A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (19 page)

“
As
good as you
’
d expect with
Chloe,
”
Jake said.

“
Man,
I
’
m really sorry. Okay? I
hope you and I
…”

“
Let
it go for now,
”
Jake said.
“
I don
’
t want anything to mess with tonight.
”

*

“
You
take longer than me to get ready,
”
Alex teased as she poked her head into the bathroom.

Mel smirked as she looked at Alex in
the reflection of the bathroom mirror. She had no idea why she was actually
taking the time to get ready. She really did want to just stay home and do
nothing. Especially since she was probably going to the Fallen Tuesday show the
next night.

Mel laughed to herself.

Probably?

She was
definitely
going.

She had to. It was way too tempting
not to go see Fallen Tuesday in concert (for free) but also to see Jake up on
stage, playing guitar, looking super hot.

The feeling that Mel got was the
first glimpse of excitement she had since moving to New York to find her
father. It kind of felt good to blow off some steam. Even if that meant
flirting and making out with a rockstar.

“
Whoa,
why
’
s your face that red?
”
Alex asked.

“
Out!
”
Mel yelled as she kicked the
door shut.

Mel bit her lip and grabbed her
cell off the sink and pulled up Jake
’
s
number.

Do it
…
text him
…
text a rockstar
…

Mel twirled her thumbs, wondering
what the hell to text.

Your offer still stand for
tomorrow night?

She sent the message and felt her
throat tighten up. What a dumb text. Unless, of course, Jake read it the wrong
way and thought it implied more.

A few seconds later, she got a
response.

I would refuse to go on stage
until you showed up. How
’
s
that sound?

Mel laughed. She touched her cheek
and it was on fire. And so was the rest of her body. This was unreal.

Just tell me where to be
…
what to do
…

She sent the message and then went
back to her hair. No need to mess around with it anymore. Mel pulled it back
and put it in a ponytail.

Her cell vibrated.

I
’
ll call you tomorrow. Don
’
t worry about a thing. I
’
ve got it under control. Can
’
t stop thinking about this
morning.

“
Neither
can I,
”
Mel said.

She replied with a smiley face and
that ended the conversation.

Mel left the bathroom and Alex
popped off the bed, scanning Mel head to toe.

“
Something
’
s totally up with you,
”
Alex said.

“
Maybe,
”
Mel said.
“
Ever have a day where one part
of your life is horrible but another part is really good?
”

“
Yeah,
sure, who hasn
’
t?
”

“
That
’
s kind of what happened to me,
”
Mel said.

“
The
rockstar?
”

Mel
’
s
cheeks burned again.
“
I don
’
t know. It
’
s interesting. That
’
s all.
”

“
Interesting,
sure,
”
Alex said and
laughed.

“
What
time do we have to leave?
”

“
About
ten minutes ago.
”

Mel looked at the clock on her
nightstand. Usually by this time she was either at work or going to bed. But to
be going out
…
that was
unheard of. She knew Jon waited for her to call and give him an answer on what
to do about Washington and her father. Realistically, the responsible thing
would have been to stay home and figure this all out.

“
Let
’
s go then,
”
Mel said.

Maybe it was time to be
irresponsible. Just once.

(17)

Pulling up to the back door of the
little club made Jake smile. It wasn't long ago that the guys would pull their
beat-up cars up to the back door and start to unload their equipment, piece by
piece. In the really early days fans would gather and ask the band about the
other bands playing that night. Once Fallen Tuesday started to see a little
fame, the fans would surround them to talk, take pictures, sign autographs, and
even beg to help carry their equipment.

Those were the best days of it all.

Then again, these days weren
’
t so bad either.

The limo stopped and Mack reached
to open the door. As the band climbed out, it took less than a second for a
girl to recognize them and start screaming while jumping up and down. They
started moving faster so that a mob didn't form out back of the club.

“
Christ,
they
’
re going to think we
’
re playing,
”
Mack said to Jake as they
squeezed through the back door to the club.

“
Who
knows, maybe we will,
”
Jake
said and winked.

Once the metal door clicked shut,
the smell of the place was overwhelming. The stairwell reeked of wet concrete
and must. The concrete floor was filthy, the walls covered in graffiti of band logos,
artwork, names, pictures, and sayings.

“
Come
on down, guys,
”
a familiar
voice said.

