“Back at you.” With a short nod, Matt raised the mug to his lips and glanced at Bo’s cookie jar on the counter.Life is short, eat the cookie. Ain’t that the fucking truth?Then, he turned to his bandmate and said, “I wouldn’t make a habit of it, but if you two ever wanted to play again, I wouldn’t say no, either. We had a good time.”
“Yeah?”
That he could admit it surprised him. Hell, it even surprised Bo. Matt discovered he much preferred playing with people he cared about as opposed to random members at the Red Door. While there weren’t expectations beyond having fun on anyone’s part, it was more than just sex, and that made it feel even better.
He tugged on his friend’s hair. “Yeah.”
“Can I top?” Bo waggled his brows.
Matt nearly choked on his coffee. “Now, you’re pushing it.”
“Hard limit then, eh? I’d be gentle,” he said with a straight face, then chortled. “Just fucking with ya, but don’t knock it ’til you try it.”
“Pass, thanks.” Matt chewed on the corner of his lip. “I’m just glad Ava’s good with last night, especially after that bullshit with Kit. I was going there to ream him out for it.”
“Don’t.”
“Why not? What he did was really shitty.”
“Kit didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, Matt, and Avie knows it.” Wetting his lips, Bo tipped his head. “I explained it to her.”
“Explained what?”
“You know. He’s never been the same since Courtney. She fucked him up good.”
Yeah, he knew. “Still…”
“Not to mention, I think we freaked him out a little bit.”
“How?” Matt asked, cocking his head.
“I’m pretty sure he knows what we did.” Rocking on the stool, Bo glanced at his daughter, then lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “And in all the years we’ve known each other, toured in that tin can on wheels… partied together… we’re the first ones to… you know.”
“Fuck?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, drinking his coffee.
“You and Tay never…?”
“Nah, man,” Bo said, looking him right in the eye. “We shared plenty of chicks back in the day, but that’s it.”
Well, fuck me.
Venery lived up to their name. All of them were sexual deviants by mainstream standards, there weren’t many experiences they hadn’t shared, but come to think of it, Bo was right. He couldn’t recall a time when the drummer and their lead guitarist so much as looked at each other, but then Taylor had loved Jesse for a long time now. Chloe sealed the deal. The three of them married, and two kids later, they were more in love than ever.
“It’s been sixteen years, for fuck’s sake. Kit needs to get over that cunt. He deserves to be happy.”
Just like Taylor.
Just like Bo.
Hell, Sloan deserved some happiness, too. And maybe even him.
“I hate to hear any woman called that, but I’ve never met one who earned it like Courtney did. Oh, and we can’t forget Salena.” Bo wrinkled his nose with a shudder. “Does Kit ever talk about it?”
“Never.” Matt put down his mug and loudly exhaled. “Thought I was hearing things when he said her name at Thanksgiving.”
“Yeah, and he kept a picture of her, too.” Rubbing at his lips, Bo nodded. “Maybe you can get him to talk to Monica. He needs therapy or something, bro.”
