Dom hung up with a sense of victory. Trey had forgiven him. He didn’t know or care if he deserved forgiveness, because all this meant more Trey and more music. Music had always been part of his life, and for a little while longer, so was Trey.
No matter what happened at Unbound, they had the next three weeks to be together and pretend they weren’t slowly edging their way over a cliff.
SEVEN
Andy Compton scaredthe piss out of Trey.
He stood in the apartment living room, at least six foot three and crazy ripped. He had muscles on top of muscles and ink splattered all over them. Septum piercing. Earrings in both ears. Shaved head. He looked like the kind of guy who went to secret meetings to plan how to drop burning crosses on people’s lawns.
Trey stayed on the other side of the room and silently wondered if Bobby had lost his fucking mind.
Danielle, naturally, was staring at the guy like he was a Popsicle she wanted to lick.
“Andy, that’s Trey Cooper, but everyone calls him Coop,” Bobby said, pointing. “Vocals and bass guitar. Occasional keyboard, depending on the song.”
“Nice to meet you,” Andy said.
His voice totally broke the spell. He sounded like someone had stuffed Jon Stewart into The Rock and fed him helium. Totally nonthreatening. Trey felt like an ass for judging the guy so quickly, but damn he was still pretty huge. “Likewise.”
Trey expected a bone-crushing handshake, but got a gentle one instead. Maybe the guy knew how strong he was and tried hard not to break people.
“So what’s your background?” Danielle asked.
“Started off playing sax in middle school,” Andy replied. “Got into drums in high school. Did snare for the marching band, bass for orchestra. Met some guys who were into jazz and played the full set with them for a year and a half before switching to rock.”
“And you’re in college?”
“Online courses. Gives me a lot of free time.”
“That’s good,” Bobby said, “because whoever we bring on needs to learn our entire set in three weeks.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s what you said on the phone.”
“Great. Then let’s hear you.”
Bobby had arranged the band’s drum set in the living room. Andy spun his drumsticks in the air while he walked over. He settled on the stool and tested out each piece of equipment. Snares, bass, floor toms, cymbals. Then he went through a pretty impressive practice routine, using various combinations of the instruments. Tyson sometimes overdid it with the high-hat cymbals, but Andy got a good sound from them.
By the end, Tara from the second floor had wandered down.
“Not bad,” Bobby said. He handed over some sheet music. “This is one of Trey’s original songs. Read over it while we get ready.”
Andy glanced at the top sheet, then put the pages on the ground. “I’m good.”
Trey balked. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. After I booked this audition, I downloaded both of your albums on iTunes and listened to ’em four times in a row.”
“You memorized all of my original songs?”
“Not saying I won’t make a mistake or two the first time around, but yeah. Try me.”
Trey liked a challenge. He picked up his bass while Bobby strapped on his own guitar. “Fine. ‘Fading Daze.’”
It was the first song Trey ever finished that hadn’t been destroyed by his father, because Allison started letting him write and hide the notes at her house. The song was about confusion and teenage angst, and about needing something to believe in. They’d put it on their second album, despite Trey’s uncertainty. It was more ballady than most of their stuff, but the fans loved it, and it had become their most popular encore song.
Trey had tuned earlier, so he was ready. Bobby and Danielle both gave him the thumbs-up, so he started them off with a short riff. Andy cut in exactly when he should have. Trey had lead vocals on this one, with Danielle coming in on the chorus. Andy missed one cue, but he played the song like he’d done it before.
The huge smiles on Bobby’s and Danielle’s faces gave Trey hope that maybe they’d lucked into a new drummer on the first go-around. “Okay, how about ‘My Work Here Is Done’?” Trey had chosen that one because it had a more complicated drum line, and it was one of their most requested numbers.
