“No, this is not only better, it’s actually realistic,” Greg replied. “Your first three shows for the tour have officially sold out!”
“For real?” Kris grinned, obviously pleased. “That’s wonderful!”
Dmitri turned to smile at Andre and was glad to see, for once, a smile of genuine pleasure on his face.
The six weeks they’d been in the studio laying down tracks had been intense, and Dmitri had been keeping a close eye on how Andre was doing. The various band members weren’t always in the sound booth at the same time, of course, though Luka and Dmitri usually recorded their parts together because of the intense interplay between them. But he’d been near Andre enough to notice that he still seemed slightly off, if that was the right word to use. Andre wasn’t quite as spontaneous as he used to be, and when he’d turned down Dmitri’s invitations to dinner or the band’s after-session hangouts, he’d explained that he had some “family issues” and was having to head back to San Diego whenever time permitted. Dmitri was still worried, but he remembered that Andre had spent a lot of time going back to see his family before their previous tour as well, so he tried to see itas Andre again spending more time with them in anticipation of the upcoming separation.
“This calls for a celebration!” Kit said, wrapping his arms around Luka, then picking him up and spinning him around. Luka made a token protest, no doubt just because it was expected of him, but Kit silenced it by setting him on his feet and then kissing him soundly.
“You bet your ass,” Kris agreed, as Jo, all smiles, wheeled into the booth and started snapping pictures of them all.
“I’m in!” Dmitri agreed as he walked over toward Andre. “What about you, Dre? You haven’t come out with us in ages!”
The smile faded from his face as Andre hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m going to head back to San Diego tonight, since we finished….”
Dmitri couldn’t help the disappointment he felt. “Really? Not even for a little while? Just to celebrate?”
He could see the conflict on Andre’s face. In times past, Andre would have been leading the charge out the door to be the first one at the bar. It was obvious from his wistful expression that Andre wanted to come along, but something was holding him back. “I really shouldn’t.”
“Oh, come on, Andre!” Kris walked over and punched Andre not-too-lightly on the arm. “I know you’re a busy man, but you’ve been positively antisocial lately.”
“I’ve just had some things to deal with,” Andre said, but it sounded weak to Dmitri. Of course, it was Andre’s business, and he didn’t owe them explanations, but maybe coaxing him out would help him relax. So, he decided to join forces with Kris.
“You need some downtime, too, you know,” he said, giving his most beguiling look of appeal. “Besides, we’ve missed you. Can’t you spare one evening?”
Andre looked uncertain, but then he sighed and gave a shrug. “Okay, fine,” he said, finally returning Dmitri’s smile. It wasn’tthe cocky grin Dmitri knew so well, but at least it was genuine, the corners of Andre’s dark eyes crinkling. “I guess I can spare a couple of hours.”
“Yes!” Dmitri gave Kris a high-five, then flung an arm around Andre’s shoulders, and urged him toward the door. A part of him longed to pull Andre into his arms the way that Kit had done to Luka, but he couldn’t press his luck that far. “Come on, guys, before he changes his mind!”
The band, plus Greg, ended up at The Surly Goat, a bar near the studio. While they weren’t exactly regulars there, they were well known enough to the bartender for him to wave to them in welcome and motion them toward the lounge area, which was a large, almost fully enclosed booth big enough for all of them. Dmitri managed to slide himself in next to Andre, who even seemed to relax a bit once they were seated.
The group placed their drink orders with their obliging server, then argued over whether wings or pizza was more celebratory.
“Why not both?” Dmitri asked, and that settled the discussion.
When the server delivered their drinks, Luka, surprisingly, was the one to raise his glass in a toast. Normally, Luka was the most reticent of all of them, but he’d definitely come out of his shell more since marrying Kit.
“To the F-Holes,” he said, then gave Kit a lingering look. “And to our upcoming tour. May things go even better than they did on our last one!”
“I’ll drink to that,” Jo said, clinking her glass against Kris’s. Her soft blue eyes were luminous, which wasn’t surprising. Their wedding the previous week had been small but lovely, and Dmitri knew how much they were looking forward to the weeks off before the tour to take their honeymoon. Dmitri was pleased for them, because they deserved all the happiness in the world,but he couldn’t help looking sidelong at Andre and wishing that he had enough nerve to take a chance and finally make a move. But he still sensed that there were things that would make Andre turn him down, though at least a lack of attraction didn’t seem to be the issue.
Patience, he told himself for probably the millionth time as he clinked his glass against Andre’s, smiling at him warmly. There seemed to be an answering spark in Andre’s eyes, so yeah, not all hope was lost. He just had to hold on to that thought.
At least the tour was coming up, and with the band living in each other’s pockets on the tour bus during that time, closeness wasn’t an issue. Hopefully, that would be when the stars would align, and everything would be perfect for him to tell Andre how he really felt.
“So we have two weeks until the start of the tour,” Greg said after the food arrived and everyone was digging in. “I’m sending the bus out next week to Florida with the equipment trailer to be ready for the Miami show. You’ll fly out the day before the performance, then afterwards drive up to Tampa for the next show.”
“It’s going to be hot as hell,” Dmitri said. “Florida in August isn’t my idea of a good time.”
To his delight, Andre nudged him with a shoulder. “It’s not the heat. It’s the humidity,” he said teasingly. “You won’t melt.”
“I might,” Dmitri shot back. “I am a delicate flower, after all.”
“A flower that smells like bullshit,” Kit, who was seated on Dmitri’s other side, chimed in, then high-fived Andre over Dmitri’s head while everyone laughed.
Dmitri didn’t mind the ribbing, especially since it meant Andre was acting almost like his old self. “Yeah, well,” he said, sticking his nose in the air. “That’s what deodorant is for, right?”
“Do we get a day for theme parks?” Jo asked. “I’d love that, I haven’t been to one since I was a kid!”
