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“On to the next one,” Pressley announced as we loaded into the waiting SUV. “Then tomorrow a meet and greet at the music store.”

Long gone were the days of popping in so Bowie could grab new strings. Masterson provided all that for us, though I wouldn’t mind checking out their vinyl selection. One of the first things I bought myself with my first paycheck was a sweet turntable. Since then, my record collection has grown immensely. I’m really digging those special edition vinyls lately. Ones where they’re a see-through color though my favorite is the one that looks like liquid bloods inside it.

Probably should’ve bought some stage gear first though. Most of my jeans reached that point when the line between shredded and indecent was becoming blurred.

Guess I should start a things to buy list since we’d be hitting the road soon. The last thing I needed was a wardrobe malfunction in front of thousands of people. Soon I’ll probably have to consider getting a place of my own, then Bowie and Pressley will have more privacy. Not that I was there much, but still.

The thought of living alone sucked. Granted, I lived in my apartment solo, but Bowie and I were in the same building, so we were pretty much together all the time. Plus, then I’d have to get furniture and all the kitchen crap again. Ugh, not high on my to-do list for sure. But it wasn’t fair to Bowie and Pressley to have a third wheel around when they’re still in the honeymoon phase.

Being a grown-up sucks major ass. Long gone are the years of relying on Bowie and his family and moving back home was not an option for a million reasons. Yeah, that’s a hard limit for me combined with the need to keep Wolf out of jail.

As soon as we walked inside Pressley’s house I grabbed a beer and headed out to the fire pit. It had become a prime thinking spot for Bowie and me. We’d written many a song chilling beside it. The calming presence I found in the crackling of the fire, late nights hanging outside just shooting the shit. Sometimes we didn’t talk, just enjoyed the comfortable silence.

“Wanna tell me what’s up?” Bowie said as he sat beside me. “Something happen with Wolf?”

“Nah.” Though I’m probably in trouble given I haven’t checked my phone all day. “It’s all good.”

“The fuck it is. You didn’t say shit all the way home and now we get here and you immediately head outside. You’re a people person, Tony, I’m the recluse. So I’ll ask you again, what gives?”

“Fuck, man, just…” How much do I say? Bowie and I never kept shit from each other. “Just feeling like a third wheel.”

“What? That’s crazy. You and me,” he gestured between us. “We’re brothers, no third wheel, Tony. Wherever I am, you always belong there too.”

“I get it and I feel the same way but neither of us have ever had a real relationship before. You and Pressley deserve your alone time. I guess what I’m saying is it’s time for me to find a place of my own.”

There, I said it and now I felt worse than I did before.

“Wow,” Bowie sat back and took a long pull from his beer. The once peaceful silence we enjoyed was now eating me alive.

“Say something. Anything.”

“Something,” Bowie flashed that wicked smile of his. “I hate the idea of us being apart. We’re finally living the life we always wanted.”

I chuckled. “You mean the life I had to trick you into wanting.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bowie sighed. “We’ve come a long way since Oregon.”

“About five or six hundred miles,” I teased. “But yeah, we have and now it’s time to lie in our big boy beds. When we get back from Rocktoberfest, I’ll look for a place of my own.”

“I know just the place.” Bowie and I jumped, Wolf’s voice scared the shit out of us. “Tony, we need to talk.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, oh shit. Forget to check your phone today?” Wolf was pissed.

“I’ll um, I’ll just leave you guys to talk.” Bowie bowed out, the chicken shit. If I thought talking to him was bad, the look in Wolf’s eyes said this would be far worse.

The second the door shut, Wolf dove in. “You weren’t on stage or I’d have been right there with you. You didn’t have the day off, or we’d likely have been together. So, I’m not worth taking two seconds to text and check in and let me know you’re alive?”

Of course, I was still alive or he would’ve heard that something happened to me. Jaw firmly set, eyes ablaze. Yeah, that was a comment best kept to myself. “I’m sorry.”

“If we were alone right now, you’d be across my knee counting to twenty.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me, almost painfully. “Don’t you ever scare your Daddy like that again. Understand?”

“Daddy?”

“We’ll discuss that later. Get your things, I’m taking you home.” Bowie and Pressley were nowhere to be found when we stepped back inside. Likely laying low in their room, waiting out the storm. I packed a bag with what I’d need tonight, but I guess that was wrong. “That’s not all your stuff.”

“It’s all the Harley can hold.”