“It’s not that.” Mach crossed his arms. This time, he kept them crossed. “We want to learn from the best. Tanner and I, though… we don’t do the charity thing. We’re not interested in a fairy godmother.”
“Gotcha.” Linx nodded. The logic was sound. “Well, I’m the best. That part’s settled. What do you say I do this for you, then you can do something for me?”
“What does a guy with everything need?” Mach asked. He was serious.
Well, hmm…Linx needed a lot of things. At the moment he couldn’t remember what they were, but he’d come up with something.
“A marker.” He decided. “For future use.”
Mach seemed to mull that over. Then he nodded, slow. “If Tanner’s in. I’m in.”
Linx rubbed his hands together. “Then let’s get Tanner in on this, yeah?”
Mach’s perma-grin was back and affixed to his face. “Absolutely.”
He held his hand out to Linx.
Linx shook the hell out of it.
Linx
The day called for an impromptu jam session at Brek’s while the afternoon regulars and their waitress—Becca—watched. Oh, hell yes, this was living.
Rock ’n roll and Becca in the same room made for a very, very happy Linx.
Even with the garage slammed with work, John encouraged Tanner and Mach to take the afternoon off. They balked. Linx backed John, mostly because he didn’t want to lose out on an afternoon of making music.
Since John was the boss, they didn’t have much choice. He all but kicked them out the door to go make be-au-ti-ful notes with the maestro.
A maestro who ran his fingers over the strings of his favorite guitar, letting the combination of chords seep into his soul. He opened his eyes for a split second and caught Becca’s stare. She glanced away, but the flash of her white teeth and half-chuckle didn’t escape his notice.
He hadn’t felt this feeling consistently in years. The way he felt like smiling all the time. The way gravity felt lighter.
Happy. This was happy.
Happy was pretty fucking nice.
“Right, follow the melody. Let it lead you.” Linx closed his eyes while Mach played the song they’d been working on—the one Linx messed around with earlier that day before he went to the garage. Mach was a master with the keyboard, but he could also rock the hell out of a guitar.
Linx thrived on collaboration when he drafted songs. Mach did not disappoint. They worked and reworked the chords until they were perfection on sheet music.
A touch younger than Mach, Tanner was a drummer, through and through. The love for the beat was it for him. As long as someone tossed him some harmony and a melody that needed a solid rhythm, he couldn’t give a shit about the rest of it.
That dedication to his particular craft would serve him well in the industry.
Linx figured as long as these two stayed on the straight path and didn’t dip their toes into nose candy and Molly, they’d be stars in the rock sky of their own right.
At the moment, these two were a touch green in the rock world, but their passion and talent were obvious in their ability to adapt to anything Linx tossed their way. Brek had been right. With a little guidance and a few connections, they’d be as big as Dimefront. Maybe even bigger if they kept their shit together and didn’t go on hiatus every time someone fucking sneezed.
Becca paused at the foot of the stage, unloading another round of ginger ale served in a glass beer bottle for all three of them.
He was about to initiate them into his club and show off his dirty little secret. Hell, it was only ginger ale, but it was better than all the alternatives the industry came up with.
He caught Becca’s stare and held it as he sang the song he’d been writing for her about brown eyes and thunder, rain clouds and sun. She didn’t know it was for her—he hadn’t mentioned it. They hadn’t had a second alone since she’d come on for her shift.
He hoped she got it, though. Given the way her chest heaved as he continued to sing the song through toward completion, he thought it was pretty clear.
Mach and Tanner apparently got the message not to push pause this time because they didn’t stop to rework a couple of problem bars. Their focus was on the music and on Linx. And since the music was about Becca, his focus was on her.
