Back in college, Larry Carson played drums in a friend’s band and fell in love with the lead singer, Geoffrey Mason. But all that’s in the past. Larry’s now thirty-five, divorced, and father to a precocious thirteen-year-old daughter. One day, when Larry picks Crystal up from school, a song comes on the radio by a new rockstar climbing the charts. Larry recognizes Geoff’s voice immediately, though Crystal calls him Geo and claims he’s the hottest new singer on the scene. Just hearing him brings back a flood of memories, reopening wounds Larry thought long healed. The more he listens to Geo’s music, the more Larry falls in love with his former boyfriend all over again. Partly to prove to his daughter that he used to know Geo back in the day, and partly to reconnect with his old friend, Larry buys tickets to an upcoming concert and manages to score backstage passes. But there was a reason Larry and Geoff lost touch -- and stayed out of touch for so long. Will Geo even want to see Larry again after all this time? Or will the magic of their old familiar song bring about a harmonious duet?

Old Familiar Song

As usual, there was no one waiting for the elevator when he arrived. Larry pressed the down button, and almost immediately, the bell dinged and the doors opened. A young man already stood inside—around Larry’s age, with that guileless freshman look he knew all too well because it stared back at him every day from the mirror. The guy had a crop of thick dark hair that looked too careless not to have been styled that way and gray eyes the color of building storm clouds. He wore jeans and a faded T-shirt that might have been white at one time, but now almost matched the color of his eyes. A pair of earphone buds snaked from his ears into his back pocket. He scowled and pressed the elevator button as if to shut the doors before Larry could get on.


Chapter 5