“Uh . . . all right. Let’s see. Sonic Youth?” He sat on the edge of the bed and picked at the strings, tweaked the knobs. He strummed some notes. Joy immediately recognized the tune.

“That’s not Sonic Youth,” she said, sitting beside him, impressed at his selection.

Kevin shook his head and kept on playing. He wasn’t just okay. He was good, like supergood. Her fingers danced on her thigh and her foot tapped the beat. When he finished, he casually draped his arms over the guitar and silently regarded her. Joy could only stare. She should say something, but words escaped her. One thing she did know: her crush was wicked talented. And for a girl who obsessed about music, that was everything. He was the most confident, lyrical, and attractive guy she’d ever laid eyes upon. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, leaving her breathless.

Kevin’s throat rippled. He shifted uneasily. “That was—”

“Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin’,’” she blurted.

He blinked, surprised. “You like Tom Petty?”

“Love him. Bob Dylan, too.”

“That’s sick. Me too. What about Neil Young?”

“He’s so good.”

They both smiled and Joy felt the best she had all day. She’d never hung out with someone who not only had similar taste in music, but appreciated the classics like her. Most of her friends were into Dashboard Confessional and Blink-182. Current stuff.

Everything she did to get up here was totally worth hearing him play. She smiled shyly at Kevin, tumbling a little deeper in than a simple crush, when her stomach growled—loudly.

A flash of heat shot up her neck and scorched her face.

Kevin chuckled. “Hungry?”

No. Mortified.

“Starving. I didn’t eat dinner.”

“You should have said something. Plenty of food downstairs. Let’s get something to eat.” He stood, returning the guitar to its stand. He then swung open the door at the exact moment Judy walked by and Joy about fell off the bed. Judy abruptly stopped and backtracked.

“Hey, Judy. Look who made it.” Kevin opened the door wider and grinned at Joy.

Joy didn’t have a chance to hide. She barely had a second to process that her sister was standing right there, framed by the doorway.

Judy looked from Kevin to Joy. Her brows flew up and her jaw came unhinged.

Joy cringed. Busted.

Joy felt a hand on her arm. She looked at the hand, then at the man. Dylan had woken up.

“Everything all right?” he asked, his voice gentle.

“Sure, why?”

“You seemed far away. Thinking about your sister again?”

Joy nodded. All the time.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

She shook her head. She didn’t want to remember what happened that night, let alone talk about it.