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Ry leaned against the railing of the loading dock behind the Libra.A light breeze swished through the trees, stirring warmth from the asphalt.After three sold-out shows, three glorious nights, they’d finally packed up their equipment.
Lon took pictures of them, the bay, the dumpster—everything.“Ugh, these are terrible.”
Ry would bet he’d see a couple of them up on their social media by the end of the night.Brand cleaned his glasses and sipped coffee from a can—how he could sleep afterward was consistently an exercise in mental gymnastics.Alex gazed toward Mt.Hood, absently thumbing a pick he constantly had on him.
A wide, irrepressible grin spread across Ry’s face.Tonight’s show had been so precise.A bubbly lightness spread through his chest.He whooped.With a sharp glance, the rest of the band and a couple techs turned to look at him.
“Three nights in a row, and we only got better.”Ry motioned them all closer.“Paid shows.A full house, with real people, every night.We crushed it.”
Lon leaped to his feet.“I know!When the crowd—right after the tempo thing—and their hands were all wavy.Brand—and Alex, and Ry and like we—all of us, you know, like one together.”Lon turned red.“Can’t even talk!”
Alex clapped him on the back.“Never seen us so on point.This proves we belong here.”
Brand, ever deadpan, smiled as well.He pushed up his glasses and looked thoughtful.“Wefuckingrocked.”
And Ry laughed.Brand cursing was a rare treat.
“Fuck yes, we did!”Lon punched the air.He took more pictures.“I wanna remember this forever.”
“We should go back in,” Brand said.“And meet all our new fans.”
“And then we party!”Lon smacked Brand on the shoulder, running past him.
Ry agreed, and they headed out to the front of the house and mingled and talked, Ry sticking close to Alex.Without thinking, he reached for his hand, their fingers lacing together.His wall of a boyfriend gently parted the crowd, greeting everyone and shaking hands as he guided him to the merch stand.
The crowd had thinned in the twenty minutes it took to reach the table.Ella Garvin had been helping at each performance, mobbed by people desperate for a CD, a sticker, a tee, something.They’d sold out tonight, by the look of it.Ella waved, then continued packing the stands and boxes.
“One of these days, Ella, we’ll get you up on stage.”Alex teased.“You should have heard her singing the other day.”
Ella turned red.“I was cleaning!”
Ry shrugged.“I sing all the time around the house.No shame in that.I think she’d be great.”
“Stop teasing,” Brand said, resting an arm on her shoulder.“She’s obviously better than any of us, so we can’t have her up there.”
“Heya boys,” Mindy said, her drawl catching Ry’s attention.“Y’all were good up there!”
“Thanks,” Ry said, raking his free hand through his hair.
“Mind taking a few shots of us all?”Lon handed her his beloved camera.“I got some selfies, but—.”
“Sure!”She flashed a wide smile and framed them with the open doors, showing the stage in the back.“I can send y’all the pics I took from the show too.”
“We would be grateful,” Brand said.
“Well, why don’t I treat y’all to a celebratory drink?”She grinned, her face happy and beaming.“Three shots for three shows, eh?”
“Great!”Lon said.
Brand wrapped himself around Lon.“I can’t let the poor man go alone, so I’m in.”
“Shall we?”Ry asked Alex.He agreed.
“I’ll finish packing up.Got class in the morning.”Ella hugged them goodbye.
The Libra had purged most of the patrons by that point.The rest of the band followed Mindy a few doors down to the Three Sisters.
