I could have watched him do that for hours.If only I didn’t have to leave again so soon.Sure, I enjoyed living in Vegas. Despite the challenging classes and the hard reality that hit me in the first semester—that I actually had to work if I wanted to make it in the hotel industry—college was a lot of fun. But that was nothing compared to my time with Alex. Thanks to him, I finally had a clear idea of at least some of the things I wanted to do in the future, all of which involved him.
“Oh, man.” Alex’s tension dissolved into a chuckle. With practiced ease, he grabbed a fader on the track and stopped the song. Without explaining what exactly he had heard or changed, he turned to me. “Wanna hear the new version?”
“Of course.” I scooted toward him across the bed, hopped down onto the floor, and sat next to him, brushing my left knee against his as he started the track from the beginning.
The beat filled the room at the same ear-shattering volume, but as he leaned forward to turn it down a bit, I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “This is our last chance to hear it at full volume together for a while,” I reminded him.
We both gave ourselves over to the melody. He closed his eyes and focused on the music. I followed his lead. Our recorded voices danced through the track as if the electronic strings were wind, carrying them higher and higher until they reached outer space.
My feet tapped in time, and when Alex joined in, the floor quaked slightly, almost as if the whole house was enjoying the sound too.
At the peak of the chorus, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth voices we had recorded earlier that morning blended in, turning our duet into a full choir—when suddenly, the floor shook hard.
Alex’s hand darted to my knee and tapped me twice. Just as I opened my eyes, he stopped the song.
Footsteps pounded through the hallway, coming closer.
When the person they belonged to appeared in the doorframe, my heart dropped into my stomach.
It was my dad.
