Momoko told no one about the text from Hunter.

Please don't make me block you, she'd texted back. Good night. She'd turned her phone to silent and gone to sleep, hoping that would be the end of it. There were no more texts from him the next morning, so she was cautiously hopeful.

"You okay? Sleep well?" Sully asked her the next morning when they met for breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him. "Starving, though. Point me to the buffet."

"Morning," Tommy sang out as he joined them in the buffet line.

Dane was right behind him, a huge smile on his face.

"Where's Jude?" Momoko asked as she loaded up her plate.

"Running a little behind, he'll be here in a few," Sully answered.

"Hold on, why do you two look like that?" Sully demanded as they sat down. He gestured suspiciously at Dane and Tommy.

"No reason," Tommy said, attacking his food.

Dane merely shook his head and took a drink of coffee.

"Does this have something to do with the text you sent me last night?" Sully asked.

Jude joined them at this moment, sitting down with his own plate piled high. "I got the same text, but I was fair knackered, not even your snoring could keep me up, Sullivan."

Kay entered the hotel dining room and saw them, smiling and waving as she quickly walked to where they were seated. Jude moved over obligingly to make room for her, but she shook her head. "I already ate, I've been up for hours," she said.

"We all have our receipts," Sully assured her with a smile.

"How long do you need to eat?" Kay asked, waving away his remark about the receipts.

"We just sat down," Tommy told her. He gestured to their still nearly full plates.

"How would you like to do a radio show?" Kay asked.

"What?" Momoko asked, nearly choking on her eggs.

"I got you a spot on the biggest afternoon radio show in Philadelphia, but only if we can be in Philly by one," she explained.

"Why would we need to be in Philly by one if we're going to do an afternoon radio show?" asked Tommy.

"I haven't even eaten yet," Jude said plaintively, looking at his food.

"You'll need to get to the venue and do your set up and sound check before the radio show, because there won't be enough time to get over there and do it after," Kay said patiently. "You have to trust me about these things, I've been doing this a long time, okay?"

Dane rose wordlessly and disappeared in the direction of the buffet.

"Where's he going?" Kay asked. "Did he not hear what I just said? We have to get going, like, five minutes ago!"

Dane returned with five plastic carry out containers, which he proceeded to pass out. "Let's go, people," he said. "You heard Kay, we need to get going, like five minutes ago!"

They quickly dumped their food into the containers and were on the bus in nothing flat, headed for Philadelphia. Kay was on the phone with the venue, making sure they could get in early to set up before the radio show. Ken, Ronnie and Bill were snoring up front, having partied until the wee hours the night before, apparently.

"Yes, we'll need availability by 12:30," Kay said. "Because they have other commitments in the afternoon. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is." Kay listened for a few moments, then spoke again. "Well, he's just going to have to haul his ass out of bed and come and unlock it, then, isn't he? What? Do you want a show or not? Look, I'm not saying this again. They need to get in the building no later than 12:30. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. We'll see you then. Okay. Thanks again."

She clicked her phone off. "Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, some people are so fucking stupid," she muttered.

Momoko and the guys, who'd been listening, looked at each other, impressed.

Sullivan leaned forward to say something to her, but before he could, she was already on another call, this time to the radio station, it seemed.

"Yes, this is Kay Bartlett, part of the management team for Peppermint Silk?"

Management team?

"Yes, we have an interview scheduled for the band with Harris Nealon this afternoon, on his Live Drive at Five show. Mm hmm, yes. Okay. Okay. I'm emailing it to you right now. How many? All right."

Wow.

After finishing her breakfast, Momoko promptly leaned on Jude and fell asleep, letting out little snores now and then that he thought were completely adorable. She didn't wake up until they were on the outskirts of Philadelphia and hit some stop and go traffic which made the bus lurch a little bit.

She opened her eyes and sat up, looking around. "What time is it?" she asked. "Are we going to make it?"

"We'll make it," Jude assured her. "Not quite noon, we'll be there in twenty minutes, according to Adam."

"So we'll unload, do the check, scoot over to the radio station, do the spot, come back to the venue and do the show, then hotel and sleep, then on the road again tomorrow?"

Jude smiled at her. "You going to make it, Peaches?"

Momoko nodded. "Yeah. This is fun." She looked around. "I've never been to Philadelphia before, though, I wish we could look around a little, you know?"

"Next time."

"You think there'll be a next time?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah, I do. I think we're going to hit it big, Peaches. I reckon you hitched your wagon to the right star. We kicked around New York City for well on four years, but I think the worm has turned." He leaned over and kissed her. "Lucky us, hm?"

Momoko nodded, smiling.

She turned to look out the window, wondering if all of the boys had forgotten what she'd told them about applying to law schools. She'd gotten all of her apps ready, and was waiting to find out what she got on her LSAT so she could figure out where to send them. She'd auditioned for the band on a lark, thinking that singing for a local band would be a really fun way to kill the year she had to wait before starting law school.

But next September, her family expected her to matriculate as a first year law student somewhere.

It had never occurred to her that she'd join a band on the brink of making it big, and that they might be cutting albums and touring and all that.

Momoko's eyes took in the scenery outside the bus without really seeing it as it changed from pastoral countryside to the urban decay of outer Philadelphia.

Maybe she had really tanked her LSAT, and wouldn't be able to apply anywhere good? Like maybe only in the mid-160s?

But if Momoko knew one thing about herself, it was that she was an excellent student with amazing study skills. There was no way she'd gotten a low score. She'd find out in four days. She'd deliberately not been thinking about it, but the day had somehow crept inexorably closer, anyway.

