Page 54 of One More Time
It was only after the food arrived, and Nicky was three bites into his eggs Benedict, that he noticed the room had gone completely silent. He looked up and found three pairs of eyes on him.
‘Oh, God. Sorry,’ said Sam.
James offered, ‘I told him not to stare.’
James had been staring, too, but it didn’t seem the time to mention it.
‘Can we talk about it now?’ Sam asked as he eyed various people around the table.
‘Talk about what?’ Lucy asked dryly, fooling no one.
‘Ugh, okay,’ Sam said, laying down his fork with a chunk of breakfast ham still attached. ‘I know I’m supposed to be cool about it and not freak out. But,dude,’ he said, looking at Nicky, ‘you’reNick Broome.’
Nicky couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Uh, yeah. I am.’
‘Holy shit,’ Sam said.
‘Funny, that’s what my mom calls me,’ Nick joked.
‘I’m just …’ tried Sam. ‘My mind is blown.’
A bunch of heads nodded. Kim’s sort of shook back and forth as she stared at her fruit salad.
‘I saw you in Philly. In 2016,’ Devin grumbled, as though suddenly pissed about it.
‘Oh, yeah?’ Nicky did some quick math and scanned his mind over the roughly seventy-million shows he’d performed in his life. ‘Was it the one where Dave Grohl came on for a few?’
‘Yeah,’ said Devin.
Lucy’s hand stopped midway to her water. Nicky eyed her curiously, wondering if she was all right.
Nicky added, ‘That was a good show. At least from up front. I hope you had a good time.’
‘Yeah,’ he grumbled, even more pissed about it. ‘I did.’
Lucy turned slowly toward him. ‘YouknowDave Grohl?’
‘Sure,’ Nicky replied. ‘Why?’
Lucy replied, ‘Um, this may be out of line but … can you tell him that I love him with all my heart and thatThe Colour and the Shapechanged my life. And that I love him. Oh, and that his eyelashes are mesmerizing. And he’s the best drummer ever.’ She paused. ‘And also, that I love him.’
‘Yeah, you said that already.’ Nicky laughed.
‘Said what?’
‘That you love him.’
‘It bears repeating. You can say it as many times as you feel comfortable with,’ Lucy instructed. Then added, ‘As long as it’s no fewer than three.’
Nicky cracked up at both the earnestness and complete insanity of that statement. ‘You really want me to say that to him? Word for word?’
‘Yes, dammit!’ Lucy slapped his arm playfully. ‘I’ve been wanting to say that to him for about thirty years, give or take a month.’
‘She had a Dave Grohl poster on her wall in high school, Nick,’ chimed Kim. ‘Not Kurt Cobain. Dave Grohl.’
‘Got a thing for drummers?’ Nicky asked.
‘Just one.Thatone,’ Lucy replied.
