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Now I just have to make sure that she shows up tomorrow night. If she doesn’t, this is all for nothing. There’s no point in singing the song I wrote for her if she’s not here to hear it. To absorb it. To feel it.
I can’t control where she goes or what she does, though. I don’t want to. What I can control is that the show goes off without a hitch, and a big part of that is making sure everything gets set up.
“Yo, what time is everyone coming over tomorrow to help set up?” I ask as soon as Max answers the phone.
“I don’t know yet. Why?”
“Just want to make sure the stage is done by the time the party starts. It’s going to be a bitch to get together.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Colt. I have a few guys from home who run their own construction company coming down to put it together. I told them they were welcome to stay for the party since they’re not charging us.”
“Works for me.”
“And Finn and Brady are planning on lending a hand as well.” Max pauses, like he has more to say. Finally, he lets out a sigh and continues. “What’s really on your mind, brother? Because I can hear the desperation.”
Can he? I thought I was doing a better job of masking the uncertainty flooding my veins.
“Just nervous. We have a few new songs, that’s all.”
“I’ve never heard you nervous about playing before. Not once in all the time I’ve known you. What makes tomorrow night any different?”
“Intimate crowd. I don’t know.”
Lies. All lies. And he’s buying them, giving me the pep talk he likes to give when mentoring the new pledges about finding your confidence. Holding your head high and pushing through the uncertainty.
Usually, I’d laugh at him, but his speech is kind of hitting home right now. Calming my nerves.
If he only knew there was more at stake than our reputation.
“It’s not going to fit,”Brady says for the third time in five minutes.
Finn glares over his shoulder at Brady, his grip on the hammer tightening, as Max’s buddies from home—Noah, Oliver, and Beau— ignore Brady’s comment.
“It’s going to fit,” Max states before I can comment. Which is probably good because I was going to tell Brady to shut the fuck up or get the hell out.
I’m on edge this morning. Everyone can tell.
How do I know?
Beau was the one to point it out within five minutes of meeting me. If someone who doesn’t even know me can see that I’m practically vibrating, I guarantee my friends can. They’re just smart enough to let it go since I’m rarely ever this way.
Scoffing at Max, Brady walks back over to where the stage is half erected. Oliver shoves a board at him and starts barking orders.
“Thanks for getting a few professionals to lend a hand. I owe you.”
I have a feeling there wouldn’t be a stage if they weren’t here right now. Finn and Brady are handy, but I’ll be honest, even I’m having a hard time seeing the finished product fitting in the tight space. People are going to be crammed in here shoulder to shoulder.
“I’ll hold you to that, but really you owe them. They’re good guys. Graduated a few years ahead of us and they were happy to help. Especially when I told them they’d get a free concert out of it.”
“Don’t they have anywhere better to be tonight?” I know the last place I’d want to be on New Year’s Eve is a frat house with a bunch of drunk college kids if I were in their shoes.
“Noah is heading back to Oak Harbor to celebrate the new year with his girl, but the other two are hanging out. I told them they were welcome here if they needed a place to crash.”
“You’re giving up your amazing presidential suite tonight? I figured you’d need a place to lay your head.”
Max glares at me. We both know his room here could use some upgrades. Though, he only stays here when he’s drunk, so it really doesn’t matter. If I were him, I’d at least get a bigger bed for that room. And maybe paint the walls.
“I double checked with a few of the brothers who aren’t coming back, and they said they could use their rooms as long as they were alone. Not that either of them plan to hook up tonight. I think college girls are a little young for them.”
