Trey bit back what he probably should have admitted to, and reached for the other lie instead. “I’m not an only child. I just . . . I didn’t feel like getting that personal and talking about my family, so I lied.”
“We don’t have to talk about stuff that makes you uncomfortable, you know.”
“I guess. I’m not close with my family, anyway.”
“That’s okay. Not everybody is. I know I’m lucky that my family loves and supports me. I wish all my friends had that, too, but that’s not life. You can’t choose your family.”
“Yeah. I have four older sisters. My parents both worked multiple jobs to support us, and I think my sisters resented taking care of me. My dad was all about manly men, and he wasdetermined I’d be something, because most of my sisters ended up pregnant in high school and married to bums. He hated that I wanted to make a career in music.”
Trey hadn’t meant to spew all of that at Dominic, but the patient and caring way Dominic was watching him made it worth it. “You’re not out to them, are you?” Dominic asked.
“Hell no. My roommates, Bobby and Danielle, they both know. A few other people, but it’s not something I’m really public about. Not that it matters. I haven’t seen my family in over two years. Almost three.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“I’m not. I’m making music and living my life my way. Fuck them if they don’t like it.”
Dominic stood abruptly. “I want to see your room.”
“My room?” Were they jumping straight from serious family chatter to sex?
“Lincoln always says you can tell a lot about a person by their bedroom. I’m curious about you.”
Okay, so not straight to the sex. But it definitely put them in closer proximity to Trey’s bed, so he led Dominic down the long hallway to his room, tucked in at the very end near the bathroom they all shared. He stood in the doorway while Dominic turned in a circle, taking in the mostly bare walls and few sticks of furniture. One Fading Daze flyer, advertising their first public performance at Off Beat, was tacked to the wall beneath his bed. The rest of the ivory space was empty.
“So what’s my room saying about me” Trey asked.
Dominic’s brown eyes met his, somehow both playful and serious. “That you’re unfinished. A work in progress.”
He glanced around his room, unsure how Dominic got that. “But aren’t we all works in progress? Always changing and learning?”
“Sure, to an extent. It’s just a vibe I get from this place.”
“That I’m unfinished?”
Dominic crossed his arms and leaned against one of the bedposts. Long, lean, and so fucking sexy, and he probably had no idea. “How come you aren’t out?”
“To my family? Because I don’t give a shit what they think. No one has tried to contact me since I left home, and I didn’t change my number. I even sent a Christmas card that first year, with my return address, and I never heard back. Maybe your family is starlight and rainbows, but mine is fire and ash.”
“Dude, sorry.” Dominic held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “It was a question. And not just your family. You said only your roommates know.”
“So what? I told Danielle when we first met, and I told Bobby later so he wouldn’t think I was making moves on his baby sister.”
Dominic quirked an eyebrow. “Why would he think that?”
“We spent a lot of time together, and we’re so good onstage that people started rumors.”
“Onstage?”
That had gotten more personal than Trey planned. “Me and Danielle sometimes duet, but usually we share leads on songs.”
“Are you in a band?”
“Yeah.” Now that the secret was out, Trey wanted to hide and he didn’t know why. He’d never been shy about promoting the band before. “About two years now. We’re really only known locally but we’re trying to get out there. We’re supposed to play in a big festival in a few weeks but we lost our percussionist. Just fucking up and left us for another crew. So who knows what will happen.”
Dominic’s face went way too neutral, and he stared at Trey in a way that made him literally squirm. “What’s your band’s name?”
Everything had gotten really weird, and he almost didn’t want to answer. “Fading Daze. Daze likeDazed and Confused,notDays of Our Lives.”
