Page 4 of Tumbling Hearts

“I guess we don’t have to stick around Detroit if we don’t want to,” Gene offers. “Maybe we could take a road trip somewhere. We have time off; what if we just took a vacation?”

“A vacation?” Ray tilts his head. “You mean like, with the whole band, or…?”

“No, what if we went somewhere, just the two of us?”

Ray’s cheeks start to heat up. “Like a weekend trip, for the Fourth of July?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Well…” Ray looks down, and he fidgets with the edge of his pant leg. “I—I actually don’t know if I can, now that I think about it. Carol has a modeling gig on the third in New York, but I think she’d be back for the night of the Fourth. She probably wouldn’t like it if I wasn’t around and left to go watch the fireworks somewhere else without her…”

“Who cares what she thinks?” Gene pouts, then chuffs a breath out his lips. “Sorry. I know she’s your girlfriend and all. But you sounded like you really wanted to do something with me at first. And now you say you can’t because of her?”

“W-well, at first I wasn’t thinking of driving somewhere really far away,” Ray stammers. This isn’t the first time Gene has confronted him about Carol. But something starts to become clearer each and every time it happens. It’s like wiping the fog away on a cold window, revealing itself to him—jealousy. But can he really blame Gene? Ray has acted the same way toward him, when Gene had that fling with Toshiko during the tour.

“What if there are better shows elsewhere, though?” Gene says. “I bet there’s some great ones up north, by the lakes. Besides, we haven’t really been writing much together, lately. You know that. It could be the perfect excuse for us to just take some time alone and finally write stuff.”

It really would be the perfect excuse, wouldn’t it? The more he thinks about it, the more he wants to take Gene up on this offer. Sure, it’d probably make Carol mad, but when was the last time he and Gene truly did anything special for just the two of them? Not hanging out in the bedroom, but actually going out and having fun by themselves? Not with the Brooms, not with Carol, no, just them.

“I like the sound of that,” Ray says with a smile. “Yeah, I really would like to have some more time to write with you. I’ve been thinking about it. So, you’re right, it would be perfect.”

And, maybe not just writing songs, but what if Gene wanted to do more, if we were alone…?

He’s afraid to ask out loud, but a twinkle in Gene’s eyes and the smile he gives him lets Ray know that Gene must be thinking the exact same thing.

“Alright, awesome.” Gene smiles even wider, showing his teeth. “But then there’s still the question—where would we go?”

“Well, you’d mentioned up north. How about… wait, how about up by the Bridge? I bet the fireworks would look beautiful there.”

“That’s a great idea! Yeah, what if we went there?”

“If we did, we should go to the U.P. side, St. Ignace. My parents used to take me and Mick to the U.P. all the time as kids. Plus, if we go to St. Ignace, it gives us an excuse to drive over the Bridge.” Ray smirks. He leans closer to Gene, even daring to put his hand on Gene’s knee.

“For sure. Damn, this is making me so excited!” Gene rests his own hand on top of Ray’s. A flutter runs through his chest at the touch. “If we really wanna do this, we should call the motels around there to see if they have any vacancies. For such a busy weekend, we gotta do it soon before they all fill up.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Gene’s smile strikes a cupid’s arrow through Ray’s heart. Oh, is he ever so handsome. Seeing Gene this excited fills his soul with so much joy. Everything about the idea seems wonderful—a weekend full of fireworks, writing music, and precious time spent together. What more could Ray ask for? Gene means the world to him—his best friend—the person always coming first in Ray’s mind. He knows Gene feels the same about him, especially with the way Gene leans in closer, looking toward Ray’s lips, squeezing his hold on Ray’s hand just a little bit tighter…

The doorknob clicks as it turns.

Ray pulls his hand off of Gene’s as if it were on fire.

He looks toward the door. Carol walks in.

“Hey guys,” she says with a smile.

“Um, hey Carrie,” Ray says, faking a smile of his own and pretending that absolutely nothing was going to happen between him and Gene. “What’s up?”

She closes the bedroom door behind herself. “Just got done with my food and felt like relaxing up here. You guys been playing music?”

“Yeah,” Ray replies. This is her room, too. I share it with her. She can come in if she wants. But with how scrambled his thoughts have been, taking a vacation alone with Gene sounds like a really good idea right about now. Maybe that makes him an asshole, but didn’t he already know that about himself? Harriet sure told me, back then. He looks over to Gene, who gives him a nod.

“You gonna tell her what we were talking about?” Gene asks shyly.

“Oh, uh… yeah, I guess I should.”

“Talking about? What were you guys talking about?” Carol squints her brows together and crosses her arms, covering her flower-print halter top.