Chapter 23
twenty-three
Tristyn
You’re here.”
“Are we ever going to get to a point where you’re not surprised by me being here?” I lean against the front desk and rest my head on my hands. “You did get me the job, you know?”
“Yes.” Jeremy chuckles. “I did do that. I guess I just didn’t expect you to start so soon.”
“What can I say, they were desperate.”
“A little.”
“Well,” I stand back up, “I should get back to work, can’t be slacking on the job on my first day.”
“Yeah, and I can only make the kids run drills so many times before someone tells Max I’m making excuses to come up and talk to our new front desk receptionist.”
I turn around and pretend to dig into a filing cabinet as my cheeks heat up.
I barely know this guy, and the last time I barely knew a guy, I got to know him too well, and now I’m stuck with him until our son is eighteen.
“Right,” Jeremy continues when I don’t say anything. “I’ll let you get back to it.”
“Thanks.” I pull out a random folder and set it on the desk in front of me. Jeremy wheels barely a foot away before he turns around and is back at the desk.
“You said Henry is a fan of Gracie Dunn, right?”
“Yeah, and Colson Young. He was devastated that we didn’t get tickets in time.”
“What if you did?”
“Did what?”
“Have tickets.”
I pop an eyebrow as he pulls something out of his front pocket.
“My friend Tate, I think I mentioned her, is one of the openers. Some of us are going, but we decided to just hang in the wings of the stage—”
“Just?” I chuckle.
“Well, what I’m getting at is that three of the tickets aren’t going to get used, not to their full extent anyway, and I thought maybe you’d want to take your little brother.
You seem close, and I feel like he would be thrilled to go.
I know it’s tonight, so it’s super last-minute, and there aren’t enough tickets for your whole family, so hopefully there’s no one who will feel—”
“I can’t accept those.”
“Yes, you can. If you don’t, there will just be three empty seats, and Gracie will be devastated.” I bite my lip to prevent the smile fighting its way onto my face. “You can even bring your boyfriend, you know, so all the tickets get used.”
“Boyfriend?”
“The guy from the festival.”
“Vince?”
“Vince.”
Although his face doesn’t show it, I can tell by the way he says Vince that he’s not too thrilled by him.
“Vince isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Oh. Sorry to assume.”
“Don’t be.”
“He’s still welcome to come. If you want him to, if he can, um, obviously, if you accept the tickets, the guests are up to you.” Jeremy drops the tickets onto the counter. “Well, I guess not completely, one of them needs to be—”
“Henry.”
“Exactly.” He taps the tickets on the counter and then wheels away, raising one of his hands in the air briefly to say goodbye, “Hope to see you there.”
Holy shit.” Vince looks around as we walk into the venue. “If you don’t sleep with this guy, I will.”
“Vince.” I punch him in the arm. “Henry is right there.”
I motion to Henry, who is walking barely a foot in front of us, taking in the venue.
We’ve never been to anything like this. I’ve never been able to afford it. Last summer, we went to some free concerts downtown, but nothing to this extent.
“Tris, the man gave you front row tickets to a concert, and you’re not even dating. Hell, I bet he doesn’t even expect anything from you for accepting these tickets.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the last guy you dated would expect the fucking world if he did something like this.” He throws an arm around my shoulder. “This dude just did it because, hell, I have no idea.”
“How do you know he doesn’t expect something in return?”
“Did he say anything about getting together after the show when he gave you the tickets?”
“No.”
“That’s how. I might be into guys, but I’m also still a guy. I know how the brain works.”
“Mom!” Henry runs back to me and grabs my arm. “Can I get a shirt?”
He points to the long merch line, but when I look down and see the smile on his face, I know there’s no saying no.
“Let’s go, baby.” I mess up his hair before he pulls me toward the merch line.
By the time we get Henry’s shirt and find our seats, the show starts.
I can’t believe we’re sitting this close. We’re about four rows back and pretty much dead center.
A girl not much older than me and Vince enters the stage, a guitar hanging over her body. As she finds the microphone, a handful of people fill the empty seats next to us.
A group of people I recognize. They have no idea who I am, but I know them.
“Hey.” One of the girls sits next to me, and it takes me a second to realize, but—
“Maia, right?”
“Yeah.” She turns to the blondes behind her, then turns back to me with the biggest smile. “Tristyn, right?”
“Right.”
“Jeremy told us all about you.”
Vince coughs, and if I were sitting right next to him, I’d smack him in the stomach.
“Glad you made it.” She gives my arms a gentle squeeze before turning her attention to the stage.
The music starts and drowns out all of the chaos happening around us.
And by the time the song ends, I’m completely blown away. I can’t imagine doing what she’s doing right now. I also couldn’t imagine one of my friends doing what she’s doing.
“Thank you so much, Chicago.” She smiles, fixing her earpiece and taking in the moment.
“I’m Tatum Lewis, and I’m so thrilled to be here with all of you tonight.
For those of you who don’t know me, this is home.
And out of all the places I’ve played, I know nothing will compare to being here and playing in front of my favorite people in my favorite city. ”
Maia, the girls next to her, and a couple of guys next to them scream so loud you’d think there were a hundred of them.
Tatum smiles before blowing a kiss in their direction.
“This next song is a special one for me. A few months ago, I posted myself singing this song on my social media and got the biggest blessing of my life. This tour. I hope you like it.”
Tatum strums her guitar for a few beats before the band joins in. One of the guys, a few seats down, is on his feet with his phone out, recording her performance.
Definitely the boyfriend.
“So not only is Jeremy super cool, but apparently all of his friends are too?” Vince leans over Henry and whispers in my ear.
I just shrug.
“I guess your type really has improved.” He mockingly wiggles his eyebrows.
“Fuck you.” I mouth, flipping him off.