“That means a lot.” Rick exhaled slowly. “Okay, I’ll start from the beginning so it makes sense. Want a beer?”
“Bet your ass I do.”
Rick’s smile was tentative as he nodded and left, returning with two chilled bottles a moment later. He handed me one, sat on the chair in front of me and took a sip, then another. “Do you know the band’s story?”
“More or less,” I said. “From what I read in a magazine or some article online but I was—Iammostly obsessed with the music. It was easy for me to fall in love with the songs and the band after seeing them draped in Cryptid Alliance rainbow flags during their first big festival appearance.” I’d felt seen back then. Even watching the video days after the concert on some streaming platform. “Tell me your story as if I’ve never heard of the band.” I sat back, and the tortured expression on Rick’s face broke something in me. No. I couldn’t hug him now. I was mad at him, after all. “I want to hear it from your perspective.”
“Right.” Rick nodded. “My older brother and I were just two Puerto Rican kids wanting to live like the teenagers in movies.” He shrugged, and I understood what he meant. Living far away but watching pulp Americana on TV can fill a child with longing for something unreachable. “Mom and Dad supported all our weird ideas, always saying that they moved from Puerto Rico so we could have access to everything we wanted. Despite their heavy accents and struggles with the language, we could only speak English in the house so we would know it perfectly. It helped a lot, especially when it came to making friends who also played instruments.” He crossed his legs at the ankle, drawing my attention to his powerful thighs, but I looked up.
“One thing led to another and Zoe joined us on drums and Vinny on bass. Initially, Lync was on rhythm guitar but switched to synths and keyboard with vocals. It was unusual, but it worked. Guitar was my thing and we alternated singing as lead from song to song depending on the instrument arrangement. Jeremy filled in the guitar gap and we were all set.
“Anyway, I was fresh out of high school when we finished recording the demo in my brother’s friend’s basement. He had a semi-professional studio then, so the sound was great and we sent the files to every record label we could. We played some small gigs over the summer until we got the call we’d all been waiting for. One thing led to another, and we had an album with a big label and were touring America. It happened so fast.” Rick shook his head, running a hand over his locks. “Initially, we opened for bigger bands, but within two years we headlined a festival and had our own tour with other bands from the label.”
“You were the only one who wore a mask from the start, right?” I remembered seeingSwimming with the Sharks’svideo for the first time and the guy in a leather shark mask had drawn my attention immediately.
“Yeah. At first, it was so no one would see my baby face. In time, I discovered it brought me the luxury of anonymity when I wanted to just walk down the street. Something other members of the band didn’t have.” He pointed to the wall behind him. No less than twenty masks hung on mounted knobs, all variations of the shark look Rick rocked on stage.
“I wore one to every concert and after party until I was alone. It gave me a boost of confidence, still does. The ones covering my lower face were useful for photo shoots so I wouldn’t have to smile for hours. People don’t see my face; they can’t judge me by my expression. They can also imagine whoever they want underneath.” He smirked.
“Like romance books with just the naked chest on the cover?” I snorted, and he nodded, smiling at me. Fuck, Rick was so gorgeous with his tawny complexion, deep brown eyes, and chestnut hair. But yeah, it was his body which he never hid onstage, his sculpted abdomen and muscled arms the reason fans squealed when he rocked during a concert.
“Exactly. I want people to love the music first, I’m just the guy playing it.”
“And showing off your abs.”
“Yeah, okay, a bit of vanity on my part.” He hid his smile behind the beer.
“I’m not complaining.”
He took a gulp, then released a breath. “Sex in a mask is tough, makes my face sweat, but I loved that I could pass the person I fucked on the street the next day and they wouldn’t know it was me. And no, I didn’t consider that a lie. I needed a night of fucking, they wanted to fuck a rockstar. Not this.” He pointed to his face. “And trust me, the image is as much of a performance as the playing. Just like everyone wanted to fuck my brother, the lead singer. Except he wasn’t available. The fans didn’t give a shit about his talking about horses and his dream to have his own ranch someday. No one cared that he already had a girlfriend.”
“I remembered reading about your brother getting married mid-tour. How did that play out?” I sipped my drink, soaking up the information Rick was willing to share.
“Darla grew up next door; they were inseparable since their teenage years. She toured with us and became a part of the band family quickly, then fell pregnant. Traveling with an infant was tough, but they had a separate bus and it worked somewhat.”
“So having a family wasn’t the reason your brother left the band then?” I asked. “That’s what the media speculated.”
“No. Now, this was never in any paper because we kept it under wraps.”
“I won’t tell—”
“I know. Ner, I really do.” He patted my knee then balled his hand into a fist. I wanted to touch him too, but it was not the time. He had to let it all out. “It was during the promo tour for the last album…”
“We were staying in some roadside hotel, because the fancy one we had booked had caught fire the day before.” Rick shifted in his seat. “My brother and his family were asleep when a crazy fan broke in with a knife. She tried to kill Linc and my nephew.”
“What?” I sat up so abruptly I nearly spilled my beer.
“Their son was in the hotel room with them.” Rick looked into his bottle.
“Oh gods, what happened next?”
“Darla stung the crazy fan with her scorpion tail, putting her in a hospital. Linc was fast asleep when she did it. The screaming of the women woke him and baby Sebastian up. They were all fine in the end, and the lunatic went to prison.”
“I’m so sorry.” I’d been expecting some standard band drama, not this.
“I promised myself then that I wouldn’t end up like him and I’d continue hiding my identity. If someone met me without a mask, I wouldn’t tell them about the band.” He met my gaze then. “Because what would be the point? Not many are cut out for touring and a life on the road. Darla was. And it still wasn’t enough. That event sealed my brother’s decision to leave the band. He said he found something he loved more than playing and touring. He made me promise to continue, knowing it meant so much to me.” Rick set the empty bottle aside and crossed his arms. “At first, Frank, our manager, tried to convince Linc to come back. He offered extra security for his family and a house on Star Island, but not even that would change his mind. Now, it’s been ten months and I’m blocked. I can’t write a decent song to save my life. The pressure from the label got us to agree to return to playing concerts. Once we’re on tour it will be a whirlwind with a break only to write an album and hit the road again.”
“Are you okay with that decision?” I asked, reaching for his hand. He took it and the vulnerability in his eyes nearly sent me to my knees with the need to hug him.
