Less Than Nothing by R.E. Blake Read Free Book Online

turns to me with a disappointed look. My heart stops.
    “Well?” I ask.
    “Only thirty-six bucks.” His delivery’s like a judge sentencing me to life in prison.
    I shake my head, sure I’ve heard wrong. “What?”
    “Eighteen dollars apiece, counting this morning’s take. A little more than your usual ten, right?”
    I try to keep my mouth from hanging open. “Yeah. I guess. You sure about that?”
    He hands me a fistful of coins and a few one-dollar bills. “I can recount it, but I usually get it right the first time.”
    I do a quick mental calculation, trying to ignore his look of triumph. Most of the real money will be made in the next four hours. If we’ve gotten this much already…we could end the day with fifty or so dollars apiece. A fortune by my standards and a personal best.
    “Maybe we got lucky,” I say, for lack of anything better.
    He nods. “Maybe we did. You want to grab a bite while I mind the store, and we’ll see if we can keep the streak going?”
    I stand and crack my neck. It’s stiff from sitting with the guitar for hours. “What do you want?”
    He smiles, and part of my heart shifts. I swear I can feel it move in my chest. “I’ll eat anything.” He looks me dead in the eyes, and I glance away after an uncomfortable second. Uncomfortable in a good way, but still.
    “Be right back.”
    As much as I hate to admit it, we sound really good together. Better than good. I can see why anyone who stopped and listened would cough up a few pennies. With one voice, one instrument, it’s limited. With two, it’s lush and full and playful and exciting. It’s everything I could hope for, with cream on top.
    As I round the corner to the burrito place I figure I can splurge for, I wonder at how connected our harmonies are, almost effortlessly so. It’s like Derek knows what I’m going to do next, where I’m going to take the note, even when it’s a detour from the melody.
    I look down at my faded Chucks, and a part of me questions whether this kind of thing happens all the time. Because it’s never happened to me before. And in spite of all my doubts, I have no question that by the end of the day, I’ll have a new partner.

Chapter 5
     
    It’s getting dark at 6:45, and we decide to call it a day. Derek counts the coins and bills while I pack up my gear, and when he’s done tallying, he’s got a smug expression.
    “Hundred and eight dollars and forty-six cents.”
    “What kind of person tosses a penny into the case? That must have been one of your fans,” I say, but I’m smiling in spite of myself. I’m rich!
    “Probably someone that just threw all their loose change in.”
    He ferrets in his rucksack and takes out two plastic Ziploc bags. When he fills them with coins and hands me mine, it’s heavy. I heft it.
    “What is that, five pounds?”
    “About that. I can give you some more bills if you can’t carry it,” Derek offers, a hint of amusement in his tone.
    “Don’t go out of your way. I’ll figure it out one way or another.” After spending almost ten hours with him, the nervousness I felt when I first saw him this morning has passed. Although I still sneak a peek at his profile when he’s not looking, trying to find a flaw. The broken nose fits perfectly, and instead of marring his face, gives it a little air of danger. I want to ask him what happened, but I don’t. I actually want to ask him a million questions, but don’t want to seem too eager or give him the impression I’m interested in him or anything. My life’s complicated enough without that.
    All day long there were women who stopped and listened, and not many of them spent any time looking at me. It’s obvious that Derek’s got some sizzle, and after about the fiftieth one eyeing him with flirtatious glances, I didn’t even notice that much. At first I felt an unreasonable surge of annoyance, but then it was almost comical. I’ve never seen that kind of mass attraction before, outside of the