Chapter 26
Ryosuke
The waitress set down a second round of beer on the table. Itsuki kept picking up his phone to check it, but said nothing as he grabbed his mug, taking a long drink.
“What’s up?” I asked him.
He shrugged, taking another drink before setting the mug back down. “Yasu asked what happened. I told him where we were, but he didn't say anything else.”
I nodded. “Is that normal for him?”
Itsuki shrugged, fidgeting with one of the extra coasters on the table. He said nothing, looking at the bubbles in his beer glass as they floated to the surface.
Now that he’d gotten the message from Yasu, he seemed more withdrawn instead of the perky, fun self that he’d been all morning. I only hoped that he wasn’t feeling guilty for what happened. He shouldn’t, because that was the most laid-back, fun practice we’d had since I’d joined the band.
When I’d still been with Tokyo Roadtrip, we’d practiced that shit all the time. The only time I’d gotten annoyed with it was when Hatchi and Akura took it too far. There were times when we all wanted to shove them out the door, telling them to get a room. It only dug the knife deeper into my chest because Hatchi had dangled being with me in front of my face for years when he had no intention of ever following through.
Itsuki sighed as he picked up his beer, taking another drink. At the rate he was going, he would be well on his way to tipsy faster than he realized.
“He can be distracted sometimes, usually when his focus is on something different. I just hope I didn’t get him into trouble today.”
I reached across the table, taking Itsuki’s hand in mine. His dark gaze met mine, and I gave him a small smile. “If Yasu got into any kind of trouble, it’s bullshit. I’d want to take a look at the contract, see where it says you can’t have an appropriate rehearsal. If it’s in there, we might want to consider having a visit about a revision.”
That earned me the smile I’d been trying to get out of Itsuki since we’d walked into the bar. It still came across as forced since it didn’t quite meet his eyes like all of his other ones did, but I would take whatever small victory I could get.
Nothing else was said between us as we both sat there continuing to sip at our drinks. When the waitress came around to ask about another round, I was a little worried about how quickly Itsuki jumped on it. It wasn’t like he was only drinking to be social anymore. He was drinking to dull the pain of potentially hurting his best friend.
I’d have to have a word with Yasu about how his short answers bothered his friend like that.
The second the third round of beers was set on the table, there was an instant shift in Itsuki’s mood. It was enough to startleme, making me look around the bar. The shift in mood made a lot more sense when I spotted Yasu standing in the entrance. As frustrated as I’d been with him previously, at least he’d had enough sense to show up.
He made his way over to our table, sitting with us. The smile that had been growing on Itsuki’s face brightened even more. Every muscle in my body tightened because I’d wanted to earn that response from the guitarist. Maybe one day I’d get there, but I also needed to understand that the reason Itsuki was upset was because he’d thought he’d fucked something up for Yasu.
“You came,” he said, leaning on his best friend’s shoulder.
Yasu chuckled and kissed the top of Itsuki’s head. Their easy affection had me clenching my teeth. It made me wish they still allowed smoking inside. All I wanted to do was reach for my pack of cigarettes, light one up to ease some of the tension that had been brought on by watching the two of them.
Yasu waved down the waitress, ordered a beer for himself, completely ignoring the way she studied the way Itsuki was leaning on him. Maybe it was because the two had always been physically affectionate that it didn’t seem to bother them all that much when people watched.
“Reiko ripped Toshi a new one, then got on my ass about not being here with you all,” he said just as the waitress came back, setting the glass in front of him. He lifted it to take a drink, smiling as he set it down, threading his fingers through Itsuki’s.
What would happen if I slid around the table and did the same? Itsuki probably wouldn’t even fight me on it. He’d hold my hand without issue, proudly proclaiming that he belonged to two men. If there was one thing I loved the most about the guy, it was how absolutely fucking fearless he was.
But Yasu? What would he do?
A warning bell went off in the back of my mind.
I shouldn’t play with fire and tempt the fates. Not in a place that was so public, where anyone could easily recognize us. If the way we’d run our rehearsal today had been any indication, the label was keeping a close eye on things. They didn’t want us to fuck anything up.
I couldn’t afford to fuck anything up.
As much as it seemed like it would be fun to mess with Yasu some more, it was a risk I wasn’t willing to take so publicly.
We sat around drinking a little longer. By the time everything was said and done, both Itsuki and I had five beers to Yasu’s two. I was feeling nice and toasty. With the way Itsuki was swaying as we walked out of the bar, he wasn’t feeling much of anything at all.
Itsuki had an arm flung over both Yasu's and my shoulders as we made our way down the street. I hadn’t a clue where we were going, but it certainly wasn’t my place. I had only been to Yasu’s home once before, and this wasn’t the correct direction for that. That left either Itsuki’s place or a hotel.
The idea of spending the night with both of these men again sent my stomach flipping in somersaults.