“
Look
at this,
”
Jake said.

Frank stood at the next landing
down, hands on his hips.
“
The
backstage area is technically down the basement.
”

“
Of
course it is,
”
Trent said.

The band walked down the steps,
sounding like a herd of animals.

Downstairs, the floor was wide
open.

“
Oh
damn,
”
Mack said.

“
This
is cool,
”
Jake said.

It was really neat downstairs,
backstage
.

In the far corner sat a group of
guys, holding guitars, a piano balanced on some old milk crates. A guy sat in a
chair with a guitar in his hands and a bass drum in front of his feet. They
were all strumming random chords and when they looked up and saw Fallen
Tuesday, their eyes went wide.

“
No
way,
”
the guitarist-slash-drummer
said.

“
What
’
s up, guys?
”
Luke asked.

“
Just
hanging,
”
one of them said.

Frank cut in and said,
“
This is Gone By Autumn.
”

“
Love
the name,
”
Jake said.
“
Much cooler than Fallen Tuesday.
”

Everyone laughed.

“
You
guys want to play something for us?
”
Gray asked.

“
Seriously?
”
the guitarist-slash-drummer
asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Jake said.
“
If you don
’
t start playing, we
’
ll take the guitars and play.
”

“
That
would be awesome,
”
one of
the guys in Gone By Autumn said.

“
You
play first,
”
Mack said.
“
Then we
’
ll play.
”

“
Deal
…”

The guitarist-slash-drummer gave a
head nod. He then whispered,
“
one,
two, three
…
four
…”

With that, the music began.

All at once, five guitars started
to play. It instantly gave Jake chills. By the way they played with ease, he
knew who were the lead and rhythm guitarists. The guy at end of the chairs was
nodding his head, looking around. Jake pegged him for the lead singer, waiting
for his time to come in.

Jake proved himself right when the
guy started to sing. He was really good.
Really damn good.
His voice was
on pitch, but it had that roughness to it that they had loved from the samples
they heard. It gave it a wicked good rock n
’
roll sound, even live in a basement like this. The guitarist-slash-drummer used
his foot to keep the tempo of the song, the bass drum thumping.

Through the first verse, into the
chorus, back into a verse, back into a chorus the band was tight. After the
second chorus, one of the guys put down his guitar and turned to the keyboard.
He started to play as the singer carried long notes. The song built right up to
a keyboard solo.

Jake looked at Gray and Gray
’
s eyes were glowing and his
smile was a mile wide. Mack elbowed Jake and leaned in.

“
These
guys are it,
”
he whispered.

“
I
think so,
”
Jake replied.

The keyboard solo ended and the
guitars took over. The obvious lead guitarist moved up and down the acoustic
neck with ease. He bent notes, dangerously high, but managed to maintain the
pitch. The keyboardist spun around, grabbed his guitar, and started to play a
solo on the guitar.

It was impressive.

They went into one last chorus, all
five guys singing in harmony, and when the song faded out, Fallen Tuesday
collectively clapped and whistled.

“
Awesome,
”
Jake yelled.
“
Freaking awesome.
”

“
Think
so?
”
one of them asked.

“
Hell
yes, man,
”
Mack said.
“
Tell us who you are. Right now.
”

“
Ease
up, Mack,
”
Luke said with
laugh.

“
No,
it
’
s cool,
”
the lead singer said. He put
his guitar down and stood up.
“
We
’
re Gone By Autumn. I
’
m Ryan. The guy here
”
- he pointed to his left -
“
is Gabe. He plays bass. And
guitar, obviously. Next to him is Blake, our drummer. Then we have Asher,
guitarist and piano madman. And finally, Tanner, lead guitarist.
”

Jake nodded and had their names
locked in.

Ryan, Gabe, Blake, Asher, and
Tanner.

“
It
’
s great to meet you guys,
”
Jake said.
“
That sounded great. Can
’
t wait to hear you on stage.
”

“
Hey,
let me sit there,
”
Mack
said to Blake.
“
I want to
try that out.
”

Blake stood and offered his guitar.
“
Sure, dude.
”

Mack sat. He strummed the guitar
and hit the bass drum.
“
I
like this.
”

“
I
think you owe us a song,
”
Ryan said.

