“I think you more than went to college with him,” I hiss. “I think you didn’t agree to come on tour with me until I mentioned him. I think when you said you ‘ran sound for acts even bigger than me,’ you were talking abouthim.”
Patty flicks a quick look around—no one’s close enough to hear us—and then he pops up, takes my elbow, and pulls me off stage. Wordlessly, he guides me through the corridors and all the way back to my dressing room. The door closes with a click, and Patty crosses his arms.
I mirror his stance, adrenaline crackling in my veins. “You knew him, didn’t you?”
He pauses. “Knew is a strong word.”
That pause. I almost pounce on it, but something in his expression stops me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His gaze narrows. “Are you angry or fangirling?”
“Neither! Maybe both. I don’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Patty looks the most flustered I’ve ever seen him as he runs his hands over his beard. “Because it wasn’t relevant.”
“Of course it was! You said you ran sound for big names, but you didn’t say you went to college with those big names.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He’s back to his short, curt responses, and I’m back to wanting to shake him like a can of soda. “Patrick O’Shannan.”
Patty stands with his back to the door, arms folded. “What do you want me to say? Yeah, I toured with Duncan and Nash. You want to hear how Nash loved the audience? How Duncan shut them out? Or do you want to know what they both studied?—”
“Both?” I interrupt. His eyes tighten. “Duncan went to NECM too?”
“That’s where we met,” he says, tight-lipped.
“You’re not telling me everything.”
He huffs and drops his head. “It’s not a time in my life I’m proud of. I made a lot of mistakes, as I’ve already told you.”
“Why didn’t you go back on tour with Nash? After you recovered from your accident?”
His smile is one of disgust. “Because I’m an idiot who trusted the wrong guy.”
“You mean when they split, you chose Duncan over Nash? He broke up the band. It makes no sense.”
Patty looks away, his jaw clenched. “I guess I made a mistake.”
“No,” I say, “there’s gotta be a reason, even if it’s misplaced loyalty.”
“I’m honored you think I’d pick anyone over myself.”
I roll my eyes, because his self-loathing is getting old. “Enough with the ‘I’m such a bad guy’ routine. You’ve sacrificed for your family plenty, even if it took a minute for you to catch up to Sean. You don’t have to be perfect to be a good guy.”
“No, but you have to begood.”
I ignore this. I’m not in the mood to convince Patty that he isn’t the flaming train wreck he’s convinced he is.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He chuckles to himself. “A lot, Queenie. My regrets are too many to count.”
I pause, studying the tension in his jaw. “Did you burn a bridge by choosing Duncan over Nash?”
“Oh, yes,” he says.
“Are you hoping to make up with him? Is that why you came on tour with me?”
