Page 57 of Behind the Lights

“Good luck,” Mickey hollered, “Ah, something to help absorb the alcohol,” he chided, trying to lighten the mood before we dug in.

“Here you go.” Diamond sat three more bottles of Jack down on the table before taking his seat.

“We thought you went to get some strange,” Stoli said to him.

“Nah, it’s band time. No outsiders allowed,” Diamond said, looking right at me.

These guys, man, words escaped me. No truer friends would ever be found.

“Tonight, we forget about all this bullshit and drink to brotherhood,” Stoli announced.

“To brotherhood,” the three of us chimed in, holding the bottles up.

We sat and drank for so long that until we stood, we hadn’t realized how much we’d had. Security flanked us, directing us away from the balcony railings and across the hall to the room Maiden had given us for the night. Somehow, we managed to strip down before passing the fuck out.

Chapter

Fourteen

Someone’s relentless pounding on the door was what woke us the next morning. I couldn’t remember being this drunk in like, forever. My head was throbbing, Stoli was bitching, Diamond was still snoring, and Mickey ran for the bathroom like his ass was on fire.

Stoli answered the door in his boxers to find Easton standing on the other side. “I’d say good morning, but based upon how you look,” he scanned Stoli from head to toe, “I’d say it was probably a better night.” He walked around him and entered the room.

As he passed the bathroom, he was met with the sounds of Mickey vomiting and praying to the porcelain God, “Just kill me now.”

We thought it was funny, but Easton seemed to have left his humor at the door.

“So aside from Mickey, how is everyone feeling this morning?” Easton asked us, eyeing each face in turn.

“Ugh, like shit. How do you think we feel?” a grouchy Stoli answered.

“Crap, what are we going to do about our social media stuff?” I asked having just remembered Lucas managed that for us. I really let the guys down this time.

Stoli and Easton looked at each other before Easton spoke, “Don’t worry about that, we’ve got it handled. Thankfully, I had the foresight to get the logins and passwords from Lucas some time ago. All of which I reset last night so he’s locked out of each account.”

“Who was Social Sinners Shadow that was posting as well? Wasn’t Lucas just Social Sinners?”

“I’mSocial Sinners Shadow.” I seemed to be the only one surprised by Stoli’s declaration.

“What? Are you taking over our social media then?”

“It’s being handled. Now, we hit the road today. I brought up each of your bags last night so shower and meet me on the bus in an hour. I’ll have an uber waiting downstairs for you in forty-five minutes,” Easton said before leaving.

Mickey had just emerged, looking like total dog shit.

“Great,” Easton sneered after assessing him before closing the door behind him. Clearly not pleased with any of us.

I felt like shit myself, not so much from the drinking – although the hangover I had wasn’t helping matters any. But more so from the reality of what my relationship with Lucas fucked up for the band.You fucked up, Joey, big time.I knew my self-loathing was only going to worsen as the days passed.

Once we boarded the bus, I hid inside the confines of my bunk. The last time I was in here, Lucas was with me. Fuck, I wanted a drink bad. At least when I was drunk the pain went away. I needed to text my dad and let him know what happened, which he’d probably be happy about. All these years, no one ever warmed to Lucas, yet I continued to walk around with blinders on.

How many guys did he fuck when I wasn’t around? No wonder I couldn’t ever get ahold of him. I’m so fucking stupid.

I heard the other guys jump in their bunks before the bus rolled out. After grabbing my iPod and shoving my earbuds in, I cranked up the volume and shut everything out around me and drifted off.

A couple hours later I surfaced and emptied my bladder before going to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I saw Easton passed out on the couch with his laptop perched on top of his chest. I took a bag of chips out of the cabinet and buried myself back inside the cocoon of my nook away from home. When I looked around inside it, the pictures of Lucas including my favorite selfie of us lying in bed looking up at the camera, hit me hard. I ripped them down with such force the tack board came down with it.

“Shit,” I mumbled louder than I’d intended.

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