Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Nash
T he first set was over, and I’d found it hard to focus on the music. The brown-eyed beauty, who’d inadvertently stepped into my life in the parking lot, pulled way too much of my attention her direction. I felt sorry for the guy she hid from. I was willing to bet that even after only three months, she wasn’t the kind of person you could easily walk away from. Before the end of the second set, she’d left her spot near the stage. Sitting close to the speakers got old fast. If she’d moved farther into the barroom, I couldn’t see her from the stage. I was plenty disappointed but even so, I was going to stay in the back for break.
“You going out to the barroom?” Bosco asked.
“Don’t think I’m in the mood tonight,” I said. I pulled a bag of chips and water bottle out of the cooler we’d brought along. “I need a break.” Stepping into the barroom during breaktime meant spending the whole time signing autographs and smiling for photos. It wasn’t a break at all.
“Suit yourself. I saw a few cuties in the crowd, and I plan to scoop up some phone numbers.” He walked out. Ronnie had gone out to the van for some peace and quiet, and Seth stepped out to call Brianna.
I pulled my phone out of Bosco’s guitar case, where we stored them between sets. There was a message from Becky to call her. She sounded frantic on the voicemail, which put a knot in my stomach. I called and she picked up on the first ring.
“There you are,” she said.
“I was on stage, Beck. What’s wrong?”
“I’m sitting in the ER. Mom slipped getting out of her chair. She was in a lot of pain, so I had to call an ambulance. They’re doing X-rays now.”
I closed my eyes and absorbed yet more bad news. An ambulance ride was going to add to the medical debt we’d been accumulating since Mom’s accident. “Jeez, Beck, poor Mom. Do you think she broke something?”
“Not a doctor, remember? Just an underpaid caretaker.” Her voice wobbled. “Sorry, it just shook me up, that’s all.”
“Should I come home?”
“And do what? You’ve got a good paying job right now, and your band gigs will help pay some of these bills. There just isn’t anything for you out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Listen, I’ve got to get back on stage in five minutes. I need to gulp some water and eat something. Leave a message if you hear anything, otherwise I’ll call you on the next break.”
“All right, Nash. Knock ‘em dead, eh? Still being followed by your bevy of groupies? Of course you are. Some things never change. I’ll call if I hear anything.”
“Thanks. And Beck, just say the word, and I’ll fly home.”
“Let’s hope that’s not necessary. Someone’s got to make money. Bye. Love ya.”
“Love ya.”
Ronnie came inside and grabbed a bottle of water. I guzzled mine in a few seconds and opened a second one. “It’s hot out there,” I said.
“I’ll say, and I’m sitting at the back of the stage, away from the lights. Someone needs to invent stage lights that cool the air,” she suggested.
“I’ll get right on that,” Seth said as he came from the front of the bar. He was holding a beer.
“Where’s Bosco?” I asked. “We go back on in five.”
“Last I saw, he was flirting with a hot doll, probably trying to get her number. She was a looker with copper hair. Shiny like a new penny.”
I sat up and choked on a gulp of water. Ronnie reached over and smacked my back. “Just learn how to drink from a bottle?” she quipped.
I ignored her comment. I was too interested in Bosco’s copper-haired friend. “Was she wearing a short denim skirt and cowboy boots?”
Seth rubbed his chin. “Come to think of it, yeah. Great pair of legs.”
Ronnie rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s it then, she’s obviously relationship material. She’s got great legs.”
Bosco returned right then with a sour look on his face.
Seth laughed. “I guess we don’t need to ask if he got her number.”
Bosco grumbled something under his breath as he grabbed a water. “She claimed that she just broke up with someone, and she wasn’t ready to make any friends.”
Seth laughed again. “Uh, did you explain that you were interested in skipping the friend stage?”
I kicked the bottom of Seth’s shoe. Hearing the two of them talk about her that way made me mad.
“Ouch, why are you so grumpy?”
I shook my head. “Not grumpy. Trying to rest before we go back on stage.”
Bosco tossed several bar napkins at me, and they fluttered down to my feet. “Unsolicited phone numbers handed to me on my way back. One of those belongs to the friend of the woman I was talking to. I think her name is Emily. She’s cute. Not sure if she’s your type though.” Bosco was still angry about not getting the phone number he wanted. He tilted his head at me. “Exactly what is your type? You haven’t dated anyone steadily since high school and even then, it wasn’t for longer than a few months.”
Ronnie patted my shoulder. “Nash is holding out for the right person.”
“That’s not it,” Seth said. We all looked at him. Seth was always big on trying to analyze us.
Seth shrugged and stood up. “Why stick with one flower when you can have an entire bouquet?”
We laughed. Ronnie the hardest. “That was a Seth classic,” she said between laughs. “I’m going to collect a whole book of them and publish it once we’re rich and famous. It’ll be titled Stuff Seth Says .”
“Real original.” Seth rolled his eyes. “Think it’s time to get back on stage. Our adoring fans are waiting.”
“You mean Nash’s adoring fans,” Bosco said angrily. He wasn’t going to let go of his failed attempt easily. I, for one, was glad his usual strategy didn’t work on his latest target.
“Hey, Bos, did you get her name?” I asked as we headed to the stage.
“Told you, it was Emily. She wrote it on the napkin.”
“No, not her. The woman with the cowboy boots. Did you get her name?”
Bosco stopped and looked at me, and I wished I hadn’t asked. “Ah, I see, you spotted her, too. She was right up by the stage for most of the first set, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Great, so I guess that’s game over for me,” he said angrily. I really regretted asking. It wasn’t as if I was going to see her again, and frankly, Bosco and I just didn’t need any other sources of contention between us. We were slowly losing that fluid connection that years of friendship had created.
“Yeah, she told me,” Bosco growled. “Find out for yourself,” he said as he pushed past me. He made sure we clashed shoulders hard.
People started clapping and cheering as Seth and Ronnie walked on stage. I took a deep breath. As far as breaks went, this last one wasn’t the least bit relaxing.