Chapter 4
Four
Johnny
I’d overheard them talking before they knew I was there, and I had suspected Devon had made plans for us when we were off, but so far, he hadn’t brought it up to me.
In all the years I’d been playing in a band I’d never met someone like him.
He was younger than me, but he had shown me how serious he was about the band.
Even when things had been strained between us, he never stopped giving everything he had for the music.
“You’re deep in thought,” Mateo said.
“Just hungry,” I lied. “I hope you ordered enough.”
“There’s wings too,” Jeremy said, and opened that container to prove it.
“Has anyone heard from Easy or Liam?” Devon asked. The guys in Blinding Light had always kept in touch with us even if we weren’t playing with them, and Easy and Liam were usually the ones we heard from.
“Not today. I’m sure they want a day or two to get their shit together before they arrive,” I said.
Typically, Easy would talk to me to coordinate when and where we were playing and if we were warming up for them or playing at a different venue.
Glen stayed out of that part of the band’s business.
Even more so since he’d returned after having time off.
I knew he’d been considering leaving Blinding Light, but I wasn’t sure what that looked like.
Would they replace him or would they dissolve the band. Either seemed possible.
“I’m happy to have one night to relax,” Mateo said around a mouthful of pizza.
I gave him a critical look before taking another bite.
Proving once again we were all tired. It bothered me to hear that, but it was impossible to maintain the schedule we’d set for ourselves continuously.
Burnout was real, and we were all in the middle of it.
“We can go over the playlist for Rocktoberfest later if you want,” Devon offered. That gave me a sense that they did care, but we really needed time away from the band to make the band work.
“Sounds great. I know I’ve been pushing you guys, but after all the shit of the past it’s just been nice to know all of you will show up for every show,” I said.
“It’s all good, right, guys?” Mateo said and Devon and Jeremy nodded. None of us were thrilled with more work but Mateo and Jeremy were both in the same headspace as Devon was and didn’t seem to want to rock the boat.
“I think after we come back from our time off, we need to have a serious meeting and come up with a few boundaries and guidelines about how much we work,” Devon said, and I continued to stare at the pizza, not willing to meet his eyes.
“That might be a good idea,” Jeremy said. “My parents have been asking me for some help around their property, and I haven’t been able to commit because we’ve been going full out. They understand but I’m all they’ve got unless they hire someone.”
“I can help if you need it while we’re off,” Mateo said.
“That would be great. Maybe then we can get enough done so we really can have some time off.” Jeremy grinned at Mateo and—there was something there.
For a split second I wondered if there was more between them than friendship, but I’d only seen them with female fans and even that didn’t happen very often.
“That would be nice,” Mateo said, and glanced off to the side so I couldn’t see his face.
I cleared my throat, bringing us all back to the subject.
“So, we’ll practice tomorrow. Nothing too heavy, just enough to make sure we’re all happy with the songs we’ve chosen to play.
I know we chose them to compliment what Blinding Light is playing but I also know they won’t mind if we want to change them.
” The three of them glanced at me before once again going back to eating. “Sorry, guys. I’m trying.”
“Babe, finish eating and we’ll watch a movie,” Devon said.
Even he was tired of me focusing so much on the band.
Old habits were hard to break, and I didn’t know how to turn off the need to make sure we were the best we could be.
I nodded and forced myself to focus on the story Mateo was telling about trying to fix a door and how he ended up breaking it and needing to replace it all.
“I think maybe you won’t be working unsupervised at my parents’,” Jeremy joked. “And I’m happy most of the work that needs to be done is outside.”
“What’s up, assholes,” Easy said as he walked right into the house followed by Liam and Glen.
“What are you guys doing?” Devon asked and wiped off his hands and mouth before walking over to greet them.
“We’re on our way to the house we’ll be staying at and just wanted to stop by and see what you guys were up to,” Glen said.
“We just got here a few hours ago. Are you hungry?” Mateo said.
“Sure,” Easy said, at the exact same time Liam said no.
“We have food ordered; it’ll be there as soon as we are. So, we’ve said hello, now we need to go,” Liam said.
Easy grabbed a slice and took a big bite before backing toward the door. “Thanks, guys. Glad you all made it here and you’re settled in,” he said before kissing Liam on the cheek.
“Ew, see you tomorrow,” Liam said, wiping off his cheek and grinning at Easy.
“See you tomorrow,” I said and watched as Devon walked them out before locking the door when he came back inside.
“Okay, so I guess we should talk about our playlist,” Jeremy said as soon as Devon sat down.
“We should,” Devon said and squeezed my leg.