Chapter 41
Tai
“Who else is ready for home sweet home?” Theo asks, pouring himself a drink.
There’s a chorus of agreement as we board the jet, eager to return to our normal lives. The endless travel is visibly wearing on all of us. Dark circles have taken up permanent residence under our eyes, and yawns have become the new normal.
“Hey, you can’t just pour yourself a drink and not offer one to everyone,” Eric argues. Theo rolls his eyes, but performs a quick head count before pulling out eight more cups.
Jenn greets us, looking far too chipper as she checks on everyone before takeoff. “Sorry, Jenny baby,” Theo says as he shows her the bottle. “Unless you want me to fly, I probably shouldn’t mix you a drink.”
She grins and shakes her head. “Tempting as it is, I think I’ll have to pass today.”
“Suit yourself,” he says with a shrug, then pours glasses for Dante to distribute. “I’d sure make things a lot more interesting around here if I were the one flying.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” Dmitri mutters.
Connor accepts his drink with a nod of thanks. “Interesting isn’t the word I would use to describe a fiery crash in the middle of the ocean.”
Theo glances up and sticks his tongue out. “No one asked you, Jugs. Go stick your dick in your boyfriend to get rid of that pessimistic attitude.”
I draw my lips between my teeth to keep from reacting, but poor, sweet, innocent Connor doesn’t realize the Pandora’s box he’s opening as he says, “That’s his job, not mine.”
“Oh, no, sweetie,” I murmur as I grab his arm and tug him protectively into my side.
Theo slams the bottle onto the counter. “Ex-fucking-scuse me? Excusez-motherfucking-moi? Did you just… are you saying… did…” He sounds like a balloon deflating as his breath leaves him, and his mouth hangs open as he stares. Connor flinches, his face darkening into a ripe shade of red.
“You broke it,” Eric says, elbowing me as Theo sputters and stammers. “You actually broke it.”
Theo shakes himself out of it and takes a step closer, drinks forgotten. “Are you telling me that this hunk of a man bottoms?!”
I hike my brow, running my fingers through Connor’s hair. “That’s really none of your business.”
“I should’ve guessed after I saw Daddy Dom Tai come out to play,” Eric says with a thoughtful finger tapping against his chin.
Connor curls into my shoulder with a long exhale. “You know my brain is always a few steps behind my mouth,” he groans.
Theo continues undeterred. “I just… I mean, look at the muscle on that ass!”
“Or don’t,” I snap, tugging on Connor to guide him to a seat.
“He could squash a watermelon between those cheeks and you put your dick in there!?”
“Theo!” I shout.
Eric’s face has flushed as red as Connor’s as he tries—very unsuccessfully—not to laugh.
“I’m just saying, man!” Theo argues. “Are you not terrified of him flexing at the wrong moment and ending up with a pancake dick? A flapjack?” He claps his hands together and makes a squishing noise with his mouth.
Eric’s weak composure slips and he starts laughing. Even Dmitri loses his fight with the grin stretching across his face.
“I cannot,” I mutter.
“Do you need a drink after this conversation?” Bruce asks Aaron, who grunts his affirmation. “Because I do. More than one.”
“Are you done?” I demand, snatching two drinks off the counter before returning to Connor.
Theo flops into his seat, looking overwhelmed as though he wasn’t the cause of the chaos. “Almost. I just have one more question.”
“Fantastic.”
“How do you even make it past all that muscle? That’s gotta be a solid eight inches of gluteus maximus.”
Connor glances up at me, still flushed, then looks Theo square in the eyes. “He’s got a huge dick.”
The sip of whiskey I just took tries to come out of my nose as everyone on the plane erupts. Eric howls, Dmitri finally loses it, Dante scowls, and Monica mutters something to herself. Bruce and Aaron are cracking up in their seats.
Theo and Connor continue to stare at each other.
“You asked,” Connor says with a calm shrug.
Theo is straight-faced and somber, shaking his head. “My entire world is in shambles right now.”
Jenn’s cheeks are red, and she’s trying her hardest not to laugh. “Not to interrupt this very important conversation, but it’s time to hit the runway. Everyone in their seats and buckle in.” We all rush to obey, the occasional rogue giggle slipping loose.
Connor grimaces as I buckle in beside him. “Why do I never learn to keep my mouth shut?”
I glance at where Theo stares at the ground, looking like his world’s been shattered. “It’s rare someone makes him speechless. I’m honestly kind of impressed.”
We settle in as the plane takes off. I take the last sip of my drink, the ice rattling in the glass as I shake it. Connor places his hand over mine and stills my restless fidgeting.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“What happens when we get back? The show in Charlotte isn’t for another two days. I didn’t know if you needed to go home, or if you wanted to stay… y’know… at my place.”
“You want me to stay with you?”
“Only if you want to,” I say, glancing down at my lap. “If you need some time to regroup, that’s okay, too.”
“My house has been empty for a while,” he says. “Beth has been checking on things, but I need to make sure everything’s in order.”
I force lightness into my tone. “Yeah, of course.”
Thick fingers wrap around my chin and drag my face to his. “If you would let me finish,” he says gently, “I was going to say that if you’re up for it, we can stay at your place tonight and tomorrow, you can come with me to check on my house?”
“That sounds great.”
He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “You can clean me out a drawer and everything.”
“A drawer, huh?”
“Mmm,” he hums in agreement. “And we can determine the best spot for a piano at my place.”
I laugh and lean against his shoulder. “You don’t have to buy me a piano.”
