Page 65 of Howlin’ For You

“Hmm.” She clears her throat, the levity of just a few moments ago disappearing from her face. “I was bullied a lot in school. I’ve always been small, and I was a lot quieter back then, so I made for an easy target. Nick protected me. Dane did, too, but it was mostly Nick.”

“I didn’t know that.” I’m not surprised, though. It’s very on-brand for Nick to insert himself in a situation to protect someone else.

“He’s a moron sometimes—curse of having a penis—but he’s genuinely got the best soul.”

I open the door to Claws Out Bar, letting Georgie walk in first. “He asked me to be his girlfriend this morning.”

She throws up her arms, waving her hands in mock offense. “Way to bury the fucking lead, Izzy.”

I giggle as we approach the stage where a few musicians are setting up.

“Jane?” I ask as we approach. Jane is the lead singer, and we’ve been emailing each other, trying to find a time for an audition for about a week now. Between all my other tasks and fixating on Nick, it’s been tough to find five minutes.

A pink-haired woman turns to me from where she was tuning the guitar strapped across her chest. She smiles, elongated canines flashing in the dim bar lighting. “Isabella! Nice to finally meet you in person.”

“Nice to meet you. This is my friend, Georgie.” They nod, almost sizing each other up before relaxing. Must be full moon energy. “We’re excited to hear you play.”

“I hope we’re the right fit for your party,” Jane replies and turns to her band.

We find a table right in the center of the room, not that there’s really anyone else in here, and wait for them to finish tuning.

“How’d you get Jensen to agree to let you use the place?” Georgie asks, crossing her legs and relaxing into her chair. “I don’t think I’ve even seen him in a year.”

“I sent him an email asking if he wanted to be involved in providing drinks for the anniversary event. He said no, so I used that to guilt him into letting me audition bands here. Luckily for him, I’ve only found the one.” He wasn’t ever rude, but I could tell from the very short responses that he was uncomfortable.

“What happened to him?” I ask, meeting Georgie’s gaze.

She sighs. “No one really knows. He was never super chatty in the first place, to be fair, but he always came out to tend bar every night. Then one day, he just stopped. Disappeared. The only reason anyone even knows he’s alive is because he’ll break up a bar fight here and there.”

“That’s sad,” I whisper.

“Yep. But you can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves. He’s gotta be ready to come out of whatever self-imposed hole he’s thrown himself into. Only then will he accept a ladder.”

“You realize that was ridiculously profound, right?” I smile, amazed by my new friend.

She shrugs. “I’m multi-layered.”

“We’re Howler’s Edge,” Jane says into the microphone, pink hair flowing behind her. “And we’re excited as fuck to play for you.”

Jane’s raspy voice rattles through the microphone as she sings about heartache and drugs and loss in a way that lights up the very center of my chest. Instantly, I’m mentally transported to some old, grungy, boozy underground bar.

“What have you got going on after this?” I ask, wondering if Georgie might have time to hang out for a little while before dinner at Nick’s.

She stiffens a little. “Dad duty.”

Despite the music playing between us, the silence stretches like pulled taffy. Nick has hinted at Georgie’s life, and I’ve respected that he didn’t feel as though it was his story to tell.

“Dad duty?” I finally ask, once I realize she’s not going to continue on her own.

She looks at me, pain in her eyes, before sighing, her shoulders deflating. “Yeah. Aggressive cancer. The in-home nurse asked for tonight off for a family event, and the replacement wasn’t able to get here early.”

I put my hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry, Georgie.”

“It is what it is. But I, uh. I appreciate it.” She drops her gaze.

“Will you let me know if you need anything?”

“Probably not,” she chuckles. “But this? A random moment listening to a band play with my friend? It’s honestly more helpful than it may seem.”