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"Me three," Jett said.
The upside to playing in a stadium was that it was huge. The downside was that usually we had to get changed in the locker rooms, and they always smelled like sports people and sweat. Honestly, after sweating out there on the stage for ninety minutes we probably didn't smell much better anyway.
I showered quickly and got dressed in clean jeans and a T-shirt, both of which smelled unusually floral. Mel said something about helping with the band's laundry. That would explain it. She always did like to smell flowery, even when she was a kid. She'd play in the mud with the rest of us, but then somehow end up less messy than us.
Shoes in my hand, I left the other guys to finish getting changed and went in search of beer. I found it, and food, in the room next to the locker rooms. Jude was already there, halfway through his first beer.
"Bro, this is what it's all about," he said.
"Beer?" I asked. I cracked open a bottle and drank a gulp. "I see your point."
He grinned. "Not just beer. Not even just burgers." He nodded over to a plate with a pile of them on the table near the beer. We had pretty simple taste when it came down to it. No bowls only containing brown M&Ms, or with just the brown ones left out. No cheese covered in edible gold, although that did sound pretty good. Was that even a thing? It should be if it wasn’t.
"The whole experience," he continued. "Selling out stadiums and then chilling afterwards. Isn't this what life is all about?"
I snagged a burger in my spare hand and sat down beside him. "Definitely. I started playing guitar just so I could eat burgers and drink beer." That was actually reasonably accurate. At least the beer part was. Priorities.
I hooked my foot around another chair and dragged it over in front of me so I could prop my feet up on it. "This is the life."
"How’s your love life?" he asked just after I took a bite of burger.
I glared at him while I chewed slowly. If he was going to do stuff like that, then I wasn't going to hurry to give him an answer.
He looked amused while I swallowed and washed the bite down with a gulp.
"What love life? " I said finally.
"You and Hayley," he said patiently. "Are you going to take a leaf from Mel and I and wait half a decade to be together? It's worth it in the long run, but I'm still not sure I'd recommend it. It means a lot of lonely nights in between."
I doubted he had too many lonely nights, but that wasn't something I wanted to think too hard about. I didn't care what he did behind closed doors, but Mel was my sister and Jude was one bended knee away from being my brother. Out of loyalty to her, I didn't want to know what he got up to in those years. I knew more than enough as it was.
"Maybe we are." I shrugged. "What's the hurry?"
"No hurry," he said. "You two seem kind awkward around each other. Did something happen? Something else," he added with a sly smile.
I might have flipped him off but I had my hands full. "We talked, that's all. She told me some things about herself. It's complicated."
"Love is always complicated." He finished his beer and got up for another one and a burger. "Would it be worth it if it was too easy?" He sat back down. "What did she say?"
"She has some stuff to work through," I said vaguely. "Things she's worried to drag me into. She wanted to be upfront so if it was too much, I could walk away before things got too intense."
I appreciated her honesty and understood her concerns. She didn't want me to think I had to stay with her because she would fall apart if I left. I didn't want to think about her falling apart if we didn't work out, but what if we did? What if we were meant to be and we didn't even try?
And then there was the thought that she might be reluctant to fully commit to a relationship if she thought it might end. I might get my heartbroken. I was the kind of guy who was either all in or not at all. I wanted her to be all in too. If she didn't think she could be, maybe I wasn't the guy for her.
"Don't tell me, she's secretly a serial killer," he said.
"Yes," I said jokingly. "And you're next."
He grinned. "She wouldn't get past Mel. The girl and her heels are a weapon."
I laughed. "That sounds accurate to me. Plus she might have a big brother who taught her how to punch.." Neither of us were violent, but life happen and it was good to be prepared.
"That explains a lot," he said.
"Really? Like what?" I took another bite of burger.
"Why she's such a badass," he said. "I thought it was genetic but maybe she learned it from you."
