I brush past her, heading for the door because this is too important to waste on a person who doesn’t view me as their equal.
Maura quickly follows behind me and grabs on to my arm. “Tucker, wait. No, no. Please, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Seriously? I spin around, and she steps backwards. “Then how did you mean it? How is there any other way to mean it?”
“I-I,” she stumbles in that cute way of hers. Which is annoying because even when I’m pissed at her, she’s still fucking adorable as hell. “I only meant that this whole thing is…ominous. You’re acting secretive, and my mind went directly to something illegal.” She wrings her hands together in front of her. “It’s nothing to do with you and everything to do with how this all looks.”
I stare her down as I consider what she said. She may have a point, but it still doesn’t alleviate my irritation over how little faith she has in me.
“It’s the fact that you obviously don’t trust me, Maura. If you did, your mind wouldn’t have gone there.”
She winces. “Fair enough. I’m sorry. I wish I had an excuse as to why I don’t, but there isn’t one.”
“Maybe it’s all the other shitty people in your life?” I try. I must admit that her honesty about that is much appreciated in the moment.
She shrugs. “Probably. Can…can we stay?”
I clench my jaw and stare off above her head. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, but still pissed, I nod. “Yeah, we can stay.”
“Good. Now, where is everyone? I notice we’re here early.”
We walk toward the bar, and I yell, “Yo, Gary!”
“In the back!”
“Come on,” I say.
We make our way back down a narrow hallway, passing the restrooms and stopping at a bright red door at the end.
I knock once on the frame and step into the small office, Maura on my heels.
“Hey, kid,” he beams at me. “Who’s your friend?”
I glare over at the old man because he knows damn well who Maura is. Well, not officially, but he’s heard me talk about her enough.
“Hi. I’m Maura, Tucker’s…” She trails off, glancing to me for help.
“Friend,” I say awkwardly.
“Friend,” Maura repeats.
Gary gives a hearty chuckle.
“Maura, this is Gary. He owns Mic’s. He’s, uh, he’s my father.”
I watch as her jaw flies open. “F-f-father?”
“Surprise?”
Her eyes are wide and confused, unsure of how to take this news. “I-I had no idea.” Then they fall to slits, and she hisses out, “And you said for me to trust you. Surprise my ass, Tucker.”
“It’s not common knowledge,” I shrug.
“Tanner?”
I shake my head. “Nope. He has no idea. We’re only half-brothers.”
“Wow,” she says quietly. “Wow.”
“Yep. See why what I said earlier about this being kept on the DL is important?”
I watch her anger fade away, and she nods.
“What brings you by?” Gary asks.
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I watch the older man sitting behind the desk. At first glance, he appears to be any other old bartender. But upon further inspection, he looks like an aged version of me. Only thinner. Much thinner.
“Wanted to check in on you. How you feelin’?”
Gary arches a brow at me. “Tucker,” he draws out. “Come on, kid. You can’t keep coming in here to check on me.”
“Of course I can. I got that right when you came into my life. I’ve got a lot of years to make up for. Suck it up, old man.”
He lets out a huff. “Fine, fine. I’m doin’ all right. No flare-ups.” I give him a disbelieving look. “Kid, you’re killing me. Had one headache yesterday, but it’s the first I’ve had in months. It’s nothing to worry about.”
I stand up straighter and brace my legs for a fight of the verbal variety. “Call your doctor. You’re going this week. I’ll take you.”
Gary doesn’t argue. “Okay. I’ll call now.”
Huh. Not what I was expecting.
“Good,” I say. “We’ll be out front. Come find us when you’re done.”
I usher Maura out of the office as Gary picks up the ancient corded phone on his desk to make the phone call.
Maura doesn’t say anything as we walk back down the blackened hallway and into the brightly lit area. Seeing it all lit up like this is still something I try to get used to since it’s typically fairly dark in here. With the lights all kicked on, you can see how much junk is plastered across the walls. Hundreds of photos, framed tickets and set lists, posters, a couple instruments, all kinds of music paraphernalia. I asked Gary one time how he acquired it all, and he said it was all from the road and people who have come through Mic’s since he reopened it after he had his surgery, which is saying something since that was only a few years ago.
The place used to belong to a guy name Mic, an old friend of Gary’s that passed away as Gary was coming into town. He thought it’d be fun to name the place after himself since he pronounced his name like “Mike” but the spelling resembled the shortened form of “microphone.” I think most people thought it was a grammatical error. And Gary loved to stir up shit and confusion, so he never changed the name. Plus, it fits the place.
“Explain,” Maura finally says when we take a seat on the edge of the stage that I frequently perform on.
Knew this was coming.
I let out a soft sigh and begin explaining my best-kept secret.
“Well, twenty-four years ago my mom had an affair with Gary. She had a bit of a wild streak back in her prime. Anyway, it didn’t last long, and they ended it before my mother found out she was pregnant. Gary toured as a guitarist for a ton of different bands back then, so she never told him about me, pretended I belonged to Aaron, my other dad. I always had a suspicion that Aaron wasn’t my father. I’m not sure if it was the way my mother glared at me—like I was her biggest regret—or the fact that we look nothing alike. Either way, I didn’t get it confirmed until I was twenty.”
