Free Fully Automatic (Bullet) by Jade C. Jamison

first, she’d seemed embarrassed, pulling her lower lip into her mouth and holding it in with her teeth or blinking a few times and then looking down into her lap.  But in that short time, he felt like they were making some kind of connection.  He even winked at her once, confirming that they had shared some kind of moment, and she blushed again and smiled and then turned her attention to watching some of the other guys.  Probably a good idea.
    He noticed something else too.  She kept looking over at Ethan, but his friend was off in his own little world.  When he wasn’t high on something, Ethan’s next best defense against the overwhelming sensations he felt was drowning in his guitar.  She was hoping to get his attention, maybe so she could pretend there wasn’t something magnetic between her and Brad.  And he realized that Valerie had some pretty strong feelings for Ethan…but he was pretty sure Ethan didn’t feel the same way.  He’d seen Ethan with girls, and he could tell that Ethan wasn’t reciprocating whatever it was Valerie was feeling.  In fact, Ethan had turned something off inside after he’d caught Heidi cheating on him for the last time.  It was worse than what Brad had done after Leah.  It was like Ethan was putting a permanent lid on his heart.  It was too bad for this girl he’d brought home from school.  But Brad couldn’t feel sorry for her, because that meant he was free to make a move.
    They finished playing, close to an hour later, and Brad knew it was chilly in the garage because, in spite of the two space heaters they had blowing full blast, Valerie continued to hold her coat tightly around herself.  He didn’t feel a thing, though, and was probably on the verge of perspiring.  Someone who’d never performed like they did would probably never understand, but he worked hard, and that exertion kept him plenty warm.
    He and his three bandmates set their instruments (or drumsticks) down and looked at Val in anticipation.  Brad wanted to know what she thought, but he knew all of them were eager to hear her opinion.  His hope was that she’d be honest.  They got plenty of praise from friends and girls who’d drooled over them, so an honest voice would be refreshing.  Then again, the way she seemed to adore Ethan, she might not want to hurt his feelings.  She might only say nice things too.  He was hoping, though, that she’d know that anything constructive she had to say would be taken seriously.
    Ethan grinned at her, finally his old self.  “So, Val, what do you think?”
    “Well…”  Val had a concerned look on her face.  Oh, fuck.  He’d wanted honest but not painful.  “I don’t know how to tell you this, but—”  He prepared himself for the worst.  Well, maybe she’d have something to say that they could use to improve.  He had to hope.  But then she got a huge grin on her face, and Brad felt his spirits lift.  “You guys are— fucking fantastic !”  As if she hadn’t meant to go that far, she covered her mouth, raising her eyebrows.  That was cuter than hell.  Maybe she didn’t feel comfortable swearing in front of them, but he didn’t understand why, considering they’d been singing curses all night long.  She was Ethan’s friend—surely, she knew he—and his friends—talked that way constantly.
    They all started laughing, mostly from relief.  Ethan grabbed Val, picking her up out of the chair and twirling her around.  Oh, that feeling in Brad’s chest wasn’t good.  He was already aching for this young woman , and he’d only met her a little over an hour ago.  What the fuck was wrong with him?  It was stupid, but he knew this much:  he should not be feeling jealous about Ethan’s friendship with her.  She obviously had some strong feelings for his friend and Brad had to accept that.
    Ethan stopped spinning her around, letting her stand.  “You little shit.  You had me fooled there for a second.”  Laughing, he