Jared rubbed the stubble along his chin as he considered. “That could work, and it would sound more like our own stuff, too. Let’s try it.”

For the next three hours, we worked on getting our version of the song figured out, experimenting with different ways to make it our own. The guitar on the song wasn’t hard, but the bass was trickier and Jared had a tougher time with it.

After a particularly bad play-through, we decided to take a break and stretch our limbs before the next three-hour block. I headed to the kitchen to grab lunch and found Sean in there, pouring some coffee.

“Hi,” he said. “Crazy day, huh?”

“Very. I’m still trying to catch my breath.”

“Me too.” He watched as I grabbed a plate and piled on some salad. “I hate that our bands are competing against each other.”

“I know, it really sucks.” I examined the mini-sandwiches, trying to figure out what they were, and then grabbed two turkey ones and a soda. I was just thrilled the show wasn’t starving us today.

“So how’s it going for you?” Sean asked, resting his hip against the counter in front of me. “With the song?”

“We’ve got it figured out I think. Just need to practice more. How about you?”

“We’ve done covers of ‘Somebody Told Me’ before at shows, so we feel pretty good about it. What kind of spin are you putting on it?”

“Um…” I wasn’t sure what to tell him, and then I was distracted by the sight of Jared in the lounge, talking to a girl with long copper hair. Was this Michelle? She gave him a flirty smile and put her hand on his elbow, and I wanted to dump my plate of food on her head. Jared flashed her his devilish grin, but when he looked at me and Sean, something crossed his face. He ditched the girl and walked over to us.

“Hey,” he said, standing close to me and glaring at Sean. “What do you think of the song choice?”

“We’re happy with it. It’s a good song for us. You?” Sean’s sunny disposition had vanished, and he eyed Jared with an openly hostile look. I wasn’t really sure what was going on between them.

“We’ll make it work.”

“Cool.” They stared each other down for a long, painful moment, and then Sean turned back to me. “Hey, it was great to see you, Maddie.”

“You too.” I pulled my shirt down to better cover my leggings, suddenly self-conscious. The mood had turned frosty ever since Jared had arrived, like they both wanted to stake their claim on me or something, which was ridiculous.

“What was that about?” I asked Jared once Sean had left.

Jared turned to make himself some tea with honey. “He’s trying to work you to get info on what we’re doing.”