Mason
“Ben, you can drink until you vomit after the show. But for now, for the love of god, man…can you just stick with beer?” I plead. I’m tuning my guitar on the side of the stage, playing through a few riffs on some of the songs we’re going to do.
“Come on, loosen up, princess. It’s just one shot,” he says, carrying a tray over to me and the guys. I know Ben; one shot turns into twelve out of nowhere. But it’s our first gig together since we all split and headed different directions a couple of months ago, and I’m actually excited about some of the songs we’re playing tonight. We’re even playing the one I’ve been working on. It’s going to be a little rough, but I don’t care.
I give in to Ben’s pressure and tip my glass back fast, the tequila burning on its way down. “Wooooooo!” Ben yells, smacking his hand hard on the table. “Okay, just one more…”
I look at him instantly, and he slaps my back. “Just kidding!” he laughs, his breath foul as fuck in my face.
Avery is next to me seconds later, and I can’t help but smile at the sneer she gives Ben. “You want some, Birdie?” he says, breathing out in her face.
“Knock that shit off,” I say, shoving him away from her. I don’t care if it ruins our show for the night; I’m not letting Ben treat her like that.
“Damn, lighten up, Mace. I was just messin’ with her,” Ben says, his balance a little wobbly when he walks over to the stage steps. He’s had more than just one shot, and if I had my guess, he tipped a bottle of Vodka right before we downed that tequila.
“It’s okay. I’m used to Ben. He’s an asshole,” Avery says, her breath against my neck, lulling me back to a happier place.
“It’s not okay, and I’m sorry you’re used to it. He won’t do that again, I promise,” I say, kissing her lightly, and squeezing her hand.
“I’m covering the back, so I can sit with Max for a while. My dad’s going to hang back there with him, too. But I’ll come up front sometimes so I can get a good look at that sexy lead singer,” she winks and actually reaches around to grab my ass.
“That’s all I am to you, just some piece of meat, huh?” I tease. Honestly, I don’t care what Avery wants me for, as long as she wants me.
She smiles while she backs away, and when she spins on her heels to go back to Cole and turn in her orders, I watch every step her long, sexy legs take. “I gotta hand it to you, man. If I knew Birdie was going to grow up and turn into that, I would have made a play for that piece a long time ago,” Ben says over my shoulder, the words coming out a little rough.
“Yes, I’m sure she would have found you completely irresistible,” I poke back at him. He’s trying to get under my skin; it’s his new thing. But tonight is about starting over, so I’m not going to let Ben push my buttons.
“You ready, kid?” Ray asks, his hand flat on my back. For some reason, every nerve in my body is firing, and for a brief moment, I fear my fingers are so jittery that I won’t be able to pick out a note on my guitar. I shut my eyes, take a deep breath, and look at Ray.
“Ready,” I say, turning around to get with the guys while Ray announces us to the crowd. Dusty’s is full beyond capacity tonight. It’s not just me, but the whole band. And as much as I’ve felt like a failure the last few years, it seems that the people around here think just the opposite. There are people waiting out in the parking lot, just hoping to be able to hear enough or find a way in.
“Okay, guys. Look, I’m not gonna lie. The last few times we’ve played, we sucked. We hit bottom, and we fucking wallowed in it. We’re better than that. Let’s find it again, right now. You ready?” I say, looking into their eager faces, Ben probably more eager than he should be.
“Fuck yeah, man!” Ben shouts. I just laugh and shake my head, shouting along with him. Matt and Josh grab their guitars and climb the steps to take their spots; Ben gets comfortable behind the drums, tapping out a few rhythms that make the crowd go absolutely nuts. As soon as Ray is done introducing us, I take the mic, and I look out at hundreds of faces, a few of them familiar.
“So I brought my band this time,” I smile, and the girls eat it up. I’ll never get used to this reaction, and it makes me blush. I rub my hand over my mouth and chin, hiding my red face until I finally spot Avery in the back. I wink at her, and the group of college girls hanging at the front of the stage goes crazy, screaming my name and telling me exactly what they want to do to me. A month ago, that would have had me ready to fly through the show just to get them up to a hotel room or the trailer after. But I’m so far from interested now, and I actually find them comical.
“We thought we’d play some oldies, cuz…y’all know Ray, right?” I say, drawing everyone’s attention to Avery’s dad, sitting in his usual spot at the edge of the stage. He stands up and gives a cursory wave; he hates it when I do this.
