to that kind of stuff, but Troy and I had been close in high school, and he was trying to rally as much support for his kid brother as possible. I was so glad I went. Hearing those kids rock the stage was inspiring. The next day, I asked Malachi if they could play at Quigg's sometime. Their age made him reluctant, but he eventually conceded, and he let them play a couple of lunch gigs. It pulled a pretty big crowd and this year, Malachi agreed to make them monthly regulars.
The pub was already filling up. People had come early for dinner and were enjoying the sound check, getting excited about the entertainment to come.
“Make sure some of those tables are pulled back so there's a little dancing room,” Nina shouted into my ear as she walked past. I nodded and did as commanded, getting Frankie's help to shift the two empty tables back a notch. The dance space was pretty small, but it'd be enough for people to move around.
Flick, the other guitarist, cut the check short. “Just give me a sec to re-tune.”
He began to fiddle while the rest of the band made their own last-minute adjustments. Jimmy walked over to Ralphie, chatting about the playlist, and I tuned out. I needed to get back to the bar in a second; it would be a busy night and I wanted to be on my game.
“Hey , Cole.”
I spun around at the soft voice, not sure whom it belonged to. I stared at her. There was something familiar about the way she was looking at me, but it took me a minute to place her. The napkin. The phone number. That was it.
I forced a bright smile. “Oh, hey, Candace. How's it going?”
“Good. Just thought I'd pop by and see ya again.”
I pushed out a laugh. “Yeah, well , I'm not sure I'll have that much time to socialize; it's gonna be a busy one tonight.”
Heading back to the bar, I ducked beneath it and popped up on the other side, glad to have the wood between me and the blonde bombshell.
“You never called.” Her upper teeth brushed her lower lip and I felt a little bad.
“Yeah, I'm sorry about that.” Clearing my throat, I reached for a towel and flung it over my shoulder. “I'm pretty swamped with school at the moment.”
She shrugged. “I get it.” Her gaze was sad, which only made me feel worse.
Although the school thing was actually true. This final year was turning out to be a real bitch. I hated studying and was forcing myself through each lecture. A huge part of me wanted to quit and just get on with setting up my own pub. My inheritance was healthy. I had full access to it now, but Nina made me promise to graduate first and I knew I couldn't let her down.
I pursed my lips, feeling awkward that Candace was still standing there gazing at me.
“Well, I better get on with it.”
“Yeah, see you 'round, Cole.” She turned away with a little pout, and I looked to the ceiling. I hated hurting her feelings, but I seriously was not interested in what she had to offer.
My mind had done a complete 180 since that day in the shower. Casual flings were no longer good enough. I wanted an actual relationship now, and it bugged the heck out of me. I had been trying to talk myself out of it, reminding myself that only full-blown lunatics thought this way, but I just couldn't seem to shake the need. I felt ready to move on with my life and take that next step into adulthood. It was frickin' absurd.
I blamed it on my songbird. Her voice had stuck with me, following me into my dreams. I shoved the image out of my mind and Ella appeared instead. Ella, the sweet, quiet girl who'd somehow filtered into my thoughts more than I'd wanted her to over the last month. I didn't want to think about her. I shouldn't have been thinking about her. She was in a relationship. Not just any relationship, but a committed one with my roommate. If any girl on campus should have been considered off-limits, it was Ella.
I had bumped into her a few times, but we'd never really had time to stop and chat ...which was a good thing. As much
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