“I do if I’m looking for a way to trick you into spending more time with me.”
A quiet huff leaves me as I stare out the window at the passing clouds. “No tricking necessary, chippoke. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me at this point.”
“Good,” he says as he presses a kiss to my hair. “Because you’re stuck with me, too.”
Emotion clogs my throat at the realization that after all of our time together, we’re finally going to be home. It’ll no longer be a vacation romance or a wild, overseas fantasy.
It’ll be real.
Mundane and boring, and fucking perfect.
Another matter weighs on my mind as I stare across the plane to where the rest of the band sits. The decision lands, finally making sense. I sit up and press a kiss on his lips. “Be right back.”
I head to the front cluster of seats and drop into the one across from Eric. “That proposition you had? I’m ready to talk about it.”
Stage lights scorch like we’re Icarus flying too close to the sun, except these lights aren’t dangerous. They won’t burn our wings.
They’re old friends, ready to welcome us home.
The roar of the crowd feels like a reunion, as if we’re walking into a room full of family and friends we haven’t seen in ages.
We can pick up right where we left off and never miss a beat.
It’s comfort, and familiarity, and the quiet assurance that after our long time on the road, we’re finally home.
Nothing has changed, but everything is different.
Connor’s arms wrap around me from behind, the hideous print of his Bigfoot shirt coming into sight. “Nervous?” he asks as soft lips press kisses along my neck, up my jaw, then behind my ear.
The last one always tickles, and I shudder and wiggle away. “Who, me? I’m too cool for nerves.”
He chuckles softly in my ear. “We both know you’re not as cool as you pretend to be.”
“Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
The rough scruff of his stubble grazes my jaw as he smiles. “You know it was.”
We were wrong to assume that things would slow down once that plane landed.
After a long conversation with Eric, I decided to perform one of my songs at tonight’s show.
It sent Dante into a frenzy, and led to unexpected hours at the studio.
I feel guilty about tying up everyone’s time when we’re all so ready for some rest. No matter how many times I tried to back out, though, Eric was insistent that we were all right where we were supposed to be.
He told me to stop self-sacrificing, and eventually, I listened.
Eric bounces on his feet, hyping himself up for the show as we get ready to go on stage. Connor slings his arm around me, letting me soak in some of his steady confidence as my nerves try to get the best of me.
“You gonna be okay back here?” I ask as the guys start to cluster together.
“On duty and ready to work.”
I chuckle, knocking him with my shoulder. “You’re off the clock right now, you know. You can just enjoy the show.”
“Ah, but you forget an important detail. As your boyfriend, I’m also your permanent bodyguard.”
My lips quirk. “Is that so? I must’ve missed that feature in the boyfriend package.”
“Non-negotiable, I’m afraid.”
Eric waves at me from across the stage, and I nod in return. Nerves swim in my belly as I glance up at Connor’s serene smile. He kisses me again, deeper this time.
“You’re going to blow them away,” he says softly. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“I love you,” I whisper back as the stage lights flare to life and the crowd goes wild.
“Go show them who you are, sweetheart.”
One last kiss, and my heart is a wild, caged thing as I join the others.
We step onto the stage—on the very ground that started this whole adventure.
The screams and cheers of the crowd are a sonic boom of excitement that almost knocks us back in its intensity.
Adrenaline carves a path through our veins as the bass drum thumps, Dmitri counting us in with that beat we know by heart.
I close my eyes, picturing the first show we played all those years ago. Ratty second-hand instruments in dive bars where we had to pay just to get a slot on stage. Stale beer gluing our shoes to the floor, and drunken audiences that weren’t even sober enough to listen.
Our lives were full of late-night hours and endless hard work, trying to make ends meet while we chased this shared vision of turning our music into more.
Showing up at our day jobs too tired to function, but functioning anyway because we had no other choice.
Garage practices, and neighbors screaming at us to be quiet, then unplugged guitars in dim lighting, struggling to see and hear what we were doing while we tried not to disturb anyone.
Trying to be more when we had nothing but each other.
It was insecurity, and criticism. One failure after another, piling up until the weight felt unbearable.
Burnout and heartbreak, and those quiet moments when we had to amp each other up just to keep going because everything felt like too much.
Brotherhood and teamwork, tears and laughter, and pushing ourselves until we thought we might break under the pressure.
But most of all, it was love.
Love for the music, and love for each other.
Who could’ve ever known just how far we would come?
There’s a certain reverence in the music tonight, and I think we all feel it. We’re connected by a sense of wholeness that comes from knowing we’ve made it through so much, and we’re here, together until the very end.
Nerves fray in my stomach as Eric steps to the mic and announces we have a surprise. I take my cue and leave my keyboard, moving to sit at the concert piano as the curtain is pulled back to reveal its presence.
The crowd falls quiet, the screaming fading away, as the spotlight settles on me. My eyes find Connor standing on the side stage, just beyond the view of the audience. He smiles, and the rest of the world disappears as I focus on the curve of his lips and the familiar dip of his dimples.
The heat from the spotlights suddenly feels like sunshine on the Carolina coast, and it’s just me and him again, on that small karaoke stage after a drunken dare. The night we fell in love, even if neither of us realized it at the time.
There’s happiness and soul-soothing rightness, and a thousand life-changing coincidences that led to this very moment.
It’s the promise of forever, and the quiet defeat of loneliness.
My fingers splay over the keys, finding their places as I close my eyes and breathe it all in.
And then, I play.