Benji shook his head. “Not at all. I’ve always been musically inclined, and playing really helped me during some bad times when I was a teen. My parents were great about paying for vocal lessons. I learned the piano and both bass and classical guitar, but I really loved singing best. I was homeschooled for most of high school and finished early, so I was seventeen when I started college. I figured on maybe a degree in music theory or something, so I could teach about music. And then my junior year, I randomly answered an ad for a band looking for a lead singer. When Lincoln offered me the spot, I was too stunned to turn him down. I quit school, and the rest is history.”
“You were with XYZ for . . . ?”
“Two years. We’d still be together, I bet, if not for the accident. Well, maybe not Dominic. He may have still gone off with Trey to make their music. Too many maybes involved.” This getting to know you stuff was kind of fun. Benji loved Van’s story—except for the health issues, obvi—and how hard he’d worked to be where he was. “You said you left home at eighteen. Where was home?”
Van’s expression soured. “The hottest, dustiest asshole of Texas you can find.”
Ouch.
“Bad subject?” Benji asked.
“Touchy subject. I don’t like thinking about Texas.” Van’s voice had taken a dark edge that sent warning tingles down Benji’s spine.
Everyone had something they didn’t like to talk about. Benji was absolutely not unpacking ninth grade today. “Okay, new topic. Favorite band?”
Van tilted his lips into a sexy smirk. “Do I get points by saying Fading Daze?”
Yes.“Only if you mean it.”
“I don’t really have an all-time favorite. I love all kinds of music. Oldies, classics, bluegrass, Top Forty, doesn’t matter. You have a favorite besides Fading Daze?”
Benji laughed. “Believe it or not, my parents instilled a deep love of Sixties music in me. Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Beatles. They’re kind of my go-to, which is why I picked ‘The Sound of Silence’ for our Unbound song this summer.”
Thanks to an Internet poll, XYZ had been chosen to reappear during the opening ceremonies of the Unbound regional musical festival where they’d won top of their category in the year before. While their percussionist Tyson Reed was nowhere to be found, Dominic, Lincoln and Benji had gone on stage with Emmett doing vocals, and they’d nailed a remixed version of the song, using cues from Disturbed’s own haunting cover from the year before.
It had hurt a little to give up singing lead, but faking a sore throat so Emmett could sing had helped him and Lincoln resolve a huge issue that had nearly destroyed their relationship. The entire band had been shocked when Emmett admitted to being the drunk driver who’d caused their car wreck over a year ago. After many long phone and messenger conversations between the group, plus Joshua, they’d come to terms with it.
Forgiving Emmett said so much about Joshua’s generous spirit, considering he’d nearly died.
“Where’d you go?” Van asked. “You’ve got this wistful look on your face.”
“Remembering Unbound and how fun it was to play to a crowd that huge. Most of our audiences are under two hundred people, in packed bars. Lately they’ve seemed even smaller, but Eddie says every venue widens our exposure and opens opportunities. I think he’s hoping to book some state fair appearances next year, especially since we have a healthy selection of original music.”
While XYZ had been a cover band, Fading Daze always mixed it up with original songs written by Trey Cooper. While they still used Trey’s music, Benji and Bobby were spending more time learning to write their own, so they didn’t always have to rely on Trey.
“It’s always good to have a plan,” Van said.
Benji cocked his head. “Sometimes it’s fun to play it by ear, too.”
“This is true. So you’re an Army brat, I’m a former hobo, and Joshua is a traveling IT guy having a quarter-life-crisis. Interesting group, aren’t we?”
“Add in terrible exes and a dog, and we’d be a country western song.”
Van burst out laughing, a big, rumbling sound that matched everything Benji knew about the guy—strong-willed, forceful, but gentle when it mattered. All extremely endearing qualities.
“No, no awful exes,” Van said. “I was never with anyone long enough to get that label. You?”
The heat rose in Benji’s cheeks. He hated the way talking about sex made him blush so easily. “Joshua’s the only guy I’ve been with.”
“You didn’t date in high school?”
“Homeschooled, remember? I wasn’t a social person, and I didn’t have any friends that I regretted losing when I left school. Sometimes I think joining XYZ like I did was an abrupt attempt at making friends, after not really having any for so long.”
“And look where you are now.” Van leaned forward. “Don’t ever feel bad or embarrassed about your past, Benji. Maybe your sex life is practically virginal compared to mine, but so what? Everyone is different, and I promise I’ll never laugh or shame you over something you’ve never done, or don’t want to do. Okay?”
Benji stared into Van’s dark eyes and saw only truth. Truth, understanding, acceptance, and something that looked a lot like affection.
Affection he was beginning to feel right back.
