She covers the phone with the palm of her hand. "You aren’t, right?" she mouths at me.
I glare at her. "Of course I’m not," I say.
"Okay, just making sure," she says. "Did you hear that, asshole? She’s not sleeping with any of you!"
"I don’t need her to sleep with me," Misha says. He sounds annoyed. "Are you in the band? Johnny Baskets?"
"Yes, are you trying to book us for a show?"
"No," he says. "Listen, I need Trine’s help. I need…I need the help of Johnny Baskets."
Bryony tries not to laugh. "Say that again?"
"I’ll drop her a pin," he says. He sounds resigned.
"Okay, but why would we help you?" Bryony says.
He ignores her. "Trine, if you can hear me, I think this is how you get answers. We found that this kid, this client, he’s a hardcore fan of the band," he says. "I think this will help you as much as it helps us. I think this is going to give you access to information you wouldn’t have had otherwise. And I wouldn’t call you if I didn’t need to, okay?"
"I can’t go," I say, practically shouting at the phone. "I’mdrunk."
There’s a pause on the line. "Okay," he says. "But you can talk?"
"I can talk."
"Then I’ll come to you," he says. "No Rei, no Luke, just me. And we can talk. And you can ask me any questions you want—in exchange for your help. There’s something we’re missing here, and I think you might be the missing puzzle piece."
"I…"
I don’t know. I’m not sure if inviting him over is a good idea, but Dev and Bryony are here, and I would like answers. Plus, it’s not like Rei would be here, and I don’t want to talk to Rei. I’m indifferent about Misha.
I mean, he’s nice to look at, but other than that, I’m indifferent about Misha.
"Sure," I say. "But you better come soon or I’ll sober up and change my mind."
"Yeah," Bryony says into my phone. "And if you do anything weird, we’ll kick your ass!"
"That’s right!" Dev screams from the kitchen.
My heart hammers in my chest, but I feel like smiling. At least I have these two in my corner. And that’s definitelysomething.