Thoughtful(43)

“I don’t feel like going home. Let’s go kick it at Kellan’s.”

Hearing my name, I lifted my head to stare at Griffin. He was smiling at me and nodding, like the suggestion he’d just made was the most profound statement ever spoken by a human being. We’d just played a gig downtown, and Evan and I were struggling to load Evan’s drum into Griffin’s van. We set it down with a grunt, and I tried my best to keep the irritation off my face. So far, Griffin’s contribution to “cleaning up” had consisted of playing air guitar and signing autographs. Unsolicited autographs.

“Why my place? We have to take this crap back to Evan’s, we could just hang there.”

Evan clapped my shoulder in answer. “Can’t. I’ve got a date, man.”

I blinked at him in surprise. “It’s two in the morning.”

He shrugged as he moved some cymbals into position. “Time waits for no one, Kell.”

I frowned as I considered how true that statement was. “Okay, well…Kiera will be asleep by the time we get back there, so you two will have to be quiet.” I pointed at Matt and Griffin. Matt shrugged; Griffin rubbed his palms together while a maniacal smile grew on his face. I shifted my attention to just him. “If you so much as open her door, I’ll kick your ass.”

Griffin frowned, then pouted. “Your sense of bandmateship is skewed. Aren’t we supposed to share everything?” He shrugged.

Evan, Matt, and I answered him at the same time. “No.”

Evan and I laughed while Matt added, “No one wants to share anything you’ve got, cuz. In fact, you should probably share a little less, so that crap doesn’t spread throughout all of Seattle.”

Griffin gave Matt a dour glare. “You’re so fucking funny my sides hurt.”

With a completely straight face, Matt told him, “Syphilis is no laughing matter, dude.”

Griffin looked around for something to toss at his cousin, but the only thing near him was his guitar. He settled on kicking a pebble on the street toward Matt’s general vicinity. “I don’t have that shit. I’m totally fucking clean, man. I just got tested last week.” While Matt laughed at him, Griffin frowned in confusion. “And why the fuck would I have that? I drink orange juice every day.”

We all stopped what we were doing and stared at him, dumbfounded. What the hell was he talking about? Matt was the one who figured it out first. Leaning over he was laughing so hard, he sputtered, “Syphilis, dumbass. Not scurvy.”

Griffin still looked confused, but Evan and I were laughing hysterically at this point too. Griffin flipped us off, then stormed to the driver’s seat to pout while we finished putting everything away. So much for bandmateship.

We dropped our stuff off, then headed to my place. As a precaution, I made Griffin tiptoe as he entered my house; he was generally about as quiet as a freight train. He glared at me as he exaggerated small footsteps. When those footsteps started leading him upstairs, I snapped my fingers and pointed at the ground. “I have to pee,” he whispered.

I pointed down the hallway that led past my kitchen. “Use the other one.”

He stood up straight. “You have another bathroom?”

Rolling my eyes, I shoved him in the right direction. Matt and I grabbed ourselves some beer from the fridge. Griffin grabbed one when he was done peeing, then made a beeline for my TV. Matt and I exchanged shrugs and followed him. We made ourselves comfortable, Matt on the chair, me on the couch, and sipped our beers while Griffin looked for something smutty to watch.

Griffin was still flipping through the channels when he suddenly twisted his head and looked back at the stairs. “Kiera! Hey, sex kitty! Nice PJs.”

Turning to look, I saw Kiera stepping off the last stair. Just as Griffin had said, she was in her pajamas, with a wild case of bed head. She looked worn, maybe a little upset too. One of us, aka Griffin, must have woken her up. Oops. She seemed a little unsure if she should continue into the living room, but it was too late at this point. Griffin had spotted her.

I gave her an apologetic smile. “Hey, sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you.”

She shrugged her shoulders as she slowly walked toward us. “You didn’t…bad dream.”

I mentally frowned, wondering what her dream had been about. Hoping she didn’t want to go right back to bed, I gave her a smile and lifted my bottle. “Beer?” Even though it was late, I’d love to spend some time with her. Maybe I could take her mind off her nightmare.

“Sure.”

Delighted, I headed to the kitchen to grab her one. She was still standing when I got back, so I nodded to the couch. Still irritated at his lack of good porn, Griffin sat down at the same time. He took the spot closest to the table so he could set his beer down and really concentrate on his smut surfing. Before I could even wonder if Kiera would want to sit next to him, she darted over to the far cushion. With an amused shake of my head, I took the middle seat. I could have safely bet money that Kiera wouldn’t willingly sit by Griffin.