Time slipped away after that.
It was a blur of hands raised in the air, and hips swaying side to side, and the entire club filling up with the strong stench of marijuana. I sang along to the songs I knew, which was only a couple, since I hadn’t really heard of them before a year ago, and closed my eyes and listened closely to the ones I didn’t. They played a song off their not-yet-released album called “Crash Into Me” that I knew I’d have on replay once the CD was out.
At one point, I opened my eyes to find a smiling Liam holding a joint in front of my face.
I took a hit that made my eyes water and coughed as Liam laughed and coached me through my next one.
And then, for the first time in my life, I was high.
I was high at a Dave Matthews Band concert.
In Florence, Italy.
It had to be a dream. That was the only explanation. No way could I be toking up in a packed club in a foreign country with an equally foreign to me boy.
But the sweat dripping down the back of my neck and my heart pounding loud in my chest and the music thumping through my soul were all proof that it was real.
I soaked up every blissful drop.
When we spilled back out into the streets after the show, I gathered my long blonde hair in my left hand and held it off my neck, reveling in the feel of the breeze hitting my hot skin.
“That was so much fun!” I said when we had separated from most of the crowd.
Liam chuckled. “Are your ears ringing?”
I frowned, because I hadn’t realized they were until that very moment. “Yes, actually.” I blushed. “Oh God, did I just scream much louder than I needed to?”
“I think your family back in Georgia heard you.”
I smiled, closing my eyes for a brief moment as a sigh left me. “I love their music. Dave is amazing, but Carter…”
“The drummer gets your motor revving, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Should I go back and see if he feels the same?”
My eyes shot open to find Liam pointing a thumb over his shoulder, and the look on his face told me he was only twenty-percent joking.
“Don’t you dare!”
He threw his hands up in surrender before an easy smile found him and he slid his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.
“What about you?” I asked, fanning the back of my neck. “Did you enjoy it? From the t-shirts you usually wear, I have a hunch you never would have purchased those tickets on your own.”
Liam grinned. “I can find appreciation for almost all music, but yeah… I usually tend to lean toward concerts with mosh pits.”
“I like Nirvana.”
He cocked a brow. “Do you now?”
I nodded. “Nevermind is one of the best albums of our generation.”
“Okay. Best song on the album — ‘Come as You Are’ or ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit?’”
“Neither. ‘Stay Away’ gets my vote.”
Liam’s mouth turned down, brows shooting up like he was surprised I knew that song at all, let alone that it was my favorite.
“What about you?”
His expression melted. “‘Breed.’”
“A banger.”
The corner of his lips twitched like he wanted to smile, but it slipped too quickly, the same way it had when I asked him where he was from earlier.
“You mosh?”
He lit up with a laugh at that. “Sometimes. Do you?”
I gave him a look and gestured to myself. “I think you know the answer to that.”
“I think so, too. Hey,” he said, eyes lighting up with a snap of his fingers. “Maybe we could add that to the list tonight.”
“I think you missed your chance. Concert’s over.”
Liam shrugged. “Never know what the night might bring.”
We walked along in a comfortable silence, each of us looking around at the old stone buildings as we passed.
“How old are you?” I asked.
Liam barked out a laugh. “That question been burning in your mind?”
“No,” I lied, flushing. “Okay, well, maybe. You just… you look…”
“Old?”
“No!” I said in horror, but relaxed a little when I saw he was smiling. “Just… older. Than everyone else in our class, at least.”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
I nodded. “I’m twenty-two.”
“I had a feeling.”
“How did you find out about this program?”
“I looked up study abroad programs.”
“What school do you go to?”
“I don’t.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, you don’t?”
“I mean, I don’t. Not anymore. I graduated from undergrad six years ago.”
“Is this for grad school?”
“Nope.”
“I don’t understand. If it’s not for school, then why are you here?”
“Same as you, I imagine. To paint.”
I opened my mouth to ask another question, but stopped short when Liam came to an abrupt halt in the street.
His eyes caught on something behind me, and I arched a brow, turning to see what it was. We were nestled between tall brick and stone buildings with moonlit vines crawling the walls, the street empty save for us, but there was the sound of soft music coming from the home we had stopped in front of.