by Taylor Hart
He stared into the darkness, the steel of the gun burning into his hand. All it would take was a simple shot to the head … and nothing.
“You really going to use that?”
Shay jumped. “Who’s there?” He pointed the gun into the darkness of the trees to the side of him.
A curse word rang out, and then, with the help of the moonlight, he saw his brother Mason walking toward him. The gauges in his ears were a new addition to all the other piercings their mother had freaked out about.
Shay dropped the gun back to his side. “What are you doing here?” He hadn’t seen Mason since everything had gone down.
Vaporing smoke filled the air around them. Mason laughed humorlessly, reeking of body odor. “It seems pretty simple to me. Doesn’t it to you?”
It didn’t seem simple. “Explain it to me.”
Mason let out a breath. “My big bro is having a meltdown, and it didn’t take me long to figure out what you might do. Kira keeps me informed about all of you. She told me about how you and Jaycee went cliff jumping for a first date.” He shrugged. “So I’ve been having my own party up here the past couple of nights, waiting for you. I figure most people go to the place they first fell in love, don’t they? I did with Mara.”
The girl Mason had fallen in love with.
The girl who had first introduced him to drugs before she moved away last year and blew up what was left of his world.
“What? You’ve been waiting for me?”
Mason nodded. “It didn’t take Kira and I long to figure out what you were planning, and I told her I would never let that happen.”
Shay lost all strength, and he staggered toward his stinky brother. He felt like he’d been gut punched with love.
Mason embraced him, taking the gun from his hand and sticking it into his back waistband. “You’re too important to us, bro. We need you. We need you.”
Shay cried, holding onto his little brother—who really wasn’t that little anymore, he supposed.
Mason, though thin from months of drug use, supported him with wiry strength. “It’s okay, Shay. We’re going to work this out. We’ll work it all out.”
“I miss her,” Shay cried out. “I need her.”
“I know. I know.”
Suddenly, lights flooded the space around them.
Mason swore and shaded his eyes. “Who is that?”
It didn’t take long for them to recognize the old VW van. The doors opened, and his siblings poured out.
“Shay!” called out Leah. “Shay!”
“You’re not going to believe this!” Liam hollered, scampering toward them.
Mason let Shay go, rolling his eyes. “Great.” He looked annoyed. “All the Summervilles in one place.”
“Mason!” Kira bolted toward him.
He opened his arms, hugging her. “Hey, sis.”
“This is so cool!” Shar called out.
Noah tagged along at her side. “So cool,” he said, emphasizing the words.
James and Leah held their cell phones out. “Check it out!” James called out. “They’re about to play our song.”
Confused, Shay turned to face all of them. “What?”
Leah shoved her phone in his face. “The song just hit top fifty. Your song just hit top fifty!” She did little jumps and squealed.
It took him a moment to recognize the song playing: “Tragic, furious …”
Leah laughed. “Do you realize what this means?”
Shay’s mouth opened and closed. He couldn’t even speak.
His siblings hardly noticed his shock; they were suddenly talking over each other.
His phone rang. He yanked it out of his pocket and reflexively answered it. “Hello.”
“Is this Shay Summerville?”
Shay jerked at the unexpected volume; it was on speaker. “Yes,” he said, dazed.
“My name is Texas Waters. I heard your song, and I want to sign you and your family. ASAP.”
Leah squealed, but put her hand over her mouth. Shar and Noah grabbed his shoulders. Liam did a karate kick. Kira giggled and held Mason.
Shay nearly dropped the phone.
“Are you there?” Texas asked.
“Yeah.” He’d been shocked back to reality. “Sorry.”
Texas let out a low laugh. “That’s fine. If I send a jet to Rutherford, could you and your siblings come out to my house in Jackson tomorrow?”
Leah squealed again. “Yes!”
Shay stumbled back and leaned against his truck, unable to believe this was all happening.
“Shay? Is that a yes?”
He refocused, feeling like he was finally back to normal, or at least out of that dark place. “Ah, the song …” His mind was a blur. “The song was sung by myself and Jaycee McCade.” This could be his way back to her. This song could bring her back to him.
“Right,” Texas said, a sigh in his voice. “I knew that, and I just got off the phone with the people who represent Jaycee. It seems that they want the song yanked back and rerecorded, with another female vocal as the lead.”
The high of the moment crashed, sobering him quickly. “Did they?” Was it her? No, he decided. It had to be her father; he was keeping her out of all of this.
