A Chance for Love

by Max Hudson

  “I guess I can try.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “I know you are.” Chance felt like his ass was being kicked from the suggestion. He had always been afraid to really show anyone. Folk music wasn’t easy to break into and it wasn’t exactly popular. Trying to find any sort of audience would be difficult. But if Devlin thought that he could do it, the least he could do was give it a shot.

  “Would you sing them for me?”

  “Sure. Let me get my guitar.” Chance walked back to his luggage, retrieving a guitar. And over the next few hours, he sang the songs that he had written, something that he had only ever done when he was alone before.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tears welled in Devlin’s eyes. It was almost uncontrollable. The music was one of the most beautiful things that he had heard in his life.

  Chance looked up at him. There was a confused look on his face as he finished the song. “What is it?”

  “That is a beautiful song.”

  “You don’t have to lie about it.”

  “I’m not. I mean it. It’s really beautiful.” Devlin wiped his eyes. “It’s the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” Chance blushed.

  Devlin shook his head. “It’s absolutely amazing. I can’t believe you wrote that.”

  “I, uh, it’s hard to explain. But I can’t actually sing these songs.”

  “Why not?”

  “The label wants me in pop music, not folk music.”

  “Why?”

  “Folk music doesn’t make a lot of money.”

  “But are you happy?” Devlin had to ask the question. “If that’s where you’d rather be, why do you force yourself to play this other stuff.”

  Chance sighed. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just easier this way.”

  “Easier to do something that drives you crazy?”

  “No, like, it’s hard to explain.” Chance shook his head. “I have to do this. Folk singers don’t make a living.”

  “Do you have enough saved up to give yourself a start?”

  “Yeah. I’ve saved up a lot. I could probably be comfortable for a long time.”

  “What about your contract?” Devlin thought about it. “Don’t singers have contracts and things like that?”

  “I have a contract, yeah.”

  “What’s it like? I’m not a lawyer or anything, but it’s hard to do something about it without knowing more about it.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I’m sure it is.” Devlin shrugged. “But there are lawyers and stuff, right?”

  Chance groaned. “I’ve got a year on that at least.”

  “I don’t know how it works. Can you claim like creative differences or anything like that?”

  “I can’t do that. Contracts are really hard to get out of. It’s like they own you.” Chance explained slowly. “Record executives aren’t exactly understanding of anything that isn’t making them money.”

  “That’s what happens when art becomes a business.”

  “That’s bound to happen any time it gets big enough. And singing is really big.” Chance explained carefully.

  Devlin shrugged. “So, what’s the worst-case scenario?”

  “Worst-case scenario is I lose all access to the songs that started my career and I refuse to sign another contract in a year.”

  “Can you buy those songs back?”

  “I don’t know, maybe I can.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad. You just hold out a year.” Devlin shrugged. “A year isn’t very long at all. I don’t know what to do about the songs that you’ll lose.”

  “I just have to ask myself if it’s worth it or not.” Chance sighed heavily.

  “You have a year to make that decision.”

  “I know.”

  “What’s the best-case scenario?”

  “I guess it’s kind of easy. They decide it isn’t worth losing me and they let me have more control over the music I do.”

  “Are you famous enough to do that?”

  “Maybe. It depends on what they want to do.” Chance shrugged. “I know they kind of turned me away the first time I tried to get one of these on an album. They have a songwriter that I work with now that keeps me in line.”

  “That sounds like hell.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe you could actually play these songs for them, see if they’ll change their minds?” Devlin was thinking hard about how to make this stuff happen. “These songs are amazing. The world deserves to hear them.”

  “Are you sure that you’re not biased?”

  Devlin laughed. “I mean, I love the fact that one of them was about me.”

  “You only heard one of the songs that I wrote about you.”

  Devlin blushed. “There’s more than one?”

  “Yeah. More than one.”

  “How many?”

  Chance flipped through the book. “Three so far, but I’m getting new ideas a lot. A bunch of half-formed lyrics that haven’t been put together.”

  The painter blushed. “I can’t believe you’re actually writing songs about me. That’s insane.”

  “It’s not that insane. Songwriters write about strong emotion. And you bring out a lot of strong emotion in me.”

  “I don’t know if I want to hear the other songs.”

  “If I release an album, you’ll definitely hear these songs.” Chance teased him.

  “Let’s talk about something else.” Devlin fidgeted in his seat. He was flattered by the fact that Chance had written so many songs about him. But he didn’t know how to respond to it. It was beyond his comprehension that those songs could be about him.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Maybe you could talk to someone who knows more about it. But these songs need to exist. They’re amazing.”

  “That’s really nice of you to say.”

  “It’s the truth.” Devlin reached across the couch and took Chance’s hand in his. “You really need to do something with this.”

  “Fine. Ok. I’ll talk to someone. But what if they turn me down?”

