Worthy of the Harmony (Mountains & Men Book 2) Read Free Page B

beer and just heading back to the house. When our resident man-whore suggests a night in, we all lift an eyebrow in curiosity. After he tells us to screw ourselves, he explains that he thought we could kick back and scour YouTube to see if we could scope out any local talent. Mixing business with pleasure is agreed upon by all of us and we’re en route right away.
    JJ and Violet ride with Millie and me and we spend the ride back home talking about the show and filling the girls in on our exchange with Travis. I would kill for a chance to tour for six weeks with Lawful Sinners. The exposure alone would be insane. It’s just what the band needs right now.
    First, we need to find a fucking bass player that’ll actually stick.
    When I pull into the drive and turn off the car, I look over at Millie. She hasn’t been to the house since the night I brought her over, passed out after Keith drugged her drink. She looks over at me and catches me staring. I smirk at her in response. I decide that tonight, I’m not going to stress over a bass player. Tonight, we’re celebrating. When I get her alone, I’ll be sure that by the time she finally passes out in my bed, it’ll be for entirely different reasons.
     
     

     
    SOMETIME AFTER ONE in the morning, we’re all well on our way to being drunk as we lounge around the guys’ living room. For a while, Knox and JJ had their laptops out and the five band members were drinking and surfing the web for musicians. Violet had her phone and she tugged me down onto the couch with her as we did the same. After a while, she got distracted and she’s been exposing me to all sorts of random videos on the web, most of which she finds wildly hilarious.
    I’m not really much of a beer girl, but every time I finish one, Maddox or Sage seems to be putting another in my hand. Same for Violet. Now, I’m not sure if I’m laughing at the ridiculous shorts that fill the screen of her mobile because they’re funny, because I’m tipsy, or both. Either way, I don’t mind. I’ve never done this before and it feels… good.
    I don’t really know much about the the members of the band or Violet; I don’t know how old they are, who’s in college and who’s not; what they do for a living or how they all came to know each other; and yet, I get the feeling that nights like this are what it feels like to be a normal twenty-something on a Saturday night. I don’t know that I belong here, but something about this night makes me want to stay.
    Or, rather, someone .
    I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have no friends, but I don’t have many. It’s the way I like it. I’m better by myself. Or, at least, that’s what I thought growing up. Now, my isolation seems like more of a habit than anything else. I’ve always felt like the odd man out in social settings such as this one. Even after I escaped from New Jersey and moved to Colorado, starting fresh at a college where no one knew me, I still felt like outcast was a sort of skin that I couldn’t shed. I made a few friends over the years in various classes. I even dated a couple of guys and was silly enough to fall in love, but they didn’t stick around. I’ve learned that men usually don’t. It’s better not to get too attached. Not to anyone.
    I go out enough to keep the label of Shut In off of my back. I know better. I can’t shut out the world or I’ll end up like her. The woman I ran from. I won’t let anyone, not even myself, take me to that place—change me into that person. I have boundaries, carefully constructed boundaries that I trust will keep me Millie .
    When I was in college, homework and literature were my escape—my excuses. Now that I’m older, it seems my excuses haven’t changed. Nevertheless, I put in the necessary effort. Happy hour with my fellow professors, clubbing with Aria and Josh—now, occasionally, with Sarah and Brandon—it’s enough. I’m not afraid of being by myself. On nights when I feel lonely,