“Yes, it is,” I smile. “I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick, and I’ll be right back to eat with you,” I tell Bee. She nods and takes a drink of orange juice.
Wrapping the sheet around me, I head to my dresser to grab some clothes before walking to the bathroom. I quickly get dressed in a t-shirt and shorts before freshening up a bit. Feeling more put together, I walk back out and join them for breakfast.
Miles’s eyes widen when he sees me.
“What?” I ask, looking down to make sure I don’t have anything on me.
“You know that’s my band, right? Or used to be.”
I glance down at my worn black t-shirt with the band logoSouthern Tidesacross the front. I got this tee at one of Mark’s concerts. They were the opening act at the time, and I loved them so much I got one of their shirts while I was there.
“You played with Southern Tides?” I ask, shocked.
“IwasSouthern Tides. I started the band when I was in high school.”
“But they're famous.”
“Yeah, I know,” he laughs. “We worked our as..” He stops and looks briefly at Bee, who’s giving Gizmo a bite of her egg. “Butts off for the past fifteen years.”
Dumbfounded, I sit on the bed. I knew he was a drummer in a band and had been on tour for a while, but in my mind, it was just local bars, not sold-out arenas.
“I have your songs on my Spotify list,” I whisper. “They’re amazing.”
“Glad you think so,” he grins and pops a strawberry in his mouth. “Those are our older designs,” he motions to the shirt. “I think we were still the opening acts back then.”
“Yeah, I uh went to a concert and loved you guys so much that I got a tee.” I glance at Bee, and she’s still playing with Gizmo. The last thing I want to do is get into a conversation about her dad in front of her. She’s asked me a couple of times since she’s gotten older why she doesn’t have one, and I’vemanaged to keep it vague by telling her he travels a lot for work, which is sort of the truth.
“What concert?”
“Hmm?” Miles pulls me out of my thoughts, and I miss his question.
“I asked what concert it was?” He chuckles, taking a bite of his omelet.
“I can’t even remember. It was so long ago, and I went to a lot back then.” Which is also sort of the truth. I went to a lot of Mark’s concerts that year. I just didn’t know I wasn’t the only girl doing the same thing.
“Well, tonight's your lucky night,” he grins. “The band is getting back together for the locals.”
“Southern Tides is playing tonight? At your opening?” My mouth drops open in surprise. “But that’s not the band you’ve been advertising.”
“They are still playing, but the boys are stopping by for a few songs to surprise everyone. I didn’t advertise it because I didn’t want to deal with the press and the hordes of fans, plus I’m trying to live a life out of the spotlight now.”
“Your groupies will find you eventually. A quick internet search is going to bring up your bar now.”
“Well, obviously not everyone uses the internet. My biggest fan didn’t even know what I looked like?” He grins and lifts the glass of orange juice to his lips.
“I’m on social media for work so much that I don’t even want to look at it when I’m done. I didn’t even think of looking you guys up when I added your songs to my playlist. And yourbiggest fan?” I arch my eyebrow. “I said I loved the band. The drummer is okay too,” I say, hiding a smile.
“I think someone needs a repeat of last night,” he says quietly. “You’re being very bad. You’re also doing that thing again that tells me you're lying.”
I slip my lip out that I had been fidgeting with and grin. “I guess I need more repeats to fully learn my lesson.”
“That can definitely be arranged,” he says with a gleam in his eyes. “And next time, you are wearing that t-shirt.” He points to his logo across my chest, “andI’m going to get you aMontgomery’sone to wear too.” Suddenly, I feel giddy at the thought of wearing his shirts and knowing I’m his. It’s also very hot to know it turns him on to have me wear it.
“I’ll wear your shirt. That’s what GF’s do, right? They wear their BF’s name?” I talk in code, so Bee won’t catch on to the wordsgirlfriendandboyfriend.
“It’s exactly what your BF wants, so yeah, it’s an unspoken rule that you have to wear my shirt.”
“Then I better do what my BF wants.”
