“Not my thing.”
“That’s fine, I bet I can find some other broke washed-up rock star reliving his glory days to help out.”
He paused, rolling his head back and forth. I held my breath until my lungs burned, certain he would walk away. “You’re a bit of an asshole.”
“Call it determined.”
“I like it.”
“Learned it from my best friend. If that’s a yes, I should probably call her and tell her the news.” Finally, something good.
He blew smoke into the air on a heavy exhale. “Fine. I’ve been wanting to find a new act to manage and produce anyway. But don’t pull shit like this again. And for the record, I’m not broke.”
“Sure you’re not.”
I held it together long enough to give Martin my information. Back inside, a grin tore across my face.
“Where the hell did you go?” Garrett demanded as he crouched to secure the clasps on his bass case. “You skipped out on clean up.”
“Don’t be such a grump. Martin Hall is going to produce our music.”
Avery
Spring 2008
The party was at Wes’s house, George hand-painted a banner on butcher paper and we ordered pizza. The whole band came to Caper with their families, or at least Luca’s and Jared’s showed up. Evelyn captured everything as she wielded George’s camcorder that night.
“You have to stop doing that!” Luca yelped when she jumped out from behind a pillar, pointing the lens right in his face.
“If you’re going to be famous, I need to get videos I can sell to the tabloids,” she said and started to chase her brother. He shielded his face as he ran through the downstairs but intentionally let her catch him.
When we finished eating, Dad grabbed empty pizza boxes and napkins for the guys to sign, insisting that they’d be worth something someday.
I tried, but I just couldn’t match everyone else’s level of excitement. When things hit a lull, I escaped to the back porch. The sun was starting to kiss the horizon, and a few horses were grazing in the pasture before returning to their stalls for the night.
It wasn’t long before someone stepped out to join me. The weight of a scratchy wool blanket settled over my shoulders. “You’re going to freeze out here,” Wes said.
“Are you excited?”
“I want to be, but every time we get close to something, it goes wrong.” The smile he’d been wearing all night melted away. This was the version of Wes he never let anyone else see. He cocked his head to the side, his jaw cutting a shadow with the help of dim overhead lights. Over the last year he’d sharpened and grown. I’d been taller than him for a while, but now we stood eye to eye.
“But it always works out.”
“Only because you’re there to save my ass.”
“You did this all on your own.” And that was the thing. I wasn’t sure if he needed me anymore, even though I’ve grown to need him.
“I did what you would have done, so it only happened because you rubbed off on me.” He laughed to himself. “I called a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer a ‘washed-up rock star.’”
“Sounds like me.” The corners of my lips twitched.
His expression sobered. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Thankfully, the door slid open. Evelyn poked her head through the gap. “Everyone’s getting sleepy, so we’re cleaning up and you’re not getting out of helping.” She turned to me, bouncing on her toes. “Avery, can I sleep over with you tonight?”
With her wide pleading green eyes, I couldn’t say no.
