The door to Rain’s house opened as we approached it, and Rain stood there, staring at us with a huge grin on her face. Rain was a tiny little thing, with dark eyes, pixie-like dark hair, a great voice, a fearless attitude, and boundless energy. She was going to do very well at Pete’s. “Kellan Kyle and Evan Wilder. What brings you two to my neighborhood?” She frowned a little as she looked behind us. “You didn’t bring the jackass, did you?”

Knowing she meant Griffin, I smiled and shook my head. “No, we left him with the babysitter.”

She snorted, then opened the door wider. “Then you can come in.”

“Thanks.”

Her smoky eyes watched me the entire time I walked past her into the house. There was a familiar eagerness on her face, an open invitation that said she would do whatever I wanted to do, I only had to ask. Rain reminded me of myself sometimes. At least, the old version of me. Up for anything, no questions asked. While I’d never really thought about it before, now I kind of wondered…had her childhood sucked as much as mine? Was that why she was so…open with herself? Maybe I should ask her, but then again, it wasn’t my style to pry.

As Evan and I stepped into the house, we nodded at the rest of the band, lounging around, relaxing on their day off. This group hung out together almost as much as the D-Bags hung out together. Maybe we all had dependency issues.

Rain closed the door then walked around us to join her friends. “So…just bored, or was there something specific on your mind?” Her gaze washed over my body, and one of the other girls sniggered.

A small laugh escaped me. “Something specific.” Her eyebrows raised and her smile grew wider. Before the wrong idea could dig itself too far into her head, I quickly added, “A job, actually.”

Rain pursed her lips, momentarily disappointed. But then her grin returned. “What job? Playing with you guys?”

I shook my head. “No, not with us…kind of, in place of us.” Her frown started to return, and another laugh left me. “We need someone to fill in for us at Pete’s.” I looked over at Evan. “We got asked to go on tour…and we’re gonna be gone for a while.” A long while. A fucking long while. An endless fucking long while. God…could I really do this?

Evan frowned at me, and I knew my face had changed again. Darkened with my ever-shifting mood. Inhaling, I forced a smile and looked back at Rain. Her mouth was dropped open in shock.

“Are you fucking with us right now?” she asked, her eyes flicking between Evan, me, and her band. “You want us…to take your spot at Pete’s Bar? The Pete’s Bar?”