Just as she finished speaking, he came on stage. I gestured towards him.
“
Is that him?
”
I asked.
She nodded, rolling her eyes but smiling affectionately all the same.
Kass
’
s assessment of him hadn
’
t really done him justice. Coming from his sister, they were pretty good, but I could see instantly why all of Kass
’
s female friends said he was attractive. He was tall and fit, not muscular like a body builder or anything, but clearly someone who enjoyed doing things rather than sitting on the sidelines as a spectator. His brown hair hung over his forehead, nearly into his eyes, but it was a short cut, stylish, but not high maintenance.
We were too far from the stage for me to see his features as clearly as I might have liked. Like his eyes. I would have liked to have gotten a better idea of what his eyes were. As it stood, I couldn
’
t even tell their color.
He was setting up for his number, fiddling with the mic and then the guitar he brought with him on stage. After a bit, two other guys joined him. One went to the drum set that was already there, ready and waiting, while the other carried what looked like a different type of guitar.
Leaning over to Kass, I whispered,
“
He
’
s pretty cute. No Brad Pitt or anything, but cute.
”
She laughed at me, answering,
“
I
’
ll take it. And I hope you know, I
’
m totally going to tell him you think he
’
s not as hot as Brad Pitt.
”
I shoved her arm playfully, smiling.
“
Whatever. I
’
ll tell him you said to take him down a peg or two.
”
She shrugged, uncaring.
“
Not the worst thing I
’
ve ever said about him.
”
She thought about it.
“
Or to him for that matter.
”
I rolled my eyes.
Our banter died down as they quit testing and got the audience
’
s attention. Kass
’
s brother tapped the mike, and said,
“
We
’
re here tonight, because no matter how many bars we
’
ve played at,
Bella Luna
’
s
still our favorite.
”
The crowd clapped, some people giving small cheers and whoops of agreement. After a moment, he winked and added,
“
It
’
s definitely the food.
”
They laughed with him and I realized he was a bit of a regular.
Leaning over, I asked Kass,
“
How often does he play here?
”
She shrugged.
“
They used to play here all the time. But they started to get a bit of a following, so they went on tour for a while. Nothing major. Just opening for a few bands, playing at this bar and that. Never made much money off of it, but they
’
ve got some loyal fans out there.
”
I was impressed. I had figured that they were going to be little more than a garage band playing at a bar because that
’
s the only place that would let them.
After a moment, Kass
’
s brother and his band
—
I didn
’
t catch their name
—
began to play. As I listened, I decided that I could understand why they had developed a following. And why it wasn
’
t that big.
They were pretty good, their lyrics a little dry, but catchy. The sound was decent, not bad to listen to, though something I thought that easily got lost in the background. It was like listening to a song by a famous band, but one of the songs that just never really got popular.
Good, but not all that memorable.
They played several songs, the crowd enjoying all of them, though I had a feeling that was more about their loyalty to a local group than anything else.
Kass and I ordered some drinks as we listened, Kass
’
s alcoholic, mine decidedly not. We chatted a little between songs and sometimes during, laughing and just having a good time. It had been so long since I
’
d just enjoyed myself like this that I
’
d nearly forgotten what it felt like.
After several songs, the band thanked the crowd for being awesome and then bowed out. When they left, the speakers began pumping generic music through the speakers, low key and professional. After a few minutes, I spotted Kass
’
s brother saying something to his bandmates near the door. They ducked out, but he remained, scanning the crowd. It didn
’
t take long for him to spot our table.
Grinning, he came over to us.
“
Hey there, little sister!
”
he greeted, opening his arms wide for a hug.
She beamed at him, and hugged him back.
“
Hey! You were great out there!
”
“
Thanks,
”
he answered proudly, clearly happy with his performance. After a moment, he looked past his sister over to me.
“
And who is your lovely friend whom I have not yet been introduced to?
”
Kass rolled her eyes at him, but turned so that she could see both of us.
“
Derek, meet my roommate and super awesome hot friend, Addy Trent. Addy, meet Derek, my super awesome, mildly attractive, sometimes cool brother.
”
Derek shoved his sister for that introduction, but I laughed. They were clearly close and I was just a little bit jealous. I was an only child, and there were times when I had wished for a sister or brother to share with. Or to blame things on, either way.
