Blame it on the Tequila by Fiona Cole (the reading strategies book txt) 📕

this for a long time, even before I met you, before it had any form beyond an elusive shadow I knew I needed to have. But it was like each moment with you clarified that shadow. It shaped into something tangible. It shaped into something with you in it. This is my dream, and I need you there to help me reach it.”

She nodded slowly, her smile growing. “Okay. I’ll do it with you.”

God, I wanted to kiss her then. I wanted to pull her in my arms and never let her go. It’d been a month since that night we gave in, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about it—about her and the way she tasted, about the way she felt on my lap and under my hands.

Brushing my thumb along her lips, I considered it—could feel myself already leaning in when I heard laughter beyond the door. A reminder of exactly why acting on our attraction had to come to a screeching halt. It almost pained me to do so, but I dropped my hands and nodded my head inside.

“Sounds like the parents are still awake.”

She dragged a hand through her hair and blew her cheeks out with a big exhale. “Yeah. We should head in. It’s late.”

Before sliding the key in the lock, I looked her over one last time. One side of her mouth tipped in a rueful smile matching exactly what I felt—hating being stuck in a position that kept us apart but aware there was nothing we could do.

“Look who’s finally home,” my dad called from where he leaned against the island. Gloriana sat perched on a barstool next to him, both of them holding a glass of wine.

“Look who’s up,” I shot back.

“Yeah, we had a bunch of Chatty Cathies at your dad’s dinner tonight,” Gloria explained with an eye roll.

“They weren’t that bad,” my dad defended playfully.

“Brad, we shut the restaurant down, and dinner was supposed to end at nine.”

He winced, tipping his head side-to-side. “Okay, so they talked a lot.” He conceded before they both focused their attention on us. “So, how was the show?”

“Good.” I tried to play it cool, but nothing was holding back my smile.

And nothing was holding back the volcano of excitement next to me. Apparently, all she needed was to be asked and came to life like a firecracker. “Good?” Nova exclaimed. “They freaking won and had a top record executive come over to talk to them.”

“That’s my boy,” Dad crowed, lifting his glass as if giving a toast.

My smile grew. I had to admit, I was lucky my dad always supported me. Sure, he would have preferred me to follow him into the world of business, but I’d never been into anything other than music. Even when my mom, who left us to start another family, got on me about having real dreams and aspirations with actual success that “didn’t rely on a hope and a miracle,” my dad always had my back. He never stepped out of my corner.

“He was amazing,” Nova gushed. “They all were.”

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t have won without you,” I rebutted.

“What do you mean?” Gloria asked, tipping her head.

Nova dropped her eyes to the floor, but not before I saw the blush stain her cheeks. I loved that she was so fair-skinned that I could see every emotion.

I bumped my shoulder with hers, wanting her to stop hiding. “We finally got Nova to sing with us, and she killed it.”

“What?” Gloria asked again, her smile slipping.

“It’s nothing, Mom. Not a big deal at all.”

“No big deal?” I asked, shocked. “Even the record exec said Nova was our winning edge. She has such a unique tone that sets us apart.”

“Nova,” my dad gushed, completely missing the way Gloria finished her wine in one gulp. “How did I not know you sang? I guess you hanging out at practices makes more sense now,” he laughed.

Nova perked up at the praise. “Yeah, it was pretty cool. Usually, I just help them out where I can with creating the songs at practice, but Parker pushed me.”

“Well, I think you were willing to be pushed anywhere away from Oren bouncing around saying please five times in a second,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“So, are you singing more?” Gloria asked, doing her best to mask whatever displeasure she found in Nova singing.

“I think so. I know it’s new, but I really like it. It’s a lot more fun than I ever expected it to be. And once I get over that initial hurdle of actually getting out there in front of people, I kind of lose myself.”

Her mom nodded slowly, and a conversation passed between them I had no hope of understanding. I made a note to ask Nova later. Right then, I wanted to share the rest of the news.

“And someone recorded us at our show tonight and posted it to YouTube, and it’s getting crazy likes. It’s going viral.” Now I felt like Oren, bouncing on my toes.

“And viral is good?” my dad asked.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, leaning over to give him a shove. “Such an old man.”

“Okay, okay. I know what viral means,” he conceded. “What I don’t know is what that means next.”

“I don’t know. Could be nothing. We could be going with our original plan of hustling over the summer at holes in the wall and not get far. We could get a call from Dave Grohl asking us to open for the Foo Fighters tomorrow and head out on tour with them.”

“And you want Nova with you?” her mom asked.

“Yeah. She’s a hit. The comments about her are crazy.”

“What about school?” she asked.

For the first time all night, I slowed down. The perfect, hopeful future I imagined waking up to tomorrow had a mar on it I hadn’t seen a moment ago.

I looked to Nova to find a rueful smile on her face like she hadn’t even considered it either. I graduated