Boston Avant-Garde 4: Encore Read Online Free PDF

afraid of them. But if she stopped to think about possibilities or options for the future, there was a good chance she’d start screaming and never stop.
    Leslie Hampstead swung the door open, flashing her brilliant smile. “Hey, do you have a minute?”
    “Actually, I don’t.”
    Leslie’s smile faltered. “You remembered we have a job tomorrow, right?”
    “Of course. I’ll be there. Ten o’clock in the morning.”
    “I thought we could go over the playlist tonight and hang out for a bit. We haven’t had time to talk in ages. Seth and Josh have a business meeting, so I’m on my own for a few hours.”
    Suri shoved the cello out into the hallway, careful not to bang it on the doorjamb. “Can you just e-mail me the playlist?”
    “Yeah.” Leslie followed her down the hallway toward a set of double doors that exited the building into the quad outside. Lessons were in progress, and the place was silent as a tomb.
    She could feel Leslie gearing up for one of her probing interviews. Leslie was the closest thing she had ever had to a friend, but not even she knew how screwed up Suri’s personal life really was. Les was great, but she was one of those people who couldn’t help but try to fix everything. Her desire to champion everyone’s lost causes had landed her in trouble too many times to count. Although it had also managed to put her in a long-term, committed relationship with two of the hottest guys in Boston.
    At least I thought they were hot before I got an eyeful of Dante and Jericho.
    The women pushed open the doors, stepping outside. In good weather, the quad was always filled with students lounging around the fountain, congregating on the benches beneath the big trees, playing impromptu concerts, and dancing like lunatics. At the moment, the place was deserted, and the cold wind sweeping in from the street carried enough arctic frost to freeze them solid.
    “Are you okay?” Leslie pulled up her collar against the weather.
    “Other than being freezing, I’m fine. Can you believe it was warm enough for an outdoor wedding yesterday?”
    “About that.” Leslie hesitated, and Suri realized she’d been stupid enough to give her friend the perfect segue. “What happened with you and the groom at the reception?”
    The last thing Suri wanted to talk about was her humiliating exposure at a public venue full of Boston’s social elite. “It was just a mistake, okay? The guy was a sleazebag. He was banging servers at his own wedding reception and decided to make me his next conquest.”
    “He said you were a stripper.”
    They were almost to the street. Suri could see a black Lincoln parked at the curb. “Your ride is here.”
    “Where are you headed? I could give you a lift. Josh sent the car so we could load up your cello for the gig tomorrow. I know you don’t like lugging it around on the bus.”
    A nice warm car sounded a lot better than the train, but Suri didn’t want to explain why she needed Leslie to drop her at the nursing home. “I’m good, thanks.”
    Leslie stopped walking and stared, making Suri feel guilty for withholding so much. “Why won’t you talk to me? Is your sister giving you fits again?”
    Finally, a safe topic. “Actually, I threw the asshole of the month out this morning. So other than the litany of insults she’ll give me after work, we’re pretty good.”
    “After work? You’re done for the day. Aren’t you going to see her when you go home? Or did she finally get a job of her own?”
    Damn. Either the cold air was numbing Suri’s brain, or her stress was reaching a point where she couldn’t control her mouth anymore. Next she’d be telling Leslie that she’d fucked her boss and the head of club security. A complex conversation, since Les had no idea that Suri worked at Asylum.
    “Are you working another job?” The sudden understanding on Leslie’s face made Suri’s heart sink. “Are you working as a stripper to get extra money? Is that why you