10. Felicity #2
“You were incredible,” Nina said, staring at Tyler like she still couldn’t believe he was in her orbit. “And I loved the new song. You mentioned Astarot the dragon!”
He smiled broadly at her. “It wasn’t the easiest word to rhyme, but ‘caught’ did the trick.”
“Do we all agree that Tyler needs to do more solo gigs from now on?” Cameron asked, looking around the table at us. “He’s always good, but he’s great when he’s on his own.”
“Hold on, hold on,” a voice rang out from nearby. “Are you trying to steal jobs from Ty’s bandmates?”
A skinny, scruffy-looking guy with tired eyes in a tank top pulled a chair up to our table and sat down.
“What?” Tyler exclaimed, staring at him with wide eyes. “Jerry Jones is in the house! C’mere, brother.”
He jumped up and pulled him into a back-slapping hug. I glanced over at Cameron to find him frowning at the stranger. I didn’t blame him—there was something about the guy that came off as a little sinister.
“Jerry is a legendary guitarist,” Tyler explained as they sat down. “We played together during my West Coast tour a million years ago.”
“Yeah, been way too long,” Jerry nodded at Tyler. “And speaking of those good times, I know of someone who’s very interested in hanging with you again. Mr. Brown is in town tonight.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Is he here?”
“Sure is. C’mon, let’s go have a chat with him.”
Tyler’s eyes landed on Nina for a beat, and it seemed like he was wrestling with the decision to go see his other friend. I didn’t blame him, since the two of them were hitting it off.
“Hey, uh, Imma go say howdy to an old buddy, but I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” he pointed finger guns at us as he backed away.
“Do you know who he’s talking about?” Nina asked Cameron as she watched Tyler disappear into the crowd.
He shrugged. “Tyler’s world is huge; he knows everyone. Probably some old blues guitarist.”
Cameron was a little distracted, like he was still grappling with the conversation with his brother. Sure, his default attitude was usually pretty grumpy, but even being with Tyler wasn’t helping to lighten him up.
“You okay?” I asked softly.
His mouth went tight. “Yeah. My brother just…” he shook his head. “He doesn’t get it. He’s so blinded by love, and he has no idea that it’s going to bite him in the ass.”
“Maybe it won’t?” I offered. I briefly considered doing some cheerleading for Megan but opted to keep my mouth shut. Cameron and I seemed to be on an even keel, and I didn’t want to risk pissing him off. I didn’t think anyone was photographing us at the moment, but I couldn’t be sure.
Tyler and Jerry strolled back to the table, laughing with each other. I wondered if the shot he took combined with the whiskey he threw back were hitting him, because he wobbled as he sat down with us.
“Hey!” Nina said brightly. “How was your friend?”
Tyler tilted his head back and gave her a slow smile. “Really good. Really, really good.”
Jerry burst into laughter and covered his mouth with his hand. “You’ve missed our friend Mr. Brown, huh?”
“Guess I did, bro,” Tyler laughed along with him.
I could’ve sworn I saw Cameron flinch at him calling Jerry “bro.”
“We used to have so much fun together,” Jerry said. “Oh, man, do you remember that time you, me, and Roxanne went into that liquor store and had to steal that bottle of tequila because we all forgot our money? And the dude caught us?”
Tyler was now hunched over the table, propping his head on his hand. He opened his mouth in a silent laugh. “Yeah, and the only reason he didn’t call the police was because he recognized me. One autograph and a backstage pass later and we were golden.”
“Hey,” Jerry wagged a finger at him. “You can’t take all the credit. Roxanne showed him her tits.”
“Right,” Tyler said. His smile drooped a bit. “She was always game for anything.”
“Roxanne was a solid chick,” Jerry said. “Fucking hot too, if you don’t mind me sayin’, bro.”
Nina squirmed in her seat and started glancing around the bar, like she would rather be anywhere but at the table.
Tyler swished his hand through the air and knocked an empty glass off the table. “Whoops.”
A waitress scurried over to clean it up, and Tyler grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. “Hey, can you bring me another drink? I’m the talent.” He gestured to the stage.
Tyler was definitely drunk—or worse. Nina sat hunched in her chair with her purse clenched in her lap, like she was debating taking off. I decided to be her lifeline, because what had started off as a decent night was now super awkward.
“Guys, we’re going to go. Nina told me she has an early start tomorrow.”
She gave me a grateful smile. Tyler didn’t even notice. He and Jerry were huddled close, reminiscing.
“That’s fine. Let me walk you out,” Cameron said as he stood up.
The bar was suddenly too noisy and crowded, and I was happy we were leaving. The vibes had been off all night.
“I’ll order a car,” Nina said, hurrying ahead of me with her phone already in her hand.
She burst out the door and I followed, trailed by Cameron. It felt like he was ready to take off with us. We ducked away from the crowd of smokers just outside the entrance.
“Weird night. Thanks for coming, I guess?” Cameron said.
“It was interesting,” I offered, because we both knew it wasn’t exactly fun given the brother drama and the Tyler weirdness at the end.
Cameron had his arms clenched across his chest, and his face looked tight, like the night’s ups and downs had been too much for him.
I moved a few steps closer, giving his arm a quick squeeze. “Hey, you okay?”
He let out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a lot right now. I feel like I’m babysitting both of them in different ways, you know? Normally, I’d take you two home, but I don’t want to leave Ty here with that asshole. I don’t trust him.”
“I get it. I don’t either.”
“The way he’s acting tonight?” Cameron said darkly. “That’s the old Tyler. He got like this for a stretch after his second album tanked. He went to a pretty dark place. But lately…I mean, he still has bad days, but I thought we were done with this stuff. It hurts to see him backsliding.”
Cameron’s expression was so beaten down that I didn’t even stop to think before circling my arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. His body tensed for an instant, then gave in, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head.
“Thanks,” he said softly. “I didn’t know how much I needed that.”
I was glad to hear he was getting something out of it, because I was enjoying the hell out of it, and I’d hate to think it was one-sided.
We held onto each other for a few seconds, and I relished the sensation of being close to him.
I hadn’t been hugged by a man in way too long.
Even if we were only tolerating one another, it sure felt nice in the moment.
“Car’s here,” Nina yelled to us.
We pulled apart reluctantly.
“Take care, okay? Of Tyler, and yourself,” I said to him.
He gave me a quick nod in return. “Thanks. I will.”
I felt like I needed to lighten the mood. “See you tomorrow…sweetheart.”
He chuckled. “Right, honey.”
We lingered a few seconds longer, the air between us sparking to life, until the driver honked. I ran off, wondering how someone who had seemed so truly awful could shift into someone pretty okay in the blink of an eye.