My Night with a Rockstar

by Mankin, Michelle

  “Why are we so happy?” I ask as I jump with her.

  “Because I’m not pregnant after all!”

  “What?” I shuffle back a step or two, placing my hand over my heart. “You thought you were going to have a baby?”

  “Yeah. What a relief!”

  Patti practically dances over to the couch and plops down. She grabs the remote and turns on the TV.

  I’m still standing by the bathroom door. I can’t believe how nonchalant she is about all this. “Do you… I mean… does your husband know?”

  Patti cackles loudly and glances at me over her shoulder. “Husband? No, girl. I’m not married. Heck, I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

  Taking a deep breath, I walk around the red chair and sit down next to her on the couch. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Shit. Are you okay? Your face is all contorted like this.” She scrunches her nose and bites her lip.

  I don’t know what to say.

  Patti turns off the TV and situates her body so she’s looking at me. “This is serious for you, isn’t it? I guess where you’re from, girls don’t really worry about pregnancy unless they’re married and then it’s a happy thing.”

  “I would never judge you.”

  Patti waves the air. “It’s fine. You can judge me. Sometimes I do dumb things. We both had a little too much to drink after the bar closed and one thing led to another. It was a few months ago. My periods have always been wonky. Sometimes I skip months. But we were so drunk, we didn’t use protection, so I was a little worried. But it’s all good. I’m flowing like a river.”

  “Was he worried too?”

  “You know what’s sad? I don’t even think he remembers. But it was his birthday and after we closed up the bar, we all did shots in the kitchen. I’ve never seen him so wasted before. We did it in his car, then I walked home and he slept in it.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal.

  “So he works at the bar?”

  She smiles. “Ha! Are you fishing, Blaire?” She leans in and whispers like it’s a secret. “Let’s just say he’s gorgeous, you talked to him last night, and drinks were involved.” She winks and my heart drops in my stomach.

  She doesn’t need to say another word. I know exactly who she means. I don’t know why I feel so sad. It’s not like there was even a chance. Gosh, I just left the convent. What’s wrong with me? How could I think a single look from a guy could change my life? Maybe God brought me here to show me that my daddy was right all along. Evil shows up in all sorts of places, in all kinds of people. Temptation is your first clue it’s there.

  I should have known. How could he not remember having sex with her? Does it mean nothing to anyone? I think back to what he said―It happens all the time. Was I so wrong to let my heart hope just a little? Yes. Yes, I was. At least now, I know. Lucian Kane will never, ever be the guy for me. Maybe this is a sign I need to go back to the convent. I cringe when I consider the thought. The truth is, I don’t know what is best for me anymore. I need some time to search my heart.

  In the meantime, should I avoid him or confront him on what he did to Patti? After a few minutes, I make up my mind. When I see him again, I’m going to tell him straight out what I think of him.

  Then, like the simple turning of a page, I consider something else. What if I don’t see him again? What if last night was a one-time thing and he doesn’t come back? Was that my only night with a rock star? I’m not sure which thought has me more upset.

  Like Jesus, it seems the devil has a beard too. I just never expected to like him so much. This may look like Heaven, but it feels like Hell. What am I going to do now?

  To be continued….

  Dawn L. Chiletz currently resides in Illinois with her two boys and three dogs. Dawn writes what she’s feeling. Sometimes that means she’ll write a romantic reality TV story with a mystery, and other times it’s a psychological thriller or a romantic comedy. With ten currently published stories, there’s a little something for everyone. When Dawn isn’t writing or working her full time job, you can most likely find her driving her kids somewhere or mindlessly watching Instagram and TikTok videos.

  Converted will be a full length book. For more information on the story including the release date and links to purchase the book, please sign up here.

  To find out more about Dawn’s books and upcoming signings, visit:

  http://www.dawnlchiletz.com

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  Love...with a twist

  A Black Hearts Still Beat Short Story

  If someone had told me two months ago, that I’d be at a party for one of the hottest rock bands in the world, I would have laughed in their face and said, ‘good one’.

