“I’m in Grand Rapids.I can be on a bus tonight.”
Danny exhaled audibly.“Thank fuck.I’ll text you the details.We’ll get you set up when you roll in.”
They exchanged a few more words—logistics, nothing heavy—and hung up.
Vic stood there for a long moment, phone still in his hand, staring up at the dark sky.
This is what I need.
He could feel it in his bones.The pull toward something bigger than another club run.Toward a band with heart.Toward people who were trying to build something lasting.
He climbed into the van as the engine fired up, and they headed straight back to the hotel.Forty minutes later, glad he’d been using the band’s kit, he had his bags packed, said his final quick goodbyes to the Silverline guys, and was standing at the Greyhound station with a one-way ticket to Fort Wayne.
As the bus pulled out of the station and onto the highway, Vic leaned his head against the cool window and let out a long, slow breath.
For the first time in a long time, the future didn’t feel like something he had to chase.
It felt like something waiting for him.
He closed his eyes, the low rumble of the bus beneath him, and let himself believe—really believe—that maybe, just maybe, he’d finally found the right ride.
Chapter Ten
Vic
Vic rolled off the bus about noon, dropped his bags at the hotel Danny texted him about, and headed straight to the venue to meet everyone and hopefully catch sound check.Instead, he’d walked into controlled chaos.The band was already onstage running through a few songs, so he’d slipped into the back of the venue, grabbed a Coke at the bar, and just...watched.
He wanted to see how they sounded without anyone knowing he was the new guy yet.
They sounded good.Really good.Benny looked solid behind the mic.He was present and focused, with that rock-star charisma dialed up.The new material had teeth.Vic was already mentally mapping out where he could push the rhythm when the call came.
Then, halfway through the third song, Benny went down.
It wasn’t theatrical.No big drama around the collapse.One second he was belting the chorus, and the next his knees simply buckled.He caught himself on the mic stand, tried to play it off with a crooked grin, then crumpled.
The music staggered to a stop.
