A Kind of Truth (6 page)

“You
are
a musician.”

“I want to be the best. I want to make a difference through music. That’s my dream. Nothing else matters.”

I nodded. Yes, I understood all too well. “You’re going to do it. I can tell. Just remember, this is your life, Will. Don’t let anyone put limitations on you. Be happy.”

“I
am
happy,” he whispered.

“Good.” I touched the end of his nose lightly and smiled. I made a small production of pulling my beanie from my pocket and putting it on my head. “By the way, I’m gonna guess you weren’t on the track team back in… where are you from?”

“Indiana. And no, I’m not a runner. I’m not into sports at all.”

“No shit.” I chuckled, then gasped in mock surprise when he punched my arm playfully. “Ow.”

“Hmph.”

“I’m teasing. Sports weren’t my thing, either. I ran track ’cause I was fast and I needed all the credit I could get, but I wasn’t into it. If I wasn’t listening to music or trying to learn how to play guitar, I was parked in front of the television watching
Battlestar Galactica
.”

“You like sci-fi?” His tone indicated he was more interested than his carefully casual glance at his watch suggested.

“Yep! I’m a sci-fi geek. I love anything that takes you to another world. It could be wizards and dragons or starships on secret intergalactic missions. It’s my escape from reality. What’s yours?”

Will snickered beside me as we waited at the crosswalk. “I like sci-fi too. I don’t go for the space stuff so much. I’m more of a
Harry Potter
,
Lord of the Rings
kind of guy.”

“Magical powers, huh?”

“Exactly!” His grin was bright and beautiful. “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a magic wand and just… make things right?”

“Yeah. It would.”

The light turned green. People bustled around us when we didn’t move quickly enough, and an unfamiliar panicky sensation came over me. Once we made it to the other side, this impromptu twist in my morning would be over. I felt a strange compulsion to keep him talking. To make this moment last as long as possible.

“I heard there’s a place in the Village where they show random movies like
Harry Potter
. We should go sometime. I mean, I don’t know many people here and—” I didn’t recognize my voice. I was trying to play it cool and failing miserably. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from piling on any additional lameness.

“I’d like that.” Will smiled and glanced toward the entrance of his building, then back at me. “Thanks for the coffee. I’ll see you next week.”

“Yeah. Hey… come to the show tomorrow night. I’ll text you the info.” God, I couldn’t shut up.
Leave the guy alone already, Rand.

Will stepped away from the revolving door with a confused look on his face. “I’m not sure if I can but—”

“Try.”

He nodded and gave me one last smile before disappearing into his building. I stepped aside to avoid being jostled by harried-looking students. I was nowhere near where I needed to be, and I felt strangely out of sorts. I’d basically walked a boy to class for the first time ever. And I kinda liked it.

KARMA WAS
an extremely hip converted garage turned nightclub. Other than the cement floor, every surface was shiny chrome and steel or black. Single, vintage bulbs hung over the bar at the back of the club, illuminating the space with a retro-meets-contemporary feel. I’d admired the bar’s sleek, modern vibe when we’d come to set up our equipment and run through a sound check earlier. This was a nicer venue than I’d expected. I wouldn’t have been surprised by a difficult-to-find, tiny dive bar in a questionable part of town. Hiring a well-connected agent slash manager may have been the band’s best move yet, I thought as I surveyed the crowd from a corner bar seat.

“Hi. Whatcha drinking? Looks like you need a refill.”

I glanced over at the pretty girl with long, jet-black hair and a sultry smile leaning against the bar. She moved forward and pressed her ample bosom into my upper arm. She was wearing a tight, sleeveless white T-shirt to show off her tits as well as her stunning ink work. My gaze wandered to a red rose with lush green vines encircling her upper bicep.

“Damn. That’s really cool.” I pointed to the thorns as I scooted off the barstool and stepped aside for her to order.

Her heavily lined eyes sparkled with pleasure at the compliment. “Thanks. What can I get you? Is that a gin and tonic?”

“It is, but I’m done for now. We’re going on soon and—”

“Oh my God! You’re with Spiral. You’re the lead singer! I can’t believe I’m meeting you! I’m Leah,” she said, extending her right hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rand.”

