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“You had a killer sense of rhythm. Have you ever considered joining a band? Like a real band?” My band, but he didn’t say it. Mainly because he didn’t think he could actually force the words past the rock in his throat.
“Me? Dude, are you crazy? I spend my days up to my elbows in grease and shit. I’m not meant for some pussy band. No offense,” he added quickly.
“Pussy is one of the main benefits,” Michael said, keeping his face sober until Mal drove his fist into Michael’s arm. Hard.
Damn, that asshole never pulled a punch. Ever.
“You might need that dick prop in front of you to get girls, but some of us do just fine on our own. Anyway, I gotta go. Just wanted to tell you about the wedding. Hoped I’d convince you to go with me.” That mercurial half smile flitted over his mouth. “Be my date or some shit.”
“I haven’t gone to the last two, so why would I go to this one?” Besides, their mother hadn’t invited Michael, unless maybe his invite had gotten lost in the mail.
Small favor, that one.
“She insists it’s the last time. Came to me crying last night, drunk off her ass, begging me to get you to come. Says all she wants in this world is for her boys to be with her as a family. Biff wants that too.” Mal rolled his eyes. “I called her driver and sent her home with a travel mug of coffee.”
“But you promised.”
He shrugged. “It made her stop crying.”
“Softie.”
Another shrug. “It’s hard to say no to a crying woman. You gotta have some experience with that.”
“Nah, they usually make me want to cry lately.” Michael shook his head and shoved Tabitha to the back of his mind. “Or more accurately, get drunk.”
“Drunk for sure.”
Wheels spinning, Michael cocked his head and gave his brother an easy smile. “How about we make a deal? One where we both get what we want, and everyone goes home happy?”
Mal crossed his arms in front of his barrel chest. “I didn’t realize you wanted for anything. Big fancy rockstar, making good and making his own money now.”
The faint tinge of pride in his big brother’s voice could’ve bolstered him for months. Maybe years. “I’m getting there. We still haven’t figured everything out yet. The band lineup is still in flux.”
“You will.” Mal’s utter certainty just increased his certainty that it was no coincidence Mal had shown up when he did. Michael wasn’t one to believe in woo woo crap, but he also knew when the universe had dumped the perfect opportunity in his lap.
Whether or not Lila would agree was another question, but they’d get there when they got there. He needed to get Mal on board first.
If that meant offering a temp role until he got his brother to agree to more, then he would do just that. Whatever it took.
“We have to. We’re on the way up, but we won’t make it if we don’t have the right people in place.”
“Which people aren’t right? That singer of yours is smoking hot.”
“Molly? Yeah. She knows it too, but man, she fills the seats.”
“You’ve got a couple hot ones. Gorgeous brunette and another blond, but I haven’t paid much attention to her. She doesn’t have the same stage presence as the other two, though she certainly goes toe to toe with you.”
“Elle, yeah.” Formally Richelle Crandall, or Ricki as she’d once been known. She’d joined the band and started using the name Elle to try to distance herself from her troubled past. Some of them called her Ricki, some called her Elle, but no one could deny her talent. Especially Michael. “She makes me work for it every night.”
“And Ryan and West. I remember you introducing me to those guys back at Christmas one year. Ry, always with the plans. And West had his hair colored Kool-Aid blue.”
“It’s blond most of the time now. Not at the moment though. Usually it just looks like he hacked at it with pinking shears.”
“Sounds about right. So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is Ry’s stuck on drums when he’s always been more comfortable being a jack-of-all-trades. He knows a bunch of different instruments and loves changing up the arrangements of songs. Getting stuck behind the kit is like hell to him.”
Mal snorted. “Some hell, being part of a band with an incredible sound.”
