Page 96 of Tumbling Hearts

His heart clenches at that.

But Ray is there, too. That warms his spirits.

He can’t wait to sing more songs with him.

Chapter 30

The next morning, Ray arrives at the studio again with the rest of the Dusty Brooms—including Nicky this time. He can’t say he’s surprised that Nicky would get in trouble with the police. He’s pretty involved with the seedy underbelly of drugs, so Ray supposed it was only a matter of time he’d end up getting caught.

But it also makes Ray worried about Gene. So far things have been good, and maybe Nicky getting arrested will be a wake-up call. Though Ray isn’t a saint either, smoking weed every now and then himself, so he’s one to talk. But Gene is closer to Nicky than he is. Hopefully things will get better from now on, but it’s not like he can predict the future. All he can do is go with the flow and ride the waves.

Last night, it was strange going back to the hotel without Carol. Granted, he’s used to her being gone every now and then for her gigs, but now she’s really, truly, actually gone. He couldn’t use that opportunity to sneak into Gene’s room, though. Toshiko stayed with him during the night, and will likely still be spending quite a lot of time with him for the foreseeable future. She is his official girlfriend, after all.

As Ray finds a seat on one of the couches in the main room of the studio next to Santiago, Dennis walks up to them both, holding a magazine in his hands.

“Found something in here I figured you all want to see,” Dennis says, handing the magazine to Ray.

“Oh, really? What’s this about?” Ray says, looking at the cover. The main photo isn’t anything special—just a picture of Rod Stewart—but the smaller text has him do a double-take.

‘Dusty Brooms Sweep Up: Pulling No Punches.’

“Punches?” Ray says. “Hey, Gene? Come here.”

Gene steps away from Toshiko for a moment to come over to the couch, sitting on the armrest to look over the magazine with Ray and Santi. He puts his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “What’s this?”

“We’ll find out together. Here, let me find the page,” Ray says, opening the magazine and flipping through it.

He stops when he sees the photo—and he gasps.

“No way, that’s the guy you punched!” Santi exclaims, taking Ray’s words right out of his mouth.

In black-and-white is the face of one of the Kilotones: Jack Fisher, which is apparently his name. The photographer credit is a name Ray doesn’t recognize, not Maurice. Jack’s nose is dark, blood dripping from it; this photo must’ve been taken after Ray and Gene had left. But what’s most striking is his expression—one of defeat, looking off to the side.

“Oh my god, that is him,” Gene says, the weight of his hand on Ray’s shoulder so warm.

“I guess it makes sense that this incident would make it to one of these rags. There were a lot of people at the party,” Ray says.

“What does it say though?” Gene asks, worry in his tone. “What does it say about us?”

“Here, let me read it.” Ray says the text aloud, “‘Halloween was indeed a frightful night, but not like you’d expect. The Kilotones’ Jack Fisher got the hell scared out of him when the Dusty Brooms’ very own Gene Hillard came at him with his fists.’”

“Oh, really?” Gene says, sounding annoyed.

“Well, hang on. What’s the rest say… ‘But Gene didn’t act out of nowhere. It was all for a good cause! Jack was threatening Ray Roderick, frontman of the Dusty Brooms, and Gene came in to save the day. Before Jack could throw the first punch, Gene was as quick as lightning, shutting any arguments down with his fists. Talk about a good friend, coming to the rescue!’”

“A good friend, huh?” Santi teases with a smile.

“Shut up, Santi,” Ray laughs. “‘Will Jack learn to cool it next time things get heated, or will he run into trouble again? Either way, the Dusty Brooms made it known they’re a force to be reckoned with. They bring the edge, and that’s what we love about rock-’n’-roll.’ And… that’s it.”

“Huh, that doesn’t sound that bad,” Gene says with a nod. “In fact, I kinda like it.”

“See? I told you guys it’d be alright,” Dennis says, holding his hand out.

Ray places the magazine back into Dennis’s hand. “Yeah. Thank god.”

Because the last thing Ray needs is for the media to catch on to anything romantic between him and Gene. It’s not fair—why does the world have to be as bigoted as it is? He just wanted to have fun during that party, letting loose and cuddling up with Gene. Is that too much to ask, for such a simple thing?

He’s thankful that the article didn’t say anything about him sitting in Gene’s lap, the slur Jack called him, none of that. But just because he lucked out this time, can he keep lucking out? Maybe, but for how long? Should he bother risking anything with Gene at all unless they’re truly, completely alone with each other?