  But here I was, Phoebe Halstead, twenty-one-year-old intern at Razorsharp Records—AKA a lackey for Black Hearts Still Beat, the band everyone was talking about.

  And tonight, we were celebrating Damon Donnelly’s birthday. Damon was the guitarist; then there was Rafe Hunter, bass guitarist; Hudson Ryker, drummer and self-professed sex god; and Rafe’s brother, Levi. He was the lead vocalist. He was also, if you listened to the media, a recovering addict with issues so deep he was the perfect front man for a rock band who thrived on scandal and chaos.

  “SURPRISE!” Someone hit the lights, and everyone cheered at Damon’s arrival.

  “Holy shit.” Hudson let out a low whistle as he took in the suite.

  He wasn’t wrong. Eva Walker, the country singer touring with the band and Rafe’s girlfriend, had gone all out. Decorations littered the suite. There was a makeshift bar, snacks, and a… piñata. I didn’t know what that was about, but everyone seemed to love it. There was even a DJ set up in the corner of the room.

  I watched as Eva and Letty Panem, my mentor at the label, greeted the guys, and a strange sensation washed over me.

  For the most part, the band and Eva had welcomed me with open arms. I’d joined the tour late, after the previous assistant was fired. Hudson liked to give me shit, but he did it with everyone. I was slowly learning it was his defense mechanism, his way of keeping people at arm’s length. Not Eva though. She had clearly won over the hearts of all four members of Black Hearts, and she accepted me without question.

  But I wasn’t in their inner circle, not yet.

  And given my visceral reaction to the dark and brooding Black Hearts front man, it was probably for the best.

  “Hey,” Molly, Eva’s friend from back home, joined me. “Letty wants us to get some shooters.”

  “Sure thing, let’s go.” I directed her to the makeshift bar, and we started filling glasses with a variety of liquor.

  “This is crazy, right? Being here with the band?” Her eyes glittered with awe. “Tell me you feel it?”

  “It’s… something,” I chuckled. It was my job. The job my dad had landed me with on the condition that I didn’t screw it up. The job that was my shot at proving to him and everyone else that I had my life under control.

  We each grabbed a tray and set off toward Eva and the band. “We come bearing shooters.” I said with Molly in tow.

  “Guys, it’s good to see you all again,” she said.

  “Looking good, Molly. Phoebe.” Levi barely looked at me, and my stomach twisted up in knots.

  Levi Hunter was… trouble.

  The epitome of sex, drugs, rock and roll, he was exactly the kind of guy I needed to stay away from. But ever since arriving on the tour a few weeks ago, I’d felt a strange connection to him.

  You know why, a little voice whispered, but I shut it down.

  “Here, pass them around.” Molly broke the thick silence and started handing out the shooters.

  “I thought we agreed nothing too wild?” Eva frowned, reluctantly taking one.

  “Just one, to toast the birthday boy?” Molly waggled her brows.

  “I like your style, Steinberg.” Hudson lifted his glass to hers.

  �
�Too bad you won’t be sampling the goods. Ever. Again.” Her smile was sweet, but her words were full of bite. I knew there was a story there, and it was pretty obvious neither of them was over whatever had happened.

  “To Damon,” she said, “on three.”

  “One... Two... Three. Damon!”

  We all knocked back our shooters, even Eva. The tequila tasted like shit, but I welcomed the burn.

  “Okay, wow, that was...” Eva spluttered.

  “We need to toughen you up, Angel.” Hudson slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. “If you’re going to tour the world with us, you need to build up some resistance.”

  “W- world tour?” Her eyes grew to saucers.

  The party went on around us, but we’d carved out our own little bubble. And for the first time, I felt like a part of their group.

  Everyone was looking at Eva now. As the band’s assistant, I’d known the label wanted to sign Eva on for the world leg of the tour, but it hadn’t been my place to tell her.

