Page 48 of Behind the Lights

When everyone was in the common area he continued, “With us playing at home this weekend we’ll have some friends,” he looked at me, “and um, family there watching the show.”

“Sweet,” Nate answered.

“Well, there’s something you should know about us,” he continued.

Tommy leaned forward in his seat, Nate stood staring and Chase and Brent turned to face us.

“We’re um. Fuck, we’re gay,” Stoli spit out, rather angrily.

“And you’re telling us this because?” Nate paused, waiting for us to fill in the blanks.

“My boyfriend will be there,” I informed them.

“Cool, can we meet him?” Tommy asked.

“Um, yeah I guess. You guys are okay with this?” This was far too easy which made me question their motives.

“Why wouldn’t we be? But are all of you gay?” Chase asked.

“No, not Diamond,” Stoli quickly added.

He didn’t want them to get the wrong impression. Diamond didn’t say anything, he let us have our moment. A coming out moment, as though we wouldn’t be doing that repeatedly for the rest of our lives.

“Oh, right on,” Tommy leaned back, grabbing the Xbox controller. “Who’s up for someCall of Duty?”

Mickey bolted across the bus, “Me,” he said before plopping down beside Tommy and grabbing the second controller.

I looked up at Stoli who shrugged before pulling his phone from his pocket and that was the end of the conversation. Seems in my mind I’d made it a bigger deal than it really was.

Come Saturday, Brett, my dad and Lucas where waiting by the gate when we drove past. I’d already alerted security they’d be there. They guided them to our bus after we’d parked. We jumped out and hugged everyone then began the introductions. Stoli’s mom couldn’t come because his little brother Brandon was sick. We took them inside to give them a tour and check things out behind the scene. My dad and Brett were in awe, but Lucas was completely uninterested and spent most of the time typing away on his phone.

I slid my arm around his waist and whispered, “Babe, could you at least pretend to be interested in what we do?”

He stood on his tiptoes, kissing my cheek. “I am, I swear. But I’m more interested in watching you get hot and sweaty on stage.”

By the time we finished with the tour, it was time take our places on stage. With a final kiss and wishes of good luck we hit the deck. I looked over a couple of times and caught glimpses of my dad singing along with us. Man, that was a stellar moment. I didn’t even know he listened to our music which made me happier than I think I’ve ever been. Brett was jamming out along with us, but Lucas I couldn’t see. He was probably just hidden by the curtain. We finished the show with a bang in front of a great hometown crowd. The venue was packed to the hilt and our stage exit was met with chants for more.

“Wow, that was great guys,” Brett said, opting for high-fives versus hugs since we were drenched in sweat. Diamond grabbed a pile of towels, tossing one to each of us.

My dad was beaming and didn’t care that we were sweaty messes as he hugged me. “That was awesome!”

“Ha, thanks Dad. I’m glad you came. Where’s Lucas?”

They both shrugged and started talking with the guys. We had to move to the side to allow the roadies on stage to set up for DD. Slowly, we meandered toward the dressing rooms. Still being low on the lineup we hadn’t been allotted one yet. Stoli wandered off to grab us a few bottles of water, but when he hadn’t returned ten minutes later I got a knot in the pit of my stomach.

My dad and Brett went in search of the restroom just as Stoli emerged with a screaming Lucas at his side. Stoli was fucking pissed, his face was red and I thought he was going to punch Lucas.

“What the fuck is going on?” I yelled at them.

“Are you gonna tell him or should I?” Stoli yelled while pushing Lucas.

“Stoli, don’t fucking touch him!” I warned him.

“Why don’t you tell him, Stoli, since you’re the only one who knows what’s going on?” Lucas tossed back.

“Someone better fucking tell me what’s going on.” I had had enough, these two needed to sort their shit out.

“I went into the break area to grab the water they told us we could have and little boy blue here,” referring to Lucas’ latest hair color, “Was sucking the hair off some guy’s sweaty sack.”

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