“And here I am. What did you want to see me about?”
Cory leaned back into the chair on the other side of her desk, looking as confident as a man who’d never had a woman say no to him. He probably wasn’t at all used to women shutting him down.
Which didn’t make him a douche. It simply made him that much more determined.
And when Sebastian leaves . . .
“I’m hoping you’ll consider a second date. Let me take you out again. I can’t help but think we didn’t really get off on the right foot. So I’d like to try again.”
She had to admit, the fact that Cory was here felt like the biggest confidence boost she could imagine. He’d sought her out.
Could she actually be thinking about going out with this man when she planned to go home tonight with another man and sleep with him? If Baz actually showed up. Last night he hadn’t left the studio. That had happened a few other times over the past three weeks.
Which forced her to confront the fact that she needed to make a decision one way or the other. Break up with Sebastian before he left her behind, or make the commitment to stick with him and see where their relationship went.
“I’m sorry, Cory. I’m not free to say yes to you at the moment.”
One eyebrow rose as he leaned forward in his chair. “That sounds like you might be in the near future.”
Just the thought made her stomach roll. “Since I have no idea what’s going to happen in my life in the next few months, I can’t say that. I’m really flattered that you’re here. I just don’t have any idea what my life’s going to look like in a month. Or even two or three months. I just . . . can’t give you the answer you want right now.”
If she thought he’d be angry or huffy, she couldn’t have been more wrong. He smiled, as if she hadn’t just turned him down. Again.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” He rose from the chair, and she stood, too. Which just meant she had to look up at him. Everything about him was appealing. Every damn little thing.
So why couldn’t she want him like she wanted Sebastian?
“I’m a patient guy, Tru. Ask anyone who knows me.” He walked to the door, then stopped to turn and smile at her again. “Tell Greg I’ll come by to see him another time, would you? And it was really nice to see you again. I look forward to the next time.”
* * *
Nothing good ever came from eavesdropping.
Baz practically heard his mom’s voice in his head as he stood outside Tru’s office door, listening to Cory fucking Shirk try to pick up Tru.
He’d probably missed a few points of the conversation because of the furious pounding in his ears but he’d heard enough to know the bastard was trying to convince her to go out with him again.
What made his heart hurt was the fact that she didn’t give the other guy a flat-out no.
What the hell did that mean?
Was he the only one with his emotions invested in this relationship? Was he seeing something with Tru that wasn’t really there?
Fuck.
He had to get out of here before Shirk left her office and Tru found him out here listening in to their conversation.
Tonight, he’d find out how she felt about him. He’d ask her if she returned his feelings.
And if she doesn’t?
Shit, he couldn’t even really think about that because it made him want to stomp into her office and kiss her in front of Shirk, hard enough to let the other guy know she was taken.
But was she?
She’s never said she loves you.
Turning, he headed back to the studio, his heart in his throat.
Jesus, he felt like a sap.
“Baz. Hey, Baz, wait up.”
His hand on the door to the studio, Baz turned to find Nik nearly plastered against his back. How the hell had Nik snuck up on him like that?
Nik’s gaze pierced straight to Baz’s and held. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. What’s up?”
Nik didn’t look like he was going to let him off the hook. There was a time he wouldn’t have let up until he knew exactly what Baz was thinking.
Now his eyes narrowed until they were only a glint of ice blue. Then he took a breath and released it on a sigh.
“I talked to Tom. We’ve got a release date in July which means we have to have the album finished by end of May.”
“You know that’s not gonna be a problem. We’ve got enough material for two albums and we’ve only got one more song to record and we can get that done today.” At least he’d been counting on getting it done today so he could spend some time with Tru. “We all know this is some of the best work we’ve ever done. We’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Are you trying to reassure yourself or me?”
“What do you mean?”
Nik sighed hard. “Never mind. Fuck it. I’ve got a track to record.”
Nik went to push past him but Baz grabbed his arm, determined to get to the bottom of this. “Nikky, what the fuck is going on?”
Nik didn’t pull away. He looked at Baz’s hand on his arm, then looked up into Baz’s eyes. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. Damn it. Come on, tell me—”
“Baz.” Nik’s voice was lethally sharp. “Let it go for now. Seriously. Let me get these vocal tracks finished. Then we’ll talk. I promise.”
Baz wanted to press, wanted to shake whatever the fuck was going on with Nik out of him. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to know. That damn kiss still hung between them even if they’d agreed not to talk about it. And maybe that was for the best.
When did you start sticking your head in your ass?
He kept his hand on Nik’s arm. “No more bullshit. You and me, we gotta figure this shit out. We’ve gotta be back on the same wavelength. When you and I are onstage, we’ve gotta be a united front. What the hell happened between us? Do you know? Because I don’t have the first fucking clue and I wish to hell you’d tell me.”
“Fine. You want me to tell you what happened? You nearly fucking died.” His voice rose but wasn’t quite at screaming level yet. “And I didn’t know until months later. You’ve been the only person in my life I’ve ever been able to count on. Do you know that? Do you know what that means to me? I’m not sure you do. And I don’t think you ever will.”
Shit, this was bad. “I do know that. And I’m not going anywhere. You gotta trust that.”
Nik shook his head. “I trust you, Baz. I’m just not sure we can ever be the way we were. You’ve got yourself back on track and that’s great. It’s amazing and I’m happy for you. Tru’s great. The music you made for Greg’s film is fucking incredible. I’ve never heard anything like it. But we can’t go back and be like it was before. Everything dies, right?”
Nik idolized Springsteen and Baz knew exactly why he’d used that lyric from “Atlantic City.” Because the rest of that line held out hope.
“Yeah. But everything comes back. Right?”
“Yeah. I guess.” He shrugged. “I gotta figure some shit out on my own but everything’ll be okay. Eventually.”
It’s what Baz had always told Nik when things had gotten bad when they were kids. Baz had always promised Nik they’d be fine if they just stuck together. And Baz had broken that promise.
First, by almost dying of an overdose. And now there was Tru . . .
Shit. Was that part of this?
He seriously hoped not. Because he wasn’t giving her up.
Chapter Thirteen
“Jesus, Baz. I can’t believe that after all these years, you still trip over that damn chord change.”