Page 46 of Meegan
“Trevor put his foot in mouth about Jimmy and she’s helping him pull it out.”
“Yikes.”
“You mind?” Duke pulled a blunt out of thin air. “I don’t smoke much anymore to preserve my voice, but a crisp night like this calls for it.”
“As long as you share, I won’t tell my mom.”
“God, I love B-Lynne, but she always fucks up the rotation.” Duke pulled out a lighter and got the real party started.
“She loves the edibles you recommended. Smoothest sleep of her life.”
“She told me,” he laughed.
“Why’d you come back? You have a show tomorrow, right?”
“I’ll be back in time for the sound check. I was just plain old homesick. Mason was crying over missing Xeni, so I got us and Lou a flight down for the night. We’ll be in London for Christmas and Paris for New Years, so I’ll be with the band then doing our found family shit.”
“That’s sweet, Arch. Xeni missed him a lot. We missed you, kinda.”
“Yeah, thanks. Mason completely fucked up the vibe.”
“How so?” Meegan laughed.
“Before, it was just a bunch of us very talented, very good looking bachelors on the road. Playing music and not giving a fuck as long as the ladies in the front row were happy.”
“Oh my god,” she groaned.
“No, but seriously, we still do our regular prayers before each show, and Mason came in like some Scottish forest poet, telling us to reflect on the joy and luck in our lives and surround ourselves with love. Half the time, half my backup and Temmie are crying before we even hit the stage.” Meegan loved his bassist. He was so hot. “But the crowd loves it. Mason’s all emotional and hyped up. Gets me all emotional and hyped up.”
“Boom, sold out tour.”
“Sold out tour, additional dates added to the calendar.” Duke blew out a long stream of smoke, then handed the blunt over. Meegan took a decent pull of her own and was instantly reminded that she wasn’t twenty anymore. It was good weed, though.
“I don’t know if I should tell you this,” she said suddenly. Okay, so the nosiness ran in the family.
“What?”
“I saw Daniella. I mean, I finally met her in person.” Meegan waited for him to play it off, but a sad smile spread across his face. “At the gala thing, with Olin.”
“How is she?” he asked quietly and all the ‘oh fuck’ alarms started going off in Meegan’s head. She knew that slight tightness in his voice. They’d been broken up for a while, but Duke was definitely still in love.
“It was just a small talk sort of thing, but she seemed good. She’s fucking gorgeous. Geez.”
“She is.” They were both silent for a few long minutes, passing the blunt between them. Meegan knew the sensitive artist in her cousin never took a break from being in touch with his feelings. It’s why he had so many awards for writing. The lover was in him. She imagined he was thinking over every moment he wasn’t with Daniella and how much he missed her. If he kept it up, he’d have another hit album on his hands.
“You should try and get her back.”
“Nah.” He shook his head with too much certainty for Meegan’s liking. “The fame was a lot for her and I made a choice. I lost her.”
“Don’t do that. Your choice means Aunt Alma could retire. Your choice is putting two siblings and three cousins through school. Your choice makes millions of people happy.”
“Exactly. But it doesn’t mean I can have both. I do want her to be happy, though.”
“Do this for me. When you finish the tour, talk to Kayla.”
“What the fuck?” Duke laughed. “Did you meet all of my friends?”
“Maybe? It’s been a very busy couple of weeks. But seriously, talk to her. I don’t think that door is completely closed. I mean, I know when someone is over it and that wasn’t the vibe I got. Kayla is fully Team Duke.”