Brooklyn & Beale (15 page)

Reid stood and walked toward the schedule posted on the wall. “We should do something. Other than help you drown in Starburst wrappers. Where will we be then?”

“France?” Inky answered, her voice unsure.

“Paris, to be exact. We have a show on the thirteenth, but we have the twelfth off. We should plan to do something then.”

“Sounds good to me.” Drew stood and stretched his arms overhead. “I think I’m going to catch some shut-eye before we get to Glasgow.”

“Me too,” Greer said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Reid hid his smile behind his hand when he caught Chloe’s amused expression as she watched Greer sulk away to the upper deck of the bus behind Drew.

“Chloe, can we go over that stuff we worked on?” Reid asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

Chloe smiled. “Of course.”

“I’ll be right back. I’ve got to run to my room first.” Reid took a final look over his shoulder, catching a smirk from Inky before closing the door behind him. He leaned against the door and let his head fall back. With his eyes closed, he inhaled deeply and tried to push down the feelings beginning to stir in ways he couldn’t allow.

Chloe sat with a smile as Reid disappeared into the back room, only looking away when Inky cleared her throat. Her brows furrowed when she noticed Inky’s odd expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just curious what you two are working on, that’s all. That was my nosy face.”

“Your nosy face?” Chloe asked, laughing when Inky nodded. “Okay, then. We’re actually working on adding more layers to the CCR song we played. Reid came up with some really amazing ideas.”

Inky’s lips parted in surprise. “Reid’s writing music?”

At that moment, Chloe realized that whether or not Reid had confided in the others about his problem, they were aware nonetheless. “Yeah,” she answered, shifting her weight.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Inky muttered as she stood and grabbed a water bottle. The same look of mischief she’d worn earlier returned in full force.

Chloe eyed her cautiously. “What?”

Inky shook her head and moved toward the stairs. “I think I’ll grab some sleep too.”

Chloe’s confusion intensified as she tried to work out what Inky was up to. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She grinned. “Oh, and Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know Reid’s birthday?”

Chloe swallowed hard. It was obvious that whatever Inky was going to say was the source of her canary like behavior. “No. Why?”

Inky laughed. “It’s July twenty-third,” she said, before disappearing from sight.

Chloe sat completely still as she put together why Inky found Reid’s birthdate so amusing. When it clicked, her eyes fell shut and her hand instinctively covered the tattoo decorating her arm.

“Shit,” she exhaled, nerves rippling through her body. “He’s a Leo.”

“What’s that?”

Chloe jumped and spun toward Reid with her hand over her chest and her eyes wide as saucers. “Shit,” she gasped. “You scared the hell outta me.”

Reid grinned and fell onto the bench beside her. “My bad.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chloe rolled her eyes and lifted her chin toward the notebook. “Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? This is awesome.” Reid ran his hand over the cover and pulled in a deep breath. “For a lot of reasons,” he mumbled.

Chloe wanted to press. She wanted to ask what he meant, but after the last twenty-four hours, more complications were the last thing they needed. “So what are we working on?”

Reid slouched against the back of the bench and raked his hand through his hair. “Do you ever have those days where you wish you could just forget everything?”

Chloe fought to keep her expression neutral. This type of question was the exact opposite of avoiding complications. “Well, yeah. I think that’s normal. Although it wasn’t until the last six months that I started considering what everything included.”

“What do you mean?”

Chloe shrugged and looked at her hands. “I had two tours cancel back-to-back. When the bills started piling up, I thought I was going to have to throw in the towel.”

Reid sat up abruptly, causing Chloe to jump. “What do you mean throw in the towel? Surely you don’t mean giving up music, because that’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Some of us don’t have the luxury of waiting out the bad times,” Chloe shot back, defensive. When Reid winced, Chloe knew her words hit their mark.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to piss you off. It’s just that I can’t imagine someone as talented as you never playing again.”

“I could say the same thing about you,” she countered, her eyes soft.

Reid cleared his throat. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. This is all I’ve ever wanted. This has been a horrific year, and as much as I’m struggling, walking away just isn’t an option.”

“That’s good to hear,” Chloe said with a smile. “And when I said I considered throwing in the towel, I didn’t mean music altogether. I meant this kind of music, this lifestyle.”

“What other kind of music is there?”

Chloe gave him a sad smile. “The kind of music my mother wants. The kind where I dress in pencil skirts and blouses that cover my tattoos. Where piercings and purple hair are a foreign concept.” Chloe threw her head back and straightened her shoulders. With her fingers laced delicately over her knees, she spoke with exaggerated enunciation. “In the words of my mother, ‘Only true musicians are given the honor of playing for the Philharmonic. Be the best of the best, Chloe. Don’t allow those bottom-feeding so-called rock bands to bring you down. You’re so above that lifestyle.’ You know what’s funny?” Chloe asked. “She married a middle-class man and lived a middle-class life by choice.”

