Page 99 of Becoming Us
I reached out to shake his hand. “Yeah. Paxton?”
His grip was firm, confident. “Mind if I sit?”
I waved at the seat beside me.
“Can I get you anything?” Ezra asked, hovering nearby.
Paxton paused for a second, his dark eyes on Ezra before he said, “Club soda, thank you.” It was soft, almost shy.
“Coming right up.” Ezra stepped just far enough to fall out of Paxton’s line of sight before throwing me a wide-eyed look.
I tried to shrug as discreetly as possible.
Ezra mouthedhotand gave me two thumbs up. I pressed my lips together to keep myself from laughing.
“So.” I leaned forward slightly. “You’re looking for a drummer?”
“Yeah. Ours plays in another band, too, and lately he’s been leaning more that way. They’re into metal—that’s more his scene.”
“What’s your scene?”
He smiled a little. “That’s exactly what I came to ask you today. Jaden—my cousin—told me your boyfriend said you were into old music, but that could be a variety of things.”
That made me chuckle—and mentally gush over him using the wordboyfriend. “80s, 90s rock and/or pop.”
He straightened a little, clearly interested. “Nice. We do our own stuff, but we throw in covers sometimes—mostly 90s. We could definitely make that work.”
My pulse jumped, curiosity pushing the words out. “Yeah? You play guitar?”
He nodded. “Jaden’s on bass, Brice plays rhythm. They both do backing vocals. We’re big on harmony—not just one voice carrying the whole thing.”
“Yeah? I sing too,” I said before I could stop myself. “I mean, kind of. I like to. I don’t know if I’m band-worthy, but if it’s just background, maybe.”
He blinked slowly. “While you drum?”
“I can’t really help myself. And my dad was obsessed with Phil Collins. I bet him once I could do it, too, so I kind of trainedmyself. But I’ve never actually played with anyone else, so I don’t really know if I’d be any good at it.
“How do you usually play?”
I tapped my ear. “With headphones.”
“That’ll do. If you can stay in sync with a track, you can sync with a band. We’ll have to try and see if it clicks, but I think you’ll catch on.”
“Sounds good. So, like, an audition?”
“Exactly. Just to feel it out. Personality-wise, I think we’re already solid.” His gaze swept over me, thoughtful. “De dónde eres?”
“Born in Buenos Aires. We moved to Seattle when I was nine.”
He nodded, almost like he’d guessed. “Figured. Yeah, Noah—I think you’ll fit right in. We’ve got a small following, nothing major. Check out our socials if you want. We play a club every couple of weeks and fill in gigs where we can. Are you okay on time?”
“Mostly, yeah. If it’s at night, better. I’m still in school—I have a full course load next year.” I thought about Atty and our time together, but actually, this was normal, right? Couples were supposed to have their own thing, their own lives.
“Yeah, we’re mostly nights. We practice twice a week, sometimes squeeze in a weekend session. Our spot’s not far—Jaden’s dad lets us use his garage.”
“That sounds perfect. So, when do you want to try me out?”
“If tomorrow works for you, we’re good. And we’re not weird about guests, either. If you want to bring your boyfriend to practice, go for it. Jaden’s girlfriend never misses one. She studies during rehearsals—full-time student too.”
