mate.â
âThanks.â
âI know the first timeâs always the hardest, and I wasnât sure you had it in you.â
Heidi drained her glass of water and sighed. âIt sounded brilliant.â
âAnd wait till you see my photos,â Jade added. âI captured all of it. The fight, the jam, the crowd. Everything!â Andrew looked between them. âThat was the most fun I think Iâve ever had playing music! You guys are justâ¦I donât knowâ¦this is crazyâ¦I feel like Byronâs got me under some kind of spell or somethingâI feel like anythingâs possible.â
Heidi smiled and Tim continued counting the money. The tension between them seemed to have gone.
Heidi dragged him into her room and before he knew it, they were going for it on the bed, still sweaty from the show. She was really loudâpanting and sighing, so he got into it tooâthrowing in the odd grunt and groan. And then he came too early and she bit down hard on his shoulder and slapped his face.
He reared away. âWhat the hell was that for?â
âFor being selfish.â
âWhat?â
âDonât you dare come before me!â
A trickle of blood ran down his shoulder. He was still hard but, although it was painful, too sensitive, he pushed inside her, determined. She started moaning and he began to feel so good about satisfying her that the pain and discomfort fell away. He kept going until she seized him in a violent clasp, her eyes closed. She didnât breathe or make a sound, then she cried out and fell back onto the mattress, laughing, her legs trembling. Lying beside her now, he propped himself up on an elbow and studied her face, stunned by how happy it made him to see her satisfied. He was glad sheâd bitten and slapped him, glad that sheâd demanded her pleasure, and glad that heâd been able to give it to her.
âYouâre amazing,â he said, his fingertips grazing her belly. âDo you know that?â
She rolled onto her side, still trying to catch her breath, her face flushed. âYou still need a lot of work⦠but youâre not so bad.â
They lay in silence. âDo we need to do anything aboutââ âI already told you not to worryâIâm on the pill.â
âWhat aboutâ¦â He rolled onto his back. âI mean⦠Have you been with many other guys?â
She smiled, her eyes closed. âTrust me. Iâm fine.â
six
Andrew slumped on the couch. âLetâs take a break.â
He switched off the keyboard, retrieved his bag of weed from Heidiâs room and grabbed the scissors from the kitchen. As he dropped the bag onto the coffee table, Tim stopped playing his djembe.
âNot bad,â he said, turning the bag over in his hand. He opened it and took a whiff.
âItâs better than not bad,â Andrew replied. âItâs been Reikied.â He waited for a laugh, but Tim just nodded, sealed the bag and threw it back onto the table.
âYou donât smoke, do you?â Andrew asked.
âNo, I sell.â
Scissors in hand, Andrew sat down, chose a good-sized bud from the bag and started chopping up. âI used to sell a bit in school,â he said, referring to the small G-bags heâd occasionally acquire for Benny. âBut I never made any real money from it. How about you? Do you make much?â
âNot as much as some.â
âLike who?â
He hesitated. âSome of the kids I grew up with in Nimbin.â
âWhereâs Nimbin?â
âItâs in the hinterland, about an hour away. Dad and I moved there from Newcastle when I was ten, after my mum died. Itâs a little hippy village where a lot of people buy and sell drugs on the street.â
âWhat about the police?â
âThe cops know whatâs going onâthereâs a police station in the middle of townâbut they