• "What? How is she?" The question made Kyle recheck the time on his phone. Must be around eleven in Paris. Pretty early. Jamie was a late sleeper. They could chat until he got the answers he wanted. Besides, Jamie didn't sound displeased that he'd interrupted her weeknight, giving her a call without early notice. She sounded surprised, though. "I had no idea," Jamie sighed over the line. "Still at it. Won't even talk to me or Dan." "Er...I haven't called her since Tues—  Friday. I messaged her this morning. She hasn't called or texted me back," Jamie replied, her voice raspy, probably tired. "She okay? Can't reach her cell." "Probably turned off. She's sleeping," Kyle replied. He gripped his phone and let out a sigh.  The past couple of days, he'd been trying to have a serious conversation with Veronica, but she just

•

•Théo clasped the edge of the bed and glared at the girl acting like she couldn't give two shits about his question. When he kept waiting for her to fess up, her snubbing and disinterested frown just showed her guilt. "What?""So we're back to lies and pretending." He used a harsher tone, not caring if he might offend her in some way, or if he would sound like a judgmental jerk. "What d'you mean?"A loud grunt preceded his argument. "You've gotta stop—" He looked away. "It's getting out of hand."Her disbelief pinned her scowl on her pretty face. "What? We were having fun just last night."He faked a chuckle at her words. He almost believed her when she said she was only going through his stuff because she thought he was seeing someone else. But when he caught her using in the bathroom again, he instantly realized the real reason she snooped on his phone and went through his luggage.She was good at pretending but she wasn't a better liar than him—that he was sure of now. At the mom

•"Are you texting her?""No.""You're hilarious.""Shut up." Théo hunched closer to the table and checked his phone. The smirk on his best friend's face wasn't because of the alcohol, he knew.Tomek quit grinning and shifted in his seat to glance over the well-lit stage below them. "She looks great," Tomek said after spending a while watching tonight's performers.Théo let his gaze drift to the right half of the curved platform, where the tall bassist and the only female vocalist onstage were positioned. Midway on the stage stood Veronica. She stood behind a microphone stand. The black pantsuit she had on made her look like a young company executive, as opposed to a frequently touring musician."That's Ed, right?" asked Tomek.Théo put his beer glass back on the table and answered with a small nod. He took another quick look at the band in performance; the Brooklyn-based indie-rock quartet were the last performers for tonight.Ed, the band's vocalist, was now belting the song's verse.

•It was his latest text. No— The one before that...Or maybe it was the voice message he sent this morning?There was just something in his voice that triggered a memory she'd rather not dwell on tonight. Veronica tossed her phone onto the bed, opting to ignore another text from the guy. Because if she replied to let him know she was still up, Théo would definitely call and keep her awake for another hour.She just wasn't in the mood to talk. Chat. Ask how his day was. If he was in New York already, so on...Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. And besides, he had lots of other momentary diversions he could call up. She wasn't jealous, though. Well...maybe just a little. For tonight, though, she'd sleep the stress off. Veronica scanned the room for a fat, black furball with a lazy crooked tail. She sighed and remembered her cat was at her mom's again. She wouldn't be able to spoil and cuddle him for another couple of months; the band still had several more shows to play to promote the