  “As in outside of the country?” she asked, and Hudson exploded with laughter.

  “Well, yeah, Country.” Levi shot her a rare smile. “What do you say? Fancy spreading a little Hunter-Walker magic around the world?”

  The term had been coined off the back of their performances on stage together. The fans loved their blend of country and rock; so much so, it had become a regular feature of the band’s set list.

  “I... wow.” She stumbled over her words. “I have no idea what to say. Alistair hasn’t said—”

  “Because I was waiting for the right time to talk to you about this.” Alistair Portman, the band’s manager, strolled over to us. “This is really something, Eva.” He glanced over his shoulder to where everyone was having a good time.

  “Oh, it was nothin’ really.” Her cheeks pinked, and Rafe took her hand in his.

  “The details are still being finalized, but, yes, the label wants to take the tour global, and they want you too.”

  “Ohmigod,” Molly’s shrieks filled the air.

  “I... I don’t know what to say.” Eva gawked at him.

  “Yes, obviously. The answer is yes.”

  “Molly has a point, Eva,” Hudson added.

  “Hold the phone. Did the arrogant Black Hearts drummer, the one and only Hudson Ryker, just agree with me?”

  “Jesus,” he said through gritted teeth, shaking his head.

  “You don’t have to decide anything yet,” Alistair said. “It’s a big decision and I’m sure you’ll want to—”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I want to do it.”

  “Holy shit, for real?” Hudson asked, and Eva nodded.

  “Well, all right.” Levi whispered something to Letty, and she motioned for me to follow.

  “So, what do you think?” she asked me as we made our way back to the bar.

  “Think about what?”

  “The world tour, duh. Your name’s on the list.”

  “It is? But I’m just the intern.”

  “And you’ve fit right in here. I already told Alistair I want you on the staff.”

  “Seriously?” It was my turn to gawk.

  “Hell yeah.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Thank you would be a start.” She smirked.

  “Thank you.” I was stunned. When I’d taken the position, no one had mentioned this. My dad probably thought I was making coffee and filing papers. He’d lose his shit if he knew I was here, on tour with a real-life rock band. But I wanted it, God did I want it.

  My eyes flicked over to where Levi stood, and my stomach dipped. A world tour would be ten times as intense as this. We’d be in close confines all the time. Not to mention the fans, the parties… the temptation.

  “Come on, before the guys get antsy.” Letty jerked me from my reverie. She grabbed a bottle of champagne and thrust some glasses at me, and we made our way back to the group.

  Alistair took the bottle from her, doing the honors. The cork popped, spraying everywhere.

  “Oh shit,” Molly gasped. “Here.” She held up her glass, catching the spillage.

  “Pass it around,” he instructed. “This requires a toast with something other than whisky or those god-awful shooters you insist on drinking.”

  “Way to show your age, Ali.” Levi snorted, and I risked peeking over at him. His eyes collided with mine, but he immediately looked away.

  Okay then.

  “Does everyone have one?”

  We all nodded, waiting for Alistair to make his big speech.

  “The day I saw you performing in that dive bar in Atlanta, I knew I’d found something great. You didn’t just play your instruments; you became one with them. I’d never seen anything like it. And then Levi started singing and that was that. I knew I was staring at the next big thing.

  “You don’t always make it easy for me, and I know I give you a hard time more often than not, but it’s only because I believe in you. Because I have every faith you can rule the industry for the next two... five... hell, even ten years.”

  “Hear fucking hear.” Levi lifted his glass up and we all followed. I downed it in one, relishing the way the bubbles popped and fizzed inside me.

  It took a lot to intimidate me, and I prided myself on being a strong, independent woman. But Levi Hunter was under my skin. He reminded me so much of my ex. Yeah and look how that ended.

  We’d had a couple of run-ins already, but it felt like something more was building between us. Or I was completely losing my mind and imagining things that weren’t there.

