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the Greek! We used to talk about this when we were kids!”
    In spite of everything, Dillon had to smile. “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. I can’t believe we made it.”
    “Only with you, Dillon. I can’t imagine doing any of this without you.” The booze was making Ash maudlin, but Dillon knew the sentiment was real because he felt the same way. “After everything,” Ash went on, his head leaning against the wall, “all that shit we went through, we’re here together. You and me. Just the way we said it’d be.”
    “I know, Ash. Just like we said.”
    “And we’re not done, Dillon. This is just the beginning. You and me, all the way to the top.”
    “Yep, you and me,” Dillon said. Till the end.

Justine waited until noon to show up at Dillon’s house. There was a wooden fence surrounding the property, so she parked out on the street and walked up the steeply sloping path to the house. Through the leaves of the scattered myrtle bushes, she could catch glimpses of the surrounding Silver Lake neighborhood and the hazy outlines of the distant San Gabriel mountains. Once she was up near the house, it was quiet and secluded. Not what she was expecting.
    She’d stayed away all morning to give Dillon time to wake up and get moving—and to get rid of any overnight guests—but she still had to wait five minutes after ringing the bell for him to make his way to the door. He was barefoot and groggy, in jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt, but seemed otherwise sober and thankfully, alone. He smiled ruefully at her as he scrubbed the heel of his hand into his eye and then raked his fingers through his dark bed hair. He looked warm and rumpled and effortlessly sexy. Justine swallowed hard and reminded herself she wasn’t here for that. She couldn’t be here for that. Friends. They were two people who had a lot of musical common ground. So they would be friends. That’s what this was going to be.
    “Hey there,” he mumbled, stepping back and gesturing her inside.
    “Sorry I woke you. I can take off if—”
    “No, no. I need to get up now or I won’t sleep tonight. Does your sleep get all screwed up when you play a lot of gigs? Mine does.”
    “A little,” Justine said, not adding that she doubted she stayed up until dawn the way he did or took on as much alcohol.
    “Come on in. I’m just going to put on some coffee. You want?”
    “Sure.”
    He shuffled away, stretching his arms up over his head as he went. As they rounded the corner into the living room, Justine stopped in surprise. It was a nice room, with high beamed ceilings, tall windows with great views and a fireplace, but it was completely bare. He didn’t have any furniture.
    “Oh,” Dillon paused, seeing her face, “I just moved in. Well, I moved in two months ago. But yeah, me and Ash didn’t have much in the way of furniture in our old place. Nothing we wanted to keep anyway. I keep meaning to go shopping and buy some stuff, but we’ve just been so busy.”
    “Well, I guess you have a lot of space.”
    He laughed. “Lots and lots of wide open space.”
    “So,” she asked, turning away from the bare cavern of the living room. “You used to live with Ash?”
    Dillon turned back to the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a bar. She hopped up on one of the barstools, hooking her heels over the rung. He puttered through the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets, all of which seemed mostly empty, before finding what he was looking for. He talked while he made coffee, becoming more alert as he moved.
    “Me and Ash have done everything together.”
    “You’ve known him a long time?”
    “Since we were kids. Well, twelve. Not really kids, I guess.”
    “Twelve? That’s really young.”
    “We grew up fast.”
    “Where was that? You and Ash growing up?”
    “Here in LA. We’re local. I grew up in Hollywood. Ash lived up in the Hills.”
    “I don’t think I know anyone who grew up in Hollywood.”
    Dillon snorted, his