“I know. I actually have been following you guys for a year or so. I saw you in DC last year and—”

Her words ran together as she picked up momentum. I nodded a few times and grinned when it became obvious I wasn’t going to get a word in. My healthy ego demanded I bask in her praise for a minute before joining my bandmates.

“Thanks. Hope you dig the show. I better get going.”

“Oh right. Hang on one more sec. Holly!” She turned to pull a petite woman through the crush of people surrounding the bar. “I want you to meet my friend too.”

I saw Tim gesturing for me near the stage. I signaled to him as I swallowed the last of my drink and turned back to say a quick good-bye to Leah. A pretty blonde was standing next to her now with her hand outstretched. I shook it and started to back away when she asked me to tell Cory she’d wait for him here after the show.

I quirked my head sideways, finally cluing in that she was the girl he’d been seeing. Holly. Which meant—

“Hey, you know Will too, right?”

Holly smiled brightly and nodded. “I think you mean William, but yes. He’s a sweetie. We go to school together.”

“Is he with you? Did he come tonight?”

“Here? No way! William isn’t into clubs and bars. He’s quiet. This kind of scene makes him nervous.”

“Oh.” I sighed and pasted a plastic grin on my face. “I invited him but—hmm. I’ll give Cor your message. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Break a leg. And come find me later. I’d really like to buy you that drink,” Leah insisted.

I waved absently, then began navigating through the crowd to reach the stage on the other end. He wasn’t coming. I didn’t really think he would, but having his friend confirm it was… disappointing. God, I was making myself nuts. So I had a crush on my guitar teacher. So what? Will and I came from completely different worlds. A love of music was really all we had in common. If I were smart, I’d shake it off and move on. I wished I could stop thinking about him, but more than that, I wished I hadn’t lied. It was stupid and unnecessary. But not something I could fix now.

I took a deep breath as I approached my bandmates with what I hoped looked like a sincere smile.

“It’s showtime, boys.”

MUSIC TOOK
me to another realm. It always had. And that night, we were on fire. We rocked the tiny club like it was Madison Square Garden. I got lost in the blues. It seemed to take me to another plane where I could lose my frustrations and regain my footing. When you lived in the moment, you could make anything happen. I was never more certain of it than when I stood onstage, singing my heart out. We played some covers but made sure to fit original material in as well. My challenge was to make a happy, buzzed audience become a crazed, passionate crowd who sang along to every word of the songs they knew and swayed to the new songs with a quiet intensity that guaranteed they’d look Spiral up and buy any available tracks they could get their hands on.

I was in enough of a zone that I was able to overlook Terry’s mistakes and miscues. They weren’t glaring to anyone but me. I’d definitely bring it up later, but for tonight I let it all go.

We played for an hour and a half with no breaks and two encores. It was a successful show by anyone’s standard. The four of us rode an epic performance high as we slapped high fives and whooped excitedly backstage afterward.

“That was sick,” Tim yelled, punching his fist in the air.

I laughed as I pulled off my sweaty black T-shirt and reached for a fresh one. The cooler temperature in the small backroom felt invigorating on my damp skin. I had so much energy, I could barely contain myself. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I wanted to move, dance, and yeah… sex sounded like the perfect way to top off an amazing night. A brief vision of Will flashed in my head. I wanted to back him against a wall and tear the buttons off his perfectly pressed shirt. In my manic brain, the image morphed into the man on the train in blue sequins. Suddenly it was Will with a dress pushed over his ass begging me to fuck him as I reached around to jack his thick cock and—

“C’mon, boys, let’s get a drink or ten.” Cory slapped my back as he moved toward the door, yanking me from my erotic daydream.

I shook my head to clear the clashing visions and grinned at my friend. It was tradition for the band to celebrate with a few shots or drinks after a big show. And this one was big. It heralded a beginning of sorts. I didn’t have to wake up early the next morning, so if I felt like going a little wild, I could. We generally stayed for a round at whatever bar or club we played, and caroused with the other patrons. They were usually as pumped as we were, so the energy was palpable. On a night like this one, we’d been known to close the place down. And in a city that never slept, it meant our evening had just begun.

