CHAPTER 16

Ty jumped. He was a pile of nerves. Rich and the rest of Covalent, minus Steve, looked up from their card game. They were playing poker, with a huge pile of candy instead of money. Rich had offered to deal Ty and his band in, but they had declined. Ty was a nervous wreck and there was no way he could focus on a card game. Rich looked Ty up and down and glanced at the rest of Covalent.

The throw was perfect, but Ty dropped it anyway. How the hell was he going to play?

"You won't even be able to see beyond the first couple of rows, once the house lights go down," James added.

"They probably won't turn the house lights down for them," Connor said. "Not for the opener."

"Right, shit," James said. "Well, just picture everyone naked. Everyone but MC that is."

They all laughed, even Ty. It was a huge relief to laugh. Ty had met MC at the hotel earlier that day. MC was some guy named Mike, but everyone called him MC, for Mike Covalent. Apparently Mike spent his weekends, when Covalent was on tour, flying around the country going to their concerts. Today was a Wednesday, but being that it was the tour opener Mike had taken a vacation day from his job, just to fly in for the show. MC also ran his own Covalent Facebook page, which Covalent did not support or endorse in anyway. Ty had asked Rich what kind of job MC had, but Rich said they didn't know. They had a pool in case they ever found out, by accident. Rich had picked, "something in a morgue," and they each threw ten bucks into the virtual pot whenever MC managed to get backstage or into the hotel. They were pretty sure he was harmless.

It had felt good to laugh, but the tension in Ty started building right back up again. Practicing on the stage, which had finally been set up that morning, did not help. The stage itself was larger than any club Ty had ever played. When rehearsing Ty had looked around for Dale and Nate on either side of him, like he always did and they were nowhere to be found. At least that's how it felt, with them ten times further away from Ty than he was used to.

Ty ripped open the chocolate and shoved it in his mouth. He checked his phone, but there was nothing from Sara. He had checked the tracking number when they had come over to the arena and the package had been delivered. Ty was hoping the CD, plus it being the opening night of the tour, would convince her to contact him. He just wanted to start talking to her again and he was certain, if they could just start speaking every day, it would work out. Ty stared at the phone while he finished the chocolate. Then he fired off a text to Sara, asking if she had gotten the CD.

"Ten minutes. You guys ready?" the roadie asked, sticking his head in the room again.

The roadie shut the door and left. Ty glanced at his band and was even more worried.

"Guys," he said and when they all looked at him he said, with way more confidence than he felt, "We got this."

"Oh crap, sorry," Connor said. "Bank's over there," he said, pointing to the bags of candy that had been waiting for them when they got there.

The door opened and everyone turned to look. Ty was expecting the roadie again, so he was surprised to see Steve. Glancing over at the poker table Ty could tell he was not the only one surprised to see Steve. Ty was turned back in time to get a glimpse of a female face, which barely registered as Inya, before she was hugging him and kissing the side of his neck.

"I wouldn't miss it," Inya said with mock horror. "The first night of the tour, come on!"

Security was tight. Ty had been told his own mother wouldn't be allowed backstage, if she didn't have a pass. They were allowed to request as many backstage passes as they wanted, but Ty hadn't asked for any. He didn't know anyone in Chicago. The fact that MC had a gold backstage pass, which also got him past the initial security at the hotel, had surprised Ty, but Jon had said they had given up trying to figure how the guy pulled that off again and again. Everyone on the security detail was familiar with MC and Ty had noticed that security was hanging on MC really closely at the hotel. If they ever thought they needed to ban him they would, but as long as he was deemed "probably harmless," it wasn't worth the effort.

"You're supposed to have a pass to get backstage," Ty said, keenly aware that the poker game was no longer holding Covalent's interest and instead they were all watching him and Inya intently.

"I think they know who I am," Inya smiled. "I don't usually get asked for ID very often."

"Private jet," Inya said casually, looking over her shoulder and smiling at Mack.

"I just had an idea," Steve announced loudly and, out of the corner of his eye Ty saw Jon wince.

It was apparent that out of all the guys in Covalent Steve really rubbed Jon the wrong way the most. Connor had offered to start another pool, to pick the day when Jon finally blew up and decked Steve. Ty had laughed it off, but at the same time he knew Connor was far from joking.

"I think, you, beautiful," Steve said indicating Inya. "You should announce the opening act."

Ty didn't know what to make of that, but when he looked at Rich for support, Rich was dealing another hand of poker and telling Jon to ante up.