  “Then you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. The worst you can do is not try and never know if the answer is yes.”

  Chance let out a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  “I can. You’re a great singer and you deserve to do something that you love.”

  “Even if it means I’m broke?”

  “I don’t care about that, but the question isn’t me. Do you care if you’re broke?”

  “I don’t really know anymore.”

  Devlin leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Chance’s lips. Within moments it was deepened. Then hands started to roam over each other. Devlin pulled away long enough to speak, but he never kept his lips more than a breath away from the other man. “I think I’m in love with you.”

  “I love you too.” Chance captured Devlin’s lips once again. “This has been perfect.”

  “I think you’re perfect,” Devlin responded as he tossed his shirt to the side.

  “I don’t want to leave this room ever again.” The heat and arousal started to fill the room with its scent.

  “We’ll have to, but don’t worry about that right now.” Devlin started to tug at Chance’s shirt.

  “To the bed?”

  Devlin nodded and they left a trail of clothes behind them, not worrying about anything other than ending up on that bed naked as they could be.

  Once they got to the luxurious bed, their hands started to roam again, touching and feeling, playing with the soft and the hard of the body. Devlin could feel his heart beating impossibly fast. “You’d still want me if I had nothing?”

  “What you have doesn’t matter. It’s what you are.” Devlin groaned as his hand wrapped around the other man’s shaft. “You deserve to be happy.”

  “Perfect.” Chance’s han
ds toyed with the painter’s chest. “I still can’t believe you’re here.

  Heart to heart, two bodies stretched out next to each other while Devlin hooked his leg over the singer’s hip. “I couldn’t stay away for months again. I had to see you.”

  “Was that it, or were you scared of the notebook?”

  “I’m scared of it all,” Devlin grunted as Chance’s hand ran over the soft hump of his ass. “I was scared of feeling something so strongly. I was scared of your fame. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to walk away if it turned out being wrong.” More kisses dotted the landscape of his words, hands tracing soft hearts as he felt the finger probe at him.

  “I’m scared of the same.” Chance whispered. “About that, you only wanted me because I have money.”

  “I don’t care what you have.” Devlin moaned against his lover’s lips. “We both deserve to be happy.”

  “Let me help with that.” Chance pulled his hand away long enough to pull some lube off of the nightstand.

  “You had that close.” Devlin smiled as he stroked Chance’s shaft.

  “I guess that I spend a lot of time wishing that you were here when I was alone.”

  Devlin chuckled. “Are you sure that’s it.”

  “There’s nothing else it could be. I can’t stop thinking about you.” Chance started to work the sticky liquid into the object of their desire. “You’re more than you ever know.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Devlin actually blushed.

  “I, uh, had one more question.” Chance seemed to pull away for a second as something else crossed his mind.

  “What is it?” Devlin looked as concerned as he could with Chance still toying with the most sensitive parts of his body.

  “What are you going to do?” Chance was breathing heavily. “With your life. Are you going to come with me?”

  “I.” Devlin paused until the working finger brought another moan to his lips. “I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out. Maybe I can sell my stuff on the road. Or you can visit me until I get my life all sorted out.”

  “You aren’t going to give up the life that you love, are you?”

  “I won’t stop working on this stuff.” Devlin shook his head. “I’m an artist. I’ll always be that. Even if I never make the kind of money that most people would like to see me make. I won’t quit. I just have to figure out some new way to do it.”

  Chance leaned in and gave the painter another kiss. “I get it. Maybe we can work out one of the rooms on the tour bus for you to work.”

  “Where would I sell it?” Devlin gasped.

  “How about online?”

  “Shipping big pieces is hard.” Devlin rubbed his body against the other man’s. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “I order big stuff all the time. It could be done.” Another kiss punctuated the words. “It’s possible.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Maybe we could put your stuff in stores for commission all over the country.” Another moan, this one came from Chance.

  “That could work. We can figure out the rest later. Right now, I just really want you.”

  Chance laughed softly as he pushed Devlin onto his back and pulled the smaller man to the edge of the bed. The bodies came together like magic. They had been apart for too long and the need to be with each other was magic. Something well needed and that they were unable to resist. They needed each other. They needed to be close to each other.

  And it wasn’t going to go away. Not easily. Devlin could feel Chance, raw power and talent, the song that their love made echoing in the hotel room. Soft moans and grunts were full of pure desire. It was perfection in a way that no one could explain.

  They needed each other. Probably more than either of them could ever really say. The desire filled the air with the scent of two bodies that needed the touch, arousal, and sex.

  And a mutual release rushed through them far too fast. They were in love, and there was nothing that the world could do about that. An accident had brought them together, but hard work and an effort to give, had kept it something real. A lesson for the future of them.

