13
Aidan
Aidan gawkedat the view from his friend’s balcony, even though it wasn’t the first time he visited. Aidan never got tired of admiring the sweeping views of a lagoon framed by rainforest and dotted by colorful boats and windsurf boards. Ricardo Alcantara, also known as Duke, lived in a sprawling twenty-room house perched on top of a hill overlooking Conceição lagoon. A prime real estate area in itself, but his property had no rivals. No doubt, one of the perks of belonging to the Brazilian royalfamily.
The first time Duke had mentioned that to Aidan, he thought it was a joke. As it turned out, Brazil had once been a monarchy, and the royal family members took their titles quiteseriously.
Except forDuke.
But that was another story for anothertime.
At that moment, Aidan was too excited at the possibility of finally having a rehearsal with all the members in the band. He turned to Duke, standing to his left, drinking from a water bottle. “Do you think Noah will be able to talk Tristan into rehearsing withus?”
“I hope he does. You both keep telling me the guy is a guitar genius, I’d love to see that for myself. Not that I don’t believe you andNoah.”
Aidan smiled at the taunt and took a swig of his beer. “Definitely. You’re a super trustingperson.”
Duke shrugged. “True, I’ve got trust issues. They kind of come with the territory when you grow up in myfamily.”
Their phones pinged when they received a text message from Noah.He’s resistant. Hang in there. I’ve gotthis.
Duke shook his head. “I don’t blame the guy. With everything that’s going on in Tristan’s life right now, I didn’t think playing rock would be a priority. The guy will travel tomorrow, for heaven’ssake.”
“I agree. However, this could be a way to keep his mind off all the shit that’s going on in his life at themoment.”
Duke eyeballed Aidan. “Speaking from personal experience? Is Moira stillindecisive?”
Aidan hesitated. Duke’s expression, devoid of smug, prompted him to talk. “You’ve been following this story for awhile.”
“Almost since the beginning. I admire yourpersistence.”
“Glad you call it that.” Aidan snorted. “My father calls it stubbornness. I prefer your description. Anyway, Moira and I will go out on a proper date this weekend. You understand how anxious I am aboutthis.”
“Oh, and how.” Duke patted Aidan’s back. “It’s about time, my friend. I’m sure it’ll be great, but I can see why you’re excited about a jam session. A nice round of sexy rock and roll will put you in the rightmood.”
Aidan nodded, but thought better of it. “To be honest, Moira does that just by walking into the room. She doesn’t need much to put me in the mood, as you call it. And her eyes. Man, when they turn a certain shade of amber, Iburn.”
Duke gaped at Aidan. “You’re so screwed,bro.”
“Why do you saythat?”
“You’re in love, and love messes everything up. See what happened to Noah andTristan?”
Aidan burst out laughing. “I am in love. I have been for a while and never hid that from Moira. I don’t think I’m screwed because of that,though.”
Duke didn’t reply, his eyes fixed on the boats gliding on the smooth surface of the lagoon. He dragged his stare to Aidan’s face. “Believe me, love screws thingsup.”
Aidan slapped his own forehead, when he spotted the pain in Duke’s dark brown eye. “I’m sorry. What a lousy friend I’ve turned out, eh? Having Vanessa around is messing up with you, bigtime.”
Duke went back to staring at the boats. He did so for some time before he remarked, “She’s the one who got away, Aidan. It hurt like hell. Being around her, but not being with her, youknow?”
Before Aidan could reply that he knew that feeling only too well, Duke’s phone went off. “Hey. What’s up?” He grinned and spoke into the mouthpiece, “We’ll be there in fifteen.” When he hung up, he clamped Aidan’s shoulder. “That’s it, my old friend. We’ve got our first official rehearsal as aband.”
Pushing off the balcony railing, Aidan exulted, “Let’s dothis.”
* * *
Noah greetedthem at the door and motioned for them to follow him into the home studio. As they ambled down the corridor, Tristan stepped out of his bedroom. Noah introduced them, and the four musicians stepped into the spacious studio. Aidan had been storing his bass guitar there, so he reached down and grabbed the guitar that leaned against a metal stand to the left of Noah’s drum set. It was curious to realize that Tristan was the newcomer now. Noah, Aidan, and Duke had been hanging out, playing, and creating music while the guitar player had dealt with the issues in his life. Aidan believed that period of bonding was essential for the high quality of the songs they had created. Noah and Tristan had been friends since childhood, so collaborative creation came easy for them. Aidan and Duke needed to forge similar connections to each other and toNoah.
