Page 27 of What Happened Last Night

“Is the van story true, do you think?”

“Definitely.” She pointed to the screen. “Let’s get started.”

When I began working with the Road Kings, they’d had no website at all. I’d had one made for them, and lately I’d revamped it. The site’s traffic climbed each month, and I’d had a lot of content added. It sold tickets and T-shirts. It was now a really, really good website.

No one cared. That was what you got when you worked with musicians.

Sienna was the only one who took an interest. She wanted to go through the site with me and make suggestions. Since the band hadn’t even looked at the thing, I was willing to listen to what Sienna had to say, even if only to get a crumb of acknowledgment.

We clicked through the pages, discussing it as Stone cooked on the barbecue. Occasionally he’d throw a caustic remark at us, and Sienna would throw one back. Despite the fact that this was some form of work, I felt the familiar sensation of my spine loosening, tension uncoiling. I was coming to understand it as the feeling of being around people who accepted you as you were, understood you without needing an explanation. It wasn’t until I’d spent time with the Road Kings and their crew that I’d begun to realize I’d never felt this way with anyone in my life before.

I’d had a good life in New York. I’d had a stable upbringing and success. I’d made a lot of money, which led to having a beautiful and equally rich girlfriend. Through all of it, I’d been so tightly wound I could barely breathe. I hadn’t realized how bad it was, because how could I? I had an enviable life that was just great.

Then I’d found my birth origins, and in one hour, I’d understood more about who I really was than I had in the previous thirty years.

It wasn’t the blood factor. I wasn’t naïve. Blood isn’t a magical substance that makes two people understand each other and get along. I didn’t have a revelation about myself simply because I shared blood with my shitty father, my addict mother, and my rock star brother. Those people didn’t make me who I was.

I’d never speak to my birth father if I could help it, and I’d never be close to my birth mother. But when I learned who Stone was, when I listened to the Road Kings, I’d felt a shift deep in my chest, and the words had surfaced, unbidden: So this is what’s been wrong with my life all this time.

Piece by piece, I’d dropped every part of my old life and walked away from it. And now, sitting here in this yard with Sienna and Stone, I didn’t question that for a second. I could breathe with these people.

Luna, too. I could breathe with her. I felt it more every day.

“This button’s in a weird spot.” Sienna pointed to the screen. “Can you have the programmer move it?”

“Good catch.” I opened a new browser tab, quickly logged into the back end of the website, and began scrolling through the code.

Sienna leaned in. “Will, don’t you hire someone to do all of this?”

“Yes, to save time.” I clicked to another menu, trying to find the right spot. “Sometimes it’s faster to make fixes myself. This is the problem here.” I made an edit.

“You can code?” Sienna asked.

“What, like it’s hard?” I shook my head, assuming she wouldn’t get my Legally Blonde reference. “It’s just some PHP. Any grad from a three-month course can do it. I built my first website myself out of necessity. I don’t actually like coding, but it’s useful to know.”

“Watch out, Maplethorpe,” Stone said as he slid a plate onto the table next to my elbow. “My brother might be even smarter than you are.”

My hands paused on the keyboard as my heart lurched—fucking lurched—at his casual use of the words my brother. The breath froze in my throat.

I was surprised at myself. I hadn’t known I wanted to hear Stone say that, but apparently, he only needed to say that word to choke me up.

“He might be smarter than both of us, I agree,” Sienna said, oblivious to the fact that I was melting down over here. “He also watches Reese Witherspoon movies.”

“The only one I really liked is Walk the Line,” Stone said. “That’s a good fucking movie.”

I cleared my throat, coming out of frozen mode as they talked over me. I saved the code changes and logged out of the site. Stone had made burgers, and mine looked surprisingly mouthwatering. There was cheese on it along with some unapologetic lettuce and tomato. No side, of course. This was Stone. If you wanted a side, you could go to a fucking restaurant. It was fine with me.

I closed the computer, pushed it away, and grabbed my plate. “Thanks, man,” I said, keeping my voice casual. “This looks delicious. Unlike Sienna, I always had faith.”

“See?” Stone said to his girlfriend as he dropped into the chair across the table from us. ”He really is a genius.”

Sienna laughed. I smiled at both of them. And I breathed.

TWELVE

Luna

People came to see Will. Not just people involved with the Road Kings or the studio, and not just people he knew. As I worked for him and managed his calendar, his email, and his calls, I saw that people Will had never met before consistently tried to get an appointment to see him. Important people. People who were willing to fly across the country for a meeting.

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