Page 131 of Code Word
I shot him a proud smile. “That’s nothing. You shoulda seen what we did last?—”
“Blake,” Luke cried. “Jesus.”
“Babe,” I said. “Demigod. We’ve been through this.”
Everyone laughed, and Luke sighed. “I can’t believe I wanted this.”
I slung my arm around his shoulder. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“This is awesome,” Maddox said. “I’ve missed this. Just us hanging out. Blake’s right, we need to make time to do this on the regular.”
“Agreed,” Wes said, his eyes darting to mine. “Thanks, Blake.”
Maddox stood up, beer in hand. “So, what do we toast to now? We used to say ‘Atrous forever.’” He shrugged. “That is, it’s still us, even if it’s not.”
We all looked at each other, but no one knew what to say.
I met Maddox’s eyes. “We’ll always be Atrous. Even when we’re not.” Then I looked at Luke. “But the forever part will always be true.”
“Oh god,” Jeremy said. “Someone stop him. He’s gone full-on sap.”
“Shut it, dickbag,” Luke said to him with a laugh. “Leave him alone.”
Everyone laughed, but with my arm around Luke’s shoulder, I pulled him in a bit closer. I got it now. Why Maddox, Jeremy, and Wes were all willing to make a stand for theperson they loved. They weren’t giving anything up, but they were prioritizing and putting their own needs first.
I understood now.
But I wasn’t giving anything up. I was gaining so much. I got to do this with my best friend. And just like Madz, Jer, and Wes, they were happy. And that’s what this was about.
Finally being truly, unquestionably happy.
I finally felt content, comfortable in my own skin, and as if, for the first time in my life, I was exactly where I needed to be.
And sitting around the table, eating and laughing with these guys, my arm around Luke’s shoulder, his hand on my thigh, was pretty close to perfect.
“So,” Wes said. “When do we get to hear the new songs?”
Luke laughed and shook his head. “Nah. We haven’t nailed anything down. Just barely notes we scribbled in the beach house in Mexico.”
“Oh, come on,” Maddox said. “We know how it works. Scribbled notes are how every song starts.”
Luke turned to me, nervous but excited, and he shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you think?”
“I’m good with now. If you want?”
His eyes sparkled like sapphires. “Okay.”
“Yes.” Jeremy clapped his hands together as he stood up. “Jam session.” Then he stopped. “After you guys, of course.”
“I thought you said you were done,” I joked.
He stopped. “I’m done... with music, the grind, the fans, and all that bullshit. But this? Jamming with you guys, I’ll wanna do that forever.”
“That’s what we’re talking about,” Luke said gently. “Just doing what we love. Going back to what it was before the machine drove us into the ground.”
“When it was fun,” I added. “That’s what we’re talking about.”
Ten minutes later, we were all piled into the music room.Luke had his guitar, and I sat at the keyboard while everyone else stood around and waited.
