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the couch again and tried to drink away my frustration. Cara sat down beside me and placed her hand on my knee. “I haven’t kept in touch with Val, but it seems Google still knows her pretty well.”
    I stopped drinking my beer and eyed Cara. I didn’t know where she was going with this, but I was sure it was no place good.
    “Word is she’s single.”
    And now I understood. I buried my face in my hands and resisted the urge to yank fistfuls of my hair out.
    “You said you want something real,” Cara said. “I think you and I both know where you can find it.”
    I cursed Cara for even suggesting the idea, but at the same time the seed was planted. Hope exploded inside me. As much as I tried to push it down, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere.
    “Cara.” I groaned. I didn’t know what I felt right then other than an urge to strangle my best friend’s wife.
    “How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman?” Cara asked.
    I glared at her, and she pinned me with a defiant look. I lost the battle of wills. “The cheer squad,” I admitted with a sigh of defeat.
    “That was two months ago, Kyle.”
    I glared again. “I don’t need the reminder.”
    Cara’s answering smile was full of mischief. Her face lit up and she grabbed my hand. My heart skipped a beat or two when she clasped the abstinence bracelet around my wrist. “Why don’t you give your dry spell a purpose?” she said.
    The bracelet felt heavy on my arm—its significance weighed me down. In all the months I’d carried the bracelet with me, all the shows that I’d kept it close, I’d never actually put it on. I couldn’t do it, knowing what it stood for.
    Cara kissed my cheek and left the room without another word. I continued to stare down at my wrist, my thoughts and feelings swirling out of control. This bracelet didn’t just symbolize a conscious choice to abstain from sex. It represented the only thing that ever came between Val and me. This bracelet—and all it stood for—was the key to bridging the gap between us.
    Could it really be possible? Could I do it? Did Val and I still have a chance? Did I even want to try and find out?
    I knew the answer immediately. Hell yes, I wanted to find out. If there was even the slightest chance that a future with Val was possible, then you bet your ass I wanted it.
    “Uh-oh.”
    Shane’s chuckle startled me out of my epiphany. “What?”
    “I know that look.”
    “What ‘look’?”
    Shane smirked. “That screw-the-world-I’m-about-to-write-a-chart-topper look.”
    I was startled again. I hadn’t been thinking up lyrics just now, had I? I hadn’t written a single song since Reid died and the band broke up. But now that he mentioned it, I recognized the familiar itch in the back of my brain.
    Shane and I looked at each other for a long moment, and then he burst into laughter. “Well, I’ll be damned. Virgin Val strikes again.”
    I stood up and punched Shane in the arm. “Shut up, jackass.”
    He punched me back. “You’d better let me hear it when you’re finished. I doubt the guys will want to get back together without Reid, but if you go solo, you’ll need a lead guitarist for your backup band and I’ll kick your ass if it’s anyone but me.”

SIX MONTHS LATER
    The last time I wrote Val a song, she loathed it. Cara assured me things would be different this time, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that this plan was going to blow up in my face.
    “Cara!” Shane hollered. “Get a move on it! You’re going to be late!”
    Seconds later, Cara came rushing down the stairs dressed in a different outfit than she’d been wearing when I arrived ten minutes ago. “What do you think? Conservative enough?”
    She tugged at the hem of her jeans skirt with shaking hands. I’d never seen her such a nervous wreck. “Babe.” Shane pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. “It’s going to be fine.”
    Cara started searching through her gigantic purse