Read Online Out of Rhythm (Face the Music Book 1) by Shona Husk - Free Book Online Page B

Gemma under her lashes but Gemma was acting cool, as if nothing were different to any other time she’d stayed over, which had been a lot before the tour had started.
    ‘If that’s all right, Mrs Vincent?’ Gemma’s voice was calm, as though nothing were the slightest bit odd.
    ‘It’s always all right. The spare room is always available if your place is too crowded or you and Ed suddenly get inspired.’
    Gemma’s cheeks turned pink and she took a sip of wine, she gave Kirsten a very pointed look, and then smiled at Kirsten’s mother. ‘Thanks. My brothers, in my absence, started using my bedroom as a storage room.’
    Kirsten heard the bite in Gemma’s words. All was not well at home, not that it was unusual. Nor was it odd that Gemma hadn’t spoken about it. She tended not to. Her strategy was avoidance. It was why she’d broached the subject with her mother; she hadn’t expected her mother to be so forward. It would be just like Gemma to go home to prove she didn’t need help.
    ‘It will be like we never left,’ Ed said. Kirsten couldn’t decide if he meant that in a good way or a bad way.
    Then he got up, ‘Thanks for dinner. I’m going to head out.’ He glanced at Kirsten, and she shook her head. Not this time. This evening was just for her and Gemma and sorting out what the hell was going on.
    ‘So what are you two planning to do?’ her mother smiled.
    Gemma looked at her plate.
    ‘We were going to watch a movie, talk, catch up.’ Have sex, possibly…she had no idea. Awkward. At least her parents didn’t suspect and her dad wasn’t trying to be friendly and pretending to like the guy she was dating. They already liked Gemma. Win!
    How they’d feel if things went further, she didn’t know.
    ‘We’ll clean up, Mrs Vincent.’ Gemma stood and started gathering plates before anyone could disagree. That was Gemma trying to escape scrutiny. It was more obvious now than it had been before, or at least it was to Kirsten. She’d always thought Gemma the brave one, the person who’d jump off the end of the pier and into the ocean without a second thought.
    In part that was true, but when it came to personal stuff Gemma wasn’t brave or fearless. It was as if she didn’t want anyone to see what was going on inside, unless it was in her music.
    A little later, her parents went upstairs where they had their own sitting room. Except for the kitchen and laundry, it was almost two separate houses. They’d moved in when Kirsten had been twelve and it had seemed huge, now with Ed back it was full. She glanced at Gemma; no, her house wasn’t full. Gemma’s was. And Gemma parents would not be okay with anything Gemma was doing.
    Together they cleared away the plates and loaded the dishwasher, the way they had so many times.
    ‘Another glass of wine?’ She hoped Gemma said yes, because she really needed another and she didn’t want to be drinking alone.
    ‘Yes. What movies have you got?’
    Did she actually want to watch a movie? ‘I’m sure there’ll be something on my laptop, or we can buy something new.’
    Gemma picked up the half bottle of wine. ‘Let’s go have some fun then.’
    Kirsten smiled but her nerves had grabbed a hold and were refusing to let go. This was more nerve-racking than any first time naked encounter, even though Gemma had seen her in her underwear before…but it was Gemma. She cared more about Gemma, and knew more about Gemma than any guy she’d ever slept with. With them it had been lust first and a relationship second. She’d never really done it the other way around. Would it have been different if she had?
    Yeah, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have started sleeping with most of them if she’d spent years getting to know them first.
    Gemma put the bottle and glass down on the bedside table, then flopped onto the bed the way she had so many times before. The TV was perfectly positioned on the opposite wall and connected to Kirsten’s laptop. She could move