with him. But that would mean admitting being into music, and she had been so good at playing the teacher. So she didn’t mention it. Oh well.
There was no way that Haley could document this without him noticing, so she made a mental note to her thirteen-year-old self.
Yes, nine years from now, you are going to be squeezed into a very small space with Oliver Cabrera. Be good, moisturize, and take a shower that morning. It's going to happen!
Chapter 4
Oliver slept well.
He also slept in the middle of the Adult Slow Jam playlist, his finger still on the buttons that changed the in-flight radio stations, which meant his entire hand was trespassing on her side. There might have been touching. Slight touching.
Oliver straightened up, apologized, and cursed, maybe not in that order. But she was asleep, her head tilted slightly toward him, her breathing even.
Lionel Richie sang in his ear. Oliver risked returning his hand to her seat to switch somewhere else again. They were less than an hour away from landing, and he had to admit that this was one of his better flights.
It might have been that his phone was turned off, for once, so he actually got a few hours of peace. The past few weeks it had been one damn thing after another. He wasn't surprised if as soon as he switched it on again, there would be news of something he had screwed up.
He remembered why he was on this trip again and his throat filled with bitter loathing, and then he remembered Chris.
Chris Minot and Oliver Cabrera grew up together, celebrated birthdays a week apart, and he only claimed to be mildly jealous of all the action Oliver got on the road. They lost touch once Oliver started his music career, but Chris was the guy he called when the incident happened and he had to “stop working with” his manager. Though his buddy went to business school and he was not exactly on the level of Rob, at the time, trust meant more to Oliver than industry savvy.
He wanted someone who had never slept with any of his girlfriends and didn’t intend to.
Chris had responsibilities, and loans, but he had rearranged his life on the promise of it being worth it. So far it had not been, not yet, and time was running out.
Haley stirred beside him.
“Getting ready to land,” he said.
“Mild salsa, mild ,” Haley mumbled. She was frowning, slightly, and was probably more asleep than awake. He resisted the urge to touch the skin between her brows and smooth it over, in case it would help with the bad dream.
He had done more with people he had known less.
Once upon a time, friend and band mate Kenny told him that his “way with women” was “unsavory.” “You should slow down, get to know someone. Be friends and shit.”
Kenny obviously didn't know what he was talking about. Oliver had been homeschooled since he was twelve and on the road for most of his teens. Every woman he was ever interested in had been a new acquaintance. What friends? Who had time for those?
Kenny, by the way, was no longer in his band, because he quit and moved back to Portland after his wedding. He also had financial security and was not about to get thrown out of his home any day now. Oliver wondered if he should listen to the guy for once.
So he didn't touch her. In fact, Oliver sort of scooted further away from her in his seat and waited for the plane to land.
***
The guy was holding up a card with two names on it:
OLIVER CABRERA
HALEY REESE
“Are we headed to the same place?” Oliver asked her.
She looked a little confused by the card herself. “Are you going to Breathe Music?”
He fished for the invitation in his backpack and confirmed it. Yes, he was heading to the Breathe Music Festival for Young Musicians, starting the next day.
“You are, too?”
She nodded. “I go every year. My best friend Victoria organizes it. She didn't mention that she invited you, too.”
“Probably because she invites me every year and I never go.” Oliver stuffed the invite