When we got to the building housing her first class of the day, I gallantly held the door open for her. She gave me a charming smile as she stretched out in front of me. “So, I had an interesting phone call with my dad last week,” she said when we were side-by-side again.

“Oh yeah,” I responded with a smile. I hadn’t met her father yet, but from all I’d heard, he seemed to be the protective type. I could only imagine what he’d said to her.

She rolled her eyes, confirming my suspicions. “Yeah. He said he hoped you came to your senses soon and found a real job. Apparently being in a band isn’t a viable career choice for the person dating his daughter.” With a sigh, she shook her head. “I’m pretty sure my dad won’t be happy until you become an accountant.”

The image made me laugh. I really couldn’t picture myself at a desk all day, staring at a computer. I think I’d go crazy. Kiera laughed along with me, like she couldn’t picture it either. We were still laughing over the idea when I noticed a small cluster of guys blocking the hallway. Kiera hadn’t spotted them yet, and she was about five seconds away from stepping into a giant of a man. The dude towered over me, and I was six-two.

I pulled Kiera back, stopping her before she collided with the could-be basketball player. A small, startled gasp left her lips, and the imposing man looked our way. Surprising me, a huge smile stretched across his face as he pointed at me. “Hey, aren’t you that guy? The singer of that band? The D-Bags?”

Meeting men who knew me wasn’t always a…pleasant experience. Once upon a time, other people’s relationships hadn’t mattered that much to me. I’d been too lonely and desperate for affection to care, a fact that had led to more than one tense confrontation. Surprisingly, I hadn’t been in too many fights though; I had a knack for talking myself out of trouble, usually by pointing out that I had no way of knowing what girls were taken and what girls weren’t. I only had their word to go on, after all, and it wasn’t like a girl about to cheat on her boyfriend was going to tell me the truth. In theory. I had never actually asked a girl what her relationship status was, but I wasn’t about to mention that to their furious boyfriends. I wasn’t stupid.