Did he want to know why the hell he’d done it?

Maybe the question he should be asking was why the hell wasn’t he freaked out about it.

“Shit.”

He needed a guitar. He thought better when he had one in his hands. Of course, he didn’t have one with him. He could head over to the ManDown office but then he wouldn’t be here when she got back. He didn’t want to disappear on her. Yeah, he could text her and tell her where he’d be but he’d told her he’d be here so here is where he’d stay.

But he really needed coffee before he got to his messages.

She had a Keurig so he had coffee in under two minutes. If he didn’t already worship her, he would now.

Since he didn’t want to think too closely about the implications of that, he sat at the small table in her bright, spotless kitchen, turned on speakerphone and started going through his messages.

The first were from friends from high school, two guys he’d kept in touch with who hadn’t had a lick of musical talent but had always been supportive of Baseline Sins. The messages had been almost identical. They’d seen videos from last night and were psyched that the band would be getting back together.

The next was from Tom Aioli, the Sins’ manager. Baz expected to get reamed a new one from Tom but the guy actually sounded teary. Their short, round, and bald shark of a manager sounded like he was gonna cry. Probably because he figured he’d finally be making some money off them after a year of nothing.

Shit, that wasn’t fair. Tommy had become part of their family. Baz’s parents had had Tommy and his wife over for dinner more times than Baz could remember. He made a note to call the guy when he finished with the rest of the messages.

The next few were from crew the band had worked with and a few other musicians from other bands. Xander was pissed he hadn’t known ahead of time or he would’ve been there.

More musicians from other bands.

Then he heard Zach’s voice. Sebastian didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he released it on a sigh when Zach sounded genuinely psyched about him and Nic playing together.

Trev, on the other hand, tore him a new one. The amount of fucks he used in one minute would’ve made any sailor proud. Baz knew him well enough to know Trev was pissed only because he hadn’t known.

But Jase . . .

Fuck. Jase was upset. Even more than Nikky, Jase was the most sensitive of them all. He’d also been the first to try to visit Baz in the hospital and he’d been the one who continued to keep in contact, even when Baz would’ve rather not.

“Hey. Saw you and Nik playing with Johnny and Mac. Nice to see you back onstage, man. Wish I could have been there to see it in person. Give me a call. Soon.”

It was way past time to give the guys a call.

The last message was from Nik forty-five minutes ago. Just before Tru had left.

“So you wanna talk? I’m gonna be in the city ’til tomorrow. Gimme a call.”

What? You thought he wouldn’t call? After that kiss?

Christ, his best friend had kissed him like he wanted to do more than fucking kiss.

And Baz hadn’t been repulsed. He’d been shocked, yeah. But repulsed . . . No.

Fuck. Don’t be a pussy. Just call him. What the hell are you worried about?

He wasn’t worried. At least not about that kiss. Not that he was thinking about that kiss. That had just been Nik fucking with his head.

Before he thought about it anymore, he pressed the button to call.

Nik picked up on the second ring.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” An awkward pause fell, but Baz was determined to push past it. “So, you wanna meet later today?”

“Sure. Where?”

“You wanna come to my room at Haven or you wanna see the studio where I think we should record our next album?”

Nik went silent and Baz wasn’t sure he was going to answer. After several seconds, Nik sighed so loud, Baz heard him clearly.

“Sure. Let’s see this magical studio.”

The level of sarcasm in Nik’s tone made Baz want to kick something. Christ, he fucking hated this.

Instead of rising to Nik’s bait, which he would’ve done any other time before, he took a deep breath.

“Great. Two o’clock okay with you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Okay, good. That’s good. I’ll see you then.”

“Will anyone else be there?”

“Does it matter?”

“Kind of, yeah. I just . . . I’d rather do this without an audience.”

“I get it. It should just be us.”

Nik released a huge breath. “Okay. I’ll see you at two.”

Then he hung up without another word. Obviously Nik knew what studio he was talking about. Just in case, Baz texted him the address.

Then he put everything out of his head, except for what the hell he was going to make Tru for breakfast.

*   *   *

By the time she’d finished dealing with the cops and the city codes people and placating the neighbors, who’d decided they weren’t real happy about all these people in their neighborhood early on a Sunday morning, even though they’d been notified twice in the past two weeks, Tru was ready for a huge cup of coffee, half a dozen donuts, and another round of energetic sex.

Maybe not in that order.

So the fact that she’d left her house more than four hours ago and that Sebastian had sent her a text saying he was leaving to meet Nik in the next fifteen minutes did not fucking brighten her day.

And the fact that she had to go into the office to clear up a few other pieces of paperwork that had come up during her meeting with the residents meant she’d be there when Nik and Sebastian were talking.

Shit.

So, though it pained her to put off work, she made her way to the hotel. She’d already been in touch with Greg and knew he was out scouting a location alone so Sabrina was either working or sleeping.

“Hey, Rina, what are you doing?”

“Geez, I didn’t expect to hear from you today. I figured you’d be otherwise occupied.”

“Yeah, well, when you have a neighborhood full of pissed-off residents and cops involved, you get your ass out of bed.”

“Oh, no. That’s sounds serious.”

“It was but it’s all taken care of now. Are you up for brunch? I could use a pitcher of mimosas and some serious intake of carbs like French toast and donuts.”

Sabrina paused. “I figured you’d be spending the day with Baz. Is everything okay?”

Yeah, except for the fact that he was probably going to be leaving her soon to go back to his band. “Yeah, he’s meeting with Nik and I figure they need the alone time.”

“Okay, I’m up for that. I was going to meet Kate and Talia—”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t want to cut in—”

“Tru. Stop. You’re not cutting in. I’m inviting you to join us. Unless . . . you’d rather not talk with Kate and Talia.”

“No, sorry. That’s not it. I’m just out of sorts. I’d love to join you guys, if it’s okay.”

“Good.” Tru could hear Sabrina’s smile through the phone. “All settled.”

“When are you meeting?”

“Actually, we just got to the restaurant. We’ll see you in a few. Oh, Kate says to give her name when you get there.”

Five minutes later, Tru walked into the restaurant and asked for Kate and was directed to a private room away from the main dining area, which was teeming with late-Sunday-morning brunchers. Most were dressed in their church clothes, which made Tru look down at herself and realize she fit right in.

Maybe it was time to jazz up the work wardrobe a little. She was the freaking managing director of ManDown. Probably time she dressed like it.

That was a problem for another day.

When she finally got to the right door, she took a deep breath and prepared to smile. She felt like she had to be on again, which was stupid. This was supposed to be a relaxing break with friends.

She definitely needed to get a grip.

Pushing open the door, she found Sabrina, Kate, and Talia sitting at a small, round table in front of a glass wall that looked out into Tyler’s solarium.