Rocked Forever Read Online Free Page B

sure. You must miss Ryan very much."
    "I do. We all do. He was a real prick most of the time, but he made us. He taught us how to be a band rather than just a bunch of guys who play music together."
    "That's great. Ready to move on?"
    "Yeah." He shifted in his seat a little. "Ryan had this quirk, this weird thing he did. Always called everyone by their full first name, wouldn't use nicknames."
    "Why?"
    He grinned. "He claimed it was more professional, but I think he just liked annoying people sometimes, and this was a way to do it without getting called out. Well, usually."
    "Sounds like there's a story there."
    "Shit, yeah. They say there's an exception to every rule, and in this case, Dex was that exception."
    I thought back through videos I'd watched, interviews I'd read. "What happened?"
    Joe leaned back. "Before we officially hired Ryan, he came to a couple of shows to check us out, make sure it was a good fit. So, each time he'd wait after the show, come backstage, chat with us for a few minutes. And every time, it was the name thing. I was Joseph, always. The guy who booked bands at this one club, his name was Colgate, like the toothpaste. His actual name. So everyone called him Cole, for obvious reasons. But not Ryan. He called the man Colgate to his face, and no one said shit about it."
    He sighed.
    "It's just how he was, and everyone just took it. But this time he took us out to celebrate working together. Went to this hideous dive bar. Really revolting, but Rick knew the bartender and so we drank mostly for free, and grew to love it. Anyway, we're all getting wasted, it's like four in the morning and there's no end in sight. I can barely see, and we're at this table just shooting the shit, doing shots, whatever. Ryan goes to tell us a story, and he calls Dex ‘Dexter,' like usual. But – and fuck if I know why – this time Dex just isn't taking it. He leans over the table, points his finger in Ryan's face – almost touching his nose, that close – and says, ‘It's Dex, you wanker. Call me Dexter again and I'll clock you one.' Something like that. Pissed off and drunk he goes full Brit, you know?"
    I laughed. "I've noticed."
    "Yeah. So, he's all up in Ryan's face and the guy just smiles, doesn't say a word. We just sit there for a minute and then get back to partying. The next day we go sign the papers and Ryan's our manager, all official. At the end of the meeting he shakes each of our hands, talks about how he's looking forward to working with us, that kind of thing. When he gets to Dex, they shake hands, and Ryan goes, ‘I look forward to getting to know you better, Dexter,' and then moves on to Matthew. Dex waits a second, then grabs Ryan by the arm. Spins him around and just sucker punches him. Right in the face, full force. The man drops to his knees and we're frozen like statues. Then Matthew, cool as king of shit mountain, helps Ryan up. He turns to Dex and just shakes his head. He says, all calm, ‘That's messed up, man.' Totally cool about it. No anger, just disappointment."
    I closed my eyes for a second, because I could picture it. It was a struggle to keep from sighing.
    "So I'm standing there wondering if Ryan's gonna tear up our contract or strangle Dex or who knows what. But he just touches his nose for a second, takes a deep breath, and tells us he'll see us at the show that night. And the crazy thing is, as far as I know, he never said a word about it again to any of us. It's like it never happened. Except he never calls – never called – Dex Dexter again."
    "Amazing. And hilarious."
    Joe smiled. "Yeah. I'm not advocating violence or anything, but it was a great moment. And classic Matthew. He's always been more level-headed than the rest of us. Usually has a great perspective about whatever is going on." He paused and swallowed visibly. "It's weird. Weird as shit to be here without him. We've only done a handful of shows with someone missing."
    "You have?" I didn't know that, and it made