Page 120 of Burning Bridges Duet

Tom’s drums provide a steady beat, while Brian’s guitar riffs and Cara’s bass line weave together perfectly with me stringing my guitar. Cara’s harmonies in the background add an extra layer of richness to the sound of my voice. I look over at Liv, who’s listening to us with rapt attention. It’s clear she’s impressed as she smiles at me, her gaze filled with awe, and I can’t help but feel a surge of pride. This is what I’m meant to do—playing music with these guys, creating something together. I close my eyes and let the music take me away.

When the song comes to an end, Liv breaks into applause.

“Wow, you guys are amazing!” she exclaims. “You’re right, Cara—this is your kind of music. Damn, I don’t get why you guys aren’t famous already.”

“Believe me, we’re trying,” I reply, smiling at her. “It’s tough to make it in the music industry, but we’re not giving up.”

“We just need more exposure,” Brian says with a nod. “That’s where you come in.”

“I’ll do my best to make you guys look and sound as amazing as you are,” Liv says, smiling. “I have a feeling you’re going to be big one day.”

We start playing again, and Liv moves around, adjusting the camera angles and getting different shots of us. We play the song a few times, and all the while, she’s constantly tweaking the setup to get the perfect shots. It’s clear she’s a pro, and I’m grateful to have her doing this for us. After we finish the final take, she grins at us.

“That was great!” she exclaims. “You guys sounded amazing.”

“Looks like you’re dating a talented filmmaker now, Davies,” Cara says, giving me a nudge.

“Looks like I am,” I say, grinning at Liv. “Thanks for doing this. It means a lot to us.”

“No problem,” she replies with a shrug. “I had a great time. I’ll get started on editing the footage and upload it to YouTube as soon as possible.”

Liv starts packing up her equipment while the rest of us talk. When she’s finished, I tell everyone I’m going to walk her out. They all say their thanks and goodbyes to her. I put her backpack over my shoulder, then lead her back to her car. We get the stuff into her trunk, and I push her against the car with my body.

“Thank you,” I say, my hands moving to gather her hair behind her head. “You have no idea how much it means to us, to me, that you did all this…and that you believe in me.”

“I’d be dumb not to,” she says, smiling up at me. “There’s no way not to notice your talent. Brian is right—you guys just need a little more exposure, and I’m happy to help out with what I can. Getting views on videos was part of my living, after all.”

Liv gets on her tiptoes to kiss me, and this time, I give in fully. We kiss deeply before she breaks away panting, a blush on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry I can’t bring you home, baby, but I promised them I’d get in some practice,” I say, and she squeezes my hand.

“I’m going to go home and work on your video,” she says. “That’s going to take a few hours, so I’ll be busy anyway.”

I open the driver’s door for her, and she gets in, then I lean down and kiss her one last time.

“I love you, drive safely,” I whisper before closing the door and watching her back out of the driveway, then rush away. When I get back into the basement, the others are already chatting excitedly about the video.

“Why did we never think about doing a YouTube channel? It makes so much sense,” Brian says.

“Because we have no fucking clue about social media or doing videos. Sure, it’s a good strategy, but only if you do it right,” Tom replies.

“Yeah, well, Liv sure looks like she knows what she’s doing,” Cara says, laughing. “Ryder, I swear, if you fuck this up, I’m going to kill you. Keep that girl happy so we can keep our own little camerawoman and marketing genius.”

“I’m planning to do just that,” I say with a grin.

Then we get back to our instruments, rehearsing songs for the next few hours.

FIFTEEN

After spending the rest of the afternoon and evening editing the video for Dirty Velvet, I’m fucking exhausted but relieved that everything worked out so well, and a little bit proud of myself too, if I do say so myself. I already knew they were good but hearing them play a song more in their genre was eye-opening. Having that grungy rock vibe of their basement band room was such a great setting for their video, and I was ecstatic while watching the content I filmed. I knew then that this video would come out fantastic.

Gunner came over in the evening after I didn’t answer his texts or calls since I was in the zone editing. He ordered us some Chinese food and made sure I ate something while he watched me edit. Even he was impressed with the footage and told me that the sound and the visuals could come from a famous band.

He went back to his apartment a little after eleven pm, since he had to work early the next morning, telling me to go to bed too, but I haven’t slept one wink because after the video was uploaded, I moved on to making the band’s social media accounts and a basic website. I’d already done all of this once, since I’d been the one handling mine and Liam’s stuff, and I missed social media. I loved managing it before everything went to hell and I only got hate comments, so it’s fun doing this for them. Since I know how quickly the internet moves, I know I needed to be quick with everything. I’m on it for hours, and it takes until late in the morning, but I used every marketing trick I’ve learned over the years.

Now it’s close to lunchtime, and I’m done. I can’t do any more and need to eat something. My stomach is growling, and my head is pounding from staring at the screen for too long. My phone chimes, and I look at it to find several unread messages from Gunner and the guys. I quickly text Gunner back, letting him know I’m finally done, and then open the group chat.

Ryder