"Do you think Brian will show me some of his techniques?" Reagan asked. "Or are they secrets?"
"I'm sure he'd be happy to work with you. Hopefully it will take his mind off having to leave his family."
Trey stared down at his thumbs. There had been a time when Sinners had been Brian's family. And then he'd married Myrna. And now that he had Malcolm … Trey wasn't sure where he fit in the man's life anymore.
Brian climbed onto the airplane and took a seat across from Trey. "Look at the picture I just took," he said, holding up his cell phone so Trey could see the screen. In the picture Brian had his arm around Myrna who was cradling Malcolm against her chest. All three of them were smiling like idiots. Even the baby, who probably just had some gas. The picture was a little blurry because Brian had taken it by holding the camera phone in front of them with an extended arm, but the love displayed in that candid moment stole Trey's breath.
"It's great," he said.
Brian looked at the picture and smiled. "Yeah. She's supposed to send me lots of pictures until I come home in a couple days."
"A couple days? We have two more weeks of shows."
"And any day I have off I'm flying back. Dare already said I could use the jet anytime I want."
"You're going to wear yourself out."
"I don't care. Knowing I'll see them again in a few days is the only thing that got me on the plane."
"I can only imagine how hard it was to say good-bye to them," Reagan said.
Brian glanced at her and smiled warmly. "So you're Trey's new girl."
Trey loved the man's smile. It always showed in his eyes. He was so genuine. It was one of the many reasons why Trey had stayed in love with the guy for so long. Hell, he still loved Brian even if he was letting him go. Or trying to. It had been a lot easier to pretend he could move on when Brian had been out of sight.
"I guess you could say that." Reagan beamed and Trey found himself just as smitten with her smile as he was with Brian's.
"So you play guitar. Metal?" Brian asked.
The engines started and Reagan had to talk extra loud to be heard. "You're my greatest influence."
"I am?" Brian's brow knitted with confusion. "How long have you been playing?"
"Three years," Trey said. "Can you believe it?"
"That's amazing. Can't wait to hear your work," Brian said. His phone beeped and he grinned when he looked at the screen. He held up the display for Trey to see. "Look! He's feeding."
Breast feeding. Trey averted his gaze. He'd licked those breasts about a year ago. And now … It was going to be a long two weeks.
"Please remember to turn off all electronic devices through the duration of the flight. Make sure your seatbelts are fastened during takeoff. I will let you know when it's safe to move about the cabin." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. She had a sexy, British accent. Trey could have listened to her talk for hours. "Enjoy your flight."
Brian switched off his phone but continued to hold it in his hand on his lap. He offered Trey a depressed smile before settling his gaze on Reagan. "So tell me how you came to be the rhythm guitarist for Exodus End," he said.
She shifted into full-out gush mode, and Trey sat there grinning as she articulated every word with a hand gesture or facial expression. He'd never met anyone as animated as she was. Well, besides the few actors he knew. "So I'm at this club with my girlfriends. We all had a few too many and were trying to figure out how we were going to get home, when the bassist of my old band happens into the club. Chad's a real sweetheart. I didn't get along with our lead singer, but I'd work with Chad again. So I went to bum a ride from him and he says, 'Just the guitarist I was looking for.' I figured he wanted me to play for some new band he formed, but he shows me this ad in Guitar Planet for the contest with Exodus End. Go on Tour with Exodus End for a Year, or something like that. It said to enter you had to send a demo to the record company and sign a release and some other bullshit. Sounded like a big hassle to me. I didn't want to enter. Didn't think I had any business entering since there was no chance I'd ever win. As a metal guitarist, I take a lot of shit for being a chick, you know. Chad bribed me into agreeing by offering to give all my girls a ride home. Plus my friends were really enthusiastic about the idea and I was drunk as shit, so I somehow agreed to enter. I cut the demo in Chad's basement the next day and sent it in unedited. I didn't think there was a snow cone's chance in a bonfire that they'd ever pick my demo for the live audition. I just did it to get people off my back."