“I can’t wait,” Reid deadpanned.
After exchanging good-byes with Chloe and Drew and packing away his things, Reid lingered. The silence caused a familiar feeling of unease to creep in. It was true he’d been demanding, but preparing for the tour wasn’t his only reason for the long hours. The truth was, he didn’t want to be alone, and because of recent changes in his life, he didn’t have a lot of options for company.
Walking into the control room, he pulled on a set of headphones to listen to the rehearsal tapes. He smiled at the random comments from Drew, Greer, and Chloe between song breaks. Notebook in hand, he jotted down things to go over with the others. More than two hours passed before he reached the final song. The song that had given him grief ever since he changed the intro. The same song Chloe managed to fix in a matter of minutes.
Reid smiled as he thought about how her face lit up when Greer did as she suggested. Reid remembered that kind of enthusiasm. The feeling of exhilaration when the notes fell into place. From a young age, he’d always known whatever he did in life would involve music. For years, he played at every hole-in-the-wall bar in Memphis. He mailed out demo after demo to recording labels from New York to Los Angeles. The response was always the same: silence.
When the talent scout picked him up three years ago, he thought all his dreams had come true. For all intents and purposes, they had. What he hadn’t expected was to lose Jess and everything that followed. He still loved music, breathed it. The passion and inspiration, however, were blanketed under layers of bad decisions leading to unthinkable consequences.
Unnerved by his train of thoughts, Reid decided to call it a night. On the drive home, he watched the city lights pass in a blur. Bright colors on vibrant signs glowed in the night and masked the stars. It was nothing like Memphis, nothing like the open space of his childhood home. Everything was bright lights, fast-paced and loud. So loud that at times he couldn’t hear himself think. He needed that now, the noise. The distraction. Anything to keep him from dwelling on the last year.
There was no noise to be found, however, when he walked into the foyer of his house. His shoes echoed off the tile and the lights hummed to life as he moved from room to room. When he reached the entrance to his living room, he only hesitated for a moment before continuing to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and eased onto the stool by the bar. With his arms braced on the counter, he let his head fall forward, his shoulders hunched. The silence felt overwhelming, suffocating. He needed to call Jess. She was the only one who could soothe the voices in his head.
He longed for the time when silence was comfortable, when it didn’t feel like a bad thing. Blowing out a heavy breath, he pushed away from the bar and walked to his bedroom. Stripping out of his clothes, he fell onto the bed and dialed her number.
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Reid, hey. How are you?”
He paused, and when he spoke, his voice sounded unsure, even to him. “Good. Tired.”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Reid exhaled in disbelief. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Know that something is bothering me when I’ve only said three words?”
On the other end of the line, Jess laughed quietly. “You’ve never been very good at masking your mood. I can hear it in every syllable.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t try my hand at becoming a professional poker player?”
“Oh, baby. Vegas would eat you alive. You’d be on the corner singing for nickels before you could say all in.”
“Well then, it’s a good thing I hate to gamble.”
“Indeed.”
Reid sighed. “I’m okay. Today was actually a good day rehearsal-wise. When everyone left for the day, though . . . I don’t know. I just started thinking about things I’d rather not.”
When Jess spoke, her voice was softer, soothing. “I’m sorry. I know it’s hard being back in LA. I wish you were here instead. I miss you already, and the tour hasn’t even started.”
“I miss you, too. I know this next year won’t be easy for either of us, but we’ll make it work. Right?” A weight of desperation settled on his chest and caused his breath to still as he waited for her answer.
“Of course we will. This ain’t our first rodeo. We’ll hold on for our eight seconds.”
Swallowing, Reid nodded. “Eight seconds is nothing.”
“Nothing,” Jess echoed.
“Get some rest. It’s late. I’ll call you tomorrow.”