Callum Tate,” we heard over the scratchy speakers. “You’re needed near the stage.”
I sighed loudly. “I’m gonna’ kill Cherry. Come on,” I said, dragging Harper back down the stairs and into the main hall.
We dug our way through the crowd and stood close to the edge of the stage. Cherry poked her head from between the curtains and winked at us. So many beautiful sounds surrounded us and I grabbed Harper’s hand as I listened to them; glass bottles clanked like bells against others, happy people laughing all around us, the pumping of awesome tunes coming from up above, Cherry’s band tuning their instruments.
“So, who’s in the band?” Harper yelled in my ear.
“Oh, Cherry’s on keyboards, Nat’s on drums, Freddy’s lead singer and lead guitar, Sam’s on bass, and Tie-Dye Tom is rhythm guitar.”
“Oh, very cool,” she smiled. She looked around her a bit before leaning into me. “Uhh, at the risk of sounding rude, I’ve observed that they’re all older than you,” she added.
“Yeah!” I laughed. “They’re probably mid to late twenties, the lot of them. I seem to relate to them better than kids our age. Maybe because at this age, they know what it’s like to be the only one responsible for yourself.”