Biting my lips together, I plug the guitar into the amp and mess with the volume. I don’t want it too loud, as I don’t want to draw anyone’s attention.

I’m in the practice studio, waiting for Cairo to get here. Mr. Hale let me in.

We’ve already had one lesson today, but the other night, he texted me to let me know that his dad said I could use the music rooms whenever they’re free. Because he teaches an adult choir here on Thursday evenings, he’s allowing us to use the practice room until their session is over.

It’s now late afternoon, which means we have a couple of hours to play before I’m due home. Maddie ran home straight after baseball practice. She’s probably in our room studying, and Chloe’s doing “something to make the world a better place” with Rahn. I’m supposed to be grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading to the batting cage. Because that’s where everyone thinks I’m going.

And I’ll get away with it too, because right now my sisters are totally distracted in an all-out war over Holden Carter.

Maddie kissed him.

Chloe saw.

Maddie’s sorry.

Chloe’s mad.

Seriously, it’s just way too much drama for me. I’m trying to be the good sister and listen to both sides, but it’s exhausting. I feel sorry for both of them. Maddie obviously likes Holden a lot, but she’s avoiding him at all costs because she doesn’t want to hurt Chloe again.

And Chloe’s being stubborn because she’s gutted that the guy she was crushing on is into her older sister. That’s gotta hurt.

I’m being Switzerland throughout the whole thing, which sucks, and is yet another reason for me to find excuses not to be home.

I do have to be careful and space out these guitar sessions so that I’m not being too obvious. But thankfully for me, most of the eyes and gossip in the place involves Vincent Mancini’s suspension, so I’m covered by that, too.

Some stolen baseball gear was found in his locker. Dad’s investigating at the moment. Chloe thinks it’s a setup, and I agree with her. I don’t know much about Vincent, other than he’s a scary-ass guy who skips school a lot and looks like he could pound me into dust if he felt like it. He comes from a family that has a bad rep and pretty much owns the northwest side of town. He was basically born with a criminal stamp on his forehead, but surely he’s not stupid enough to steal new baseball gear and then leave one mitt in his locker with some drugs tucked inside of it. That’s just dumb. And I don’t think the guy’s an idiot. He looked pretty damn surprised when that stuff was pulled out of his locker. I was watching and I’m with Chloe—Vincent Mancini has been turned into someone’s scapegoat.

As much as it must suck for him, the drama is overshadowing my deception, so I’m not going to complain about it.

Tweaking the A string, I brush the pick down the strings and grin. Oh yeah. That sounds so cool.

I haven’t played the electric guitar yet. Cairo’s kept me on the acoustic until my skills are better, but since he’s not around, I may as well have a little play.

Licking my bottom lip, I choose the one song I’ve memorized—“When I Come Around” by Green Day. It’s old-school, but Cairo’s taught it to me because it only has four chords and is easy to play.

I strum the intro and then start softly adding the words.

I’ve been listening to the song repeatedly so I know it by heart.

Tapping my foot, I get into it, smiling as I create this amazing sound. Sure, it’s slower than the original and my voice is no doubt pretty average. But I’m in tune and I don’t sound awful, so I kick up my volume and launch into the second verse.

By the time I reach the little solo, I’m smiling so wide my face hurts. I stuff up a few notes and start to laugh, fiddling with the chords until I get it right.

“Uh, no,” I chide myself, leaning forward to look at the strings.

A slow applause snatches my attention. “Nice playing, Maximus.”

I whip around to face my visitor, fear rippling through me as I hear my father’s nickname.

“R-Roman. What are you doing here?”

Crap, I should have left the hallway door locked instead of prepping it for Cairo’s arrival. I just didn’t want him disturbing his Dad’s choir practice by having to walk through the music room.

I grip the neck of the guitar, wondering how bad this is going to be for me.

I’ve only spoken to Roman once. He introduced himself to me a couple of weeks ago, after the preseason baseball game. He had this curious smile on his face while we were talking and I couldn’t help wondering if he was fishing for information on me.

“How long have you been playing?” He points at the guitar in my hands.

“Oh, um…” I shrug. “Not long. I’m sure you can tell by my useless rendition of Green Day.”

Roman crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe. “It’s one of Cairo’s favorites. He loves that song.”

“Does he?” My voice rises too high, giving away the fact that I totally know what he’s talking about.

Closing my eyes with a sigh, I droop my head. “He’s teaching me, okay?”

“He told me he offered but you said no.”

“Yeah, well, I did at first. But then I changed my mind.”

Roman’s lips dip while his eyebrows rise. Maybe he’s annoyed that Cairo didn’t say anything. Velocity seems like a close-knit unit.

“I asked Cairo to keep it quiet, made him promise not to tell anyone.”

“You worried your baseball-loving Dad might freak out if he knows you’re playing guitar?”

