Chapter 26

“Do…you

want it too?”

“More

than anything,” Riley said.

Yet

again, Curtis was astounded at the frank but fabulous things the cowboy said,

as if it didn’t matter what people thought, as if he wasn’t scared of exposing

his dreams and desires to anyone, as if…he really spoke his mind.

“I

just gotta wrap things up here–”

“No,

finish your set first.” Curtis glanced down at the handful of coins on top of

Riley’s guitar case. “Even if we go dutch, you can’t afford my pizza habit

yet.” When Riley laughed, a cheery, unfettered sound, Curtis wanted to join in

so much, it almost hurt.

“Lemme

try this one.” Riley unzipped his case again and propped the guitar on his

knee. He settled back in his seat, then pulled a capo out of his pocket and

clipped it over the neck. He strummed a few chords. The music had a new, folksy

feel that wasn’t a million miles away from the western stuff he’d been

butchering a few minutes earlier. But when he launched into a slow, gentler