Ty thought Steve sounded like an idiot, copying Inya's higher pitch, but Inya seemed to like it, at least that's what Ty assumed from the giggle that bubbled out of her. Steve grabbed Inya's hand and pulled her away from Ty.

Steve raced out of the room pulling Inya behind him. The roadie appeared in the doorway.

Ty reached into his pocket to get his phone and turn it off. Rich pushed back from the table and stood up.

"We'll watch you guys from the wings, okay? Don't worry, just play. Just another gig," Rich said.

"Come on," the roadie said, waving them out the door frantically. "We're coming," he said, into his headset.

The roadie raced down the hallway to the stage and Ty, Mack, Nate and Dale ran behind him. In the wings the roadie stopped suddenly and threw his arms out to stop Ty from proceeding out onto the stage. Ty bumped into the roadie as his friends piled up behind him.

Ty looked over the roadie and saw Steve out on the stage with the microphone. From what Ty could tell, Steve was whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The house lights were still up and Ty could see people racing down the aisles throughout the arena, apparently afraid they were about to miss something.

Inya strode out onto the stage and Ty realized she had been barely two feet away from him, on the other side of the wing curtain. Inya took her time walking to the center of the stage and when she reached Steve she posed, turned and posed again, before turning back to the crowd. Steve draped his arm around Inya's shoulders, pulling her against him and brought the microphone to the front of her face.

"It is my great pleasure," Inya said, wrapping her hands around Steve's to hold the microphone. "To introduce Ty Winslow!"

The crowd applauded loudly, but Ty had the impression they were so fired up they would have given a pile of dog shit a standing ovation, had Steve and Inya introduced it. Ty led his band out onto the stage while Steve and Inya walked off directly past him. Steve was still wrapped around Inya, who smiled at Ty as she went by. Steve threw a smile at Ty too, more of a smirk actually. Whatever it was it obviously had quite a different meaning from Inya's smile. Ty barely had time to register his annoyance at Steve's attitude, and complete lack of respect for Ty and Inya's "relationship," before another roadie shoved Ty's guitar at him and it was time to play.

The set went really well. Ty had set his standard low, no major fuck-ups to be specific, but it went so much better than that. He even took a chance during "So Unexpected" and let the crowd sing ever other line of the chorus the last time through it and the feeling of more than ten thousand people singing his song was something he would never forget. Ty realized he hadn't checked the iTunes account in a while and he decided to do that when they got off stage. "So Unexpected" had climbed to number three over the weekend. "The more good news he had to share with Sara, when they finally talked the better," Ty thought.

After the final song, Ty walked to the front of the stage and waited for Mack, Nate and Dale to join him. They all took one bow and then Ty dropped his guitar pick into the waiting hands of MC, who was positioned front row, center. Mack gave MC one of his drum sticks and then hurled the second one, as far into the crowd as he could.

The guys from Covalent were still in the wings and Ty accepted their congratulations one by one, ending with Rich who was clapping and nodding and when Ty finally got to him, hugged him like a brother. Ty added calling Andre to his list of things to do, as soon as possible. And Eric, to thank him for all this.

"We should get out of the way," Connor said, as roadies frantically pushed through the band members to get started on the changeover to Covalent's set. According to the schedule it was supposed to take twenty minutes, but Ty had heard the stage manager complain, numerous times, that it was going to be damn near impossible to do it all in that time frame.

"That was amazing," Inya said, appearing alongside Ty and wrapping her hand around his upper arm.

Steve was trailing behind Inya and Ty could tell he wasn't pleased. For the sake of sticking it to Steve, Ty was willing to play along with Inya, but he was relieved, when they reached the door to the band room, and she told him she had to go.

"I'm on my way to Paris for a shoot," she sighed. "I really wish I could stay the night."

Ty walked her down the hall and when Inya kissed him he kissed her back and made a big show of putting his hands all over her. When they finally broke apart, Ty was pleased to see Steve dart into the band room, anxious to give the impression that he hadn't actually been watching them. Ty didn't have any clue what had transpired between Steve, Jon and the fiancée, but Ty was inclined to believe Jon's version of it. Steve obviously had no respect for Ty, or his relationship, not that there actually was a relationship, with Inya, and the lack of respect bothered Ty. A lot.

Ty went into the band room, where the guys in his band were obviously elated. They spent twenty minutes enjoying their success, then it was time to head back to the wings where they would watch Covalent's set. Ty realized, as they waited in the wings while the crowd's noise level built and built, that he hadn't called Andre, or Eric, or even turned his phone back on. But it would have been rude to walk away to do that, or even worse, turn his phone back on during the show, so Ty decided to wait.