My head pops up. “How did you…?”

He snickers and shakes his head. “I saw him at the game. You’re his Maximus, his little winner.”

I look down to hide my grimace.

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t say anything. I know what it’s like to be put into a box.” He walks past me and fishes a pair of drumsticks out from behind the kit. “Before these…” He waggles his sticks in the air. “I was the deadbeat who tried to sell drugs to everybody. That’s all they thought I was good for. It’s okay to break the mold, you know.”

“Yeah…I…I don’t do drugs.”

He grins. “Missing the point, Blondie.”

I roll my eyes. “I get it. I don’t have to play baseball forever.”

“Actually, my point was that you don’t have to be Maximus forever.”

My mouth goes dry as I stare at him.

His sharp nose wrinkles and he points his sticks at me. “Looks like you’re trying though, right? And you sound damn amazing considering you’ve only been playing for a little while.” He walks past me, then stops and clicks his fingers. “Hey, you know what? You should come see us play sometime. Next weekend, we’re doing a gig at this club in Cullington. You’ll love it.”

“A club?” I give him a skeptical frown. “I doubt I’ll be able to get to a club.”

“Oh, I know the owner. We play there a lot. You don’t have to worry about getting in.”

“No, I mean I think my dad would kill me if I try to go to a club.”

He chuckles and looks to the ceiling for a second. “You know, it’s the same night as the homecoming dance. Maybe Papa Bear doesn’t need to know where you really are.”

A ripple of excitement spurts through me and I’m soon fighting a smile.

“You should come, watch your guitar teacher in action.” Roman wiggles his eyebrows and I lose my fight with the smile.

I turn it into a quick laugh that has to be swallowed back before I drown in my own humiliation.

Shit, Roman’s totally witnessing my crush-a-thon.

“I mean…yeah.” I clear my throat. “I should, you know, see him play and make sure he’s good enough to teach me, right?” I wince and scratch my forehead.

Roman cracks up laughing. “Whatever you have to tell yourself, Puppy Love.”

I groan and hide my face behind my hands.

“Roman?” Cairo’s surprised question makes me jerk in my chair.

Shit! How am I not hearing these people coming?

Did he overhear what Roman just called me?

Oh, kill me now.

Cairo glances at me before looking at his friend. “What are you doing back at school?”

“Forgot my favorite sticks.” He holds them up. “That’s why I was a little off in practice this afternoon.”

“Oh really.” Cairo gives him a droll look. “And here I was thinking it was Latifa’s new leather pants.”

Roman narrows his eyes and points his sticks in warning, but he can’t hold his stern expression.

Cairo smirks and now I’m not the only one blushing.

I grin, glad to have the heat off me, until Cairo glances down and catches my eye. His eyebrows flicker when he notices me holding the electric guitar.

“She’s sounding good, man.” Roman lightly punches his arm and starts walking out of the room singing “When I Come Around.”

I blush and let out a breathy chuckle when he spins to point at me. “Be there next weekend, Green Day.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just swallow and look to the floor.

“Next weekend?” Cairo takes a seat beside me, checking out the amp levels.

I must have gotten them right because he’s not changing anything.

“Yeah, Roman invited me to watch you guys play.”

He looks at me, the beginnings of a smile twitching his lips. “I thought you’d want to go to homecoming.”

I make a face. “You think I’m the kind of girl who likes going to school dances?”

He snickers, like that realization only just occurred to him. “You’re right. The only reason I like going is when I’m allowed to play on stage.”

“I’d love to see you sometime.” The words pop out before I can stop them.

My heart lurches into my throat, making it impossible to swallow.

But Cairo eases my nerves with a friendly grin. “That’d be cool. You should come with us, then.” He runs a hand through his hair, and a thick lock flops back over his forehead. I want to touch it, curl it around my finger. “You know, I should have invited you myself, but I didn’t think you wanted the band to know about the guitar thing, and I was worried it’d be awkward.”

Biting the edge of my lip, I cradle the guitar against me. “Do you think we can trust them not to say anything?”

“For sure. I’d trust those guys with anything.”

“But Austin and Kingston are brothers. I mean, if anyone on the team finds out…”

“Austin won’t say anything. He and Kingston are so different. Considering they’re related, they don’t hang out very much.” Cairo lays his hand on my knee. “Besides, if you trust me, you can trust him.”

“Okay.” I can barely form the word. All I can feel right now are his fingers on my knee. I suddenly wish I was sporting a miniskirt, just so I could feel his skin directly on mine.

Seriously? A miniskirt? Did I really just think that?

I swallow and flash the most normal-looking smile I can. It probably looks wonky and weird, but Cairo doesn’t seem to notice.

Jumping from his seat, he grabs an electric guitar and plugs it into my amp. As he’s checking the tuning, he tells me more about the Cullington gig, and I start devising a way to get out of the homecoming dance.