Brooklyn & Beale, page 11
“No,” he chuckled. “Not even a little.” He shook his head and threw his arm along the top of the sofa. “I wanted to say thanks for what you did.” He laughed again and cocked his head. “I swear, it seems like all I’m ever doing with you is apologizing or thanking you for something.”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure what you mean by that, but I must say, it’s better than having you yell or be angry.”
“It takes a lot to make me mad. I’m pretty even-tempered. Usually,” he mumbled.
“Then Greer is quite talented at pushing your buttons.”
Reid ran a hand down his face and groaned. “That’s a story for another day. I asked to speak with you to say thanks for playing that song at the end of rehearsal. I have a lot of stuff going on, most of it self-inflicted.” He shifted on the couch and cracked his knuckles, before wiping the palms of his hands over the tops of his thighs. “I don’t know if that’s the right word. I’m just under a lot of stress of my own doing. Playing that song, well, that was the lightest I’ve felt since this tour started.”
Chloe fidgeted and took a sip of her drink. “I consider you a friend, and when my friends are upset or sad, I want to help. Sometimes my efforts are appreciated, sometimes they aren’t. The thing is, you’re an amazing musician. The idea of you not writing music is unacceptable. My methods might seem silly, but they’ve worked for me. I didn’t see the harm in seeing if they might work for you as well.”
“There’s no harm at all. Honestly, I don’t know what, if anything, can get me back in the headspace to write again. But anything that makes me forget about the bad stuff for even just a minute is a welcome relief.”
“I know I’ve said this before, but if you need to talk, I’m here.”
Reid nodded and stood from the couch. Much like Chloe had done earlier, he reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Thanks. I might take you up on that one day.”
“If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to grab some food before I start getting ready.”
“Nope. You go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
Reid watched Chloe step into the hallway. The moment the door closed behind her, his anxiety came rushing back. The feeling twisted his stomach and tightened his throat. His skin felt as though an army of ants was marching from his scalp to his toes. It was maddening. One foot in front of the other, he paced the length of the room. When his phone rang, the sensation intensified.
“Jess.”
“Hey, you. I wanted to check in before your show. See how things were going.”
Reid raked his hand through his hair. “Okay, I guess. They’d be better if you were here.”
Jess’s soft laughter floated through the phone. “I promise to try to get over there soon. We’ve been so busy at work. I delivered the most beautiful colt last night. It was amazing.”
Reid smiled at the awe in her voice. No matter how many times she witnessed a horse giving birth, she managed to sound like it was the very first time. Sometimes he believed she loved those horses more than him. “Send me a picture when you can.”
“I will.” There was a long pause, and when Jess spoke again, her voice was softer, melancholy. “I hate your being so far away. I can’t wait until you’re home for good.”
Reid sighed as apprehension settled on his shoulders. He wasn’t sure why her words left him so unsettled, but his fear of losing the person who gave him a reason to push through each day kept him from pursuing the subject. Without her, there was nothing to keep the demons at bay.
“Why don’t we focus on getting through the first leg of the tour? It makes our time apart seem less daunting.”
“You’re right.” Several moments of silence passed before Reid cleared his throat. Just as he was about to ask if something was wrong, Jess began to speak. “I was finally able to watch a few clips of your shows on YouTube. You were amazing. I see what that reporter meant about your onstage chemistry with Chloe. She’s very talented. And pretty.”
Reid knew better than to comment on Jess’s last remark. Even though he’d given Jess no reason to doubt his commitment, he wasn’t stupid enough to believe she wasn’t affected by the lifestyle he led when they were not together. He needed to tread lightly.
“I think you’d really like her. When you come here for a show, I’ll introduce you.” He sighed heavily and let out an amused chuckle. “Although, as long as Greer’s around, you might have a little trouble getting any real time to talk with her.”
“Oh?” Jess asked. The relief in her voice was obvious. Reid, on the other hand, felt anything but relieved. Whether it was from his misleading comment regarding Chloe and Greer’s relationship or the thought that a real relationship might develop would remain a mystery. Whatever the reasoning, Reid had no interest in continuing that particular conversation.
“You’ve met Greer. He’s nothing if not persistent.”
“True,” Jess laughed. “What about Chloe? Does she seem interested?”
“Who knows?” Reid shrugged, his agitation growing. “We haven’t hung out much other than rehearsals and shows. Although, that’s going to change over the next couple of weeks. We’re adding the rest of the new songs into the set list, and I’ll need to work with her more than I have.” The moment the words left his mouth, Reid realized he was making an excuse to spend time with Chloe.
“Hopefully Greer won’t give you too much trouble,” Jess joked, but the tone of her voice gave her away. She sounded uneasy. This wasn’t how their conversations were supposed to go. Things were supposed to be easy, better, reassuring. Reid needed to fix things before they hung up or he would be stressed the remainder of the night.
“Oh, I’m sure he will, but that’s nothing new. If I don’t want to kill him at least once a day, the entire world seems out of balance. I’ll give Chloe that— she’s kept him out of my face. At least that part of the tour has been tolerable.”
“Come on, it can’t all be bad.”
“It’s not. I have my good and bad days.”