He was full of attitude. Ripped
jeans. A tight shirt. Rings on his fingers. Necklaces. Messy hair. Earrings. A
bad boy look and smile.

“
He
’
s right,
”
Jake said.

The bands switched places and Fallen
Tuesday jammed out to one of their new songs. When they finished, they saw Gone
By Autumn damn near huddled together, all in amazement. Jake knew the looks on
their faces. It was the same look on Fallen Tuesday
’
s faces not too long ago when they were invited to
share the stage with Chasing Cross.

“
I
have an idea,
”
Jake said.
“
We didn
’
t come here to step on anyone
’
s toes, so it
’
s up to you guys. But what if we
arrange a little get together concert?
”

“
With
us?
”
Ryan asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Jake said.
“
We can jam to one of your songs
and you jam to one of ours. What do you think?
”

“
Seriously?
”
Gabe asked.
“
That would be
…”

“
Amazing,
”
Blake said.
“
Just amazing.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Ryan said.
“
That would change everything for
us.
”

Mack laughed and stood up. He
balanced the guitar he used on the chair.
“
You
think that
’
s going to
change things
…
just wait,
guys. Just wait.
”

“
Do
we have a plan?
”
Jake
asked.

“
I
think we do,
”
Ryan said.

“
Good.
We
’
ll see you out there
then.
”

“
Do
we need to practice?
”
Gabe
asked.

Jake smiled.
“
I think we got it. We saw you
play that song. We can play that one. And as far as one of ours goes, you can
pick.
”

Fallen Tuesday shook hands and
slapped fives with everyone in Gone By Autumn. They walked through the massive
basement
backstage
area and met the other two bands that were playing
that night. They were local bands, mostly young kids. A bunch of pictures and
autographs later, they headed up the steps and to get a drink.

Frank stopped them.

“
No
nonsense,
”
Frank said.
“
Focus on the band. Make the
call.
”

“
Yes,
sir,
”
Jake said with a
grin.

“
You
have the limo,
”
Frank said.
“
Use it.
”

“
Where
are you going?
”
Luke asked.

“
Oh,
you know, home to relax
…
unwind
…”
Frank smiled.
“
Need to get back on the phone
and arrange these tour dates.

“
You
’
re the best, Frank,
”
Luke said, slapping Frank
’
s face gently.

“
Don
’
t get too cozy,
”
Mack warned.
“
He
’
s
getting paid for this.
”

The band laughed.

Frank turned and opened a door. Two
security guards were standing there.

“
No,
”
Jake said.
“
We
’
re
not going to be tailed all night.
”

“
I
agree,
”
Gray said.

“
Just
keep an eye on them,
”
Frank
said to the security guards.

Frank went one way and the band
went another.

The gathering crowd immediately recognized
the band. But it was all good. Jake gladly stepped into the crowd. He thought
about how rude he was to walk away from all their fans during that encore. It
tore him up that he let his personal life do that to him. For a second, he got
lost in the crowd - in the autographs, pictures, and questions - and then he
suddenly thought about Chloe. She was probably still in his apartment. She was
probably still pretending to be pregnant. She was probably still hoping for Jake
to confess his love for her.

Jake didn
’
t want this to ruin his night.

He turned and made a line for the
bar. A couple drinks would certainly take the edge off. The crowd started to
part and that
’
s when Jake
lost his breath for a second.

If there was one other thing that
could take the edge off right now, it would be Mel. And there she was, sitting
at the bar with another woman.

“
No
…
way
…”

*

Luke put a hand to Jake
’
s shoulder and turned him
around.
“
Bro, got a sec?
”

“
Luke
…
I
…”

“
Come
on, quick,
”
Luke said.
“
Before we all start drinking and
splitting up.
”

It was obvious something had Jake
’
s attention.

“
Yeah,
okay,
”
Jake succumbed.

The band was huddled in a corner.
Music came from the speakers on the stage. They were loud but not too loud. The
murmur of the crowd started to grow.

“
First
impressions on these guys?
”
Luke asked.

“
Great,
”
Jake said.

“
They
’
re a good band,
”
Gray said.
“
You can tell they enjoy it.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Trent said.
“
I agree.
”

“
Mack?
”
Luke asked.

“
Dude,
I
’
m in,
”
Mack said.
“
His voice is rough and the band meshes
perfectly. Nobody tries to overpower anyone else. They trust each other.
”