“Yep. See you,” I reply, because there’s no point in trying to talk him out of it.
I know he trusts them. He’s only covering his ass in case they’re more behind than they’re letting on.
I hang up the phone and push it into my pocket, rounding on the chatting band as they become increasingly animated about the song they’ve been working on.
Eventually, Bonnie’s gaze finds me, and she’s smiling softly when she crosses the space between us. I cup my hands around her face and press my lips to hers.
“I’m really proud of you,” I tell her.
She lets out a heavy, rattled breath. “Me too.”
My arm slinks across her shoulders, lips grazing her temple. We approach the rest of the band again, and I remember that there was something I wanted to talk to them about.
“Hey—Hey!”
My clapping hands echo off the walls, and each of them turns in my direction, voices drifting.
“Avie expects something on Tuesday,” I tell them as they slowly return to their seats on the couches and floor. “So, while I know fucking around is part of your creative process, we really do need to get shit nailed down.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Zeb says. “You just worry about RagnaRock.”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you all about,” I say, peering between them. “Are you guys good? How are you feeling about getting on stage again?”
Reed kisses Wren’s shoulder. Andi squeezes Mads’ hand over his shoulder as he sits on the floor. Zeb rocks back in the swivel chair, nodding with a vacant expression on his face. Bonnie finds my hand and gives it a tug, the gesture reassuring me.
“Seriously. Talk to me,” I say.
“It’s definitely going to be scary getting up there after that,” Reed admits. “I’ve never seen a crowd like that.”
“Yeah. I keep getting flashbacks,” Zeb says.
“I don’t want Reed going in the crowd if it’s like that,” Mads says. “He could have been shot.”
“So… what do you think might help you?” I ask. “You have three weeks before the festival. Rock texted me this morning asking if you guys were making any changes to the set list. Apparently, Avie is under the impression you’re doing one of the new songs. My answer was that I’m more concerned about you all getting up there and freezing.”
“I don’t think we’d do that,” Bonnie says.
“Could happen,” Mads says. “Definitely wouldn’t feel like our safe space anymore. Which fucking sucks.”
“Sucks so much,” Zeb agrees.
“Wait…” Reed sits up, and I can see his brain firing.
“That’s my favorite Reed look,” Bonnie says, a smile curving her lips. “Let’s go. Give it to us.”
Mads chuckles. “That’s a dangerous Reed look.”
“The good shit,” Zeb agrees.
“So, we’re all wary about the concert, right? If the list is the same as Radio Eleven, it might have us anticipating when things got out of control last time,” Reed says as if he’s thinking out loud. “What if we just change the whole fucking thing?”
They look between each other, brows narrowed, and I fold my arms over my chest.
These four…
I love it.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
