Nothing to lose

Chapter 17: Greyson

I turned the GPS off when I pulled up at the corner of this bar called "Lila's."

Putting the car in park and pulling the key out of the ignition, I finally read the text I got from Mia.

Mia: You forgot your keys.

My hand fell to my empty pocket to double-check. Dang.

I quickly typed back.

Me: Crap. Bring them both with you. If anything, I'll stop by the café after practice to grab them. :)

Mia: No prob. See you later!

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and got out of the truck.

The text I'd gotten from Dean told me to walk around back and knock on the side door.

I followed his instructions. Spotting a dark wooden door, I knocked twice.

"Coming!" I heard a girl's voice shout from the other side before opening it three seconds later.

A petite girl, emphasis on the word "petite," her head didn't even reach my chest. She has a head of curly jet black hair and caramel skin. She had to crane her head up to look at me from the doorway.

If I had to take a guess, I would say she was around my age or a little older, but that's only because she was rocking a sleeve of arm tattoos. Smiling politely, she said, "Hi, you must be Grey?"

I nodded with a smile and held my hand out for her to shake. "Yup, that's me."

She shook it firmly. "It's nice to meet you. The guys have been bragging about their new lead singer all morning. I'm pretty sure they're excited to have you on the team. Come on in." She waved me inside. We went into the hallway, then through another door, and down a flight of stairs. "I'm Mari, by the way," she told me over her shoulder, halfway down.

I smiled. "Mari? Is that short for something," I asked out of curiosity.

She cast her gaze downward. "Unfortunately, it's short for Mariposa. My mom thought it was cute." She shook her head. "Don't ask me why," she muttered.

I chuckled. "It's nice. I like it." I reassured her.

Mari shrugged her shoulders. "If you say so, dude." I saw her hide a little smirk.

We made it to the bottom, which I was guessing was the basement, but it looked like it could pass as a studio apartment. It was very modern and sleek. The floors had a grey wood laminate, and the walls were a crisp white that almost looked blinding with the recessed lights on. In the middle of the room was an oversized black leather sectional couch and in front of it was a glass entertainment stand with a TV and what looked like PlayStation underneath it and a record player. To the far left was where all the music equipment and instruments were set up. There was a glass dining table on the right with some books stacked on both ends like it was used more for studying and homework than eating.

"Guys! Grey's here!" Mari announced to the empty room.

The three guys came scrambling out of one of the doors under the staircase.

"Hey, Grey!" Dean waved with a burrito in one hand. He used the other to smooth over his disheveled hair that fell past his eyebrows.

"Yo man, what's up?" Tobias said next, leaning one shoulder against the door frame with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Hi!" Tatum said last, pushing himself out from between the two larger guys.

Mari pointed an accusing finger at the group. "Did you guys already devour the breakfast burritos I bought down?" she yelled.