Night Shifts Black (26 page)

Finally, he pulls back
with a grin. “Wow, computers really turn you on, don’t they,” he teases, and I
smack him lightly before smothering his easy smile with another kiss, this one
completely abandoned.

∞∞∞

The food arrives shortly after Casey finishes
setting up, so we’re forced to take a break from our recording session, not
that I was allowing him to get much done anyway. Casey seems disappointed at
the interruption, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have stopped to eat if I hadn’t made
him.

“So Callie, what’s
your story? How’d you and Casey even meet?” Eli asks.

“Uh-oh,” Casey
mutters, and we exchange an amused glance.

I rub my hands in
anticipation and lean forward. “Well, like I said earlier, it actually started
with Luke. Luke and I met at a café and started a breakfast club which Casey
crashed one morning.”

“I didn’t crash!”
Casey cries, holding up a potato in protest.

“Oh my gosh, Casey,
you crashed so hard,” I reply, and the others laugh.

“Dude, you literally crashed
it by storming off,” Luke reminds him, and Casey grunts.

“Fine, yeah, but only
because you were being a jerk.”

Luke shrugs. “True.
But you basically told me that to my face. I mean, you crashed in all its
definitions.”

Casey rolls his eyes.
“Whatever.”

I wave my hand.
“Anyway, he eventually came back to hang out, we hit it off, and here we are.”

Eli gives us a
skeptical look. “Hang on, breakfast club?” he asks.

Luke nods. “Yup, we
met at Jemma’s Café pretty much every day for breakfast.”

“Jemma’s? Isn’t that
the place where you stole that chair?”

“I didn’t steal it!”
Luke defends. I give him a look, and he shrugs. “Ok, fine. I kind of stole it.
Yeah, that place.”

“So what’s with the
chair?” Sweeny asks, and I instinctively know that question crosses the line.
Luke has been much improved lately, but that’s too far.

He shrugs. “Long
story,” he mumbles.

“What about you guys?”
I ask quickly, changing the subject, and Luke gives me a grateful look. I
return a quick smile, before focusing back on our guests. “I know all about
Luke and Casey, but not the mysterious Eli and Sweeny. Are you from Houston,
too?”

They shake their
heads. “Austin, actually. We hooked up with Luke and Casey about eight years
ago.”

I nod. “Gotcha. So Sweeny,
you’re lead guitar and Eli…?”

“Bass.”

I nod. “Ok.”

They’re looking at me
the way Casey and Luke looked at me in the beginning. Who am I kidding? The way
they still look at me half the time.

“She didn’t actually
know our music, or anything about us, before she met us,” Casey explains with a
snicker.

I roll my eyes.
“You’re still hung up on that, huh?” I grunt.

“You tried to convince
me you were royalty.”

“Yeah, well, you tried
to convince me that I should kiss your feet because you happen to bang buckets
with sticks pretty well.”

The others laugh, and
Casey gives me a dirty look.

“All drummers think
they’re God’s gift. Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Eli assures me.

Casey straightens. “Yeah?
Try playing any of our songs without drums. I could track your part in an hour
before the show,” he returns, and now it’s Eli’s turn to glare.

“Whatever.”

“Ok, children,” Sweeny
jumps in. “You both are super awesome. Can we let this go?”

Casey winks at me, and
I shake my head with a smile.

“Ok, so tell us about
this song. We’re dying to know what’s got poor TJ all hot and bothered,” Eli
says.

Casey’s eyes light up
as he leans forward. “Alright, so crazy story. Callie and I were talking the
other night, and I saw some poetry she was working on. I’d been playing around
with some chords in my head for a while and when I saw her stuff, I just felt
it. I don’t know, I knew it was going to work for some reason. Anyway, we’ve
been working on it ever since, and I think we’ve got a pretty good start.”

“Yeah?” Eli asks. I
can’t read his reaction. “What’s it called again?”

“‘Greetings from the
Inside,’” Casey says.

“And what’s it about?”

Casey turns to me, and
I swallow at the unexpected spotlight.

I clear my throat.
“Um, well, I guess it’s about depression and how you let yourself see a
distorted reflection of yourself that becomes reality. It traps you and you
can’t overcome it until you learn to recognize the lie.”

They nod, considering
my explanation.

“Ok, right on,” Sweeny
says, nodding in approval and relaxing in his seat. He turns to Casey. “So is
this getting off the ground or what?”

“I’m working on it! I
still need a minute. I’ll have something for you by dinner.”

They nod.

“Well, then get to
work!” Eli cries shooing him away, and Casey mutters something as he pushes
himself up from the table.

∞∞∞

I don’t like that Casey leaves me alone with
the others, but realize there’s no way around it. He has work to do, and I’d only
be in the way if I followed him. Thankfully, I’m spared the fifth wheel
awkwardness when Eli and Sweeny announce they still have to settle into their
rooms on the 2
^nd
floor. Luke and I say goodbye and promise to let
them know when Casey is ready for his big unveiling later that night.

“So what do you
think?” Luke asks me once we’re alone.

He drops to the couch,
and I follow, leaning against the other armrest so I can face him.

“They seem cool. I
mean, it’s not like we could really get to know each other in such a short
time.”

He shakes his head
with a smile. “I meant about Casey in his native habitat. You guys were in
there for a while. I know how he gets with his toys.”

“It’s pretty remarkable,”
I confess. “I had no idea about any of that stuff. He’s so talented.”

Luke scoffs. “You
haven’t even seen him play drums yet. Honestly, people don’t realize that, in a
lot of ways, he’s more important to the band than I am. I was just the face.
He’s the heart. Our producer would grab him for collaboration before me.”

“He said they almost
kicked him out when he refused to do the cable special on you.”