“Well, Ray…he’s reeeeeallllly old,” I joke, and Ray’s wave turns into him giving me the finger in a flash of a second, which only makes me laugh even harder. “But I love this man. He gave me my break, taught me everything I know. So tonight, Ray? This is for you.”
We launch into three Johnny Cash songs with a little bit of a modern rock twist, and everyone in Dusty’s is on their feet, moving and yelling for more. I look at Ben and nod during the last Cash song, “Folsom Prison.” He nods and smiles back. These songs were his idea, and he was dead right—we’ve never sounded better.
We play five more covers straight, ending with my version of “Wild Horses,” this time the band coming in to join me for the last half, and people are actually dancing in the middle of Dusty’s, finding space in the crowd. Avery makes her way up front for this one, and I sing the entire thing to her, my eyes not leaving her face once.
I know I’ll lose her back to the crowd soon, so I lean over and whisper to Matt that I want to play my tune next, a little out of order. He steps back and tells Ben, who just shrugs and mouths “Whatever.” Once we’re all on the same page, I take the mic again and get Avery’s attention before she can step away.
“So, we’ve been working on some new stuff. If you guys are up for it, we’d like to play a few for you tonight. What do ya say?” I ask, holding the mic up over the crowd in front of us, amplifying the screams. Tonight is good for our ego, I just hope it doesn’t go to Ben’s head.
“All right, well…this first one… I’ve been working on it for, fuck man…oh, shit, sorry Ray,” I wince, and everyone laughs. I always give Ray a hard time about his beef with my swearing. It’s funny to watch him get angry, at least it is when he’s not really angry. “Anyhow, I’ve been working on this one for months. I couldn’t seem to quite get it right. Then this girl…well, she sort of helped me see where all the pieces fit. It’s called “Perfect,” and it’s about her.”
The hush in the audience is palpable, and every girl up front is turning her head, looking around, trying to figure out exactly who she is—every girl but the one I’m staring at. Avery crosses her legs nervously, perched atop one of the stools at the end of the bar. I see Claire come over behind her and poke her arm, teasing her a little, and I see a few of the girls up front notice and cover their mouths to giggle.
The song starts with the melody I played for Max—just me playing soft and slow, and I close my eyes to really take it in, make sure I get every note right. When I look back at Avery, she’s chewing on her fingernails again, but her smile spreads the entire span of her face. God that smile—I’d do anything for it. I lean forward so my lips brush the mic, and I start to sing.
Maybe I’ve been too daft to notice. Maybe I was just too young.
Whatever it was that kept us from us. Whatever that was, it’s done.
I hate that I missed…
Every moment…
That you needed someone by your side…
But I won’t falter now.
The band kicks in on the break, and the crowd starts literally swaying with us—like those crazy things you see when Springsteen sings one of his classics. Un-fucking-real!
I look back at Avery, and she has both hands over her lips, her eyes soft and watering. I love that everyone is getting to hear this song, and I can’t believe how people are reacting to it, but truly—this girl is the one that matters. And seeing her face look like that has my heart pounding out of my chest.
What if I could go back? What if you changed your mind?
Would you still want me so bad, if I wasn’t so damned blind.
I hate that I wasted…
So many kisses…
Before my lips knew yours…
Perfect. All you are is perfect.
Time won’t let us go back to the place we used to know,
but I won’t stop till you let me love you completely.
My heart, breaking in two, that’s what you’d do, if you didn’t let me…
Oh girl just let me, love you…completely.
I can’t help myself when the band breaks into their solo, and I walk to the side of the stage, down the steps and right to where Avery is sitting. I push my hand into the hair that falls down the side of her face, and pull her to me for the deepest kiss of my life. When I back away and smile, her eyes are drenched in tears, but I know they’re the good kind, and I mouth “I love you,” and head back up to the stage to finish the song out with the guys.
The crowd absolutely loses it after that, and we make it through six more songs before wrapping it up for the night. All anyone wants to talk about is the kiss, and my song. I hear Ben working his angle with some girl, telling her how everything we do is collaboration. I don’t really care, whatever helps him with his game. All I want to do is get to Avery.
My mom finds me before anyone else, and she squeezes me in her arms like I’m still a little boy. “Mason, you were so good. I’m so proud of you,” she gushes. My mom always gushed when I played, so I sort of take her compliments at half value.
“Thanks, mom. Hey, you see Avery?” I ask, trying to lift my head up high enough to find her in the crowd.
“I think she had to get Max home, hon. She was here for most of the show, though. I think she maybe missed the last song,” she says, and for some reason, I’m filled with worry that she left. I pull my phone from my pocket and dial, but she doesn’t answer. I try again, but still no answer.
