Marcus laughed as he walked by. “You didn’t know he was here? He’s been working with Sonic Boom for the past six months, and Hailey spotted him one day. She invited him.” He grinned and pointed to the bar. “Let’s go have a drink, you guys. You did amazing. I’m so glad I got to be a part of this.”
“Deal,” I said.
Grant, Luis, and I walked over, and Marcus motioned over Taylor and Bryce. He plunked down next to a guy who looked completely overwhelmed by the whole shindig. Slapping him on the back, he smiled.
“Hanging in there, Jace?”
“This is…amazing, Marc. Holyshit, that’s the whole band.”
I thought the poor guy was going to hyperventilate. “Hey. Austin Lowell.” I stuck my hand out.
“Jace Macintire,” he answered, shaking my hand. Everyone shook his hand with an introduction.
Another hand appeared and offered itself. “Nelson Powers.”
Jace literally fell off the chair, away from the bar top and straight into Nelson Powers’ arms. He gasped, flooded with embarrassment and tried to get his feet under him.
His foot was caught in the chair and he went down even further, dragging the Hollywood superstar with him to the ground.
Powers managed to turn so that the stool coming down with them didn’t land between them, and somehow Jace wound up sprawled up on top of him.
Powers, and all of us actually, were cracking up. It was such a cluster of bad luck there was nothing to do but to laugh. Except poor Jace was completely mortified and scrambling to get away from Powers.
“Hey, hey,” Powers said. “Relax. It’s fine. I didn’t think you’d get that startled.”
“I’m so sorry!”
“Jace, stop.” Marcus laughed. “It’s okay. Nels, you scared the crap out of the kid.”
He held his hand out for Jace to grab while I pulled the chair off the poor kid’s leg. We got him righted as Powers righted himself. Powers was laughing, and put an arm around Jace, who now paled instead of flushed.
“Kid, it’s okay. You’re good. Shit happens. That was actually funny.”
Jace forced the air out of his lungs and relaxed a bit. “Okay, yeah it was. It takes talent to fall off a stool sober.”
“All right, shots,” I said to the bartender. “Tequila for eight—”
“Nope, thirteen,” Maddox Jones said, walking up.
“Nope, fifteen,” Uriah corrected, dragging up someone who looked exactly like him.
Holy shit, he had an identical twin brother.
And holy shit, I could tell they were identical but at the same time, I could totally tell them apart.
Uriah was hotter.
Shit.
I had to pay attention to everything else. I couldn’t concentrate on him, or my blossoming gayhood. We had a major, major record on our hands now and there just wasn’t time to deal with everything I was feeling.
I found a shot glass in my hand, and Powers had his in the air. “To Up Down Left Right! May you go platinum!”
We all tossed our shots back and seemed to shiver as one. It was definitely a good shiver.
* * *
I wokeup on Friday morning, my dick as stiff as well-beaten meringue, our new song all over the radio and YouTube, and a knot of nerves in my stomach.