“What do you mean, by choice?”

“My mother’s family is very well-off. When she met my dad, they forbade her from seeing him, so she left. Gave it all up for him. I think a part of her regretted it later when she saw firsthand how difficult life could be without having everything right at your fingertips. Maybe that’s why she treats me the way she does. She doesn’t want me to make the same mistakes. Which is a really shitty feeling because I’m a result of those mistakes.” Chloe slouched her shoulders and dropped her chin. She hadn’t planned to tell him so much about her mother, but once she started, she couldn’t stop. Maybe it was because after the things he shared the night before, it was only fair. Chloe’s eyes snapped to Reid when he hooked his finger under her chin.

“There are a lot of words I could use to describe you, but mistake isn’t one of them. You’re right, I do have the luxury of waiting this thing out, but I need you to understand that I’ll wait until I draw my last breath if that’s what it takes. There is nothing else for me but this.”

Chloe blinked back tears and straightened her back until she broke away from Reid’s touch. The sincerity in his voice and the tenderness of his touch caused her heart to race and her pulse to pound. “There’s that passion,” she whispered.

Reid leaned away, his expression dazed. For several seconds, he stared blankly at the wall behind Chloe before a slow smile crept across his face. “Well, I’ll be damned. You really are a fucking Jedi Master.”

A fit of laughter burst from Chloe’s chest, her arms wrapping around her waist when her muscles began to ache. She peeked up at Reid with glassy eyes. His skin was flushed, his bright hazel eyes pinched at the corners from the wide smile splitting his face. It was the most carefree Chloe had seen him, and she couldn’t help but notice how it made him even more attractive. The thought was sobering.

Pulling in a cleansing breath, Chloe wiped under her eyes and relaxed against the back of the bench. Reid mimicked her position, leaning in the opposite direction. In comfortable silence, the pair stared at each other, wearing matching soft smiles. Chloe’s lips parted of their own volition when Reid licked his lips. His smile melted and his gaze intensified. Chloe felt heat rise to the surface of her skin and butterflies erupted in her stomach. When he leaned forward, her breath caught.

“Chloe,” he whispered. “Will you promise me something?”

“I’ll try.”

“Please don’t ever give up on
this
. Music runs through your veins. It saturates who you are to the very core. You’re not meant to be lost in a sea of faces playing for a bunch of overprivileged rich people. You deserve to be seen at center stage.”

Chloe nodded, the lump lodged in her throat preventing her from speaking. This was how Chloe knew Reid hadn’t lost his creativity; he spoke in poetry. The fire that had been absent in his eyes since they met was beginning to flicker to life. It was awe-inspiring. Clearing her throat, Chloe pushed the notebook on the table toward Reid. “As long as you promise the same.”

Reid grabbed the notebook and flipped to the last page. Slipping around the table until he and Chloe sat shoulder-to-shoulder, he handed her a pen and smiled. “Deal.”

Chloe dug through her bag, pulling out what she needed for the show later that night. Using her shoulder to cradle her phone to her ear, she waited for Josie to finish with her rapid-fire questions.

“Things are great,” Chloe said, answering Josie’s questions all at once. “Exhausting, but great.” Three weeks had passed since her impromptu heart-to-heart with Reid on the tour bus. In that time, they’d played thirteen shows and traveled more miles than Chloe could count.

“I’ve watched some of the videos posted on YouTube,” Josie remarked, her tone holding a hint of mischief.

“Oh?” Chloe didn’t have to guess where the conversation was going, but she had no intention of making it easy for Josie to prod her.

“Don’t play coy with me. What happened to keeping things strictly professional? You guys look like you’re about to go at it in every clip I’ve seen! I won’t lie, it’s hot.”

“Maddie, is that you?” Chloe joked, swallowing thickly.

“Oh, you’re lucky she’s not here. I’m going easy on you compared to the kind of things she would say.”

“True,” Chloe laughed then sighed again. “Well, you can report to her that there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Reid.”

“What? Why not? Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that whole, ‘staying professional’ thing.”

“No, it’s not that. There was a moment when I actually entertained the possibility of there being something more between us.”

“What happened that changed your mind?”

“He has a girlfriend,” Chloe said simply.

The line was silent for several seconds followed by a quiet, “Oh.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame. You guys really do have an amazing stage presence.” After a beat, Josie spoke again, her voice playful. “How serious are they?”

Chloe laughed. “What has Maddie done to you?”