I peek over to find Maura watching me with curious eyes.
“My mother,” I continue, “is a drunk, Maura. It’s not something anyone talks about, because how can you?” I swallow a lump in my throat and go on. “So, anyway, my parents were arguing one night over it, and I happened to stop by for a visit when I walked in on their…conversation. I demanded to know who my real father was, and my mom happily provided me with the info. It took me almost a year to work up the courage to call him,” I admit quietly. “When I finally did, Gary was shocked but happy to hear from me. We never had to take a test, because it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that I’m his son. We’re the spitting image of one another.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Maura mumbles. “I thought for sure my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw you two together. No wonder you always just wave at him from the stage. It would have been a dead giveaway.”
I grin because she’s right. “Yeah, we try and keep it hush-hush around the club. We obviously connected with music and everything else sort of fell into place, but…”
“There’s always a but,” she interrupts sadly.
“Then I found out he was sick,” I press on in a grim tone. “Brain tumor. He had the surgery to remove it, and I convinced him to move to Wakefield to help keep an eye on him while he recovered. That’s what that was about back there. Headaches are a sign, and I don’t let him ignore a single one.”
“Good. You shouldn’t.”
I snort. “Ha. Tell his ass that. So, yeah, that’s where we’re at. We’re building a relationship and working through twenty-one missed years.”
Maura’s quiet for a moment. I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She seems sad, confused maybe.
“Feel free to ask questions, Maura. You can,” I tell her, standing up to stretch. I start pacing the length of the stage
while she’s contemplating all this. Since this is my first time telling this all to someone else, I’m feeling anxious.
“How does Tanner not know all of this?”
“Easy. We don’t tell him.”
“We?” she questions, swinging her feet, bouncing them off the side of the platform, ready to listen.
“My mother, Joanne, and Aaron keep it very hush-hush. Ma is on and off the wagon all the time, but Tanner doesn’t know that either. We pretend everything is all hunky-dory when he comes home.”
“But…why?”
“Remember how he said I was the golden child? Well, he is,” I say with a frown. “Like I said, I always knew I was different. Aaron always treated me like I didn’t matter and always seemed to focus all his attention on Tanner—which didn’t bother me, because I honestly never liked Aaron. We didn’t do that whole bonding thing from the start, making things fairly strained between us. Because of this, Tanner always thought his father rode his ass for everything and let me get by doing whatever the hell I wanted. In truth, he wanted what was best for his son and to forget about my existence. This caused Tanner to resent me, and by the time I found out about Gary, Tanner was out of the house, so it didn’t matter anymore.”
“And Tanner doesn’t know about your mother’s drinking problem?”
I give a dry, pitiful laugh. “No. She’s been clean for the most part while he’s been gone.”
She twists her lips up. “And didn’t you say they almost got divorced one time?”
“Ah, she does pay attention,” I tease as I spin on my heel and continue my back-and-forth walk. “I did say that. It was the closest they ever came, actually. Ma got a DWI and, naturally, Aaron was pissed. In place of getting her help, he sent us away to my grandmother’s for two weeks and then started filing for divorce. In that short time, Tanner signed up for the Army, thinking it would drive them together and not apart. My mother convinced Aaron it would be best for them to be together for Tanner. Things were good for a while. Aaron paid attention to me and my mom stopped drinking.”
“Until Tanner did his tour in Germany. She relapsed,” Maura guesses as she turns around to stare at me.
I stop walking and point at her. “You’re good. That’s exactly it. I find out then about Gary and the rest is…well, it’s now.”
“Is she sober?”
“For now.”
“Huh,” is all she says, turning back around to face the seating area.
All that can be heard is my feet padding across the floor and her ballet flats squeaking against the surface of the stage every time she hits it. I let her sit and take in all she’s heard.
It’s a lot, too. I know that I always give off this easygoing vibe, but it hasn’t always been that way. I was an angry teen growing up with a “father” who looked at me like I was nothing but dirt and a mother who regretted me daily—although I am thankful for both because I managed to channel all my anger and resentment into my music. Truthfully, I wish it hadn’t been that way for me growing up. But in the end, I got Gary out of it, and that’s a damn fine deal to me.
“All right, kid,” Gary says as he comes walking out the back hallway. “Appointment is set for next week. But I’m driving myself.”
I hop down off the stage and turn around to pull Maura down.
“No way in hell. I’m taking you and that’s that.”
Gary places his hands on his hips and flicks his gaze to Maura. “Does this little shit boss you around, too?”
She covers her mouth as a giggle tries to bubble up. “I think he knows better.”
The old man lets out a huff. “Fine. You can drive me. But after this one, I’m driving myself to all my other appointments because last I checked, I was the parent around here.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Bet I can guess who you got your stubbornness from,” Maura mutters.
I glare at her. “Not helping.”
She shrugs. “Who said I was here to help?”
