One Date, One Man, Never Twice: My Rule After the Divorce novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: The Practice Space
The drummer's practice space was a cinderblock room under a body shop in Millvale, and every wall was covered in egg cartons.
They had gone gray with age and were held up with duct tape.
Two amps stood in one corner and a drum kit sat under a tarp in another.
The floor was a worn red rug with a cigarette burn in the middle.
He had killed the overhead light when we came in.
"The tube hums on the recordings," he said. "I keep a clip lamp for company, and I can't find where I plugged it in."
He crawled behind an amp with his phone flashlight, swore, and came back out on his knees.
"It's gone. I'm sorry. We've got the exit sign."
The exit sign over the door put a red glow on the rug and on the side of his face.
"That's fine," I said.
It was not fine, and I told myself it was.
It was the Saturday after Kennywood.
I had come in a green dress with my hair pinned up.
I had a rule, and nobody was going to read it out loud again.
He was twenty-three, white, from Millvale, with a shaved head, thick forearms and a faded Penguins shirt.
He had calluses on every fingertip and across the heel of each palm from the sticks.
He had a wide face and a big easy laugh.
Over burgers he had told me he drummed for three bands and was paid by none of them.
He stood in front of me now, turning one drumstick over in his hand.
"Dolores," he said. "Is it okay if I kiss you?"
My profile still said Dolores.
I had made it on decree day, with the new old name, and I had never changed it.
"Put the stick down," I said, "and yes."
He put it on an amp and kissed me.
He did it with his whole mouth, hungry and a little sloppy, and his hands went into my hair and found the pins.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of One Date, One Man, Never Twice: My Rule After the Divorce are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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