Page 6 of From Drummer to Gamer

I donated a monumental sum of money to make sure all their needs were met.

I promised myself that when I started making the kind of money that some people could only dream of, I would only keep what I needed while I donated the rest.

Some needed it a lot more than me.

Everyone was having the time of their lives except for one.

Luka sat by his kit in the corner, his face pinched in an adorable frown as he tried hard to nail a four-by-four backbeat. He was sad that he couldn’t learn a basic beat and keep up with his classmates, and my heart squeezed that he was trying hard.

I slowly sidestepped the chaos and made my way to Luka.

“Hey, looks like you’ve been working hard. Why don’t you go have fun with the others?”

“No.” He shook his head, a determined look on his face. “I want to practice more. I want to be perfect.”

Something about the way he said it tugged my heart, so for the next thirty minutes, I sat by his side and went over the beat over and over again till he finally got it right.

And when he did, he jumped into my arms, grinning.

I clutched him tight to me. “You were perfect.”

“You think so?” he asked, wide-eyed. A piece of this thick chestnut hair fell over his precious brown eyes.

“I know so.”

He grinned wider, and my breath hitched.

Fuck, this kid’s got me in a chokehold, and I’ve only known him for months.

I ordered everyone pizza that night, and just like Mitchell requested, we settled into huge bean bags laid across the floor to watchThe Princess and the Frogdespite the protests from the boys. The only compromise that made them calmer was when I suggested we watch thePirates of the Caribbeannext week.

Luka stayed by my side, his head on my shoulder as we watched the movie while Mitchell sat on his other side, explaining every single aspect of the movie to him, which he quietly listened to. She was the only friend he tolerated for some reason, well, her and I. He still wasn’t used to the normal world, and humans haven’t been the kindest to him, so it would take some time for him to have faith in humanity again.

“Are you going to come back, Matty?” Luka asked me later that evening when I hugged him goodbye.

“Of course, I am. You’re not going to lose me anytime soon.”

“Okay.” He nodded, waving as he returned to the building.

Lucia and Quill, one of the other staff, ushered them all inside. They all spent the last hour playing, and now it was time to study.

I waited till they were all back inside before I left, and instead of heading straight to my car, I decided to walk around for a while.

The sun was still peeking through, the rays of orange bleeding with blue and the whites of the clouds. The temperature dropped to a calming chill, and I wouldn’t get an opportunity to walk like this in the city, so I took it.

Iona was a pretty small town with barely any population. It reminded me of Bellevue, the town I grew up in, a place that would always be my home, no matter the glitzy and glamorous cities I lived in.

I hoped someday I could go back to Bellevue and settle my roots there.

But that day wasn’t anytime soon because I still had a lot to do.

A lot to accomplish.

No one batted an eye as I walked farther, as the lush trees that lined the road danced with the wind. And before I knew it, I reached the town square, which was buzzing with activity for the upcoming weekend.

A faint sound of music filtered through the air as I neared a small crowd gathered in the corner. The music became louder, and my curious feet dragged me right toward it.

As soon as the sound became clear, I froze.