Gary’s lips twitch at her remark. “I like this one, Tucker. Try and hang on to her, huh? Now, you two either need to scram or help out. I’ve got a club to open in less than an hour.”
“Don’t have to tell us twice. Come on, Maura,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the door.
“Bye, Gary!” she yells over her shoulder. “It was great to officially meet you!”
“Likewise. And apologies in advance for my jackass son!” he calls back.
“See ya, old man!”
I squint at the sun as we bust through the doors and crunch our way across the gravel.
“You still want to come hang out?” I ask her nervously as we approach my car, no longer mad at her from earlier.
“Of course,” she answers, shaking our joined hands.
I open up her door for her, but she doesn’t get in straight away. Instead, she tilts her head up at me, shielding her eyes against the bright daylight.
I tilt my head at her because, despite the shadows in her eyes, I can tell she wants to comment.
“Thank you,” she says, referring to what just happened.
I opened up to her and let her into a part of my life, my history, which no one knows about. I couldn’t tell you why I picked her or why I picked today. It could be because I’m falling in love with her or because of how she was there for a significant part of my future today.
Wait, back up.
Falling in love? Fuck that. I am in love with her, and I think I have been since I pseudo-stalked her at Perk.
I meet her stare and say, “Of course.”
She smiles, starts to get into the car, and turns around halfway through it.
“Hey, Tuck?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to say. Okay? And no laughing either.”
Despite what happened earlier with her not instantly trusting me, I know I trust her, so I say, “Okay.”
She looks down at the ground in a shameful manner, peeks back up at me, and then drops her eyes again. I bend down to try to meet her stare, but she’s not letting it happen.
“Can…,” she starts shyly. “Can we watch Supernatural tonight?”
Maura punches me in the gut because I so laugh.
16
“Say yes already, Tucker.”
“No.”
“Wait, like ‘no’ no or ‘no I won’t say yes’ no?” Maura asks on the other line.
She would think to ask that. “No, I won’t say yes,” I tell her.
“Well, then that’s basically saying no!”
For the past ten minutes, Maura has been trying to get me to agree to go apartment hunting with her. After everything that happened with her parents and us making that promise, she decided she needs to be more independent, so she’s going to try and find a place on her own.
“Please?” she begs.
“Fine. But you have to tell me I’m awesome at least five times today.”
“Deal. Meet you at Perk in twenty?”
“Deal.”
She lets out a loud cheer. “Ah! Thank you! You’re awesome! There’s number one. Bye!”
I toss my cell phone down and bring my arm up over my eyes. For someone who works a late shift, she sure as hell gets up early. Especially on a Saturday. She’s worth the lack of sleep, and I do owe her for going with me to meet that dickwad of a label manager on Wednesday.
I must admit that I haven’t been very cheery these last couple days because of how it all went. AKA, horribly. I’d hoped for so much more than it was but was sorely let down.
Last night, as I was tossing and turning about, I promised myself I wouldn’t let that one shittastic experience soil my dreams of “making it.” Guess Maura making my lazy ass get out of bed today is helping.
Throwing off my dark green covers, I swing my feet to the chilly hardwood. I glance around my small bedroom, and my eyes land on something shiny on the floor by my door. Walking over and squatting down, I
realize that it’s a bracelet. Maura must have left it here last night.
And no, that’s not as naughty as it sounds. We’ve been spending just about every day together, but the only way this could have gotten in here was from when she stayed over. But if I remember correctly, she wasn’t wearing a bracelet.
Then who in the hell’s is it?
Wait. Did Gaige have a girl over last night? Gaige? Quiet, handsome bastard, who I’ve hardly ever seen talk to a woman before? No way.
“Yo, penis breath!” I holler to my roommate, walking out of my bedroom and down the hall to his, not bothering to knock on the door.
“Dude!” he shouts, tripping over the tan cargo shorts he’s putting on and falling face first to the floor as I swing open the door.
Naked.
Naturally, I laugh. And then I laugh harder, because in his rush to get his bare ass covered, he trips again.
“Motherf—! You are such an asshole!”
“You love me. But question: why are you not wearing any underwear? I know it’s not laundry day.”
He finally manages to push himself off the floor and wrangle his shorts over his hips. “Sometimes you gotta freeball it.”
Leaning up against the doorframe, I cross my arms and shrug. “Good point.”
Gaige pulls on his navy Harold’s shirt for a shift at the pizza parlor. Standing at the foot of his bed, he puts his hands on his hips and raises his expertly groomed eyebrows at me. “Did you just barge in to find out if I was wearing underwear or what?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say. I hold up the bracelet for Gaige to see. “Is this yours?”
His eyes widen as he quickly strides over to me and snatches it out of my hand. He stares down at it, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “Where’d you find it?”
“It was on the floor in the hallway beside my door. And I’m guessing by that look on your face you know exactly who it belongs to.”
A scowl replaces the smile with lightning speed. “None of your damn business.”
I smirk. “You know, you’re a lot more handsome when you smile. You should work on that.”
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