Kyle rolled his eyes. “Sorry. I thought he was going to the gym with Hector.”

There wasn’t much room to practice, so we moved the desk and made space in front of the sliding doors to the balcony. Once that was done, I pulled out my acoustic guitar and checked the tuning. It wasn’t as exciting as my electric guitar, but it would have to do since my Fender was still in Dan’s studio.

Jared emerged from the bathroom wearing black jeans and a T-shirt with Darth Vader that read, “Choking Hazard.” If there was anything that could make him sexier to me, it was a geeky shirt. Dammit.

He sat on the bed beside Kyle, and they waited for me to start. I put my hands in position on my guitar, but still I hesitated. I’d played in front of the brothers dozens of times now, but for some reason, I was more nervous than ever today. Maybe because they were both watching me intently instead of playing alongside me. It was like my first night in their garage all over again. Except now I was in their bedroom, which made it even worse.

Jared must have sensed my reluctance because he grabbed his own guitar and plugged it into a small travel amp. I hadn’t realized he’d brought his Fender to the hotel, the same one I’d played at his party all those nights ago. He started the opening to “Uprising,” and with his music to concentrate on, I joined him on my own guitar. The mix of acoustic and electric sounded odd, but it didn’t matter for this exercise.

Kyle examined me for a minute and then jumped up. “Your body is too stiff.” He grabbed my arms and shook them a little. “You need to loosen up.”

I dropped my guitar pick and then grabbed it off the floor. “I’m not that stiff.”

“You look like you’ve got a piece of wood jammed up your ass,” Kyle said.

“You are pretty stiff,” Jared said. “Try moving your hips when you play. Like this.”

He stood behind me and put his hands on my waist, and I sucked in a breath as he showed me what he meant. Heat rushed through my body as I imagined him sliding those hands lower, across my bare skin. He stepped back, and I remembered Kyle was still there, too, which cooled me off a little.

Jared took off his guitar and passed it to me. “Here, use mine. Playing with an acoustic guitar isn’t the same.”