Page 16 of Playing the Backbeat

She crosses her arms, giving me a withering look, pure exasperation pouring out of her. “My presence alone should have been enough to sway you, but no. The view? The view is what seals the deal?”

I hike my shoulders, taunting her with an oversized grin. “Doesn’t hurt. What other amenities come included as your plus one?”

She nearly chokes on her own saliva. “Puh-lease. Do not call yourself that. And there are no amenities. Other than a parking space.”

“Miles above what I was looking at before.”

“We both know your other options were being woken up by Hopper or Luca every morning. It was Aiden’s couch or Dominic’s, wasn’t it?”

It was. Almost.

“Dominic and Ellie have a guest bed. But I have a feeling you’re right. The wake-up call would have been tough.” Luca and sleep? From what Ellie and Dom have told me, that’s a rough relationship.

“So, from now on, I only want to hear,Dee, you are the kindest, most generous, most beautiful landlord in the entire state. I worship at your feet, and will never, never push down the trash to make room for more trash instead of taking out the trash.”

“What?”

“Oh right. That’smyadorable habit. Watch out for that.” She gives me a wink before opening a door directly off the living room and stepping into the space.

The setup is exactly as she described, but more spacious than I was expecting. Large windows, though of course not as large as the living room, with deep blue curtains. The bedding is blue and beige on a queen-sized bed with a natural-looking wooden bed frame. The matching desk is simple, bare, sitting off to the side along with a dresser. If there were decorations before, she’s since taken them down. A clean slate. A key and parking pass sit on the desk, and I drop the boxes onto the floor before picking up the key.

“You sure you still love this idea of yours, Deanna Perry?”

“Don’t weaponize my full name, Dylan Brooks.”

“It’s not too late to back out.” I wave the key in the air.

“Coming from the man with no other options. I still don’t have a job offer, and I think I can safely assume you didn’t find an apartment, as you are here with a moving truck full of shit maybe five minutes away. Areyouhaving second thoughts?”

“Nah, this will be fun.”

Her answering smile would scare another man. Hell, it should probably scare me.

But Dee has this effortless way of recalibrating my brain. The heaviness that weighed on me earlier, the flood of worry and unease that muddled my thoughts and gave me brain fog has lifted, as if it was never there.

Dee brings light and life wherever she goes. And even if she can antagonize and berate me to within an inch of my sanity, damn, I love to watch her work.

A knock on the front door drags Dee’s attention away, and she leaves me in my new room. I hear Dom, Aiden, Chris, and Jake’s voices filtering in as they bring the first load of my things up from the truck.

I take one more look around my new bedroom before joining my friends. My entire world might be turned upside down right now, but I remind myself that I have a lot of people to fall back on, and with one intentional calming breath, it’s time to unpack.

Chapter seven

Dee

“What’s all this?” I ask, standing in the doorway to Dylan’s bedroom. He doesn’t answer, and it’s then I realize he’s wearing headphones…and he’snotwearing a shirt.

I clear my throat, taking in the muscled definition cutting sharp lines over his back as he moves, my greedy gaze roaming over every inch of skin.

Jesus. Get a grip, Deanna.

“Earth to Dylan,” I say louder.

Still no acknowledgment until he suddenly turns toward me, swiveling in his chair. I was too distracted by his lack of clothes to notice that he’s setting up some kind of weird arrangement of circular pads and metal stands.

“Hey.” He catches sight of me, pulling his headphones down until they fall around his neck. “Sorry, did you say something?”

Well, this just got worse. Now, he’s facing me and the sight is…perfect. Fuck.