Chapter 38
Easton
Hopes Rudy is so old school that nothing here works with Bluetooth.
I scroll through the download folder, and adrenaline rushes through my body as I find the tracks.
My hands are shaking. This is really happening.
We recorded our songs in the studio, and now we can listen to them.
I want to press play, but I can’t. Rayne isn’t here. And she should be.
“East, what are you waiting for?” Colin asks impatiently.
“Rayne.” I look at my friends. “We can’t do this without her. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be standing here right now, about to listen to our songs.”
Jax groans. “Are you serious? I mean, I get what you’re saying, but come on, East. We’re dying for this!”
“I know, but . . .” I stop, unable to press play, even though I know that’s what Rayne would want. She knows how important this is to us, and how long and hard we’ve worked for this moment. But I want to be here when she hears our songs for the first time, especially “Dance with You ’Til Midnight.”
“Then call her and tell her to come over,” Beck suggests.
“I can’t.” I glance at the clock hanging above the cash register. “She’s still in class.”
“We could listen to the songs now, and when Rayne comes later we could just pretend we haven’t heard them yet,” Colin suggests.
“Because we’re all such amazingly good liars, right?” I say. “I can’t do that. I can’t lie to her and I don’t want to. And I know she wouldn’t mind if we listened without her. If I called her now, she’d probably ask me what I’m waiting for, but . . .”
“Yeah, then what are you waiting for?” Beck asks.
I grimace. I can’t make up my mind. I want to hear our songs now. But I also want the first time I hear them to be with Rayne. Especially our song.
I take a deep breath. “Okay, I think I have a plan.” An excited tingling spreads through me. We recorded four songs, one of which belongs to both her and me. The one we wrote together that night on the beach.
“Does your plan include us?” Beck gives me a knowing grin; he probably figured out what I was up to even before I thought of it myself.
“Not this time.” I shake my head and press play.
This is truly our moment. It’s for Colin, Jax, Beck, and me. Four guys who played together for the first time years ago in a music room at school. Four guys who have fought and made up over the past few years, who live for music and have never stopped dreaming. One of our dreams has come true.
“Meet Me at 3 AM” starts with Jax’s drums and Beck’s guitar.
Then Colin joins in, and finally me. My voice is rough and deep.
It sounds different coming out of the speakers, a little strange.
I get goose bumps as I listen; it’s totally crazy.
We’re all silent. No one says a word, no one moves.
We just listen and can’t believe it’s us.
We can’t believe we recorded this song, and it turned out so good. But it did. Damn good.
“Fuck,” Beck murmurs reverently as the last note fades away. I think he’s speaking for all of us. “Was that really us?”
“Yes.” A stunned laugh escapes me.