"Hey, Peaches, what are you thinking about so seriously?"

Momoko jumped a little at the voice in her ear and turned around.

"Weren't you Jude a minute ago?" she asked Sullivan.

"He got tired of being so ugly and skinny, and asked if he could borrow my face and body," Sully explained with a smile and a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"God, Sullivan, your voice is so deep and sexy, it's like the best, richest chocolate cake in the world," Momoko said, leaning into his chest with a sigh.

"Why thank you, Momoko," Sully said, making his voice extra deep, like a news reporter.

Momoko could feel the vibrations in his chest and put her arms around him.

They stayed that way until they arrived at the venue.

"Okay, guys we need to be ready to head over to the radio station by 3:30," Kay informed them. "I'll order you a pizza or something while we're here, please make sure to eat some of it before we leave, I don't want to hear anything about being hungry until after we get back here, is that clear?"

"Yes boss," Tommy said with a grin as he jumped up on the stage and started plugging things in.

They got an Uber to the radio station, since the bus would've been too slow and too big for downtown Philadelphia. They were given laminates at the station to wear around their necks, and led to the booth, where five stools had been set up for them.

"Hi there, I'm Harris Nealon," the DJ said to them, smiling and holding out his hand. He was a sandy blond with the requisite DJ voice, nice smile, tall almost to the point of lankiness, very good looking.

"And I'm Sidekick Sal, otherwise known as Sally Rodriguez," said his pretty co-host, a redhead in a casual scissor cut. She took in the four men of Peppermint Silk. "Whoa, look at you guys, this is my lucky day, I guess." She gave Momoko a wide-eyed stare. "You get to work with these guys every day? You're some kind of lucky."

"Tell me about it," Momoko replied with a laugh.

"So basically we'll get you set up with headsets and water, and you'll sit here," Harris explained, and we'll talk and ask you questions. Just try not to talk over each other, and try not to drink the water or clear your throat or anything when we're on, because the mics are really sensitive, and pick up everything, okay? Your side of the booth will be dead, which means it will be sound proof and we won't be able to hear you until it's time for the interview to start, so you can talk among yourselves until then. You'll see that sign go on, and then you'll know your side of the booth is live. Questions?"

They chatted with the DJs until it was time for them to go on, and sat and listened to the show. Harris and Sally were very funny and dynamic, and did a good job of chatting up the band before they were on.

"Nervous?" Dane asked Momoko.

"A little," she whispered back, wiping her hands on her jeans.

He reached over and grasped her hand, kissing it before holding against his thigh and giving it a squeeze.

"Okay, folks, we have a real treat, up and coming band, Peppermint Silk, in the flesh, are in the studio with us today," Harrison said. "We'll be speaking with them after the break."

He took his headset off and smiled across the partition. "You guys ready? You're up."

He smiled at Momoko. "You okay, Momoko? Feeling some nerves, hon?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though."

The boys looked back and forth between the DJ and Momoko.

Hon?

"And here we go," he said, flipping a switch.

"We're back with Peppermint Silk, live in the studio," he began. "And let me tell you, they're a gorgeous bunch."

"I'll say," Sally interjected. "I'm drooling over here."

"And not just the guys," Harris added. "Their lead singer, Momoko, is to-die-for. Looks like a porcelain doll. Like wow. Tell you what, why don't we go down the line and you guys introduce yourselves? Start at this end? Name and age?"

"I'm Sullivan, and I'm twenty-six."

"I'm Jude, and I'm twenty-six also."

"I'm Dane, and I'm twenty-five."

"I'm Momoko, and I'm twenty-two, but I'm almost twenty-three."

"And I'm Tommy, and I'm twenty-six."

"And how did you all meet?" Sally asked.

"Well, us fellows met in college, up at Princeton. That's where we formed the band, actually," Jude answered. "Momoko joined us later on, after we moved to New York."

"Wow, an Ivy League band," Sally said. "Color me impressed."

"What about you, Momoko, where did you go to school?" Harris asked.

"I just graduated from NYU."

"Hey, NYU is not a slouchy school by any means," Harris said to Sally.

"Agreed."

"So, who would you say are your musical influences? Jude?"

"Dunno. We kind of sound like ourselves, but if I had to pick, I'd say Maroon 5, Coldplay, with maybe a little Ed Sheeran thrown in?"

"But you've got a little bit of an edge compared to those guys, wouldn't you say? Maybe a little more of a rock sound? I was listening to some of the stuff you sent over before the show, and Momoko has a real Pat Benatar vibe, I thought, or maybe even a smoother Janis Joplin."

"Wow, thanks! I'm so honored by those comparisons, I worship those women."

"Well, they're apt comparisons, vocally speaking, though you're just stunning, way too beautiful to be a singer in a band, if I may say, Momoko."

Silence, then, "Well, thank you for the compliment, Harris."

"Dude, you're not trying to steal our singer away from us, are you? 'Cause we have a gig tonight, you know?"

Laughter and agreement.

"No, Tommy, is it? You're the drummer, right? Man do you have some guns on you! Better not cross you, I guess, huh? You could take me down without breaking a sweat.

"Anyway, let's play one of your songs right now, shall we? I like this one that you sent over earlier, called 'Rainy Day'?"

Hoots from the boys and squealing from Momoko.

"What, is this a personal favorite?"

"No, it's just that this is the first time, as far as we know, that one of our songs is going to be played on the radio!"

"Okay, Live Drive at Fivers, you heard it here first, this is Peppermint Silk with their fabulous song, 'Rainy Day.'

Remember their name, they're going places."