It was impossible to keep a smile off my face when I spoke of my “adopted” family. “We bonded over our love of music, and I was blown away when I learned who Zane’s dad was. It’s common knowledge because Carter is so open about it, but he was lost in addiction for quite a few years too. After losing touch in a custody battle, they eventually reconciled, and Zane moved to Seattle to live with him during high school.”
“That must have been strange for Zane to adjust to.” Zoey was very perceptive.
“Well, I’ll admit, it was funny to listen to Zane’s angst about his mom who, compared to mine, seemed like a fine person aside from, well, keeping him from his dad and making his legal last name her maiden name Rocks.”
“Wow. It still blows me away that you call Carter Pope your pseudo-dad.” Zoey shook her head. “I can’t imagine.”
“Truthfully, I was grateful to be included in Carter’s orbit. He was always so incredibly generous. When I first met him, he basically clothed me in a wardrobe of swag from his endorsements that was just sitting around in boxes. Once I spent more and more time at their house, I did my laundry, took showers, and learned how to keep myself groomed. One time, Carter took me to get a decent haircut at a real barber. When I was upset when he wouldn’t let me pay, he learned to respect that I didn’t want handouts. I decided to just grow it out, which is how I ended up with such long hair. I liked it. It was part of me now.
“I can’t wait for you to meet him, you’ll like him, he kicked addiction’s ass. And, he really took me under his wing. He was just Zane’s dad for a long time, and now he is a true father figure to me.”
“A father whose style is only copied by all guitar players around the world.” Zoey laughed.
“Well, yeah.” I cocked my head. “The thing is, he has never made a big deal about it. He’s humble because of his demons.” Which also meant he never asked too many questions about my home situation, which I was grateful for. It was embarrassing.
“How you grew up wasn’t your fault.” Zoey clutched my hands, winding her fingers through mine. “God, I’m so grateful for my parents, I’m never going to be mean to them again.”
“I’m sure on some level, Carter knows about my mom. Addicts have a funny way of sussing a situation out. But instead of making a big deal about it he encouraged both Zane and me to take our music seriously.” I held on to Zoey’s hands tightly, loving our connection. Loving that I could talk to her about anything.
Zoey rubbed her thumbs over the backs of my hands. “It’s so remarkable how far you’ve come.”
“I had help. Carter is always raging about the lack of resources for musical kids in public schools,” I explained. “After he saw Zane and I play at our high school talent show, he rallied the other guys from Limelight and created an endowment for a music program, which included supplying instruments and music lessons for underprivileged kids. That was how I was able to take professional vocal and guitar lessons.”
“Wow. That’s so cool.” Zoey’s eyes went wide with wonder. “I never knew that sort of thing existed, maybe that’s something I could do one day.”
“For me it was a turning point. When I sang flat out for the first time it was a huge surprise for all of us that my voice had power and range. I loved to play guitar and assumed I’d be able to hide behind it, but Zane is a virtuoso. He’s even better than Carter,” I mused. “By the time we graduated they basically forced me into the lead singer position.”
“Well I, for one, am grateful to both of them.” The adoring looks Zoey gave me were the best addiction. I wanted to keep talking so she’d keep looking at me that way.
“Zane and I started writing dozens and dozens of songs and lyrics. Within a couple of years we finalized the band lineup with Jace and Connor,” I continued. “We all just clicked, the four musketeers united in our quest to make it!”
“There’s no doubt you’re going to make it, Ty. You’ve worked so hard.” Zoey beamed at me, still rubbing my hands with hers.
“LTZ is everything to me.” I looked her in the eyes. “It’s my ticket out.”
“I have every faith in you, Ty.” Zoey leaned in for a kiss. Touching my lips to hers felt heavenly, and when my tongue met hers, we were lost to each other as we always were. I knew that Zoey was becoming everything to me, but I hadn’t told her yet. The fact was, I needed her like I needed air.
We made out in her room and it felt like my entire life had led me to this moment. Not only did I have my band, but now I had a confident, affectionate, supportive girlfriend to spend my time with. A beautiful butterfly who smelled heavenly and looked at me like I hung the sun in the sky. A girl who I loved and would always love.
Even after I unloaded my family drama on her, she didn’t see me as a kid whose drunken, loser mom worked in a shitty bar and brought a steady rotation of “dates” home nearly every night. Or a guy whose father didn’t know I existed. She was part of the new life I had created with my tight-knit band family and Carter.
