Asher grinned and nodded. “The drummer. Of course.”
I felt my own lips curve up in amusement and kept listing. “The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, Heart, The Bangles—”
Choking on the drink he’d just taken, Asher burst out laughing. “The Bangles?”
“What?” I scowled at him for laughing at my Bangles.
He waved a hand. “Nothing. I just wasn’t expecting a punk band listed among all the rock groups you were spouting off.”
“Hey, they were rock...sort of.” Then I shrugged. “They came up with ‘Walk Like an Egyptian,’” I argued my point. “That song is fun as shit to play on the drums. For me, it ranks right up there with ‘Hot for Teacher,’ ‘Enter Sandman,’ and ‘Tom Sawyer.’”
There were more girl bands I loved, but I didn’t want to somehow give my gender away by listing too many, so I merely watched Asher continue to chuckle.
“Trust me. I’m not bashing your choices in the least. I agree with every single one of them. And hey, I’ve been known to listen to Katy Perry and Taylor Swift with the best of them, so don’t worry about music genres with me.”
“Dude.” I leaned in closer. “I wouldn’t go broadcasting that to Galloway. I don’t think he’d be so—”
“Yeah.” He lifted his hand to let me know my warning was moot. “I know.” Then he shrugged as if unconcerned. “I just like all kinds of music. As long as it’s got a good beat, cool lyrics and resonates in my bones, I’m in.”
I nodded respectfully. “I get that.” I didn’t tell him I was pretty much the same way. Country, rap, alternative, hip hop, classics, I just loved music.
“But I grew up with my parents listening to Nirvana on a loop, so that’s probably why most of our songs lean more the way they do.”
“Hmm, I wondered about that. I can definitely see the influence.” I wondered if this meant he’d had a hand in creating any of our original songs. Just how many hats did he wear in our little group? Guitar player, vocalist, manager and now possible songwriter?
The guy seriously needed to stop saying and doing things to impress me.
He sneezed, and immediately said, “Excuse me,” as he reached for a nearby stack of napkins to wipe his nose. And dammit, I even liked his gentlemanly reaction while he tossed the used tissue into a trash can. Ugh! My tiny little crush was getting ridiculous here.
Needing to get my head back into the conversation and away from him being a hot, interesting piece of man candy, I finished my own beer and said, “I’ve really been getting into Breaking Benjamin lately.”
“Mmm.” He pointed at me as he took a drink, then had to wait to swallow before saying “And Five Finger Death Punch.”
“‘The Wrong Side of Hell,’” we said together, naming our favorite song from that group. Then we laughed at the same time.
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” Ten asked, appearing in front of us.
I tensed, hoping he kept his big mouth shut. But Asher let out a small moan, and waved his empty bottle in his friend’s face. “Don’t be a dick. Just get me another drink.”
“Dude, slow it down. What is this, your fifth of the night?”
“No, it’s my...” He frowned as if confused so I answered, “third.”
“Right.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “It’s my third...and it’s my last, mother.” After a quick scowl to Ten, he asked me, “You want another?”
“Mmm. Okay. Uno más.” I slid my empty toward Ten, who shook his head.
“Huh?” Ten only blinked. “What the hell does uno más mean?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s Spanish. Means one more. Por favor. But this should be my last drink, too. I’ll probably end up driving Jodi home...if she hasn’t already left with someone else.” But when I glanced around for her, I was surprised to find her still hanging around Galloway and his table full of women.
“You know, I took like two years of Spanish in high school,” Asher said from beside me. “And I learned jack shit.”
I turned back to him and was blasted with a fresh wave of lust. Damn, but he was too pretty. And those green, green eyes...so frigging intense.
“Well, my entire family is from México, so I grew up with plenty of people who don’t know anything but Español,” I explained. “It’s pretty common for me.”
“Really? Huh. I never would’ve guessed that about you. You seem so...American.”