Covalent played for over two hours and then went back out, for three encores. It was phenomenal and Ty couldn't wait to tell Sara about that either and bring her and the boys to the show in Boston. When the show was over, Rich led the guys off stage and everyone one of them high fived Ty on the way out, even Steve, and then took off running down the hall. There were several dressing rooms at their disposal in the arena and everyone got a quick shower in. They were riding overnight and would leave as soon as the caravan of trucks was loaded up. When they were heading out to the buses, Connor caught up with Ty.

"Um, six," Ty said, thinking about it. Triple bunk beds, one on either side of the bus.

"Sure," Ty said, confused. Covalent had two buses, both of which were nicer than the one his band had. Not that Ty was complaining.

"Steve's on bus two," Connor explained. "Jon can't ride with him, Rich won't. James and I flipped for it."

"Contract," Connor replied. "This tour, one more album, one more tour, then we're done."

They were at the bus and Connor yelled over to Rich that he was riding with Ty. Rich waved back. Connor climbed up into the bus and Ty followed him. Mack, Nate and Dale were already on board and Dale was digging through the refrigerator, handing out beers. He offered one to Connor, who accepted, and to Ty, who shook it off and asked for water instead.

"How do you stand it?" Ty finally asked. When the other guys looked puzzled he simply said, "Steve."

"They keep it professional," Connor said. "On stage, Steve and Jon, it's fine. Off stage..." he shrugged. "It sucks, don't get me wrong, but we're all used to it."

"Can't you do anything?" Ty couldn't believe they were all okay with spending the next seven months like that.

"No. Steve isn't going to leave, the money's too good, the fans would freak if we replaced him anyway, if we don't finish out the contract everyone starts suing everyone, it would be a mess."

"Whatever. Rich and Jon will keep writing music, probably. I don't think I'll be playing with them, but that's okay, I have enough money to last me forever. We want to have kids, my wife and I, that is, but we're waiting till after this. I've seen how hard it is on James, being away from his kids all the time, I don't want that. James just wants to go home and stay there," Connor took a long swallow of his beer. "No one knows what Steve is going to end up doing and no one gives a shit anyway."

It was a lot to absorb and in addition Ty realized the adrenaline had finally worn off and he was exhausted. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Andre telling him it had been amazing. Ty decided to e-mail Eric, instead of texting, so he could go into greater detail. When his e-mail came up he forgot all about Eric, when he saw that Sara had e-mailed him. The subject line was "CD" and Ty was so happy to see it, he jabbed at the phone clumsily and ended up opening the wrong e-mail. He quickly back tracked and opened Sara's e-mail. He couldn't wait to read what she had to say to him. It wasn't what he expected.

Ty - Yes I got the CD. What I don't get is why you sent it to me and what I really don't get was why you chose to use the dedication to tell me (and the rest of the world) that the time you spent with me was the "darkest time of your life". But rest assured, I get it. Message received. Now can you please just leave me alone?

Sara

PS If the tour is a bust, I suggest you try acting next. You're really good at that.

Ty read the e-mail over and over again. It didn't make any sense. He checked the time, but it was too late to call her. What the hell was she talking about? Ty hadn't sent a dedication to the record company. He had been about to, he remembered, Inya and her tablet in the basement, but then... Ty jumped up, forgetting he was on a moving bus and almost fell over. Mack and Dale looked up at him. Nate and Connor were in the back of the bus, presumably getting ready to go to bed.

Ty needed to see the CD, now. If no one had it, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"Okay," Dale said, and got up and made his way to the back of the bus. Dale dug around in his bag until he found it, then pulled out the CD and held it out to Ty.

Ty grabbed it and pulled the booklet out. He chucked the CD onto his bunk and frantically scanned the booklet. When he found the dedication he read it once, threw the booklet onto his bed in disgust, then picked it up and read it again, just to be sure. When Ty looked up from the booklet, for the second time, everybody on the bus was staring at him.

The others nodded in agreement, except for Connor who looked confused or amused, it was hard to tell.

"It," Ty stopped. It was late. They were all tired. It was way too hard to explain and it didn't matter to them anyway. "Never mind," he muttered, "I'm going to get some sleep.

Ty got his bunk organized and plugged his phone in. He closed the blackout curtains, but he had no intention of sleeping. By the time he was done composing the e-mail to Sara, the bus was silent. Ty pulled up one of his favorite pictures of her, one he had taken without her knowing, the day they had taken the kids to the beach. She was looking out at the ocean, watching the kids boogie boarding, he remembered. The wind off the water blew her hair back and she was smiling. He fell asleep with that image in his mind, his phone still in his hand.