  Devlin held Chance that night, pulling the singer’s body close to his. This was the kind of start to most people would only dream of. A new opportunity. There would be time to solve the problems that could come up from two desperately different lives coming together. But he wasn’t ready to leave yet. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to drag himself away from Chance.

  Epilogue

  Devlin glanced down at his hand. It had been a few hours since Chance had popped the question. He couldn’t believe it. Everything had become so perfect, in just about every way.

  He couldn’t drag his eyes away from the ring. And he didn’t even notice that the other man had made his way in. “You ready?”

  “Ready?”

  “The gallery showing.”

  “How did I ever get my way into the gallery.”

  “You know someone famous.”

  “Are you sure that all of this is worth doing?” He frowned, not really knowing what he was going to say about it. This all felt so strange. So odd. So out of place. Almost like he didn’t belong.

  “Hey. Stop that.” Chance called out.

  “Stop what?”

  “Doubting yourself. You’re a great artist. Three-dimensional art pieces on reclaimed materials. It’s amazing and becoming popular.”

  “They’re trying to get me to mass produce pieces.”

  “That’s an interesting offer.” Chance seemed to be observing Devlin’s face carefully.

  “Yeah it is.”

  He must have not found the answer that he was looking for in his face and had to ask the questions. “Do you want to do that?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to do that at all.”

  “Then don’t do it. We aren’t lacking money. Surprisingly my new album is taking off.”

  “Did you get news?”

  “I did, yeah. It’s looking pretty damn good.” Chance grinned at Devlin. “My old label wants me back with my old songs.”

  “Looks like everything is coming up roses. I’m not sure how long that can last.”

  “Why do you have to doubt it? Nothing is going to go wrong.”

  “Sorry, is it possible for stuff to go too right?”

  “It’s possible for that to make you a little nervous. But everything is fine.” Chance’s arms wrapped around the other man, keeping the body warm and comfortable. “You’re going to be fine. And this is going to be perfect. You deserve this. This gallery opening. Everything that comes from it. Are you ready to show up with a date?”

  “An official public date, it looks like.”

  “It only took a few months to do it.” Chance had that trademark smirk on his face.

  “Months? Has that all it’s been?”

  “Do you think it had been years?”

  “Is it possible to feel like it’s been forever and seconds at the same time?”

  “It’s been described a thousand times in a thousand ways.” Chance shrugged.

  “That was really pretty, actually.”

  “Are you trying to take my spot as a songwriter?” Chance was teasing him.

  Devlin wrapped his arms around the man, laughing softly as he did it. “Are we going to tell them that we’ve gotten engaged?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  “I thought you would have the answer to that.” Devlin laughed.

  “I wanted to leave it up to you.”

  “Why would you leave it up to me?”

  “Do you want all the press?” Chance kissed the other man. “I don’t care one way or the other, but if you don’t want people to know you might want to take the ring off so that people can’t see it.

  Devlin looked down at his hand for a moment. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s why I want to leave this decision up to you. I’m all right no matter what you choose.”

  “Do you
really think they’re that observant?”

  Chance nodded. “They’ll take pictures then analyze all the details that they can. Someone will spot the ring then they’ll start asking questions. And making assumptions.”

  That had been the hardest part of coming to terms with Chance’s fame. There were always questions, always people that wanted a piece of Chance. There were jealous fans. He had even gotten himself some hate mail. “Do you think your fans will be happy for you?”

  It had hurt the first few times, but over the next few months he had learned how to ignore it. They lived in a nice house with a gate that managed to maintain most of their privacy, and they prepared whenever they went out or left in some sort of disguise.

  As much as going out in old clothes and ball caps counted as a disguise.

  Still it seemed to work. It let them live almost normal lives. These small things helped temper the fairy tale events of the rest of their lives. The fact that they seemed to live in fancy events and various unreal situations. Having the kind of money that they couldn’t spend in their lifetimes. And even trying to live fairly modestly was nearly impossible. They could literally do whatever they wanted.

  Chance thought about it for a second. “Most of them will be. The crazies are never happy no matter what.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Have you been getting a lot of those awful letters?”

  “I’ve turned them all in to security. It’s fine.”

  “Good. For right now I just want you to focus on you. On what you need to be and do.”

  “I know.”

  “Have you called your friends and family? The last thing I want is for them to find out on the news.”

  “They all know. Don’t worry about that.”

  “This probably won’t be a secret for long no matter what.”

  “Yep. Let’s get you ready. How’s that tie coming along?”

  “I haven’t even started yet.”

  “Here, I’ll help you.” Chance grinned as he adjusted Devlin’s tie. “You look great.”

  The fact that his own income was starting to increase didn’t help. His pieces had become the new celebrity craze since Chance had discovered his art and he had more work than he could keep up with.

  And he loved having that much to do. He loved having the gallery and actually being accepted as an artist. He was making some money and getting some recognition and that was amazing. He loved that. Probably more than anything else that he was doing.