“And what’s today?”
Reid smiled. “It started off pretty rough, but it’s slowly turned around.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Jess whispered.
“Me too. Listen, I need to get ready. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Break a leg.”
With a soft good-bye, Reid ended to call. He stared at the screen of his phone for a second before shoving it in his pocket and heading toward the door. He felt dishonest for not correcting Jess, because for the first time in as long as he could remember, she wasn’t the one who turned his day around. This time, it was all because of Chloe and CCR.
“Are you sure about this?” Chloe pressed the cold plastic of her water bottle to her forehead before downing half the contents.
Reid looked over his shoulder toward the darkened stage. The roar of the crowd was nearly deafening as they chanted and cheered for the band to come back out for one more song. “Hell yes. Tom’s already checked with the venue manager. Their insurance covers that song since they’re with PRO, so we’re good.”
“But I’m not finished. There were a few more layers I wanted to add. What we played earlier was just for fun, not performing!”
Reid couldn’t help but laugh at Chloe’s panicked expression. “What’s the matter? Do you think we’re going to screw up your rewrite?”
Chloe threw her arms in the air. “Of course not! Well, maybe,” she mumbled.
“I’m hurt by your lack of confidence,” Greer said as Drew nodded in agreement, wearing a mocking frown.
“I can’t believe you two are in on this.” Chloe threw her hands in the air. “I’m outnumbered.” She straightened her shoulders and gave the guys a defiant look. “If it sucks, you three only have yourselves to blame.”
A smile remained stretched across Reid’s face as Chloe turned and walked away in a huff. “You’d think this was her song the way she’s acting.”
Greer moved beside him and shrugged. “She may not have written the lyrics, but I’ll be damned if she didn’t make a hell of a lot of changes to the music. It looks like you’re not the only one who acts like a crazy person when it comes to protecting your music.” Greer’s face twisted with distaste. “I don’t know if I can handle you both. As it is, you’re barely tolerable on a good day.”
Reid punched Greer in the arm, grinning when he winced. “You’re damn lucky I’m protective. Otherwise, I would have kicked your ass out of the group a long time ago.”
Greer clapped Reid on the shoulder and smiled. “Face it, bro. You’d be lost without me.”
“Whatever makes you sleep better at night,” Reid deadpanned.
“Are you ladies going to stand here and chat all night, or do you plan on playing that encore?”
“Shit,” Reid laughed as he turned to Drew. “Y’all go out there. Tom already let the lighting guys know what to do with the intro. Otherwise, everything will be the same except the song.”
“I still can’t believe you want to do this without a real rehearsal,” Drew remarked.
Reid shrugged and pushed his hair out of his face. “It feels right. We’ll be fine.” Pausing, he looked between Drew and Greer. “That being said, I hope you two spent the last few hours looking over the sheet music like I instructed.”
Greer rolled his eyes. “Of course we did. Although keeping Chloe from figuring out what we were up to wasn’t all that easy. I had to threaten her with dirty boxers to make her leave the room.”
“He really did,” Drew added with a laugh. “You should have seen her face. She left muttering something about hazmat suits.”
Reid side-eyed Greer before shaking his head. “Round her up and get out there. And remember to loop the intro until I jump in with the lyrics.”
With a nod, the guys took off toward Chloe, the three of them disappearing to the stage moments later. The chant of the crowd erupted into screams and whistles. A nervous smile broke across Reid’s face and his body shook with adrenaline and nerves. He wasn’t sure why, but something felt different. The anticipation causing his heart to spike was a feeling he thought was long gone. Swept away with bad decisions and their consequences. As he moved toward the stage, he pulled in a deep breath and tucked his hair behind his ears. When the opening chords of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” flooded the venue, Reid felt like he could fly.
Relaxed and full of swagger, Reid took slow, lazy strides to center stage. Soft and easy, Drew, Greer, and Chloe played the melody on a loop as Reid adjusted his guitar.
“So tonight, I’m going to close the show a little different.” When the screams intensified, Reid dropped his chin and smiled shyly. It only caused the roar to grow. Shaking his head, he peeked at the crowd. “I’ve played in a lot of cities. I’ve finished shows with a lot of different songs, but never one that wasn’t mine. Until tonight, that is. You see,” he said, taking a step back and turning toward Chloe. “A beautiful, talented violinist . . . we’ll call her Starburst,” he chuckled. “She hijacked my rehearsals earlier today with an amazing remake of one of my all-time favorite songs. It completely blew me away. So I figured, maybe I should play it tonight. See what the fans have to say.”
Reid grinned at the dirty look Chloe gave him. “I think she might be upset with me for putting her on the spot.” He moved to her side and leaned into her so that when she spoke her voice would carry through the mic on his headset. “Are you upset with me, Chloe?”
“I thought we were talking about someone named Starburst,” she snarked with an eye-roll, causing laughter to erupt from the audience.
“Right. Of course.” Reid winked and turned toward the sea of people. “What do you say, guys? When you get home later tonight, will you send your tweets and Facebook comments about how fucking awesome this song was?”
