Page 64 of Steady Stroke
“Roxy said she’s heard you have them before.”
That got Lincoln’s direct attention. “She what? Why would she tell you that?”
Dominic tilted his head in an assessing way. “She’s worried about you. Said the first time you woke up shouting was two weeks ago. Did something happen?”
Yes.
“Nothing unusual.”
“A hookup that ends in a migraine isn’t unusual?”
Anger sizzled beneath Lincoln’s skin. Roxy had no business spreading his personal shit to her brother. “How should I know? It was the first time I’d had sex since the goddamn accident. Obviously sex and alcohol don’t mix anymore.”
“Do you get migraines when you have sex with Emmett?”
Lincoln glared. “I’m not discussing the sex I have with Emmett. That’s too fucking special.”
Dominic’s expression softened. “Sorry. I know it is, but dude. I’m worried about you. You know you can tell me anything. No judgments. Ever.”
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, sure. I was fine, too, once upon a time.” On a flash of irritation, Dominic stood and left the room.
Lincoln flopped back against the air mattress,deflated before the day had even begun. He wanted to stay there forever, hiding under his thin blanket—until the scent of sizzling bacon decided that eating was a much better plan. He’d deal with Dominic’s curious stares on a full stomach.
If anyone else had heard him shouting, no one mentioned it. Lincoln enjoyed the familiar camaraderie of a meal with Dominic and Benji, and he loved watching the new dynamics between them and the old Fading Daze members—until their new combinations reminded him that he wasn’t a part of either group anymore. He was on the outside, staring in, like a child cupping his hands against the reflection of a store window. Only able to observe.
His melancholy disappeared around ten o’clock when Emmett arrived—with Beatrice in tow. She had hugs for everyone and a giant fruit basket that took over the entire coffee table. He and Emmett stood by the far wall, arms around each other’s waists, while Beatrice demanded gossip. Then she demanded they all come to Off Beat tonight, first round on the house, and no one could say no to her.
Emmett, she said on her way out the door a little after noon, had the night off.
Lincoln loved the sound of that. He nuzzled Emmett’s ear. “Maybe we can stay here while they go off clubbing,” he whispered. Emmett shivered.
“Dudes,” Bobby said. “Don’t know about you, but I’m ready to see how Linc plays this QChord of his.”
Danielle wolf-whistled.
Lincoln fetched the instrument in question, then found himself the center of attention as he made magic with his new favorite toy, pulling off a riff on several different U2 songs before switching over to John Lennon. Several mouths were hanging open by the time he finished.
He glanced at Dominic, then wished he hadn’t, becausea single tear had leaked from Dom’s right eye. His own eyes prickled.
“He wowed me the first time he played,” Emmett said.
Lincoln cleared his throat hard. “You wowed me too. Emmett has a crazy good singing voice.”
“Oh yeah?” Trey asked. He exchanged looks with Danielle and Benji, the room’s other two vocalists. “You know what they say. Pictures or it didn’t happen.”
“Huh?” Emmett asked.
“It means you gotta sing for us.”
Emmett looked stricken; Lincoln regretted outing him so casually. “You don’t have to.”
Instead of seeming relieved, Emmett straightened his shoulders, frowning. “No, let’s do it. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water.’”
Trey’s eyebrows winged up.
Emmett didn’t come any closer to the armchair where Lincoln sat, choosing to sing at a distance, so Lincoln changed the setting on his synthesizer, then started playing. At his cue, Emmett’s clear tenor filled the room with emotional lyrics and practiced notes, singing the song in a way that put the original artists to shame. He sang it to Lincoln and no one else.