  “You’ve got what it takes to go all the way. I see it, the label sees it, even Dowager sees it. But you’re still young. Impressionable.” Alistair glanced at Levi. “You’ve got to keep your heads about this. Work with me. Take direction when it’s suggested.”

  “Boooo,” Hudson teased. “You had to go and ruin a perfectly good speech, didn’t ya?”

  “All right, all right, I’ll save the TED talk for another day. But know that I’m proud of you. All of you, and, Eva, I’m real happy you’re here. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all are.” He raised his glass in the air.

  “Hang on a second,” Damon chimed in and Alistair stepped back. “Since it’s my birthday, I think I should get to say a few words. The last few months haven’t been easy. In fact, at times, they have been downright shitty, but I couldn’t think of a better bunch of guys to experience all the highs and lows with. And now we get to include Eva in that.” His eyes settled on Rafe.

  “I couldn’t think of a better girl to come on tour with us. I mean, damn, if a girl gets you a piñata for your birthday, she’s a keeper.” He winked, raising his glass in the air. “To Eva and the band.”

  Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, I murmured my excuses to Letty and took off. I needed some air. I liked Eva, I did. I liked the guys and Letty, but I’d underestimated how hard it would be being here. Most of the time, I could plaster on a smile and be the assistant the label paid me to be. But just now, watching the familial bonds between them shine was hard. It reminded me of everything I didn’t have, everything I’d lost…

  Stumbling through the door, I headed for the other suite. It would be quiet in there. I could catch my breath and iron out the chinks in my armor. But I hadn’t anticipated someone would follow me.

  I’d barely reached the hall when a voice called out to me. My eyes went over my shoulder and Levi Hunter stared back at me.

  This was bad.

  Very bad.

  “Going somewhere?”.

  Levi was the last person I wanted to see, but when I turned around, he was right there, blending in with the shadows.

  “I- I just needed some air.”

  His eyes tracked me as he pulled his snake bite piercings between his teeth. It was so fucking sexy... and tempting.

  Way too tempting.

  “What do you think of the party?” he asked, as if we were just two old friends shootin’ t
he shit.

  I pressed my lips together, hoping to avoid this. Whatever this was. But Levi prowled toward me. I stepped backward. It was a like a dance, a game of cat and mouse. But when my back hit the wall, I had nowhere left to go. He leaned his big lithe body over mine, pressing his hand to the wall beside my head.

  “Thinking of running, intern?”

  “Levi,” I said, hating his chosen nickname for me.

  “Yes, intern?” A smirk lifted the corner of his mouth.

  “You should go back to the party.”

  “Trying to get rid of me already? Most girls would kill to be in your place right now.”

  “I’m not most girls.”

  “No, you’re not, are you?” His eyes flashed with something. I’d seen it before, in the few brief encounters we’d shared.

  There had been a moment, a few days after I arrived. It had been a party, and things had been tense between Rafe and Levi. I saw it then too. The hunger... the thirst. An addict’s tell. Then, Levi had hungered for a hit. I knew; I’d seen it enough with my ex. I’d been the one to talk him down. But tonight was different.

  Tonight he looked hungry for something else entirely.

  “I could rock your world, you know, intern.” Levi trailed his finger over my bottom lip and let it drift down the column of my neck.

  My stomach clenched as images of us tangled together filled my mind.

  It had been too long since I’d felt the weight of a guy pressing me into the mattress or against the wall.

  I loved sex.

  I just didn’t love all the other bullshit that came with it.

  And the last thing you need is to fall for another addict.

  Guys like Levi, like my ex, didn’t have the emotional capacity for a relationship. Not when their first and only love would always be the bottle, or the pills, or a bump of coke.

  “You couldn’t handle me,” I shot back, trying to lighten the moment. But it was the wrong thing to say.

  Challenge flared in Levi’s intense gaze. “One night,” he leaned in, whispering the words against the shell of my ear. “I’ll make you come so hard you’ll forget your own name.”