Luke sighs, and I can
tell he’s not thrilled about me recalling old memories, but at least he’s
letting them surface now.

“They figured out pretty
quick that wouldn’t have been good for them. They need Casey a lot more than he
needs them. You know he’s got a whole other side project going. Has he told you
about that yet?”

I shake my head, and Luke
nods. “Oh yeah. He dove in even harder after I left and things slowed down for
NSB. Casey Barrett is also the genius behind Penchant for Red.”

My jaw drops. “Wait,
the band that does ‘Untouched’ and ‘Closer to the Edge’? That’s Casey?” I cry.

He grins and nods.
“Yep. Penchant is totally his baby. They released their first album six months
ago and have already sold almost a million copies.”

 
I’m in shock. I don’t even know what to
say next. “So does he tour with them also?” I ask, suddenly concerned. Maybe
that’s why he was worried. I had assumed “being on the road all the time” was a
figure of speech. What if it wasn’t?

Luke shakes his head.
“No, not really. They play a few shows, but don’t do a formal tour. He can’t do
much because of his commitment to NSB, but don’t be surprised if one day
Penchant for Red eclipses anything we’ve ever done.”

“‘Closer to the Edge’
is so different than what you guys do!” I reason. “How could it be him?”

Luke laughs. “It’s
much more contemporary and mainstream for sure, which is why Penchant will
explode one day. You know he’s a classically trained musician, right? His
parents wanted him to be a violinist or something. He knows more about music
theory than any of us. He’s a freakin’ genius with all the production and
computer stuff.” Luke stops and glances toward the hallway. “Wait until you
hear what he’s putting together now with that little controller. I’m sure it will
blow your mind.”

My heart is swollen
with pride. In Casey. In Luke for his humility in demonstrating how much he
loves and respects his friend.

I shake my head, still
in disbelief. “Wow, I had no idea.”

Luke grins. “You
snagged a good one, Callie…then again, so did he.”

I return his smile. “I
knew that long before I knew any of this,” I say, and I can tell Luke
appreciates my response. “I saw who he was the night of your party.”

My words have an
effect on him, but I’m not sure of the result.

“Should we go see how
he’s doing?” he asks, and I’m on my feet as he finishes the question. I’d been
counting down the seconds.

We make our way to the
office, and it suddenly occurs to me that the same room Luke uses to escape and
fall apart, Casey is now using to grow and create. I wonder if Luke sees the
irony as well.

I’m surprised when he
doesn’t knock, but simply opens the door as quietly as possible and peeks
around the corner. Casey must wave him in because he then shoves it the rest of
the way and moves inside.

“How’s it going?”

Casey smiles and
stretches. “Well, it’s been all of ten minutes so not much to show so far.
Basically got the tempo set and first midi track lined up. I did one pass with
keys but I think I’m going to run it on guitar, too, and see what that sounds
like. I could use some input. Do you have your ears?”

Luke nods. “Yeah, in
my room. Just a sec.”

He leaves us, and I
move around the desk so I can see the screen.

“So Penchant for Red,
huh?” I comment casually without even looking at him.

I can see his grin
break out of the corner of my eye as he shakes his head. “Luke told you.”

I face him, and this
time don’t even bother hiding my awe. “Is there anything about you that isn’t
going to make me swoon? What else is there? You also have a PhD in physics and
founded a franchise of orphanages?”

“Swoon! There’s my old
lady. Love it,” Casey laughs.

I roll my eyes and
shove him.

“Want something to
drink? What can I do to help? Anything?”

He shakes his head.
“No, I’m fine. Just need time.”

“And silence,” I
conclude.

He smiles and shrugs,
but I can tell I’m right.

“Not a word. Promise.”

“Well, it doesn’t
matter much for this part. Just when we track the vocals. Minus the distraction
element, of course.”

“Oh, so I’m in your
way. Got it.”

He gives me a sly
grin. “I didn’t say that. I said distraction. You can be very distracting.”

“Oh really?” I ask,
leaning toward him. I know Luke is going to return any second, but every cell
in my body wants to be alone with Casey right now.

His eyes meet mine,
and it’s useless. I can’t stop myself. He pulls me against him, and our lips
meet in a brief, but saturated collision. It’s not nearly enough, but we hear
the door move, and I straighten.

Luke shakes his head
with a smile.

“I can come back,” he jokes,
and I grunt.

“No, it’s fine.
Somehow I think Casey would pick you over me right now anyway,” I tease,
although I’m pretty sure based on the look on his face, I’m right. He’s already
back in “artist mode,” and I’m not entirely positive he heard a word I said.

Luke gives me an apologetic
smile, but I only laugh.

“Have fun,” I say,
moving toward the door.

Luke surprises me by
stopping my retreat. “Where are you going? You should stay. You cool with that,
Case?”

Casey shrugs and nods,
barely even adjusting from his focus on the screen.

“Fine with me. Hey, so
here’s the first take at the keys. Before I clean it up, I just wanted to see
what you thought of the general direction.”

Luke nods and pulls a
set of the same type of custom headphones Casey has from a solid black case. He
puts them in his ears and hands the other end to Casey to insert into the
laptop.

Casey makes a few
keystrokes and waits while Luke listens. We both watch his face, and I find
myself nervous for Casey for some reason. It’s obvious that Luke’s opinion
means a lot to him. Finally, Luke must finish and pulls an earpiece out.

“It’s good, Case.
Maybe a little aggressive on the verses. I love the intro, though. I can totally
hear the piano riff followed by the band coming in with the crash of the drums
and guitars.”

Casey nods. “That’s
what I was thinking. One pass of piano for that first progression, and then
all-in hard on the second.”