He scratched at the short hair on the side of his head. “I’m waiting for Julian to come back,” he explained, referring to the guitar player for his band.

“Didn’t he go with my brother?” I swore I saw him get into the taxi with the other morons. If that was the case, there was no way the group was coming back anytime soon. Much less coming back sober. I wouldn’t bet any money on the chances of them being able to stand on two feet when they returned.

Now that I thought about it, I should probably try and have my camera app open on my phone just in case something ridiculous happened during the show.

“He said he was only going for a couple of hours.”

I hated people telling me that they would do something and then not. Disappointment was bitter. It wasn’t like it was my fault Julian had taken off, but I felt bad he’d left Sacha hanging. I would much rather take someone being blunt and hurting my feelings in the process, than let me down.

I sighed before breaking it to him. “They’re not coming back soon.”

Those translucent gray eyes that bordered on sky blue blinked in my direction.

“Were you planning on doing something?” I asked.

“We were going to go for a run,” he explained with a shrug. “It isn’t the end of the world.”

Slipping my legs off the couch to plant my feet on the floor, I raised my eyebrows at him as I set my book on the seat next to me. “I’ll go with you if you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I used to run track.”

“You did?” He made it sound like the idea was preposterous. Rude. It may or may not have been because I complained about the bus being too far from the venue back in Birmingham when I was moving merch bins, but in my defense, it had been raining.

Either way, I couldn’t help but scratch my forehead before amending my answer. “In high school.”

Sacha flashed those perfect white teeth on display. “What you’re meaning to tell me is that you’re pretty much a professional track star?”

I made sure to keep my features even as I nodded. “Exactly.”

His eyes widened playfully. “I’m pretty fast,” he warned.

“We’ll see how fast you are,” I said and immediately felt a little weird for inviting myself. “But only if you want the company. If you don’t, I completely understand.” And I might cry a little, but I kept that part to myself.

Running was one of the only things I’d kept up with over my life, especially in the time since my breakup; I made time for it a few days a week on the treadmill or when I didn’t mix it up with the Stairmaster. I figured my ass and thighs could thank me when I was forty. But it had been more than two weeks since the last time I’d made an effort to put my legs to use.

But Sacha was the same person who took me accidentally kicking him in the ass like a champ, and had gone out to eat with me so I wouldn’t go by myself. He hadn’t given me the smallest impression that he was anything but a nice guy. “Come with me,” he said, already waving me forward.

“Are you sure?” I asked,

The singer rolled his eyes. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Let me change,” I looked at the thin sweatpants I’d had on since the night before, “and find sunblock. I’ll be quick.”

Sacha tipped his head to the side. “I have some—”

Of course he did, with that clear skin that somehow managed not to be pasty.

“—get dressed and I’ll grab it.”

Grabbing semi-clean shorts and a sports bra from my backpack, I changed into them as quickly as I could and threw my T-shirt back on. I also grabbed some cash that ended up getting stuffed under a bra strap. If we were going to suffer from heat exhaustion, I was stopping to get something to eat at some point afterward; he just didn’t know it yet. After letting Gordo know that I was leaving since he was the only one who hadn’t taken off, I found Sacha waiting outside of the bus with a small tube of aloe vera-based sunblock in his hand that he tossed over.