Noah’s face split in a wide grin before he went to the kitchen to fetch bottles of water and sandwiches for them. “Told you so, Big T. You never listen tome.”
“Yeah, right.” Tristan smiled. Noah knew how much his advice had helped Tristan. He was goofing off. “Speaking of which, have you thought about getting somegigs?”
Duke jumped in. “My cousin owns a bar where they play live music. I could convince him to give us achance.”
“That might work. Chez Nous wouldn’t be a proper place for us to do that,” Noahexplained.
“Of course,” Aidan agreed. “Where’s your cousin’sbar?”
“Lagoa. It’s calledLittle Suzy, have youbeen?”
“Yeah. I love it there. They’ve got three separate lounges, I think. One for live music, one for dancing to a DJ, and a sports bar. It’s a funnymix.”
“My cousin owns the local soccer team, so that kind of makessense.”
They laughed, but Tristan searched Noah’s eyes and discreetly nodded toward Duke and mouthed, “What’s the deal with the guy?”Noah shrugged and offered Tristan his best non-committalface.
Earlier Duke had mentioned his family owned a few luxury hotels in the city, including the one where Izzie was staying. Now he was talking about an apparently large entertainment complex plus a soccer team, which happened to be a national passion inBrazil.
“It sounds like you don’t need to be in a band for the money,” Tristannoted.
Duke didn’t flinch. “True. Neither do you and Noah.Aidan?”
He chuckled. “We’re not comparing bank accounts here, are we? Is this a new version of pissing contest? Let’s just say that I’d beat your asses in eithercontest.”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.” Noah patted Aidan’s back on his way to his drum set. Once settled on his stool, he ruffled the drums and hit the cymbal. “We’re not in this for the dough, just for thedolls.”
Tristan rolled his eyes. “God, you’relame.”
“Shame, shame,” Duke agreed. “Good thing you’re not thelyricist.
“Amen.” Noah and Aidan said at the sametime.
“I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, by the way.” Tristan realized he would have to write the lyrics to those songs his band mates hadcomposed.
“You’re in, then?” Noahexulted.
Tristan sighed and smiled. “Guess so,man.”
“That calls for a celebration,” Noah shouted over the intro to one of his favorite rock songs by U2. The martial beat lifted Tristan’s spirit, as always and he joined his guitar and Aidan jumped rightin.
When Duke sang the first verse, Tristan snapped his head up and gawked. He heard Noah’s laughter and looked his way, receiving a wink from the drummer. Duke had a fucking powerful voice. A perfect mix between sandpaper roughness and malt whiskey warmth. Tristan hadn’t heard the man earlier, since they had played only the new material, which had no lyrics. If he hadn’t already agreed to being in the band, he would beg them to let him in now that he heard Duke’svoice.
From that energizing song, they went on to play a whole set of U2 oldies and recent songs. Duke’s soulful rendition of yet another classic ballad recorded by the Irish group in the beginning of the nineties, Tristan choked. Memories of Izzie’s prom ball combined with the lyrics about disappointments and breakups made him close his eyes let the music take him where it would. He used to play that song for Izzie because it was one of her favoritetunes.
When he reopened his eyes, she had materialized inside their studio, leaning against the closed door. She smiled at him, but he noticed her eyes were sparking with unshed tears. Duke delivered the verses about love being a temple and the lover hurting her partner, and it took all Tristan had not to ditch the guitar and hold Izzie, make the pain go away from her expression. She mouthed, “Forgive me.” And he made a mental note to reassure her later that she had nothing to apologize for. Right now, he winked and blew her a kiss. She pretended to catch it in the air and place it on her heart. Just like she used to do when they were on tour. She’d be on the stage and Tristan in the pit between the stage and theaudience.
When they finished playing the cover song, Izzie clapped with enthusiasm. “When are you guys going into the studio? I wantin.”
“How do you mean?” Noah asked, grinning like a kid on Christmasmorning.
“I want to record a song with – what’s the name of your band?” She turned to gaze atTristan.
“I don’t know. I’m the last onein.”
“How about Noah’s Arc?” Dukesuggested.
“I don’t like it,” Noah deadpanned. “How does Knight’s Mensound?”