“That…was the shit!” Josh says, his arm draped over my shoulders while he downs what’s left of his beer. “Dude, if you can write more crap like that, we’re totally going to get picked up again.”
“Thanks, man. Seriously, you guys killed it,” I say, pounding knuckles with Matt and nodding to Ben. “Even you, you drunken asshole.”
“You love me,” Ben slurs, his hand already on the ass of the girl he’s marked for tonight. The sight of it actually makes me laugh, because not so long ago, my hand would have been on some stranger’s ass too. But all I want now is Avery…Avery!
I text her quickly, taking a minute before the next barrage of people come up to us to talk.
Are you okay? My mom said you had to get Max home. Is he okay?
I keep my phone in my hand so I can feel it buzz with her return, and I continue talking with people who all want to tell us how much they liked the show. The more people collapse on me, the more overwhelmed I am with the need to climb right through their asses and race to Ray’s to make sure Avery and Max are okay. I finally see Ray standing behind a group of girls all waiting to get my attention, and I start to move through them. One actually grabs the front of my jeans when I walk by—holy shit!
I smile at her politely because, well face it, I’m still human, but I keep my focus on Ray and let her fingers slip over my body while I move forward.
“That was some gig, kid,” Ray’s smiles. He’s relaxed—this is good.
“Is Avery all right?” I half interrupt before he can say anything else. His reaction to my worry isn’t quite what I’d expect. He just folds his arms over his chest and furrows his brow.
“She’s…fine Mason. Max was having a hard time with the crowd, so she took him home,” he says, watching me basically freak out in front of him.
I breathe deeply when he tells me everything is fine—for some reason Ray’s confirmation holding a lot more stock than my mother’s, and he starts to smirk at me.
“Sorry,” I say, blowing out a big breath and cracking my knuckles behind my neck, when I look back at Ray, I see he’s still chuckling. “What, joke’s on me?”
“No. Nothing like that,” he says, patting me on my back. “You worried about Avery. I like that.”
Hell, if I knew that would be all it took, I would have told him about how that’s all I’ve done since the day she smacked me hard across my face.
“Hey, pansy. You comin’ out to celebrate with us or what? We’re hitting Spanks,” Ben says, now somehow holding hands with an entirely different girl. That man’s charisma never ceases to amaze me. Ben’s a heavier guy, decent looking I guess, but a big guy. But he always bagged the best looking chicks. Of course, second best now.
“I uh…” I look down at my phone just in time to see Avery’s text.
Sorry. I was going to text as soon as I got Max to bed. I’m good. Too many people. Started to upset him. I’ll wait up! XXOO
“I sorta promised Avery I’d come home. Next time, though, okay?” I say, and I can tell Ben is more than disappointed.
“Whatever,” he says, flipping me off and putting his arm around the new blonde he’s with, following Matt and Josh out the door. I feel a tight pang in my stomach from watching them leave, and for a split second, I think about saying “Screw it,” and catching back up to them. But that thought passes quickly, and it’s replaced by wanting to be with Avery as soon as possible.
There are a few people left hanging around the stage while I pack up my guitar and store the guys’ stuff; I nod at them as I walk by, but before I get too far, one of them stops me. “You’re Mason Street, yeah?” he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. I look at it for a good hard second, and decide he seems decent enough, so I shake it.
“That’s me. You enjoy the show?” I ask, pulling my case up to rest it on the table.
The guy laughs a little under his breath and looks at both of his friends who seem equally amused. “Mason, I’m Kevin Quill,” he starts, and I don’t even think I hear the rest of what he has to say. Kevin Quill has launched the careers of about a dozen singer-songwriter types like me—as in multi-million-dollar kind of launched their careers. I’m looking at his card and reading his name over and over when I realize he’s still talking.
“I’m sorry, huh?” I say, my eyes coming up to meet his finally.
“I said I was wondering if you and I could sit down and talk sometime, maybe see if there might be an opportunity for me to work with the Mason Street Band,” he says, his perfect white teeth shining right back at me, almost putting me in a trance.
“Uh, sure. I mean, yes. That’d be great,” I shake his hand again.
“Good, give me a call tomorrow. We’ll talk,” he says, throwing a couple hundreds down on the table to cover the bill, and leaving with his friends. I look around the bar, and no one is left to bear witness. The only person who would even understand why my jaw is hanging open is Ray, and I can’t find him anywhere, so I just throw the guitar in my trunk and head straight to Avery.