Lucas laughed and shoved his friend away. “Do you know that my mom used to constantly complain that your drums were always in our suite?”
A hearty laugh flew from Mason’s mouth. It was long and happy and contagious. It made everyone at the table smile. He held his belly and wiped the corner of one eye. “My parents used to always say how happy they were that your parents had to put up with the noise and not them!” He let out another hardy laugh, and soon the four of them were laughing as hard as he was.
Sindy thought about this trio who were born stars, destined to form a band together, and imagined them as toddlers, and some of the photos that Tessa had displayed around her room. How she wished she would have known them back then. “What about Tessa? When did she start playing music with you two?”
“She always babbled along while we played.” Mason gave Tessa another one of his dazzling smiles. “You drove me nuts! I was trying to play and you’d always come in and interrupt us with this really loud babbling.”
“I thought you said I was cute?” Tessa pursed her lips and placed her hand on her hip.
“You were. And you still are.” Mason continued with his story, returning his eyes to Sindy. “By the time she was three or four, she could sing an entire song from start to finish. She remembered all the words. And I’m not just talking about those Disney movie songs that made me want to stuff cotton balls in my ears. We were playingNothing Else Mattersone time, and all of a sudden I hear this high-pitched little girl’s voice singing the lyrics and in walks Tessa with her plastic microphone. At first, I thought she was using an amp, but it was her voice projecting the lyrics. She missed a few words, made up a few words, but she sang the entire song. On key. In time. Loud. We were shocked. Then she learned the bass from Damien Diamond, Immortal Angel’s bass player.”
“I know exactly who Damien Diamond is,” Sindy quickly stated. There was no need for Mason to clarify who he was. Damien Diamond was a punk rock god known around the world.
“I learned from the best,” Tessa boasted. “When I learned to play bass, that’s when our band really came together. We have a big catalog of music. There’s so much to choose from. We got tracks, Sindy. We’re gonna pump out a single and then an album. We have photo shoots lined up. Interviews. A promotional tour. Then the national tour next year.”
So much was already planned, as if they were just waiting for her to join the band. It all felt so fated. They seemed to know the business intimately, while she was still learning and didn’t really know what to expect. Every time they talked about the future of the band, she learned something new was in store. “What’s the difference between a promotional tour and the tour next year?”
“A promotional tour is to get ourselves known,” Mason explained. “That means we’re going to be on a lot of radio stations and late night TV shows—”
“TV shows?” Sindy sat up straight, her heart surging. “We’re going to be on TV?”
“Yeah.” Mason nodded. “We’re known locally, but we need the world to see us.”
No wonder she needed a wardrobe, and now she was nervous about using up her advance faster than expected. “I need to get a wardrobe!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tessa reassured her. “You have some really cool clothes. You just need to have enough to bring on tour without wearing the same thing twice. My mom is already sketching designs for us. We’re gonna have awesome new outfits. Except these guys.” She motioned to Lucas and Mason with her beer bottle. “We need wardrobe, they need jeans and T-shirts. It’s so unfair. We need to wear a certain wardrobe to look like rock stars. They don’t need to dress the part.”
Lucas tugged on his T-shirt. “This is the part. Jeans. T-shirt. Boots. That’s a rock star.”
Tessa put her hand on her forehead and leaned into Sindy. “I need another beer. Do you see what I have to put up with? I’m so glad I have another female in the mix. I need an ally in the room.”
“Another round of beers coming right up!” Mason slipped out of the booth and headed to the bar. He didn’t get more than a few steps before he was surrounded by a group of people.
“He gets this everywhere we go,” Tessa said with annoyance.
Sindy noted that Tessa kept her eyes on Mason. Watchful, making sure no one was getting out of line. Tessa was fiercely protective of the people she cared about. After draining her beer, Tessa returned her gaze to Mason. “I better go rescue him before we never get our drinks.”
With Tessa and Mason gone, Sindy was alone in the booth with Lucas. She stared at him, and he stared back at her, the corners of his mouth curling just enough to taunt her.
Ironically, she didn’t know what to say to him, so she returned the same coy smile. Their gaze started out friendly enough, but after a few seconds it shifted. The playful twinkle in his eyes turned into a lusty hue. His lids closed halfway and his irises turned a deeper shade of blue. The dim light from above the booth accentuated the angles of his cheekbones and cast a golden glow around his flaxen hair, which fell in soft waves around his shoulders. Goosebumps rose on her flesh, and she sucked in a deep breath. She forced herself to look away before she leaned across the table and kissed him. The pool table across the room caught her attention and provided a much needed distraction. “How about a game of pool?”
A soft chuckle left his throat. “Are you challenging me?”
“Of course I am. That’s what we do, isn’t it? Challenge one another.”
“I guess you could say it’s our thing.” He finished his beer and slipped out of the booth. “Lead the way.”
“How chivalrous.” She took his extended hand as she stood, and a tingle ran up her arm as their skin touched. Heat flushed her cheeks and her pulse raced. She glanced at him for a tiny second before lowering her eyes, and she withdrew her hand.
On their way to the pool table several people, mostly pretty girls, recognized Lucas and said hello to him or tried to steal his attention. He acknowledged them with a smile and a nod or a wave, but didn’t stop for side conversations, which Sindy appreciated. She expected his head to swell and his ego to lap up the notoriety, so the genuine humility surprised her.
She racked up the balls, spending too much time to make sure they were sufficiently shuffled inside the plastic triangle.
“It isn’t a mathematical equation,” Lucas commented.
“And this from a mathematician,” Sindy shot back. “Fine. Would you like to break?”
“Ladies first.”
