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. 33Parker raised an eyebrow. Should we cut her off? Feed her some more and give her a pen, we could use thoselyrics, Chris suggested. Hello, Mama s an English teacher, remember? Jake remindedthem both. She does that shit for fun.It was bound to rub off on us. How come you ve never called anyone a shallow, egomaniacalself-absorbed piranha? Maybe because all the people I know are shallow, egomaniacalself-absorbed jackasses, Jake muttered.33No offense to actual in-crowders. JB American Love Songs 117 Zing! Allanna appeared out of the ether with a tray of champagneglasses dripping in condensation and passed them around. Eighteen onthe eighteenth, she said. That s a champagne birthday.But you didn tget this from me. Looking grateful for an excuse to get rid of the mixed drinkJimmy had made her, Becca swapped out her cup for a flute. Thanks.I m Becca, by the way. Allanna.I m the tour manager, also known as head roadie. She s also in charge of making sure I don t fuck anyoneinappropriate, Chris drawled from his chair.To her credit, Becca managed the spit-take very gracefully. How s that going for you? The hint of a smile lurking in the corner of Allanna s mouth waseasy to spot if you knew what you were looking for. It s a work inprogress, if I m honest. She squished in between Parker and Jimmy onthe loveseat. Well, there go my chances, Becca joked, and it was Jake s turnto do damage control on the champagne he d just tried to shoot out hisnose. Don t even think about it, he said before his eyes had evenfinished watering. I will forgive you for a lot of dumb shit, but that snot on the list. Breaking in before the slinging of sarcasm got serious, Allannasaid, Not to steal the spotlight or anything, but can I get some lovehere? I m not gonna see you guys for, like, three months! Why not? Becca asked. The tour is over, Parker explained. And I live practically on the other side of the world, Allannachimed in. Or as close as you can get on this continent, anyway. She lives in Newfoundland, Jake said.Jimmy elaborated, It s like an iceberg, only colder. 118 Ashlyn Kane I m sorry, Becca offered.Allanna looked offended. That you have to put up with my brother and his pet assholes allthe time, she finished with a grin. Oh, I like you.Come on tour with us this summer.I can use allthe extra estrogen I can get. Now there was a terrifying thought.Jake shuddered.Becca nudged him none too gently with her sneaker.Before Jake could mount a more vocal protest, Matt and Laura,the guitar techs, interrupted his train of thought. We re ready, Laurasaid to Chris, unslinging his favorite guitar from around her neck andpassing it over.Chris took it by the neck and stood to secure the strap. Awesome. Then he reached down and pulled Allanna up by the hand. Come on, babe, we re on. The rest of the group tracked their progress across the room towhere a makeshift stage had been set up.Chris shoved Allanna in frontof one of the two microphones, where she stood looking utterlyconfused and kind of terrified while he reached down and plugged inhis guitar. Hi guys, Chris said brightly. You might have noticed that wealready paid tribute to one lovely lady on stage tonight, but I wanted todo a more private sendoff for the road crew, so. Jake looked at Parker, who shrugged helplessly. This should begood, Jake said in a quiet aside to Becca.From all corners of the room, they gathered at the stage: Matt andLaura; Marissa, Jake s bass tech; Little Mike on the bongos; Big Mikeon the keyboard.Everyone had an instrument but Allanna, who didn tplay as far as Jake knew and was thus stuck in front of the microphone. Um, she said. What s going on? We took a vote, Big Mike said, and the crew thought the bestway for us to say so long for three months was for you and Chris tosing a duet. American Love Songs 119 Of a Paul Simon song, Laura added.Becca said, Seriously? Jake and Parker shushed her simultaneously. I know you know the words, and if you don t sing I m going tohit on Lindsey, Chris promised.Lindsey was their sound engineer.She waved cheerfully from her perch behind the bar, where she wasdoing engineers everywhere proud by making sure everyone got asdrunk as possible. Cheers, Allanna laughed, and she picked the mike up off thestand. Alright, hit it, Little Mike. Recognizing the song only took a few seconds.Parker said, Idon t believe it, his voice full of equal parts humor and shock, butJake was already swaying along with the beat by the time Chris openedhis mouth. A man walks down the street.He says, why am I soft in themiddle? Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so hard. Paul Simon? Becca said. Really? Then she shrugged andturned to Parker. Alright, it s my birthday, and you know what thatmeans. You want cake? Parker asked hopefully, his eyes betraying hisapprehension. It means you have to dance with me.Official birthday rules. Says who? Says me, and it s my birthday, so you have to listen! But Parker began, his eyes appealing to Jake for help.Jake grinned. Sorry.Have fun. Finally Parker had no choice but to let Becca drag him off to themakeshift dance area albeit under a certain amount of obvious duress. You can call me Al, Allanna sang, too loudly and somewhatoff-key for the real harmony.But Chris, who was singing the melody,had a grin that matched hers and didn t seem to notice.Meanwhile, thesmall selection of road crew not responsible for the madness had 120 Ashlyn Kanecrowded in front of the stage and was dancing along with Becca andParker, who, to be fair, was not so much dancing as standing theresomewhat awkwardly and being sung at by Jake s sister.He was smiling, though, so he obviously didn t totally hate it. Okay, that is adorable, Jimmy intoned from Jake s right.Taken aback, Jake snapped his gaze away and turned toward him. That is wrong on so many levels. Behind his dreadlocks, Jimmy rolled his eyes. Parker s hardlyabout to make a move on your sister, dude.It s just nice to see himcutting loose for once. 34 When Jake didn t respond, he offered, Icould cut in if you want. No! Jake said, too sharply. It s just, kids grow up so fast, youknow? Jimmy blinked at him guilelessly. Sure. Three days later, when he was saying goodbye to Becca at theairport, she wrapped him in a hug tight enough to squeeze the breathright out of his lungs. Thanks for letting me stay with you. Hey, any time.I mean that. She released him and took a step back, then looked him up anddown appraisingly like she had something to say, but all that came outwas, You could call me a little more often, you know? Why did he feel like he was missing the text that was floating inthe ether between the lines? You know I m terrible at keeping intouch. Also at getting a clue, she muttered. Hey! Then she smiled, and he forgot to be mad
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