Read Boy from the Woods (9781311684776) for Free Online Page B

the speaker. Even though
the music was played at earsplitting volume, it wasn’t too bad. In
fact, she was kind of enjoying it. She’d only wanted to humor Gaby
by tagging along, but the band was better than expected. “This is
pretty cool,” she told Gaby when the next song turned out to be
less loud.
    Gaby beamed
at Julia, her black-rimmed eyes filled with elation. “Yeah, you think?”
    “Yeah, totally. Thanks for bringing me.”
    After a
six-song set, the band announced their break. The lights went on,
and Axel poked Florian. “ Are you coming?
We have to get some more drinks at the bar.”
    “Sure ,” Florian agreed before
suddenly freezing up. “”No, wait!” he hissed. “That cute bass
player is coming straight at us!”
    Julia turned
around to see the tall, mohawked boy
stepping off the stage and making his way toward them.
    “I’m dying of thirst,” Axel whined.
    “Don’t worry,
I know CPR. Just wait.”
    The bassist
seemed to cut straight through the crowd,
the sea of people parting for him as if they could sense he was a
man on a mission. His eyes never left Florian, who was starting to
look like a tomato suffering from cardiac arrest. Julia could
almost hear him swallow when the gorgeous musician stopped
right in front of him.
    “Hey,” the bassist said in a soft but resolute voice.
“Do you come here often?”
    Florian
blinked. He was speechless. Axel visibly cringed at the trite first
line, but came to Florian’s aid by grabbing him by the shoulder and
answering for him. “Yes, he does. In fact, I bet he’ll be here
every week from now on.”
    “Good to
know.” The bassist shot Florian a lazy
smile.
    “Would –
would you like something to drink?” Florian managed to utter at
last.
    “Sure, I
could do with a beer,” the punker nodded, extending his
hand. “I’m Moritz, by the way.”
    Florian shook hands with Moritz. “Florian. So
uhm, I’ll get you a beer,” he stammered.
    “Now you’re running,” Axel said
indignantly as they both rushed off toward the bar, leaving Moritz
with the three girls. Julia chuckled, shooting Tamara and Gaby a
‘what-the-hell-is-happening’ look.
    “Nice band you guys have,” Gaby started the
conversation. “Are you going to do more gigs here?”
    “I hope so. Let’s see how
this one goes. If you girls want us to be
back, pretty please tell the owner so he’ll book us
again.”
    “Where are you from?”
Julia asked curiously. Moritz spoke
standard German without any Austrian accent, but she did hear a
hint of something else in his voice.
    “Oh, my dad
is English. I lived in London when I grew
up. When I was ten, we moved to Cologne for a while, and now we
live here.”
    “London?” Tamara
said. “Funny – we’re going on a trip
there next month. Maybe you can give us some tips.”
    Florian and Axel were back in no
time, the former balancing two beers and a glass of soda on a tray.
Julia raised her eyebrows at Axel. “Did he knock the rest of the
people in line out of the way? That was freakishly
quick.”
    “Turns out
Florian can jump the queue very well when the need
arises.”
    Meanwhile , Moritz was having an
animated discussion about the best youth hostels in the center of
London with the others. By the time Moritz had to go back on stage,
Florian had managed to score his number.
    “I can’t
believe this is happening to me,” he enthused, casting another
smoldering look at Moritz’s muscular back as he disappeared among
the audience. “I saw him, he saw me, we locked eyes and that was
that!”
    “Shouldn’t
you take it easy?” Julia tried to slow him down. “You don’t even
really know him yet.”
    “Not yet , but I
will. Nothing’s gonna stop me from buying calling credit for the
next one hundred years, first thing tomorrow.”
    Unexpectedly, Julia felt a stab
of jealousy. Why was it all so simple for Florian? Why did he have
the good fortune of meeting a hot, cute guy this easily, who
genuinely seemed to like