With the crowd’s roar of agreement, Reid jumped into the opening verse. With each word, each note, the feeling of euphoria took him higher and higher until he felt like he was floating above the stage. It was a high he’d only experienced with drugs. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. It was that feeling of fear that caused something to shift. Another layer of potential additions to Chloe’s rewrite began to trickle in, slowly at first, then all at once. In his mind, newly formed chords and rhythms burned behind his eyes.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell the past year to go fuck itself. But most of all, he wanted to put pen to paper so he didn’t forget a single note. The pull was almost unbearable. It wasn’t until the sweet smell of lavender invaded his senses that he realized he had moved directly beside Chloe. For a brief moment, he wondered if the pull had more to do with her than his desire to put his thoughts down. When their eyes locked, she smiled. The silver of her lip and nose rings glinted from the bright, flashing lights. He couldn’t take his eyes away. He wasn’t sure how she did it, but somehow she’d found a way to chip away at the wall standing between him and his music.
When the final notes of the song faded and the lights dimmed, Reid didn’t hesitate when he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the floor. He spun her around, happiness making his skin feel as though it were on fire.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his nose pressed against her hair. “Thank you so fucking much.”
Chloe dropped her cheek to his chest and returned his embrace, the pair smiling and giddy from the manic applause. “You’re welcome.”
The din of excited voices filled the small room backstage. Reid smiled for pictures and signed autographs. It was a familiar scene, normal; it was the same as always. For Reid, however, everything was different. He was different. The sheet of paper in his front pocket covered in messy notes was proof of that. Proof of the spark Chloe had ignited. His fingers itched to pull it out and look at it, add to it, see that it was real. He’d only had minutes to grab the paper from his dressing room and scribble down his notes before he was due for the meet-and-greet with fans.
Reid fidgeted with the Sharpie he held as he waited for the next fan in line. Uncomfortable with the girl’s desperate attempts to make eye contact, he kept his gaze down, focusing instead on the lines of his jeans.
“You were great tonight! Even better than the last time you were here!”
Reid jumped in surprise and turned his attention to the girl in front of him. “Thanks. Do you have something for me to sign?”
The girl giggled and leaned forward, her eyes glassy and her smile too wide. “I do, but I was hoping you could do it later. In private.”
Reid chuckled in an attempt to hide his discomfort. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible tonight, sweetheart.”
“Are you sure? We had an amazing time at an after party last time you were here. I even got my cousin to score some killer snow just for you.”
Reid stiffened and his stomach dropped. The room was suddenly unbearably hot. Using his shirtsleeve, he wiped the perspiration from his forehead before scanning the room for the closest exit. No one had moved, but he felt like everyone was closer, their sweat-covered bodies reeking of alcohol. He felt caged. Cornered.
Trying to regain his composure, he took a moment to study her face, to remember her name. It was pointless. To him, she was a stranger. It was clear, however, that she remembered him quite well, or at least the guy he used to be. With a small shake of his head, he forced a smile.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
A look of disappointment crossed her face. “You must not remember much about last time, then. I can’t decide if I should be offended or feel sorry for you. That was a night I’ll never forget.”
Reid looked away and shrugged. There were a lot of things he didn’t remember about the last tour, and for the most part, he was grateful.
“Time’s up,” a bouncer announced, moving to Reid’s side. “You need to move along, miss.”
The girl scowled at the bouncer before turning her attention to Reid once more. “If you change your mind . . .” She trailed off, dropping a folded piece of paper on the stool next to him before reluctantly walking away.
“Thanks,” Reid exhaled.
“No problem. Blondie over there thought you might need a hand. I’ll stay close until you’re finished unless you tell me otherwise.”
Reid turned to where the bouncer pointed, his shoulders relaxing when he locked eyes with Chloe. “Thanks,” he mouthed.
She smirked and lifted her hand to her mouth before blowing her nails and brushing them against her shoulder. Reid huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes, but it was exactly the distraction he needed. All he had to do was make it through the next hour, then he could escape to his room and the music flowing through his mind.
Time dragged. Reid became more and more anxious with each passing second. The girl from earlier seemed to be everywhere he looked. When Tom finally stepped beside him and announced it was time to go, Reid’s entire body sagged with relief.
“I didn’t think tonight would ever end,” Reid said, standing from the stool and stretching his arms overhead.
“You okay, man? You seemed okay earlier, but when I looked over here a little bit ago, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.”
Reid pushed his hands into his hair and gripped it tightly. “I’m just tired.” A small smile crossed his face and his hands fell to his sides as he thought about his breakthrough. “Something really amazing happened earlier. When we were playing the last song—” His words ended abruptly when loud laughter caught his attention. Across the room, Greer, Drew, and a few other guys stood against the wall, smiling and laughing with a petite blonde. Reid didn’t need to see her face to know it was the same girl who approached him earlier. Greer smiled at the girl and pushed off the wall before throwing his arm over her shoulders and walking toward the door. Transfixed, Reid couldn’t look away. His mouth became dry and his body rigid. He knew exactly what his bandmates were about to do, and for a fleeting moment, he felt nothing but white-hot jealousy. When Greer looked over his shoulder and caught Reid’s stare, he threw his hand in the air and waved before disappearing down the darkened hall.
