Page 29 of Anchor Grey
“Sounds good to me,” Mateo said and turned back to where he was still cooking pancakes. Once we were all fed, we decided it was a good idea to take a walk down to the river.
“How did you find this place?” Jeremy asked as he walked by me, and Mateo and Devon followed behind us.
“Devon said he looked online and got lucky. Want to know a secret?” I lowered my voice, not wanting to take the chance Devon would hear.
“Sure, what’s going on?” Jeremy asked but he looked concerned.
“Nothing bad. I talked to the owner about selling. This was their getaway but they’re older and it’s not as easy as it used to be. I told them they can use it whenever they want. But this place is special for Devon and me. I want us to always have that,” I said.
“Oh my god, you really are in love,” Jeremy said.
“Yeah, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever known.” I glanced at him, and he was wearing the same stupid grin I was. “You too?”
“Maybe,” he said. If the band brought us anything it was great friendships and love. Hopefully the ending of Anchor Grey would be less dramatic and chaotic than the beginning had been. Either way we were out, and none of us were sad about it.
Twenty-Four
Devon
Leaving the cabin sucked. In the short two weeks we’d spent there, it felt like home. Which was strange since I had a home and my parents were more than happy for me to move back, but it wouldn’t feel right if I was there without Johnny. We went back to LA and packed up his stuff in a U-Haul and moved it to a storage unit near my place, and the four of us practicedand got ready for the show in Sacramento. Two months wasn’t enough, and by the time it ended we were all firm in our decision to end the band, and our friendships were closer than they’d ever been. Tanner had tried to convince us to try it for another six months but none of us were willing.
“Have you had any luck finding a place yet?” I asked Johnny as we were relaxing on the couch after a day of practice. Next week we’d be playing the big show in Sacramento and all of us were anxious.
“Yes, I’ve been looking online, and I have a realtor looking for me too.”
“So, I guess you’re staying at my place until you find your own?”
“Would you mind?” The tone of his voice was full of doubt and uncertainty. He’d been staying with me since we got back from the cabin and since we were playing in Sacramento, we were practicing there too.
“If I minded it, I wouldn’t have asked.” I took his hand and kissed the palm of it. “I miss being at the cabin already.” We were at my apartment that was close enough to downtown Sacramento to walk to a few bars on the weekends, which we’d done a lot of during our break. We’d also spent time with my family, and they were getting to know Johnny as my boyfriend, not just my bandmate. Mateo and Jeremy were living with Jeremy’s family in Stockton, but they were in Sacramento so much they were considering moving here too.
“I wanted to talk to you about that. The time we spent there was special, and I felt like both of us had a connection to that place. It just feels like it should be ours.” Johnny held my hand as we sat at the kitchen table.
“It is special there. Maybe we can rent it every year. We could make it a tradition, and I know Mateo and Jeremy loved it too.”
“I talked to the owners, and they’re willing to sell it to me.”
“What? Are you serious? How could you—can you do that?” I was so shocked I’d lost the ability to form a complete thought, but Johnny had a way of doing that to me while centering me all at the same time.
“I’m serious. When we spoke, they just asked if they would be able to use it for a week in the summer.” I was up and, in his lap, as soon as he finished talking.
“So, it’s yours?” I asked between kisses.
“It’s ours,” he said. I didn’t know how that worked, but I loved that the place that had been so special to us would now be ours.
“I have some news too,” I said but didn’t move from straddling him. His hands ran up and down my legs and I had to force myself to focus.
“What is it? It’s not about the gig, is it?”
“What? No. I talked to Tanner about working stage crew at some of his shows in the area. He said he’d love that, and he’ll send me the schedule to see which ones I want to do.” Breaking the news to Tanner had been tough. None of us were sure what his reaction would be, but he handled it like he did every other catastrophe ever thrown his way. He was calm and said he knew we were all tired of the grind before asking what we all planned to do.
“Babe, that’s great. I had a feeling it would work out with him. He’s always got something going on lately.”
“Plus, there’s a lot of local places that really need help with their sound systems.” Everything was working out and all of us were happier than we’d ever been. But we still had the big show on Friday to get through.
“Hey, assholes, I heard a rumor that this is your last show, any truth to that?” Easy asked as we all waited backstage for our turn to play. We were all sharing the same room since we were playing back-to-back and none of us were bothered about sharing.
“Yep, we’re going to be starting a new path,” Mateo said, making everyone laugh.
