The Sound of Us

Chapter Forty. “Everlong” by Foo Fighters

CHAPTER FORTY

“Everlong” by Foo Fighters

SKYE

It was the end of the school year and Steamworks was packed. I hadn’t been to the bar since the night I met Dante, and nothing had changed, from the teeming mass of bodies on the dance floor to the scents of stale beer and deep-fried chicken wings.

This time, however, Isla and I weren’t there to find her fangirl crush or to take my mind off a basketball tryout. We were there for something much more important.

“Excuse me.” Isla marched up to the six foot five bouncer guarding the back hallway. He wore a nametag that read Brad and he filled the entire doorway with his massive presence alone. “We’re with the band.”

Brad snorted in derision. “That’s what all the girls say.”

“Skye has Dante’s name tattooed on her ass.” Isla pushed me forward. “Show him your tramp stamp.”

“It’s not on my ass; it’s on my hip,” I snapped. “And it’s not his name. It’s a symbol for truth. It covers one of my scars. Why don’t you show him your ass since you’re wanting to let it all hang out?”

“Nick would kill him,” she said with a shrug. “You saw him outside the bar the night I was hustling at pool. If Dante hadn’t been there, he would have taken them all down.”

I kept my thoughts on Nick’s fighting skills to myself. Isla had finally found closure after Ethan was arrested. She had been able to move on and let Nick into her life, and he could do no wrong in her eyes.

“Maybe we should text the boys and let them know Brad won’t let us through.” I pulled out my phone. “Or maybe I should write a piece for the Havencrest Express about officious bouncers and their short-lived careers when the girlfriend of a bass player who has attracted some big-name producers to the show tonight is denied his good luck kiss.”

Brad lifted the velvet rope and ushered us through.

“A wise decision,” I called back over my shoulder. “Although Isla’s ass is something to behold.”

The back door to the alley had been propped open, and we walked outside, where the new Dante’s Inferno was unloading their gear for what we hoped would be the gig that landed Dante a sessional contract with a mega-famous band.

I leaned against the brick wall to take the pressure off my leg and drew in a deep breath of fresh spring air. “Before the night gets crazy, I have to tell you something.”

Isla brightened. “You got another tattoo?”

“No.”

“If you made a new playlist, I can pretend to be excited, but just don’t make me listen to a long explanation about what all the songs mean.”

“I did make a new playlist for Dante, but that’s not my big surprise.” I took a deep breath. “I got the summer internship at the Chicago Tribune !”

After my big story had broken, I’d been invited to interview at all the major media outlets in the city, but the Chicago Tribune , with their formidable investigative reporting team, was where I wanted to be.

“Oh my God.” Isla wrapped me in a hug. “That’s amazing! Does that mean you won’t be going back to Denver for the summer?”

“It means you have a roommate for as long as you can stand me.”

“I told you I had a sixth sense about these things,” Isla said. “Do you remember that?”

I remembered everything about the night I met Dante. “You said my dreams would come true. I thought you meant I’d get on the basketball team, but it was my real dream you were talking about.”

“You can thank me with an endless supply of coffee so I can get through summer session.” Isla pulled out a package of jellybeans and tapped one into her hand. She’d developed a candy addiction after giving up vaping, much to her dentist’s dismay. Two cavities later, she’d begged me to help her quit.

“Iz…” I shook my head. “You promised me you were going to switch to something healthy. Where are your sunflower seeds?”

“I just need one,” she said. “It gives me the kind of buzz I can’t get from seeds. I’m not a bird.”

“Give me the jellybeans.” I reached for the package and she backed away.

“This is the last one. I promise.”

I lunged for her, and she backed away just as Dante emerged from the van carrying a large amp. Isla stumbled just as my hand clasped around her wrist. We went down hard, falling on the amp and knocking it to the ground. I rolled off Isla and snaked up beside her to grab the jellybean from her hand.

“I think we really need to talk about your inability to stay on your feet when I’m around,” Dante said, helping us both up with a wry grin.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nick heading over to Isla. My gaze slid back to Dante, who was wearing his Inferno T-shirt and his favorite worn black jeans. His hair was a sexy mess like he’d just rolled out of bed—which, in fact, he had, because I’d insisted on good luck sex before the gig.

“Don’t let it go to your head.” Even after almost eight months together, sometimes his sheer gorgeousness took my breath away. “Your ego is already so big I have to step around it.”

His lips quirked at the corners. “Is that why you made me a new playlist?”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” I grumbled. “It’s a playlist about us.”

“I want my surprise now.” He backed me up against the van and placed one hand beside my head, leaning forward in a seemingly casual manner that sent a wave of liquid heat through my veins. “Tell me the songs, Skye. I want to know our story.”

I couldn’t deny him anything, not when he was looking at me as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world. “First meeting, ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks since you instantly captured my attention.”

Dante cupped my jaw in one hand and tipped my head back, his breath whispering over my lips. “What was next?”

“‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by Queen.”

“It was a crazy time.” He feathered kisses along my jaw. “I felt like you’d cast some kind of spell on me.”

“Then ‘Love Hurts’ by Nazareth,” I whispered. “That was a bad time when we were hating on each other.”

“I never hated you,” he whispered in my ear. “I was hurt but I’d take any pain for you.”

“Then you’ll like that my next song is ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey.”

“Journey?” He pulled away, his brow creasing in a frown. “I don’t want Journey on our playlist.”

“I created the list, and the song is perfect. Stop grumbling.”

Dante huffed and went back to tormenting me with little butterfly kisses. “I want to choose the last song.”

“I already chose a last song.”

“It’s not going to be as good as mine.”

“Seriously?”

“When it comes to you, I’m very serious.” He slid one arm around my waist and pulled me close. “I pick ‘Everlong’ by Foo Fighters.”

“Why that song?”

Dante kissed me, his lips soft and sweet. “Because that’s how long I’ll love you.”