Bryce played the opening chords, which sounded like a complaint from someone lost in themselves. The drums came up softly, insistently and joined the piano. This was a good song for an angry piano and persistent understated drums.
Austin started singing from his place on the couch, and the words just flowed between the beat and the piano. I followed, then found myself leading the song, then following again.
The other woman in the room—Christy-Anne—started adding a harmony that was not part of the original, and clearly shocked the guys . I looked over at her and smirked. She shrugged and we made it all the way through the song, to the tiny littlest touch of brush on snare.
“Did anyone fucking record that?” Hailey snapped, looking at Christy-Anne.
Taylor laughed. “Whole room is wired, and I record anything that gets played, hit or sung in here.”
Hailey let out a sigh of relief. “Praise Jeebus. Send that to Marcus and tell him to work his magic on it.”
It hit me hard what she had just said. “Wait…what?”
“Acoustic re-take on their most popular song right now?” Hailey raised an eyebrow. “I’ll get you a contract tomorrow so you’re in on it.”
“Just like that?”
Taylor slapped my shoulder. “Just like that.”
Maddox sat forward. “Holland, give this man a riff so he can show us what else he can do.”
Lyle stood and grabbed his Les Paul from the corner, flipping on the switches. He grinned at me like the shark inFinding Nemo.
I whimpered, “Fish are friends, not food.”
Luis and Ora burst out laughing, and Ora pointed at Maddox. “I like him already.”
Lyle’s fingers danced over the fretboard. “What do you know by Robot Servant, Aaron?”
“Er…” I coughed. “Everything.”
“Hmm.” He cocked his head. “To challenge or not to challenge, that is the question.”
The whimper escaped me again.
“Give him a medium one for now,” Ora said. “He did just make us laugh.”
“Exact,” Lyle said.
“At your count,” I answered, just to keep the smile off my face. That song was an easy one for me.
He must have guessed. His count wasfast. I dropped the stick on the tom and pounded the pedal in sync and took it up. Just as fast as he had, and I blasted through the opening drum sequence, listening for Lyle Holland of Robot Servant to hop in.
As soon as his guitar came in as hard and as fast as I was playing, the sounds washed over me. I held the count, trilling the skins, offering a deep tom beat, and kicking the bottom drum as the song demanded. I got under his guitar and carried him along, the sound blending again as effortlessly as they had in the first song.
Somewhere along the line, I realized that Maddox and Ora had moved over and started singing the song. The fills were fast and simple for me, and I caught the gallop in the second half without a problem. The kick drum gave one last hit as the sound cut off at the end of the song.
“Giddy,” Maddox called.
Holland and I started at the same time, the guitar and the drum melody fighting for dominance.
Maddox’s voice, the delicious, lascivious tenor that always got under my skin, slipped out of the guitar and into the air.
“It’s time, it’s time
Like bang of midnight
Ride into the dark