Derek took a seat on the other side of the table so his back was to the stage and he was facing both of us.
“
So, Addy, my sister
’
s super awesome roommate,
”
he started with a smile, focusing on me.
“
Tell me everything about you. Your deepest, darkest secrets, your happiest and saddest moments. And most important of all, your favorite color.
”
For a moment, he had me worried with that deepest, darkest secrets line, but as he added the favorite color thing, I realized he was only kidding. I laughed with relief and he smiled, thinking it was more his humor than my relief that was the culprit.
“
Well, my favorite color happens to be
—”
I paused, my mind drifting back to that day in the shoe store.
What are you going to get, Addy?
Converse, duh. What kind of question is that?
I meant what color, idiot.
My favorite, what else?
I shook my head, focusing on the here and now.
“
Green. My favorite color is green.
”
I smiled widely, never imagining that I would be lying about the simplest thing.
“
Green
’
s good,
”
Derek replied, still smiling at me.
We spent the next few hours together, hanging out and joking, talking about anything from music to movies to school.
Derek was a musician and loved his band, but he was premed in school and hoped to one day be a great urgent care doctor. He lit up when talking about his classes and what he hoped his future would look like. Kass teased him a little about it, that he was the smart one with idealistic dreams that would one day be crushed by the real world. But when she winked at him, I could tell she hoped that they wouldn
’
t be.
He asked about me, asking about my major, my interests, where I saw myself once I graduated with my business degree.
“
I
’
d like deal with the ethics side of business specifically,
”
I admitted.
“
There are a lot of people who do business purely for the money, not caring who they hurt along the way, but I think there should be people involved who do care. People who are going to make sure that businesses don
’
t take advantage of the little guy just to boost sales.
”
I found myself rambling and stopped, grinning sheepishly. I shook my head.
“
Sorry, I just really get into this stuff sometimes. I know it sounds really nerdy.
”
Derek shook his head.
“
It
’
s not nerdy at all.
”
But Kass turned to me and grinned, saying,
“
It is
definitely
nerdy.
”
I swatted at her playfully, at which point she held up her hands and retreated towards the bar for some more drinks. Derek told her to grab him one, too.
While we had a few minutes alone, we continued to talk. He was impressed with my goal, and my dedication. Apparently, Kass has been talking about me more than a little to her brother. He told me that it was nothing but the good stuff. I rolled my eyes at him,
“
Doubtful.
”
He laughed.
“
No, seriously. She thinks you
’
re pretty great.
”
I glanced back over at my friend and roommate. She was talking to someone at the bar, waiting for our drinks to come out.
“
Yeah, well, she
’
s pretty great herself.
”
“
There was one thing she didn
’
t mention to me,
”
he said, thoughtfully.
“
What
’
s that?
”
I asked, turning back to look at him.
He smiled a sweet smile, showing perfect white teeth and an even smile.
“
How beautiful you are.
”
For a moment, I didn
’
t know what to say. My cheeks blushed, and I giggled a little. One of the greatest things ever is to be told that you
’
re attractive
—
especially by someone you think is attractive. He wasn
’
t one of the bad boys I usually went for, but he was cute and he was sweet. The fact that he was in a band satisfied a little of that bad boy craving while the fact that he was premed meant that as the classy girl I was trying to be, I could still consider him as a viable option.
He was the exact
opposite
of Logan, and that was good I told myself.
“
Well, you
’
re not so bad yourself,
”
I told him in response.
His smile widened.
“
I
’
m glad you said that,
”
he told me.
“
It makes my next question a lot easier.
”
I raised my eyebrows in question.
“
Oh? And what did you want to ask me?
”
“
If you
’
d have dinner with me tomorrow night.
”
For a moment, I don
’
t say anything. Was this smart? Going on a date with a guy I just met? Well, he
was
premed and he was Kass
’
s brother, so that didn
’
t make him dangerous or anything
…
Kass never would have introduced me if she thought he was, brother or not. But the fact that he was Kass
’
s brother
did
pose a slight complication.
Would Kass get mad at me for going after her brother?
Thinking of the way my friend dragged me here, not telling me it was her brother on stage until the last moment, well, I thought maybe she would be okay with it.
So after one more moment of thinking it over
—
and trying
not
to think of Logan
—
I nodded my head.
“
That sounds really great,
”
I told him.