Moving Forward (Moving Neutral, Book Three) by Katy Atlas Read Free Book Online Page B

clear implication.  But there wasn’t any bite behind it.  I pushed it anyways.
    “I mean, first I write you these awesome lyrics, then I set you up for your first show of the year?  And all I get is ‘I’ll take it off the list?’”
    He tossed his head back, eyes shining. 
    We kept walking away from the stage, back towards the green room where the band had gotten ready before the show.  Away from the chaos of the audience and the stage, Blake paused for a minute, looking at me carefully.
    “Okay, Case,” he said, his voice quiet and sincere.  “What do you want, then?”  He looked down at me and for a second, it was like there was no one else in the room.
    You , I thought.  I want you.
    The words were on my lips when Liv barreled up behind me.
    “Time to celebrate,” Liv’s voice carried across the backstage area, as she jogged off the stage and set her guitar down on one of the stands.  Her eyes had an excited glint as she motioned both of us towards the green room.  She punched in the code and swung the door open, and immediately began to rifle through a leather bag that was stuffed behind an unused amp.  Smiling triumphantly, she raised a glass bottle above her head.
    “Beer’s fine,” Blake started, shaking his head but still smiling.
    “But liquor is quicker,” Liv finished his sentence with an evil laugh.  She unscrewed the cap and took a swig straight from the bottle.
    I smiled exasperatedly, but when Liv passed it to me, I took a gulp — and promptly started coughing the second I swallowed. 
    “Ew,” I scrunched my face into a ball.  “Come on, even frat parties have mixers.”
    Liv claimed an armchair by rearranging the coats and bags that had covered it, and I did the same with one side of the couch next to her. 
    “Come on, Case — if you’re going to be a sometimes-rockstar now, you’ve got to start acting like one.  Let’s break you out of Taylor Swift territory, huh?”
    I rolled my eyes and passed her back the bottle — still grinning, she broke down and grabbed me a diet coke from one of the coolers.
    “That’s a c haser,” she said firmly.   “That’s not your drink, you got it?”
    I started laughing .  Prim and proper Casey Snow would completely disapprove. 
    “Got it,” I said, flashing my best eager-beaver schoolgirl smile.
    “Good,” Liv turned to Blake.  “She’s a quick learner, huh?”
    He paused for a second, and I thought I could see a flush creep up his cheeks.  “ She’s amazing,” he said, looking right at me.
    I love you I love you I love you, I thought to myself.  And then, play it cool, Casey.
    We passed around the bottle once more, and then slowed down.  The rest of the band came over to say hi, and thanked us — one of them still giggling over the look on Blake’s face when I stepped on stage.
    I shot a nervous look at him, tr ying to see if anger would surface, but he seemed relaxed.  Happy.
    After a while, it was just the three of us, and Liv started packing up her stuff. 
    “So, I hope this served as an adequate audition,” she grinned at me, and then looked at Blake.  “We play well together.”
    “Thanks, Liv,” I said, cutting off the line of conversation.  I didn’t want to freak Blake out when things were finally really good — or at least, slowly on the way there.
    “You guys can hang out as long as you want,” Liv said as she stood up.  “There’s more booze, snacks.  Actually, there are probably some old guitars around here, if you want to write another song,” she grinned.  “Just floating that out there…”
    Blake threw a crumbled piece of paper at her.  “I think you’ve done enough for the night.”
    She paused for a second in the doorway, looking at the two of us with a slightly smug expression on her face.  “I’d say I have.”
    We both groaned in unison, and if I’d had anything nearby to throw, I would have hit the door behind her as it closed.  Instead, I leaned back on the