“Luke,” the girl called from inside. The sound of her seductive whine grated on my nerves. I gritted my teeth and gave him a pointed look, jerking a thumb to his bedroom.

He rolled his eyes, but reached inside and shut his door. It closed with a thud. We heard a ‘Hey!’ from inside. His eyes narrowed again. “What’s going on?”

I groaned, but stifled the sound. There was no way I wanted to explain my mother’s last conversation in the kitchen. “I just need it, okay?”

“Why?”

“Luke.”

“Bri.”

“Come on,” I snapped out. Frustration was building in me.

“Spill and then I’ll let you.”

A litany of curses spilled from me instead, but I surrendered. “I’m going to play in front of some rich prick’s store. We need money.”

“My dad loaned Carla money last week.”

“Which she used already.” For food. For Braden and him when they both ate dinner at the house. “Besides, your dad asked for half of it back.” I bit my lip to keep from spilling the rest.

The air changed. He didn’t react, but I sensed Luke’s anger. Every part of me went on alert. “Come on, Luke. I’ll use your guitar for the afternoon, get some money, and I’ll put it back. You won’t even miss it.”

“Luke!”

I gestured to his bedroom. “Looks like you’re going to be busy, anyway.”

He rolled his eyes, but I knew he was still pissed. Raking a hand over his head, he growled. “I should go with you if you’re going to be standing on some street corner.”

“It’s not like that. It’s a good area.”

“The good areas have the biggest dicks.”

“Whatever. Come with if you want, but Carla’s got a payment due tomorrow. We need to raise a few hundred by tonight.”

He groaned, his eyes flashing from irritation. “Then we’re going to be hitting a few stores.” He started for his door, then stopped. “Are you still on good terms with that one manager? When you did this before?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shoved him forward. “Let’s go. I’ll wait in your car.”

As he opened the door, I heard the girl say, “Who was that girl?”

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Come on. Get out. I have something else to do.”

“You’re going to sleep with that girl instead?”

I hurried down the stairs to the basement where Luke kept his guitar. It was one of his most prized possessions since it was a gift from his mom. He let Braden use it once, but I was the only one he allowed to borrow it more than once.

“Bri!” he called down the stairs.

“Coming.” I grabbed it and headed up.

He was waiting outside the door, lighting a cigarette. The girl was stalking down the sidewalk. She turned around and gave him the middle finger. “Fuck you, Luke Skeet!”

He flicked her the bird back and finished lighting his cigarette.

“You too!” she yelled at me. I rolled my eyes and ignored her, then grabbed the cigarette and put it out on the ground.

“Hey,” he growled, glaring at me.

“No. I have to deal with that from Elijah, not you, too.”

At the mention of my boyfriend, he swallowed his retort. His grey eyes grew black instead, and he muttered, “I don’t know why you stay with that fuckhead. He’s a drug dealer.”

“No, he’s not.” I started for his car. “And we’re not having that conversation again.”

“Whatever.” He got into the driver’s seat and waited as I put his guitar in the back. When it was safe and secure and I was in the passenger seat, he started the car. “I hate this idea. Why does your mom need this so bad?”

I shook my head and kept quiet. He didn’t need to know that when his dad asked for his money back, he didn’t take only the money he loaned. He took everything my mom had saved to pay our rent. Now it was really late, and if it didn’t get paid within the next week, we’d lose the house.

“Bri.” A hand woke me up, rocking my arm back and forth. Luke was hovering over me, and unlike the last time I’d been awakened by someone, I welcomed his intrusion. My hand slid around the back of his neck. This was my best friend. I wanted to hug him. No, I wanted more. My body grew warm. I took hold of some of his hair and pulled him down—

The door to the van opened. A blast of cold air hit us both.

Luke’s eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. I saw the flash of recognition. He felt it, too. My heart started pounding, harder and harder against my ribs. He sat up and got out of the van. Shoving past the guy, his back was tense, and his shoulders were rigid.

I sat up, my insides all jumbled at the turn of events, and stayed there, staring at the guy. He stared back, a knowing smirk on his face. He slid a hand into one of his pockets and cocked his head to the side. “You and Skeet hooking up again?”

Again? My eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“Dustin Glass.”

I wanted to groan immediately. One of Candy’s friends. “Didn’t you go to Yale and get expelled because of partying too much?”

He flashed a smile. “Harvard.”

“Oh god.” Even worse. I pushed him out of the way. “Thanks for driving us, but go back and find your yuppie preppy friends. You’re out of your league with us here. We’re trailer park compared to what you’re used to.”

He didn’t listen to me. Instead of staying at the van, he shut the door and started behind me. Following at a slower stroll, he rolled his shoulders back and kept smiling at me. “I may be rich and dumb enough to get kicked out of school, but I know a sure thing when I see it. Your band is awesome. You guys are going to make it big.”

I growled, opening the back door of Rowdy’s. Some music could be heard through the door, but as soon as I opened it, it tripled in volume. The smell of smoke, booze, and sweat overtook me for a moment, and I faltered in my step. Dustin reached out from behind me, caught the door and held it open. It was after closing time, so I headed for the main floor where all the music was coming from.

Dustin was right behind me. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck as he asked, “When did you join up with them again? Why’d you quit in the first place? You haven’t been around the last couple years. How come?”