Free Girl in Love by Caisey Quinn

Everything inside of her tensed up.
    “All right. My bad. So yeah, in all honesty, whatever’s going on with me and Chris, Mia Montgomery isn’t helping matters any.”
    Kylie nodded. Surprisingly, the admission didn’t sting. Not even a little. She wondered briefly if something was wrong with her. “Well, have you talked to Chris about it?”
    The waitress reappeared with their food, and Steven waited to answer until she’d gone.
    “Yeah, and it hasn’t gone over well. Our last conversation ended with us deciding not to tour at all until next year. If even then.”
    “I’m sorry. That sucks. Seriously. You want me to talk to Mia?” Not that she knew what she’d say, but she could at least let her friend know that her relationship with Chris was causing tension.
    “Um, no. What would you say, Ryans? Hey, Mia, at some point between Steven giving me countless orgasms, he mentioned that you and Chris dry humping during band rehearsal was distracting and he’d like for you to quit. Yeah, that should go over well.”
    Kylie felt her face redden at least ten shades. “You did not just say orgasms and dry humping over breakfast.”
    “I did. And so did you.” Steven snatched a piece of bacon off her plate and crammed it in his mouth. She didn’t care. It was chewy and gross instead of crispy like she liked.
    “Ugh. How did we get so…”
    “Fucked up? Easy. We got rejected by the people we cared about and then we used each other for a distraction of a physical nature.”
    Kylie shook her head. “You know, sometimes I’m not actually looking for a literal answer.” In spite of herself, she grinned when he did.
    He shrugged. “Then don’t ask me questions.”
    “You’re such a guy.”
    Steven smirked. “Yeah, I am. Glad you noticed. But you, on the other hand, have barely touched your food. Some dude you are.”
    “I can’t eat with the waitress glaring at us and you talking about your career ending like it’s no big deal and tossing around the o-word all while trying to figure out how to get Mia to stop dry humping your lead singer.” She rubbed her temples and tried to think.
    “Hey,” Steven said softly, reaching over the table to pull her hands from her head. “This isn’t your problem, Ryans. I didn’t ask you here to stress you out.”
    “Why did you ask me here?” She swallowed hard. If this was the part where he said he wanted more, wanted a relationship or something, she was screwed. She wasn’t interested in that—not with Steven or anyone. And turning a guy down when his band was breaking up seemed pretty bitchy, even for her.
    She watched as he sucked in a breath. “I just wanted to know if you knew of anyone who might need a lead guitarist. If I don’t find something soon, it’s back to Georgia I go. There’s an open spot on my dad’s construction crew with my name on it.” His pained expression made her heart ache. Though she was breathing easily since it hadn’t been a profession of love he’d blurted out.
    “Steven, surely—”
    “Look, don’t do the pity party thing. Just keep an ear out, okay? If anything opens up, let me know.”
    She nodded, mentally scanning her brain for anything she might have heard about bands needing guitar players. She stood as he tossed some bills on the table. The fact that the waitress hadn’t even had a chance to leave a check with her number on it made her want to snicker.
    Once they were outside, she was hit with another fleeting wave of panic. Would he walk her home? Should she invite him in? Would anything happen between them if she did? Did she want anything to happen?
    “Um…”
    “I’ve got a few leads to follow up on about gigs this weekend. But I’ll call you. Or call me if you hear of anything.”
    “Okay. Thanks for breakfast.”
    “You’re welcome. Later, Ryans.” With a quick kiss on the forehead and a one-arm hug, Steven headed off in the other direction.
    We got rejected by the people we cared about and then we