“I think it’s Anders. Living with him is destroying my morals, one scandalous thought at a time.”

“How’s that going?” Chloe asked, happy with the change in conversation.

“It’s fine. He’s still alive,” Josie chuckled. “In all honesty, it’s amazing. I never thought I could be this happy with someone who drives me insane.”

“I’m really happy for you,” Chloe said, her voice filled with sincerity. She jumped in surprise when there was a soft knock at the door. Pushing off the bed, she crossed the room and peeked through the peephole.

“Thanks. It’s been an adjustment sharing a space with someone on a daily basis, but I guess you know exactly what that’s like living inside a bus with a group of people for months on end.”

Chloe opened the door and moved to the side, motioning for Reid to come in. “Thank God for hotel rooms,” she laughed. “I think it’s the only reason some people haven’t killed others.” Reid flashed her a wide smile, well aware she was referring to him and Greer.

“When are you coming back to LA?”

“Our last show for this leg of the tour is the twenty-sixth of July. I’m not due in LA until the middle of August, so I’ll hang out in New York until then.” Chloe’s brows furrowed when Reid’s face twisted into a frown. She tried to get his attention, ask him what was wrong, but he was lost in whatever thoughts were running through his head.

“Well, if you want to come here sooner, let me know. I still have my old place. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it yet, so it’s empty if you want somewhere to crash.”

“Thanks, Josie. I’ll think about it. In the meantime, Reid is here, so I’m going to run. I’m glad we had a chance to catch up.”

“Me too. Take care. I’ll talk with you soon.”

After saying good-bye, Chloe tossed her phone on the table and cleared her throat to get Reid’s attention. “What’s up?”

Reid snapped his head in Chloe’s direction and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I . . . uh, I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab something to eat.”

“Are you okay?” His defensive posture and the way he wouldn’t look her in the eye caused a sinking feeling to spread through her. “Is today a bad day?”

Reid shook his head, but he still wouldn’t look her in the eye. During the last few weeks, he’d hit a couple of rough spots. London was the worst. He’d spent a lot of time there over the years and had made quite a few friends, many of whom were the types of friends he had no business associating with. On the opposite end of the spectrum, others gathered not as a show of support, but to voice their disapproval of the American legal system and Reid’s lack of criminal charges. It didn’t matter that they had no idea what really happened at his home in LA all those months ago. In their minds, he should be behind bars.

“Just a little lost in my head,” he answered finally.

“I see. Well, that makes perfect sense. I’d be a mess too if I had to spend very much time in your head.”

Reid peeked up at her, a smile threatening to lift one side of his mouth. “Are you calling me emo, Chloe?”

With a shrug, she grabbed the bag she’d put together for the show and slung it over her shoulder. “If the skinny jeans fit.”

Reid barked out a laugh, his half grin turning into a full-blown smile. “I don’t wear skinny jeans,” he argued, his expression a mix of mock and genuine horror.

“Yet,” Chloe taunted, turning toward the door.

“Ever,” he insisted, following her into the hall.

Once in the elevator, Reid shuffled his feet. “I was wondering something . . .” He fell silent, almost as if he was waiting for permission to ask his question.

“Yeah?”

He remained quiet for a beat before huffing out a breath. “What’s in New York?” he blurted out, causing Chloe’s eyes to widen.

“Umm . . . what exactly do you mean?”

“Why do you stay there? If you lived in LA, you’d never have trouble finding gigs.”

Chloe laughed as they walked through the lobby and out onto the street. “I don’t believe that for a second. Sure, there might be more opportunities, but there’s also more competition. At least in New York I have connections with the recording studio close to my apartment. If I moved to LA, I’d be starting from scratch.”

Reid disagreed. “You have connections in LA.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I could make some calls. Help get your name out there.”

Chloe shrugged. “Moving across the country is kind of a big deal. I don’t know if I’m ready to up and leave New York just yet.”

Reid nodded, but he seemed tense. When he spoke, there was an edge to his voice that wasn’t there before. “If I made some calls, talked to some people, and got a few leads on some serious gigs, would you think about it? Unless, of course, there’s someone keeping you there.”

Chloe snapped her head in his direction, her eyes wide. “Like a guy?” she asked, her tone incredulous. When Reid gave a sharp nod, she laughed. “Did you miss the whole horrible dating/tattoo story? Believe me, the last thing holding me in New York is a guy.” A frown twisted Chloe’s mouth and she looked away. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she wished there was someone waiting for her. Someone she could fall asleep talking to about her day. Someone to share her excitement and insecurities with. She cut her eyes to Reid through a curtain of hair, her frown deepening. The past few weeks she’d done all of those things with Reid, but it wasn’t the same.

