“An office manager and two more personal trainers.”
Sebastian flicked his eyes at me. “Nora needs a job after school.”
My mouth opened at Sebastian’s words. I knew he meant well, but I couldn’t work here and be around Leo all the time. I glared at him with my eyes, telling him telepathically, When we are alone, I will kill you slowly by beating your guitar over your head.
Sebastian’s eyes said, Oh yeah? Bring it.
Leo flashed his eyes at me. “I asked you if you needed anything, and you said no. Why didn’t you tell me you needed money, Nora?” Leo said, his hands gripping his guitar. Like he was angry.
“I’m working at the bakery,” I said, giving Sebastian one more dark look.
Sebastian shrugged. “Her parents aren’t helping her.”
“Hello, right here,” I muttered.
Sebastian ignored me. “She could work the afternoon shift, and then use the gym to take a shower ’cause she doesn’t have a real bathroom at Portia’s. And, dude, the room where she sleeps is tiny,” he finished with a dramatic shake of his head.
I gasped aloud at his blatant lie. Yeah, it was a small room, but he hadn’t been up there.
“Sebastian—” I started.
“You know you need the money, Nora,” Sebastian said.
I paused, knowing he was right. Who knew what expenses I’d have this year. What if my car broke down? What if something happened to Aunt Portia? I had to be more responsible and focus on providing for myself. Plus, I still hadn’t heard back from my dad about my winnings.
I nodded uncertainly, not sure what I was agreeing to.
“Done,” Leo said. “You can start whenever you’re ready since we’re already getting membership requests and phone calls. It’d be great if you could man the front desk.”
He seemed to freeze as he waited for my reply, and I wondered if he was anxious about me working here. Did he think it was a bad idea?
It would be hard to be around Leo. How would I react the next time I saw him with Tiffani?
“Great, I’ll do it,” I said quickly before I thought too long and changed my mind.
Leo smiled. “If that’s settled, then let’s practice.”
He nodded at me and strummed the first chords of “Girl on Fire,” and I joined in with the piano, immediately becoming immersed in the sound as Vixen tapped in with a gentle drum beat. It was a slow song, almost liquid like, with its smooth music and Sebastian’s gentle vocals. As he sang about how the girl burns like fire and takes on the world and triumphs, I wanted to be that girl. I would be that girl. When Sebastian got to the chorus, Leo’s deep voice sang back up, and after a moment, even though my voice was awful, I did too. You know those people that think they can sing, but really can’t? Well, that’s not me. I knew I couldn’t sing worth crap, but I played on and sang anyway.
After we’d played it a few more times, the others went to get drinks. Teddy and I stayed behind and ran through the keys a bit more. Fifteen minutes later, he had the notes down. When he played it back for me, it wasn’t perfect or exactly from the music sheet, but it sounded incredible. Whatever little discrepancies there were, he made up for it by adding his own style to it.
“Teddy, you’re one amazing dude, you know that?”
He stared at the wall. “So are you. You’re amazing, but not a dude.”
I laughed out loud. “Was that a joke?”
He smiled shyly. “Yeah, how was it?”
“Awesome.”
Chapter 20
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Nora
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“You can’t make someone love you.” –Nora Blakely
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After Vixen’s parents picked her up and Teddy left with his sister, Sebastian asked me to stay for dinner. I’d had plans to eat a sandwich and soup at Aunt Portia’s, so I called her and told her I was eating with Sebastian. She was relieved, I think, because it gave her reason to go ahead and head off home. I knew she loved me and wanted to help me, but I hated to disrupt her life.
It might be a little weird to hang out with Leo, but I was adamant about getting over him. Plus, things seemed to have smoothed over a bit at practice. He’d offered me the job, and my gut sensed he genuinely wanted to help me.
Was it possible for us to be friends?
I think we had to try if I wanted to hang out with Sebastian.