From Mountains to Lone Stars

I kissed Mav's head as we exited my car. I don't think I had ever seen her this nervous. I think the only time was actually when she was having the cancer removed. She was nervous, and I actually loved that. To me, it meant she wanted to like my friends and have them like her in return.

"You alright, babe?" I asked, pulling her close to my side as we walked into the studio space the five of us rented out.

Maverick looked up at me, her blue eyes big as saucers. "Yeah, I'm fine. I know Johnny, so I'm only slightly less nervous."

I chuckled. "Don't be nervous, Maverick. They are all pretty cool dudes. They just want to tease you a little bit, especially Johnny. He said you're one of the craziest resident assistants he has ever had."

Maverick glanced at me but followed me as I opened the door for her. She looked around at our small studio. There was Jimmy's massive drum set in one corner, Johnny's bass and the two guitars sat in another corner. In the center was this massive subwoofer and pages and pages of lyrics. Off to one side was the vocal booth. Maverick looked around with wide eyes, clearly intrigued by what she was seeing.

"What kind of music do you guys play?" Mav turned to face me. Her eyes were even bigger than they had been earlier. "This doesn't look like a jazz set up to me."

Johnny walked in, laughing. "Matt, why does Maverick think we play jazz?"

"Probably because you all study jazz or music education?" Maverick shot a middle finger over to her boss. "I mean, Johnny, you play bass like a jazz musician. Wouldn't my logical conclusion be that you play jazz?"

He laughed again. "You haven't met the others yet, Mav. It'll make sense when you see them. Matt actually is a screamer."

Maverick's eyes met mine. There were so many questions in them. "So you play metal?"

"We don't play metal! WE FUCKING LIVE METAL!" Jimmy bounded into the studio and immediately pulled Mav in for a hug. I watched her tense up as this strange man touched her. My eyebrows furrowed. She did that a lot, even with me. Why was she afraid of physical touch?

"I'm Jimmy, by the way. I'm a drummer. I work as the front desk clerk over at Victory!"

Maverick smiled at him. "Nice to meet you." Jimmy dragged her over to my other two best friends.

Zach smiled at her and shook her hand, obviously reading how uncomfortable Jimmy's hug had made her. Brian also shook her hand, smiling at her. I didn't like that smile. He usually used it to woo women.

"So, Maverick, is it weird to date your former boss?" Brian asked.

Mav blushed and I shot my idiot friend a look. "A little, but it's also nice to not have to worry about the mack n pack rule anymore. I think Johnny is a good boss. I do miss my old hall though. Where do you guys work in Housing?"

Brian smiled at me. "I work for the housing ambassadors. I help them manage their schedules. ZV, over here, works for the front desk at Kerr."

Maverick smiled at them. "Kerr is kind of a shit show." She laughed and Zach joined in with her. It was good to see my girl and my friends getting along. She had nothing to be worried about.

Notes

Short but important for later.