“Hey,” he whispered, his thumb and forefinger cradling her chin and coaxing her head up to meet his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Chloe gave him an embarrassed smile. Her eyes swept over his face, cataloging his features one by one. From the intensity of his piercing hazel eyes framed by thick lashes, to his strong jaw covered in scruff. Everything about him was so appealing, yet completely unobtainable. The thought was sobering and brought forth a level of honesty that neither was prepared for.

“I wish there were,” she admitted, feeling silly and ashamed all at once. “You’re so lucky to have Jess. Some days I’m perfectly happy, and others . . . Well, other days, I’d give anything to have what you two have.”

Reid smiled and bumped her shoulder. “Well, I could put an ad on Craigslist for an upstanding Leo. It’s that or clone myself. It’s really up to you.”

Chloe smacked his shoulder and laughed, already feeling lighter. “What on earth makes you think I’d want a clone of you? Do you have any idea how difficult your Jedi training has been? Two of you?” Chloe blew out a heavy breath. “Even Yoda has limits, Padawan.”

Reid sucked his teeth and playfully cut his eyes in her direction. “Maybe I should consider joining the Sith.”

Chloe gasped dramatically and stopped abruptly on the sidewalk. “How dare you say such things?” With narrowed eyes, she pointed her finger in his face. “When karma comes and cuts off your hand or turns you into this gross, old, wrinkled guy, just remember you only have yourself to blame.”

“Jesus,” Reid chuckled, grabbing her extended finger and tugging on it playfully. “Your
Star Wars
love is hardcore.”

Chloe bowed her head and shook it sadly. “Sign of my failure, your doubt is.”

Without warning, Reid wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her to his side, laughing when she stumbled and grabbed his shirt to steady her steps. “Don’t ever stop being weird,” he murmured, hugging her close before loosening his grip but not letting go, as they continued down the busy sidewalk. “So what do you say? Will you think about it?”

Chloe sighed and leaned against him. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

The heat was nearly unbearable. Reid poured a bottle of water over his head and into his mouth. The audience screamed as the water cascaded down his chest and caused the thin material of his T-shirt to stick to his skin. He tossed the empty bottle into the crowd and turned toward Drew and Greer. Their hair was drenched, their shirts darkened with sweat. From the expressions on their faces, they were just as miserable as Reid. He looked to the side of the stage for Chloe. When he realized she wasn’t there, he decided to engage the crowd to buy her a little more time.

“Had I known I needed to include air conditioning costs in the ticket prices, I would have done so,” Reid said into the microphone, causing the cheers to erupt.

“Greer,” Reid called, moving toward his position on stage. “How are you holding up, man?”

Greer shook his head, sweat flying from his face and hair. “I’m going to need a whole lot of alcohol to replenish my fluid loss.”

“And you?” Reid asked, moving toward Drew.

Drew smiled and yanked his shirt off, causing screams to pierce the air. “I think after this show, I’m going skinny-dipping.”

Reid laughed at the suggestive smile Drew flashed the crowd. He had no doubt Drew would have more offers than he knew what to do with when the show was over.

Reid looked around the stage, his brows pulling together in staged confusion. “Did Chloe bail on us?” At the mention of her name, the crowd went wild.

“Chloe?” Reid called into the mic. “The show’s not over yet. Get your ass back out here and suffer with the rest of us.” Catcalls erupted seconds later. Reid smiled and turned toward the side of the stage, his smile slipping when he saw Chloe. She’d piled her hair on top of her head, revealing more of her colorful ink, but it was her outfit that caused his throat to tighten. Her top was the equivalent of a tank top cut off just below her breasts and her midthigh, gauzy skirt sat low on her hips, the loose material swaying with every step she took. His eyes roved over the curve of her waist, following the intricate pattern of a tattoo he hadn’t known existed.

When they’d taken a small break earlier to switch out instruments, Chloe looked as though she was going to pass out. Her clothes stuck to her body and her face was bright red. Unlike the guys, she couldn’t start yanking off clothes to combat the sweltering heat of the stage lights. Tom had called Inky to find Chloe something cooler than her floor-length skirt and off the shoulder long-sleeved top. When Tom signaled Inky was back, Chloe dashed off the stage to change. Reid hadn’t realized that something cooler was the equivalent of nearly naked.

Chloe held her violin at her side, her bow propped against her shoulder as she moved to stand beside Reid. She smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Sorry, guys. I just needed to slip into something a little cooler.” Whistles and cheers of approval rang out as Chloe lifted her violin into position. With a sly smile, she turned her head in Reid’s direction. Reid swallowed then matched her mischievous smile with one of his own.