TWENTY-THREE
SEAN
I parked a block away from Reilly’s and turned to look at Jeremy. He’d been pretty quiet on the drive over, so I wanted to check in with him. “Are you still okay to go in?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s just been a while since I’ve been out with a group of people. I don’t want to embarrass you.”
I cupped his cheek. “Baby, that’s not going to happen. I’m so excited to introduce you to my friends.”
He leaned into my hand. “Thank you.”
I kissed his cheek. “I’m just worried you’ll hear Greg play and run screaming from the building.”
His brow furrowed. “Is he that bad?”
I sighed and shook my head. “No. I remember him being decent. He got into Rutgers Mason Gross for piano, but he dropped out after his sophomore year.”
“Well, if he got into Mason Gross, he has to be more than just decent. That’s an excellent school.”
“True,” I said. I took off my seatbelt. “You ready?”
He followed suit. “Yes.”
Reilly’s was set up like a traditional Irish pub with polished dark wood and gleaming brass fittings. It was pretty quiet, as bars went, because it was made for folks to come and have a drink and a simple meal, not get their ears blasted by overly loud music. The piano was a small grand, set in the back of the bar with several small tables around it. In addition to that, there were chairs set around the piano itself. A wooden ledge was attached around the body of the piano, a place for people to put their drinks while they listened or sang along. I glanced over at Jeremy when the piano came into view and noticed his slight wince when he saw the instrument. “Yeah, not quite what you’re used to.”
Jeremy gave me a small smile and shook his head. “I’ve seen these before. I was just noticing the water stains on the wood. I hate to see a piano uncared for.”
“I guess I can understand that.”
It was a little before nine, and it seemed like we were the first in our group to arrive. Greg was setting up to start playing. I hadn’t seen him since my sophomore year of college. He was a tall, slender guy with short sandy-blond hair and light gray-blue eyes. We had a bunch of classes together in high school because we were both into theater and music, he much more than I. I never found out why he dropped out of college because he kinda fell off the face of the earth after that.
When Greg saw me coming toward him, his eyes went wide with surprise. “Sean?”
I hurried over to him and held out my hand. “Hey, man, how are you doing?”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug. “It’s really good to see you.” He stepped back to get a better look at me. “It’s been what? Twelve years?”
“Yeah, sounds about right,” I replied. “Where have you been?”
His gaze flicked away from mine, giving me a sad smile. “It’s a long story.” He jerked his thumb toward the piano. “And I have to get ready.”
“Sure, no problem. Ryan and a few other people are coming by too.” I drew Jeremy forward. “Jeremy Fitzgerald, Greg Hayden.”
Jeremy extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Greg.”
Greg stood there with a slack jaw for a moment before remembering himself. “Mr. Fitzgerald, it’s an honor to meet you.”
Jeremy shook his hand. “It’s just Jeremy, and thank you.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “I think I’m being punked.”
Jeremy’s face was alight with amusement. Greg frowned in confusion. “What am I missing?”
Jeremy turned and kissed my cheek. “Sean didn’t know who I was when he first met me.”
Greg stared at me, aghast. “Seriously? But you’re a musician.”
“Nah, that’s Liam. He’s the real musician in the family.”
