Dead Is a Battlefield by Marlene Perez Page B

better, too,” I finally said. “But you and Selena . . .”
    A cloud crossed over his face. “No buts,” he replied. “We want to spend time together. That’s all that matters.”
    Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to face Selena’s friends and their death stares. Or his more persistent fans.
    He grabbed my hand. “Now come back inside. Raven told me to let you know that she and Flo were going to be late. They should be here soon.”
    We went back inside, but there was no sign of Selena. Had she overheard what Dominic had said?
    “Where did Selena go?” Dominic asked. He didn’t sound too broken-hearted about her absence, though, and I had to suppress my glee.
    There was a guitar in the corner, so I picked it up. I needed to practice or Ms. Minerva was going to drop me as her student.
    I strummed a few chords of “Again,” by Lenny Kravitz. Dominic sat next to me and watched as I played, but only seconds into the song, his eyes rolled back in his head. He softly sang the lyrics to Bryan Ferry’s “Slave to Love.”
    When the song was over, Dominic returned to normal. “It happened again, didn’t it?” he asked.
    I nodded.
    “What did I sing?”
    He winced when I told him. “I have no idea what that means.”
    I guess he was bummed Selena had left. He was obviously slavishly in love with her. The green-eyed monster had quickly become a regular visitor in my brain. It was an odd feeling, but I put it out of my mind when Flo and Raven arrived, followed almost immediately by Andy.
    What had my fellow viragos been doing without me? I felt a twinge of jealousy, this time the professional kind. They were all carrying take-out containers from Slim’s.
    “Surprise,” Flo said. “Training has been canceled for the day.” Her T-shirt read I PUT THE FATAL IN FEMME FATALE.
    “Canceled? Why?” I asked.
    Flo turned a stern gaze on me and said, “Because I say so.”
    “Oh, great,” I said.
    It was hard to tell with Flo, but I think she actually looked pleased with herself, so I didn’t have the heart to complain. But I’d just traded a serious favor to get some training in. I’d have to squeeze in a run at night.
    “Something smells delicious,” Vinnie said as he walked in. He put his arms around Flo’s waist.
    “I brought lunch for everybody,” Flo announced. He buried his face in her neck and then whispered something that made her blush.
    She wiggled out of his arms. “Not in front of the children,” she said. But they were both grinning.
    I looked over at Raven meaningfully. It hadn’t escaped our notice that training just happened to be always scheduled the same time as band practice.
    “True love,” she said. I tried not to look at Dominic when she said it.
    We put everything on the kitchen counter.
    “Slim sent along a cheesecake, too,” Flo said.
    “Oh, be sure to thank him for me,” I said.
    “Cheesecake is my favorite,” Dominic said. “So thank him for me, too.”
    “You can thank him yourself,” Flo said. “Because here he comes.”
    I took her word for it.
    Slim and his fiancée, Natalie, came in with even more food.
    “This isn’t lunch, it’s a feast!” Andy said. She peeked into the containers. “Oh, yum. Spinach salad.”
    It seemed like there was a little bit of everything to eat.
    The rest of the band arrived and gladly joined us. It was a little crowded in the kitchen, but Natalie told us there was a large patio table and chairs in the backyard, so we took the food outside.
    Jeff Cool reached over and took almost all the crab legs. I gave him a dirty look. I loved crab. Dominic took some of the crab legs off his plate and gave them to me.
    “I don’t like them that much, anyhow,” he said.
    “What’s the special occasion?” Nurse Phillips asked.
    “I was wondering the same thing,” Raven said.
    “Just experimenting with a new menu,” Slim said. “And you all are my guinea pigs.”
    “The experiment was a success,” Raven replied. She leaned back