Page 91 of Rebel Moon

“Thanks. It was good to have something to do besides stare at Madeleine.”

Beck chuckled. “So y’all are for real, huh?”

“Yep.”

“I’m not surprised.”

I turned, staring at him. “You’re not?”

“Absolutely not. I’ve watched the two of you for ten years. I thought it would happen before now, but apparently we needed Montana.”

“You’re not worried about what it could do to the band?”

One brow raised before Beck adjusted his glasses, pushing them further up his nose. “I’m not. Never occurred to me.”

“But think of everything that could go wrong.”

“This one’ll stick. I’d bet money on it.”

I studied him for a second or two. Beck was a gentle soul. The type who never lost his cool, always supportive of the rest of us, even when we acted badly. Which was mostly me, obviously. He was generous and kind too. Not one to hog the spotlight. Did it ever bother him, being the steady guy in the background? Had we taken his helpful nature for granted?

“What?” Beck asked me. “You’re looking at me weird.”

“Do you ever get tired of being the nicest guy on the planet?” I asked.

He laughed, shaking his head. “I can’t say that I do. Comes naturally.”

“Don’t you ever want to punch someone just to see what it feels like?”

“Why would I punch someone?”

“There are so many reasons every day to punch someone,” I said.

“Or burn all the merchandise?”

I frowned. “That was justified and you know it.”

“I’m just giving you a hard time.” Beck was looking over my shoulder as he said it. I glanced behind to see Blake there, with her camera.

Beck motioned her over.

She lowered her camera and joined us. “Gentlemen, looking especially delicious tonight, both of you.”

“You look exquisite in that dress,” Beck said.

“Thank you, kindly,” Blake said. “It was a last minute purchase. At the start of this month, I wouldn’t have guessed how quickly I grew attached to all of you. It’s an honor to be included.”

Most especially attached to our piano player, I thought, but didn’t say.

Blake grew serious for a moment. “This gig isn’t at all what I thought it would be.”

“How so?” I asked.

“I thought I’d do a sweet, easily digestible feature about Jack and Ivy and the boys in the band. Something the fans could enjoy. All this beautiful scenery and all you beautiful people—I knew audiences would love it. But this is all together different than that.”

“What is it instead?” I asked, curious.

“I discovered there was so much more to your stories, individually and as a group. The loyalty and love you all share—that’s the story. The more I look at my footage, the more it emerges.”