I threw myself into the music. Music had always been the ultimate escape for me. Today was no different. I could pretend for just a moment in time that my life didn’t suck so much.
Since we didn’t have Cash here to do our new stuff, we opted to play covers, which was fun. I was stretching my voice in ways I wasn’t used to.
Ronny had to adjust a little bit, but once we got him comfortable, he was able to play just as good as he had before the accident.Although, I was sure his fingertips would ache until the callouses regrew. I knew from experience how badly that hurt.
We played until Tate stood and announced he had to leave. Disappointment flooded me as he started packing up. The fact that he was going so that he could be with Cara killed me. I hadn’t seen her for more than a few hours a week since she was born. We’d be changing that as soon as possible now that Ronny knew everything.
Ronny yawned and declared he was hungry. Dallas seconded the hunger motion and went about ordering pizza. I walked Tate to the door, fully conscious that we were being watched.
“I hate this,” he murmured, mirroring my own thoughts on him leaving. “But the murderous looks he keeps giving me help to ease my worries,” he chuckled.
“We’ll figure something out soon.”
“Good. We miss you.”
“We?” I smiled.
“Oh yeah, Cara talks about you all the time. I can’t get her to shut up some days. She actually has been asking what you want to be called.”
I blinked. I hadn’t really thought about that.
“What do you want her to call me?”
“Uh, that’s a discussion I think you should have with her.” His attention wasn’t on me, but rather behind me. I turned and saw Ronny wheeling himself around the kitchen, glaring our way. “I’ll call you tonight. Maybe we could have another date?”
My cheeks flushed, thinking about the fun we’d had over the phone. I nodded and let him go.
Ronny opened his mouth to say something right away but thankfully, Dallas could sense the tension and decided to intervene.
“I hear you guys want me in the band.”
“What? Really?” Ronny eyed me skeptically. While he hadn’t been a part of Coin Confession, the band Dallas and me shared when we were kids, he had heard about what happened when we played together. That, and the tour we had just done. Both times were disastrous. I shook my head vehemently.
“Hell no. When’s the pizza coming? I’m starving.” And just like that the situation was diverted again. We ate and Ronny had to take his pain meds. Thankfully, they also made him sleepy. He wasn’t happy about having to go lay down, but I was so beyond ready to have a break. I knew that telling him about Tate and I wasn’t going to end well, but it still sucked.
Dallas usually left shortly after Ronny fell asleep but today, he asked if I wanted to watch a movie and have a beer with him. It was odd, but I accepted. We tossed the leftover pizza on the coffee table to munch on while we watched a comedy we picked together. It was one we both loved when we were teenagers. It was nice.
“Blue mentioned that he hadn’t seen his niece yet. You need to take her over to Mom and Dad’s, meet the whole family. How old is she now?”
“She’s a month.” I rolled my eyes and turned to face him. “Mom and Dad aren’t even home, for one. But you’re right,” I sighed deeply, a little twinge of guilt passing through me. Blue was often times an afterthought. He was always off doing his own thing. Especially since he quit music to help Dad run Evan’s House. “I’ll get over there soon so he can see her.”
He nodded and we slipped into comfortably silence as we ate, drank, and watched the movie. After a while, he turned to me again.
“I heard you finally told your boyfriend about your husband,” he teased. I leaned over and shoved him playfully.
“Yeah. It was long overdue.” I smirked.
“No shit. Now we can all move on and focus on better things.”
“Like what?”
“Me joining your band, maybe?” He flashed me a large smile. I shook my head.
“Is this why you’ve been being so nice this last month?”
“What do you mean?” He took a sip of his beer, seemingly uninterested in the topic.His eyes went to the TV again.
“You know exactly what I mean. We’ve hated each other for over a decade and then all of a sudden you’re my friend again? Why?”
