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25
Weston
Getting away for even a day was exactly what Nora had needed. Exactly what I’d needed, too. I’d been obsessing about the band. While out on White Sands, I hadn’t thought about it at all. No, it was hard to think of anything but Nora when I was alone with her.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Fuck. What was I even doing?
I was at my piano again two days later when a knock sounded on the door. Nora had a wedding today. She wouldn’t be free until late. Whitt was at work…on a Saturday, and Harley was apparently busy. I suspected she was dating someone, and that was why I hadn’t seen much of her. I had no idea who would be at my door.
When I opened it, Campbell Abbey was standing in the doorway.
“Hey, man! I didn’t know you were back from LA.”
“I just got back in. You busy?” Campbell asked.
“Nah, messing around with a new song on the piano.”
Campbell’s eyes brightened. “A new song? Can I hear?”
Oh shit. Yeah, hadn’t thought about that one. “If you want. It’s not done.”
“You’ve seen my half-formed shit. Time for you to do the same.”
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. Campbell was always like that. So self-effacing. As if it weren’t strange that we’d become such close friends so fast. I wanted to say he was like this with everyone, but we’d just clicked. Which was why Nora had thought I should just fucking talk to him about the band stuff. Maybe I should finally do that.
“Yeah, sure. Come in. I’ll play it for you.”
“I got a better idea. Let’s lay it down at the studio.”
“Here?” I asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Our best material came out of those sessions.”
He wasn’t wrong, but we hadn’t been working on my songs. I’d been matching his material. I didn’t know why it felt like a huge difference, but it did.
But it was Campbell. How could I say no?
“Cool.”
I’d talk to him about the band while recording. He was always in his best mood when we were there. It was long overdue anyway.
I slid my wallet into my back pocket, grabbed my phone, and headed out to Campbell’s Range Rover. He turned on Foo Fighters as we drove toward downtown.
“How was LA?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Same old, same old.”
“Yeah.”
“Good to be back in Lubbock. Probably the last time for a while.”
“Why is that?”
“Album release, press tour, tour,” he said, ticking them off on his fingers.
I shot a glance at him, wondering if he was going to say anything else, but he just hummed along to the lyrics. As if none of that bothered him.
“How does Blaire feel about that?”
He grinned. “She’s coming with me.”
My stomach knotted. How easy it was to have someone who could pick up and go with you anywhere in the world.
“She’s going to leave Lubbock?”
“Not forever. She’d miss it too much. So would I actually. Just long-distance is hard. Nearly impossible really, and we can both fly back and forth whenever we want. It’ll be nice to have her with me.”
I bet it would. I clenched my hand into a fist and looked out the window as Lubbock passed me by. Lubbock wasn’t even my home. I’d grown up in Seattle. I was much more used to a perpetual drizzle than the dry, dusty climate. But home didn’t have to be a place. It was people, and my people were here.
We pulled into the parking lot of LBK Studios. Campbell reached into the trunk and pulled out his Fender. I held the door for him and stepped inside. We’d worked here on the first and last song we recorded for the new album. It was cozy compared to the behemoth of the studios in LA. Made me feel like coming home.
“I’ll take the back booth,” I told him. “I like that piano the best.”
“Sounds good.”
But when I headed toward the back booth, voices made my feet slow. Campbell grinned at me and kept walking.
“Are you expecting anyone else?” I asked.
