Inhaling a deep breath, I practiced restraint and patience. Then I ignored Griffin and focused on Matt. Stepping up to him, I said, “Hey, I was thinking…U-Dub is starting up again soon. Kiera’s going to be a wreck…girl gets nervous about everything. But anyway, I’d really like to be available the night before her first day, so don’t schedule anything, okay?”

Matt gave me an amused smile. “I know, Kell. You already told me not to book that night. I didn’t.”

I sighed in relief. “I know, I just wasn’t sure if you remembered. I don’t want to mess this up, you know? It’s important to Kiera.”

Shaking his head, Matt smiled at me. “You’re way too high-strung about all this, Kell. Relax. She loves you, man.”

My stomach tightened. I know. But it wasn’t all that long ago that she loved someone else. I need to be everything to her, so I can show her that she’s everything to me. Not able to say any of that to him, I instead smacked his shoulder and said, “Just wait until you and Rachel get serious.”

He seemed annoyed by that. “We are serious. I mean…we’re exclusive. Same thing, right?”

I just raised my eyebrow in answer. Wait until she’s the number one priority in your life, then you’ll understand.

Evan walked over and clapped me on the back. “Congrats, Kell.” Looking over at Matt, he said, “Speaking of things in the works, the soundproofing stuff was backordered again. They’re telling me it will still be a few more weeks.”

Matt’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? What the hell. It’s taking forever…”

Evan cringed, then shrugged. “Sorry, Matt. I know you’re eager to get going.” He snapped his fingers. “And that reminds me…before it gets here, I should probably talk to my landlord. He might not be cool with our plans, you know?”

Matt frowned but nodded. “Yeah…make sure you ask him right away, dude, don’t keep putting it off. The sooner we get it set up, the sooner we can record a demo.” He smiled, excitement in his eyes. “And the sooner we have a demo, the sooner we can get our name out there.”

Griffin had stopped paying attention, but those words got him reinvested in the conversation. “Yeah, let’s do this shit! I need groupies on a global scale.” He mimed playing the guitar, sticking his tongue out and thrusting his hips. Matt grimaced.

Once Griff was done being a…rock star, he turned to me. “Hey, Kell, since you’re passing out house keys, can I get one too?”

Giving him a warm smile, I calmly said, “Not a chance in hell, Griff.”