Page 54 of Your Rhythm
“Remember that...that...Oh god, I can’t say it.”
I flip her over so she’s facing me. “Tell me. I have to know.”
She clamps a hand over her mouth and shakes her head.
“You can’t leave me in the dark like this,” I beg.
She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “You must remember that his...his pickle...his pickle is very sensitive, much more sensitive than it—it looks. You have to be firm but g—gentle with it.”
We’re both shaking with repressed laughs.
“I’m sorry, what did you say? His...pickle?”
“She literally called it a pickle!” Kay shrieks, before burying her face in the pillow.
“Oh my god,” I gasp, “that is amazing. I want a book of her sex tips.”
It takes us several minutes to calm down. Eventually Kay rests her head on her chin and nods towards my arm next to her.
“Okay, your turn. Tell me another one of yours.”
I scan the scattered designs that cover me from both my shoulders to both my wrists.
“This one’s easy.” I point to the circle with a downward facing arrow inside it, drawn on my bicep. “I bet you could figure it out yourself.”
“It’s the Montreal Metro symbol, right? Sherbrooke Station.”
I nod. “The guys all have some version of it on them somewhere.”
“That’s cute,” Kay teases. “It’s like you guys have friendship bracelets.”
“Kind of,” I admit with a laugh. “We all have our own tattoos about music and what it means to us, but these are about the band, about what we mean to each other.”
“Which is a lot, right?”
“They’re my brothers,” I say firmly. “Doing this thing—being in a band, touring, getting up on stage together every night—it creates this tie between you, one that doesn’t break.”
“Even if they’re being total shitheads to you?”
I glance at her, caught off guard.
“Theyarebeing shitheads,” she insists. “I’ve seen it.”
“Things are just changing for us,” I tell her, feeling the sudden urge to defend the guys. “We’rechanging. We’re all just sorting it out.”
“Yeah, and Ace is doing a really great job at that.”
“He’s struggling,” I admit. “I see that, and I want to help him. I know it probably makes me look weak, putting up with all his shit, but we’ve been through a lot together. I trust that he’ll pull through in the end.” I chuckle. “I guess you could say I’m kind of a trusting guy. I let people depend on me, and I believe they’ll do the same in return.”
The air is heavy with honesty. I try to ease out from under its weight and point to her sword and shield.
“That one. What’s that one for?”
“Almost the opposite of yours,” she answers ruefully. “I’m pretty...independent. I like to do things on my own, to only be responsible to myself.”
“So the sword and shield means...?”
She pulls a lock of hair in front of her eyes to inspect it, speaking to the dark strands instead of me. “It’s about protecting yourself…and defending yourself. Something like that.”
