Rock Prodigy

Chapter 24

Mac didn’t let me go and I found myself being pulled in two different directions as Cindy tugged ineffectually before turning to glare at Mac. “What the hell, Mac.”

“We were talking,” he growled.

She raised her eyebrow, taking in his rumpled appearance. “I’m so sure you two were ‘talking’ a whole lot,” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes before tugging on my arm again.

“We were,” he said but his voice lacked conviction as he let me go and followed us out of the store.

“Finally,” Troy grumbled, standing up from the wall he’d been leaning against. “Did you guys barter over the price or something?”

“Yeah,” Mac grumbled, stalking past us and heading towards the vehicle. “Let’s just go.”

“What a surprise, Mac is in a bad mood,” Troy said, grinning down at Cindy as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

I walked towards the car behind the couple with Dan striding silently beside me. “I’m not blind, you know,” he said quietly and when I glanced over at him, his eyes were on the pavement in front of him, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “You like Mac, don’t you?”

I missed a step and Dan reached out to grip my arm, steadying me. “Thanks,” I mumbled, my eyes resting on his as we both straightened, no longer moving forward.

“You like him,” he said nodding, his eyes unreadable.

“Yeah,” I said quietly.

“It’s okay.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “I can see the way you look at him and I can tell that he feels the same way about you.” His smile softened, becoming smaller as his eyes turned a little sad. He reached out a hand and touched my cheek. “I can accept the two of you together but just so you know, if you ever get sick of him, I doubt I’ll be over you, Rose.”

I laughed softly, placing my hand on top of his for a second before moving in to hug him. “You’ll find a girl that’s perfect for you, Dan.”

“I already did,” he said softly, squeezing me tightly before releasing me to grip my wrist, dragging me to the car.

I frowned up at him, wanting to talk but we were at the car before I could say anything. He opened the door for me, avoiding my gaze as I climbed in, my eyes following him as he moved around the car, heading towards the spot behind Mac who was in the driver’s seat.

I felt the weight of someone’s gaze on me and turned to see Mac glaring at me, his eyes lit with anger before he turned to scowl at the pavement in front of him. “Ready?” he growled, hitting the gas before anyone had the chance to reply.

That evening, everyone met up at Hereafter Records to go over our songs. Dom had informed us earlier in the week that we’d be doing an outdoor gig downtown the following Saturday to promote our single so we had lots of work to do before we were ready.

I arrived at the studio with a sense of trepidation, having split up with the rest of the group while Mac was still in a bad mood, the odds of him being happy to see me at the moment were nil. I entered the building and gave a quick wave to the secretary before heading to the back of the building, walking by doors until I reached the one we usually practiced in. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked in, my guitar bouncing lightly on my back as my eyes roved over the three boys already inside the studio. “Hey guys,” I said, trying to inject cheer into my voice but failing.

“Hey Rose,” Troy said and I frowned, noticing his lack of beaming smile and enthusiastic greeting.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing over at Dan and Mac who were both staring down at their instruments with scowls on their faces.