Page 39 of Broken Chorus

“Awe damn, bored already?”

Aaron shook his head, still stinging from that rejection too. “Never. Was Hawk and I’m pretty sure that was all he was interested in.”

“His loss.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” Kazzy remarked, downing the last of his drink. “You should let me remind you of that sometime.”

Licking his lips, Aaron glanced over to see his friend smirking at him. Considering the way Hawk had refused to flirt back with him over the phone last night and the night before, Kazzy might be on to something. It was becoming clearer with every conversation that Hawk was getting nearer and nearer to the point of washing his hands of him, which was the last thing Aaron had ever wanted, but something he knew he needed to come to terms with and accept. “Maybe.”

“That’s better than a no,” Kazzy replied. “At this point I’ll take what I can get.”

He stood, so Aaron quickly finished his root beer and followed him backstage where the rest of the band had already gathered.

“Hey man, it’s good to see ya,” Tommy said, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

“Thanks for letting me join you guys tonight.”

“Fuck. We’re the ones who should be thanking you,” Shawn said as he clasped Aaron on the shoulder.

Kazzy sparked a blunt that they passed around before the set, the smoke and camaraderie easing the sting of Aaron’s recent disasters. This was something familiar, something he could comfortably sink into and just have fun with. Truth was, he was more grateful than he could ever say for them giving him the chance to play with them tonight. By the time he stepped out on the stage in front of the packed bar, the only thing running through his head was the set list and the order of the songs.

Didn’t matter that there were less than a hundred and fifty people in the room, Aaron played like it was fifteen thousand. For the first time in months, there was no holding back, no dulling down his enthusiasm, he let every frayed edge hang out, from dueling guitars with Tommy, to literally playing on his knees in front of Shawn while the bassist stood over him. He was still flexible enough to lean all the way back and look at the strobe lights as he shredded through a solo, and just as graceful as he always had been when getting up.

At one point he found himself standing directly in front of Kazzy on the drums, banging his head in tune to Kazzy’s rhythm as they playedPainkillerby Judas Priest. The drum solo always got his heart hammering, but tonight, there was an unwanted voice in the back of his head, hyper-critical and pointing out every flaw in the way Kazzy played. He almost missed his cue to jump back in, ‘cause the voice was busy yammering on about how Kelly and those tapes had been one hundred percent right. Declan really was the better player, hands down.

They finished the song and broke intoIron Man, Aaron losing himself in the song again. Fingers dancing over the strings, he gave over to the thrill that came with performing. By the time they were done, Aaron was flying high on pure adrenaline.

As they left the backstage area, Kazzy threw an arm over his shoulder and leaned in close. “Wanna go have a private after party, just the two of us?”

“Hell yeah!” Aaron yelled, still riding the high of the music.

“Whoooooooooooooo!” Kazzy howled, the sound ringing in Aaron’s ears.

Several patrons offered an echoing whooooooo, everyone caught up in the exuberance of the moment. Morning would bring a crash worse than any hangover, but for now, they had indescribable levels of energy pouring through them.

Aaron tangled his fingers in Kazzy’s hair and yanked him into a kiss, felt their tongues slide together and groaned at the taste of rum lingering on Kazzy’s lips. Kazzy gave as good as he got, pinning Aaron against a pillar and kissing him until the flash of camera phones reminded them where they were.

“Well, that’s gonna be all over the dirt rags by morning,” Kazzy murmured as they drew away from one another.

“Oh well,” Aaron replied, in complete DILLIGAF mode.

Time to take this somewhere private. Kazzy must have had the same thought because he grabbed Aaron’s sleeve and started tugging him towards the door, only for their progress to be halted abruptly when Declan barred the way with his chair. It didn’t help any that Cade stepped up beside him, impeding their attempt to step around him and nearly sending Aaron sprawling into Declan’s lap. As it was, Kazzy was forced to steady him, no easy feat, when he’d already been staggering a little himself after all he’d drank.

“Ya know, I’ve been wondering why you were so hell bent on having Kazzy play for you instead of me,” Declan said. “Now I have my answer.”

Kazzy shot him a confused look, while Aaron just shook his head and tried to go around Declan the other way. The guy could maneuver that chair faster than Aaron expected, though, and he found himself cut off again.

“Aaron, what’s he talkin’ about?” Kazzy asked, shooting Aaron a confused glance.

“Look, it’s no big deal,” Aaron insisted.

“Says you,” Declan shot back.

Aaron chose to ignore him and keep all his attention on Kazzy.

“I’ll explain when we get back to your place,” Aaron insisted, searching for a clear path to the door.

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