mate would read his mind.
‘It’s more complicated than that.’
‘And does this complication have anything to do with Tash, considering you haven’t mentioned her despite me asking?’
Kody huffed out a sigh. ‘I’m in love with her.’
‘And have you told her that?’
‘Sort of.’
Yanni punched him on the arm again. ‘Bozo, you already screwed up with her once before.’
‘But that wasn’t my fault. She lied to me.’
‘Yet you walked away when she told you she was going to abort your baby?’ Yanni sounded incredulous, and slightly judgemental. ‘Come on, man, you had a choice back then even though you’re probably telling yourself you didn’t.’
Kody held up his hands. ‘Hey, I know, okay? And I’ve come to terms with it. But things are more complicated now.’
‘Because of Isla?’
‘And you. You and the guys are my family, I don’t want to let you down.’
‘You’re thinking of quitting the band completely?’
‘Hell, no. But the changes I want to instigate will affect you all, which is why I wanted to run a few ideas past you first.’
‘Okay, shoot.’
‘Rock Hard Place is still on top. We’re selling out concerts, our downloads and streaming are through the roof. Because of this popularity I reckon we can pick and choose gigs, when we record, that kind of thing. We don’t have to do the manic tour thing anymore. And this way we all get to explore what’s beyond the band, you know?’
Yanni didn’t answer for a few seconds and Kody braced for his idea to be shot down. Then Yanni said, ‘I think it’s a great idea.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Hell, yeah.’ Yanni thumped his chest. ‘I’m sick of being a bachelor. I want a family. Seeing Daz with his kids … anyway, I’d love to chill out in Brockenridge more often, see what’s out there for me beyond the band. That town gets under your skin a little, you know?’
‘It has a unique vibe, that’s for sure.’ The quiet country town had crept under his guard in a way he’d never expected and if he had his way, he’d be spending a lot more time there.
‘With a little luck, we might be neighbours?’ Yanni’s sly wink made Kody roll his eyes.
‘Considering Tash doesn’t want a bar of me I don’t think I’ll be moving in with her any time soon.’
‘You’ll sort it out. Love makes us do crazy things.’
‘Speaking of crazy, I kind of promised the owner of the roadhouse where Tash works that the band would perform a gig there.’
‘What the—’
‘Tash and Ruby, the owner, helped me out.’ Kody realised he was fiddling, tracing gouges in the worn wooden table, and interlocked his fingers to stop. ‘Those concert deaths messed me up real bad, man. I couldn’t even look at a guitar let alone touch it. But I worked through my shit with professional help—’ he held up his hand, ‘—don’t say I told you so, because we both know you were right. Anyway, it was hard getting up on stage again but I did it, and I thought doing a low-key gig in front of a hundred might help me face my fears, which it did. But to maintain my privacy, Ruby got everyone to keep their mouths shut with the promise we’d do a gig.’
‘Consider it done,’ Yanni said with a brisk nod. ‘The boys have been worried about you, so I’ll invite them all up to my place for a weekend, we’ll chill, have a barbie and play this gig.’
‘Knew I could count on you, mate.’ Kody reached across and slapped him on the back. ‘I know the boys will be here soon and we have to break the news about our cut-back schedule to Tony, but do you think you could keep all that stuff about Tash and Isla private?’
Yanni nodded. ‘Our illustrious manager is going to have a coronary but he’ll have no choice but to accept our decision. As for the rest …’ He shrugged. ‘News is going to get out about you having a kid. Then the paparazzi will descend. If you don’t give them something, they’ll make shit up and that’ll be worse for all of you.’
‘Yeah, I know, I’ll discuss a plan with Tony, then I’ll get Tash onboard.’ The last thing Kody wanted was for her life to be disrupted because of him. That would do him no favours when he had every intention of convincing her how good they were together.
‘So back to my original question: how is Tash?’
‘As stubborn and gorgeous as ever.’
Yanni chuckled. ‘Your grin says it all, putz.