“And she’s the one for you?” Jimmi turns her phone to me, the screen still splattered with tiles of Kai and Dub. “Maybe she missed that memo.”
I clamp my lips over an expletive. I know Kai. She wouldn’t do that to me. Even with things the way they are between us, I refuse to believe someone else has been inside of her. I refuse to believe someone else has her heart. But I also know she’s oblivious sometimes when it comes to guys. What they want and how they go about getting it.
Before I can respond to Jimmi’s provocation, Bristol walks in. She flicks a look between Jimmi and me, and a frown dents her forehead.
“Hey, guys.” She sits on the couch and crosses her long legs. “You working on the song?”
“Don’t you have a life of your own to tend to?” I cross over to flop beside her on the couch, tugging at the dark hair she has pulled into a sleek ponytail. “Or do you basically just obsess over every detail of mine?”
“It’s what you pay me the big bucks for, brother.” She grins at Jimmi. “And now I can obsess over Jimmi’s, too.”
“For real?” I stretch my eyebrows up, glad to have something to talk to Jimmi about other than her misplaced and ill-fated desire for me. “You crossing over to the dark side, Jim?”
Jimmi smiles, but it barely takes.
“On my way to world domination. Got things in the works for her already,” Bristol says, a quick grin spreading over her face. “Speaking of which, did you look at those offers I sent over, Rhys? Those artists who want to work with you?”
“Dammit.” I snap my fingers. “I keep forgetting to give a fuck.”
“Rhys.” Bristol laughs and shakes her head. “One of them could be the next big thing.”
“I’d rather have a great thing than a big thing. I want to be interested. Give me something interesting.”
“Do the Boston Pops interest you?”
Hmmmm . . . She knows they do.
“Whatchya got?” I give her the satisfaction of asking.
“The Boston Pops called.”
“Let me guess.” My interest starts waning. “They want me and Petra to bring our dancing bear act to Boston.”
“Actually they just want you. As a guest pianist next season.” She pauses for effect, one brow lifted to provoke me. “Think you still got it, brother?”
Something flickers inside of me that has lain dormant for a long time. I glance at the symphony orchestra piece I sketched onto the wall. That might be fun. That might interest me.
“Let me think about it.”
“Of course. I told them you’d need some time to consider.” Bristol pulls the hair hanging around my ears and scrapes at the scruff on my jaw. “Btdubs, you look like Grizzly Adams.”
“You should have smelled him.” Jimmi offers her first natural smile since Showergate.
“That’s what you get for sniffing under my piano.” I laugh a little, hoping the air will keep loosening between us.
“True that.” Jimmi leans back and watches me for a minute before giving me a short nod. “It won’t happen again.”
I guess that’s the closest she’ll come to conceding the point for now. Hopefully she won’t be naked and groping me in my shower any time soon.
“So what’s the deal with you guys?” Bristol asks, predictably nosy. “You both have wet hair, and the vibe was all weird when I came in. So are my two megastar clients fighting, fucking, or both?”
Jimmi and I exchange a quick look. Bristol is mulish. She won’t let up until we give her something.
“Just a difference of opinion,” I say with a shrug.
“About?” Bristol persists.
See? Mule.
“If you must know.” A speck of defiance returns to Jimmi’s eyes. “I was trying to convince Rhys that Kai has moved on.”
“But you don’t believe it?” Bristol shifts enough to see my face clearly.
“No, I don’t.” I shake my head. “Definitely not with Dub.”
“Well, she said as much yesterday when she and Luke were on Morning Hype.”
Calm the hell down, Gray.
“Kai said she and Dub are together?” My voice somehow sounds strong, but it feels like little more than a breeze in my throat.
Bristol just stares at me for a few elongated seconds like a beast toying with its food before taking the first bite.
“Don’t lose a lung. She said the opposite, actually.” Bristol’s eyes never leave my face. “She said she and Dub are just friends. Who knows the truth?”
I do. She’s not with that dude. She can’t be. It would break me in half to see her with someone else, especially knowing I’m the one who pushed her there.
“They asked her about you, too.” Bristol says.
We’re not your typical twins, all telepathically connected and shit, but Bristol knows me well enough to figure I’m not sure I want to hear Kai’s response. I nod for her to go ahead and tell it.