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you, kid.”
    “I know.” Donato tipped his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. “When does it start getting easier? I mean, when do you stop wanting that shit?”
    Lee wished he could promise him the urge would go away, but some people wrestled with it for the rest of their lives. “It’s different for everyone.”
    “Do you still want it?” he asked, opening one eye to look at Lee. “Do you still think about it when you’ve had a bad day?”
    “No. I won’t deny that I sometimes remember how getting high felt, that euphoria when nothing else mattered, but with that comes the memory of what that stuff cost me. I wouldn’t go back for anything.”
    “I wish I could say the same,” Donato said.
    “You just need to take it one day at a time. Today you did the right thing. You came to me to talk about your problems.”
    “I guess,” he said, slipping his sneakers off with a yawn.
    “You’ve got a bright future. You can do anything you want to if you stay in school and away from those kids you used to hang with.”
    “Don’t worry, I hear ya.”
    “Take my bed.” Knowing how vulnerable Donato was, Lee’s conscience wouldn’t let him send the kid home. “I’ll crash on the couch tonight.”
    “I can’t let you do that.” Donato reached for his shoes. “I’m okay, really. I’ll just go home and—”
    “No, you won’t,” Lee said in a tone that brooked no argument. “I’ve got a lot on my mind. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep anyhow.”
    “Might help to talk about it,” Donato said with a grin, tossing Lee’s favorite line back at him. “I’m a pretty good listener.”
    The kid’s growing up. Lee felt a sense of pride. A year ago, Donato wouldn’t have cared enough to ask about anyone else’s problems. Lee thought it might help their relationship if Donato believed that Lee saw him as an equal, someone he could confide in. “My brother offered me a job at his studio.”
    “Cool. You gonna take it?”
    “I don’t know yet.” Lee laced his hands behind his head. “I got another offer too.”
    “From another studio?”
    “No, it’s a different kind of offer.” Lee chuckled. “A buddy of mine is selling his bar, and he thinks I might be the right guy to take over.”
    “Seriously?” Donato looked surprised. “You know anything about running a bar?”
    “No, but according to him, he didn’t know anything about it when he took over either.”
    “Huh, so what’re you gonna do?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t want to disappoint my brother but—”
    “You gotta do what makes you happy.”
    Donato was parroting him. Lee had told him the same thing at least a dozen times. Stay focused on making himself happy. Let his inner voice guide him and forget what everyone else thought was right or wrong. He hadn’t expected that advice to come back and bite him. “I know. You’re right.”
    “So… what would make you happy?”
    Lee gave the question the consideration it deserved. “Music makes me happy. That’s all I know.”
    “How many times you told me you like bein’ your own boss? You really wanna go back to letting your brother call the shots?”
    The kid had a point. “It’s taken Drake and me a long time to get to the point where he would trust me enough to offer me a job. I can’t dismiss it without giving it serious consideration.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Donato said, standing. “Just remember what you’re always tellin’ me… It’s your life, man.”
     

 
Chapter Four
     
    Indie was sneaking bites of a blueberry muffin the next morning when her nemesis walked in. She tried to ignore Lee, but when he leaned against her desk, she said, “Can I help you?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “No, we don’t.”
    “Yes, we do.”
    She pushed aside her half-eaten breakfast. “I have work to do.” Not that she expected that to deter him. The man clearly had no respect for anything or anyone.
    “I’m sure it can wait a few minutes. My brother