I smile at her politely because, well face it, I’m still human, but I keep my focus on Ray and let her fingers slip over my body while I move forward.
“That was some gig, kid,” Ray’s smiles. He’s relaxed—this is good.
“Is Avery all right?” I half interrupt before he can say anything else. His reaction to my worry isn’t quite what I’d expect. He just folds his arms over his chest and furrows his brow.
“She’s…fine Mason. Max was having a hard time with the crowd, so she took him home,” he says, watching me basically freak out in front of him.
I breathe deeply when he tells me everything is fine—for some reason Ray’s confirmation holding a lot more stock than my mother’s, and he starts to smirk at me.
“Sorry,” I say, blowing out a big breath and cracking my knuckles behind my neck, when I look back at Ray, I see he’s still chuckling. “What, joke’s on me?”
“No. Nothing like that,” he says, patting me on my back. “You worried about Avery. I like that.”
Hell, if I knew that would be all it took, I would have told him about how that’s all I’ve done since the day she smacked me hard across my face.
“Hey, pansy. You comin’ out to celebrate with us or what? We’re hitting Spanks,” Ben says, now somehow holding hands with an entirely different girl. That man’s charisma never ceases to amaze me. Ben’s a heavier guy, decent looking I guess, but a big guy. But he always bagged the best looking chicks. Of course, second best now.
“I uh…” I look down at my phone just in time to see Avery’s text.
Sorry. I was going to text as soon as I got Max to bed. I’m good. Too many people. Started to upset him. I’ll wait up! XXOO
“I sorta promised Avery I’d come home. Next time, though, okay?” I say, and I can tell Ben is more than disappointed.
“Whatever,” he says, flipping me off and putting his arm around the new blonde he’s with, following Matt and Josh out the door. I feel a tight pang in my stomach from watching them leave, and for a split second, I think about saying “Screw it,” and catching back up to them. But that thought passes quickly, and it’s replaced by wanting to be with Avery as soon as possible.
There are a few people left hanging around the stage while I pack up my guitar and store the guys’ stuff; I nod at them as I walk by, but before I get too far, one of them stops me. “You’re Mason Street, yeah?” he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. I look at it for a good hard second, and decide he seems decent enough, so I shake it.
“That’s me. You enjoy the show?” I ask, pulling my case up to rest it on the table.
The guy laughs a little under his breath and looks at both of his friends who seem equally amused. “Mason, I’m Kevin Quill,” he starts, and I don’t even think I hear the rest of what he has to say. Kevin Quill has launched the careers of about a dozen singer-songwriter types like me—as in multi-million-dollar kind of launched their careers. I’m looking at his card and reading his name over and over when I realize he’s still talking.
“I’m sorry, huh?” I say, my eyes coming up to meet his finally.
“I said I was wondering if you and I could sit down and talk sometime, maybe see if there might be an opportunity for me to work with the Mason Street Band,” he says, his perfect white teeth shining right back at me, almost putting me in a trance.
“Uh, sure. I mean, yes. That’d be great,” I shake his hand again.
“Good, give me a call tomorrow. We’ll talk,” he says, throwing a couple hundreds down on the table to cover the bill, and leaving with his friends. I look around the bar, and no one is left to bear witness. The only person who would even understand why my jaw is hanging open is Ray, and I can’t find him anywhere, so I just throw the guitar in my trunk and head straight to Avery.
Chapter 19: Promises
Avery
There was no way Mason was falling asleep when he came home. He sounded like one of those state fair auctioneers the way he rattled off everything that happened after I took Max home. I didn’t really know who Kevin Quill was when he said his name, but I played along to make him feel good. I could tell that he must be someone important.
I probably fell asleep hours before Mason, so I’m careful getting out of bed. I sneak into my room to grab my clothes from my drawer, and I notice Max’s eyes are wide open and looking almost at me.
“Good morning. I didn’t want to wake you. We have a session with Jenny, and then I’ll let you pick your favorite thing to do today,” I say—while inside, my mind is racing to get two steps ahead of wherever Max is going to take seeing me slip into the room, not out of it.