Page 14 of From Me to You

“We are not that famous. We have been around for a while and played a few gigs over the years. We have a few songs out on Soundcloud that are doing pretty well, but we still have a long way to go before we actually make it.” His eyes gleamed brightly as he spoke. I could tell he was really passionate about his music.

“What’s your band called?”

“We are called The Four Foxes. We mostly play in the indie-alternative genre. We have a few songs that we have put on a CD. Do you want to listen to them? I can give you the CD.”

“Of course. But only if you promise to sign it for me. And please tell me you are the singer. I so don’t want to hear Mike sing,” I joked.

“Don’t worry, that ugly mug plays the bass. Don’t tell him I said it, but he is pretty good. But yeah, I am on the vocals and guitar, and I also write songs. Matt helps me sometimes.” He smiled shyly.

My eyes softened. I was already so proud of how talented he was, even though I had never heard him play.

“Why The Four Foxes?” I frowned. It was a weird name.

Jay ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “When we were around fourteen, we had our first gig but still hadn’t decided our name. Mikey thought The Four Foxes sounded so cool because of an anime he was watching and that dumb fuck wrote that as our band name to the announcer without even asking us. And soon everyone started calling us that and we had no choice but to keep it.”

I smiled. Mike was so much trouble. I suddenly remembered how we ended up here, and I glanced at his hand that still clutched my pink panties.

“Uh, you can give that to me now.” I blushed, holding out my hand.

He peered at my panties in his hand, and his playful demeanor returned as he dropped them on my palm. I took it away, dumped it in the box with the rest of my lingerie, and placed it in the far corner of my closet.

“Pink is your favorite color, uh?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“What is wrong with pink? It is literally the most beautiful shade ever, like ever, that you can do anything with it. I know guys like to think that pink is shit. But pink is perfect. It is the coolest and the perfect color ever,” I exclaimed loudly.

“Woah, calm down, sweetheart.” Jay’s eyes widened as he held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything. Just asking.”

I grinned at his antics. God, when did it get so comfortable around him? I hardly knew him. I just met him yesterday, but it already felt like I had known him all my life.

We only had the last few boxes left to unpack, which contained a small bookshelf that needed to be assembled and the paperbacks I had collected throughout the years. It was around seven now, and I was tired, so I declared I could do it later by myself. Jay wouldn’t have it. He promised to come around next weekend to get it done. And he told me in no way that I was allowed to do it myself. I couldn’t help but agree.

“We have a gig this Saturday at the Red Rock Hall. Will you come?” His gaze bored into mine, waiting for my response.

My heart skipped a beat looking at him like this. Like he was worried I would say no. “Yes, I will,” I said softly.

Jay gave me a full-on smile that reached his eyes and showed off his perfect white teeth. His eyes shone, and the blue was so much brighter like this. And I was sure that I had died and gone to heaven.

Soon, we cleaned up and made our way downstairs to the kitchen to grab a drink. I poured him a large glass of Aunty M’s cream lemon soda while I settled for a glass of water.

“Thank you for your help today, Ja—Sorry, Emerson.”

“You can call me Jay, I like it.”

I nodded with a small smile on my face,

He cleared his throat. “So, you live with your aunt?” Jay asked, leaning over the kitchen counter.

“Yeah, I had lived with her my whole life. I don’t really know who my dad is, and my mother left me as soon as she gave birth to me. So, it was just me, Aunty M, and Grandma. But grandma passed away a few months ago, so it is just us now.”

“I am sorry,” he whispered, his gaze softening.

“It’s okay. I miss my grandma, but I have Aunty M. I love her. She is the best thing I could have asked for in my life. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“She is a good human.”

“That she is.” I smiled at him.

I averted my gaze, suddenly feeling vulnerable. I did not know how to react around him. I started at the crumbling, dirty paint on the walls as if it would answer all my questions. It made me think of running horses for some reason.