Page 22 of Here's to Yesterday

So he begins. He strums the first chord, and the place goes absolutely silent. Everyone—and I mean everyone—is entranced, including me. And this is all from his guitar playing. He’sthatgood.

But then he opens his mouth, and all the air in the room is sucked out instantly. Or maybe it’s just me, because I know I’m only taking in enough oxygen to stayafloat.

I watch as he pours his heart and soul into every single word he’s singing, every single chord he’s playing. His fingers move over the neck of the guitar with love. His feet tap lightly to keep his pace. The shadows cast by the mood lighting make him so beautiful, drawing attention to his hands and tattoos. Everything about him on that stage is sheerperfection.

He closes his soul-searing golden eyes and belts out the bridge, his face contorting along with the words, like he feels them deep down in his heart, like he lives them eachday.

When he finally reopens them, he’s watching me. And I feel this…shift. I feel something happen in myheart.

The moment is brief because he closes them almost as quickly as he made eyecontact.

My heart stops, and my body freezes, because I sawit.

The look that was in his gaze just now—thosestupid,perfect golden eyes—said, “Set mefree.”

And I havenoclue what he’s trying toescape.

The song comes to an end, and Tucker opens his eyes again. They meet mine briefly, and then he’s sweeping them around the crowd, smiling softly because the place is goingwild.

Rae—who I forgot was here—is suddenly pulling on my arm, trying to get me to stand up to clap. I glance around and notice that the club is on their feet and clapping like mad for this talentedman.

Tucker dips his head in a “thank you” gesture and immediately goes into the next song, which is an acoustic rendition ofUptown Funkby Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. The place goes nuts, probably because it’s the best version of the song any of us has everheard.

And only Tucker could take that song and make itbetter.

“Holy fuck! That was phenomenal!” Rae exclaims. “Your boy istalented!”

I almost—almost—turn to her to tell her he’s not my boy when I realize she’s talking toHudson.

I snap my mouth shut quickly and peeking around our small group of friends to make sure no one saw it. Perry is staring off at the stage, so no worries there. Rae and Hudson have their heads bent closely together, whispering and laughing with oneanother.

But, alas, it would happen that I don’t have much luck, since Gaige is staring directly at me. He tilts his head, watching me. I dart my eyes away immediately, afraid he’ll saysomething.

I feel a foot tap my shin, and I know it’s him. I glance up to meet his dark brown eyes. He nods at me. Once. That’s all. I guess that’s his way of acknowledging what he saw and promising not to say anything aboutit.

That’s what I’m going with,anyway.

I look away again and begin folding and refolding my napkin, wishing like crazy I were anywhere but here. I think I’ve had enough entertainment for onenight.

Tucker goes through two more songs before he declares he’s done. This little announcement is met with boos from each corner of theclub.

“Sorry, everyone. I’ve got friends who need me. I’m sure I’ll be back in a few weeks.” He points toward the bar. “I know I’m Gary’s favorite, so he’ll be begging for me to come back.” Tucker winks, and I swear five girlsswoon.

The instant he walks off stage, he’s greeted by talent executives. Each time he plays here, it happens. He’s on a semi-regular slot, playing here every third Saturday of the month since Mic’s opened. And you can guarantee that each time he plays, there will be no less than five record label bigwigs here begging for Tucker to sign withthem.

He always tells them no.Always.

“So, thoughts?” Tucker asks as he walks through the crowd of suits and sits next tome.

“It was okay,” I say, giving him a smallgrin.

He chuckles. “Just okay, huh? Good thing I told those scouts no, then. That would have beensoembarrassing.”

I can’t help my smile, because Tucker knows he was remarkable. He had the club eating out of hishands.

Putty. We were allputty.

The best thing about his sets is that heonlyplays covers. But they aren’t simply covers. No, they’re completely rearranged pieces. From the melodies to the vocals, one hundred percent remastered. What Tucker does is art. And people have noticed that, especially after a video of one of his performances was leaked on YouTube. His unique take on songs is what brings in the hordes of label executives. Plus, his following on social media has grown to insane numbers, something that’s caught their eyes as well. And considering he only ever performs in Wakefield, that’s impressive. All his fame doesn’t change him though. He doesn’t let it go to his head, and he remains as laid back asever.

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