Aidan watched Tristan watching them interact, and he would bet the American was gauging how deep their friendship had gotten tobe.
After Aidan and Tristan turned on the amplifiers and tuned their guitars, Duke placed three stools in front of Noah’s set and asked, “What are weplaying?”
“I play standing,” Aidan and Tristan informed inunison.
Duke shrugged and perched in a stool he set between the two men. “Should we keep working on oursongs?”
Aidan followed Tristan’s stare as it cut to Noah. The drummer answered the silent question, “We’ve been working on a few songs, T. We’d love for you to listen tothem.”
“Sure.”
Duke asked Tristan. “Mind if I borrow one of yourguitars?”
“Not at all. Goahead.”
They spent little more than an hour showing their new material to Tristan. Aidan was proud of the music they had created. It was original and strong. Every time he glanced Tristan’s way, he spotted admiration, even enthusiasm on his face. Halfway through each song, Tristan followed Duke’s lead and played along with them. The man was a quickstudy.
When they had gone over all the new songs, Noah called for a break and the other three gladlyagreed.
“You guys have been busy,” Tristan stated. “Greatjob.”
Noah went to the kitchen and got some bottles of water and sandwiches for them. When he returned, he still wore the same wide grin he sported when Tristan complimented them. “Told you so, Big T. You never listen tome.”
“Yeah, right.” Tristan smiled. “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?”
Before he met Noah and Tristan, Aidan went bar hopping on a regular basis with a couple of Brazilian friends he had made in the city. In fact, that had only changed after he metMoira.
Little Suzy, Duke’s cousin’s bar, had been a constant stop for Aidan and his friends. “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 Aidan noticed Tristan nodding toward Duke and mouthing to Noah, “What’s the deal with theguy?”
That was the first time Duke and Tristan met, and Aidan realized the guitar player wasn’t aware of who Duke’s family was. His next words confirmedthat.
Tristan stated, “It sounds like you don’t need to be in a band for themoney.”.
Duke retorted. “True. Neither do you and Noah.Aidan?”
He chuckled. Duke knew about Aidan’s family money. “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 smiled. “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.” Tristandeclared.