Three shots of tequila and a few margaritas later, I was feeling no pain. I leaned on the bar and set my glass down so I could use my hands to describe some wacky story I was telling. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what I was saying anymore, but Leah didn’t seem to mind. She laughed as she trailed her fingernails up my arm. She’d been glued to my side all night. We’d made out for a while in a dark corner, and now she was giving me a hungry look I knew well. I was horny as hell, and God, it would be so easy to take what she was offering, but instinctively I knew a woman wasn’t going to do it for me tonight. Not when all I could think of was a man.

I pushed away from the bar just as Terry walked up. When he offered to buy her a drink, I wanted to thank him, even though I got the impression he’d been waiting to jump in and stake a claim. Whatever.

“I’ll be back,” I mumbled with a wave.

I was bleary-eyed but still energized. Funny details stood out, like Cory and Holly making out at a nearby table. Terry chatting with Leah, who was staring at me like a piece of meat. And Tim… checking his phone for text messages.

“Timmy, who ya talkin’ to?” I asked with a hiccup.

He gave me a blank stare but didn’t answer. In the way an intoxicated mind latches on and won’t let go, I had to know. I swiped his phone from his hands and tried to read the display. It looked like I was staring at two cells. Letters collided and blurred nonsensically. I frowned and handed it back to Tim, who looked like he wanted to clobber me.

“You’re drunk.”

“No shit. Where we going next?”

“
We
aren’t going anywhere.” He pocketed his phone and gave me a wide, shit-eating grin. “Don’t wait up for me, sunshine.”

“I wanna come.”

“No, I’m—”

I tugged at his T-shirt and shook my head vigorously. “C’mon, Timmy. Let’s get outta here. I gotta see other shtuff. You know?”

“Shtuff, huh? Rand, go home and sleep it off. I’m not babysitting you tonight.”

“I’m a big boy. Don’t worry ’bout me. I gotta move on. Ya know?” I put my finger to my lips and widened my eyes when I could see he was about to deny me. “Shh. Let’s fade. No one will notice.”

“You don’t fade well and—oh fuck it. Fine. But I swear, if you—”

“I won’t.”

“You don’t know what I was going to say.”

“Does it matter?”

Tim took a deep breath and made a face. “No. You never stop until you get your way.”

“Is that a bad thing, Timmy?”

“It’s an annoying thing. C’mon.”

HALF AN
hour later we were in the West Village ambling along Christopher Street. I assured Tim I wasn’t out to ruin his rendezvous with the hunky guy he’d met the other night. My focus was finding a gay bar with serious eye candy. I wasn’t at my sharpest, but somewhere in my muddled mind, I knew tagging along with Tim would at least point me in the right direction. And maybe, just maybe, I’d see the boy in blue.

Tim bypassed the short line outside Boots and gave his name to the bouncer manning the door. I checked out the men patiently waiting for entry while the humongous man with a headset relayed our info to some mastermind inside. Tim was explaining something about the guy he’d met who bartended here on the weekends, but my attention was on the eclectic crowd. A tall, gorgeous guy with a sexy beard had his arm draped over a skinny young man dressed in denim shorts and an über-tight, sheer black cropped top. Poor guy had to be freezing. They were such an odd couple I couldn’t help staring. Especially when I noticed how much makeup the smaller man was wearing. But it was the rhinestone-studded collar around his neck with a pink leash fastened and wrapped around the other man’s wrist that made my jaw drop. Tim grasped my upper arm and dragged me inside the dark club before I had the chance to ask questions.

I shrugged off my coat and hat when we reached the far corner of the bar. Rainbow flags and disco balls hung from the low ceiling. The paneled walls were decorated with posters of drag queens and buff men in harnesses. In other words, there was no point in checking my belongings. I wasn’t staying long. I’d nurse a cocktail before heading out to find a less… campy place to end my night.

“What’s going on here? I can’t decide if I feel underdressed or overdressed,” I yelled above the din of a Sia remix.

Tim shook his head. “No clue. We’re leaving as soon as Brad’s done. Which is why I tried to tell you not to come. There are plenty of bars in the East Village too. You didn’t have to follow me here to get laid.”