Leah gripped Shay’s arm, whispering in his ear. “Say yes, Shay. Say yes for us.”
“Shay,” Texas said. “Does, uh, Summerville Entertainment want a shot to open for my tour that leaves in two weeks? If you do, I need you to all fly out to meet me tomorrow. Can you do that?”
Mason turned to Shay, blinking, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Take your shot, bro. This is it.”
Liam, Shar, Noah, Leah, James, Mason, Kira … they were all staring at him as if he held the key to all their futures. His mind set to work again. “Of course, sir. We’ll be there tomorrow. In Jackson, on your jet.” He laughed along with his brothers and sisters.
Texas laughed, too. “Alright. Can’t wait to meet you all tomorrow.” The phone clicked off.
Leah jumped into his arms. “I knew it! We did it, Shay! We did it!”
Shay thought of Jaycee. Despite his uncertainty, he wondered if this could be a sign.
He put down Leah and spoke to Mason, who was still talking to Kira. “I only want to do this with you at my side, bro.”
The rest of the group quieted down.
Mason turned to him, giving him an incredulous look. “What are you talking about?”
“We need you, bro. I need you. Say you’ll come with us. Take that shot to get out of this small town.”
An overwhelmed look crossed Mason’s face. He seemed to teeter on an edge.
Shay reached for his hand. “You saved my life tonight, bro. Let me save yours. Come with us. We need a good PR guy.”
Mason stared at him, and tears fell onto his cheeks. “I … don’t …” He grunted out a laugh. “Okay.”
He laughed and hugged him.
All his siblings crowded them and flung their arms around each other in a group hug.
“That’s right!” Liam called out.
“The band’s back together,” cheered Shar.
Shay squeezed the whole group, feeling better and surer of himself than he’d ever been. “We do this. We take our shot together. Solid gold Summerville on three. One, two, three!”
“Solid gold Summerville!” they all shouted.
I hope you enjoyed Shay and Jaycee First Love!
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Sneak Peak Jaycee and Shay Second Chance
1 Year Later
Chapter 1
“Shay…Shay…it’s time to do the after show meet and greet, man.”
Shay jerked to a sitting position, completely out of sorts. His heart raced. “How l
ong have I been out?” After doing the concert he’d come into the dressing room and crashed on the couch.
His brother, Liam moved to his side. “Dude…you’ve been out of it for forty-five minutes, but we have VIP’s we’ve committed to meeting with, so you have to pull yourself together.”
He steadied himself on the couch and stood, putting his hand to his head.
“Look, I know seeing that post about Jaycee was rough on you yesterday, but … you can’t continue to be this rattled because of her.” Liam said, his voice tentative. “She’s engaged to another man. That’s how it is, Shay.”
Sudden anger shot through him. “Oh, that’s how it is, Liam?” He glared at his twin brother. “That’s how it is when my heart is ripped out? I need to just focus on the VIP’s right?”
Liam hesitated, looking upset, then he swore. “You know I hate it, dude, you know that, right?”
His anger instantly dissolved at seeing Liam so upset.
“We’ve all had our hearts ripped out for you, you know that? We all hate Jaycee McCade so much.” He clenched a hand into a fist and swore.
Shay turned away, hating how much pain his siblings had been in, too.
Liam sighed. “Look, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished, wished so hard that you never met that chick. That I would have been the one driving the stupid tow truck, not you. That—”
“Enough,” he sucked in a breath and turned back to face Liam. He couldn’t take it. It was true. All his family had been so hurt, right along with him through this whole thing.
His mind flashed to the memory of seeing Kurt’s post on Instagram. ‘She finally said yes. My true love and I will be married.’
Shay’s mind had gone hazy, and he’d felt nauseated since last night.
“Okay,” Liam said. “Get your bearings and then we’ll go out to the VIP group.” He grunted. “They’ll wait, you know they will. I’ll be back in a sec.” He left.
Part of Shay couldn’t believe that he was so famous that people would wait to see him after a show. Not just wait. Pay. Pay a lot of money. The dream he’d had his whole life of putting out his music with his family had been something that they’d been striving for. And striving and striving.
Until last summer when he’d met her.
The summer when they’d laid down that first hit single—Tragic, Furious.
A craze that had swept the country. There’d been a surge to viral fame on the internet that had started with Youtube, then record labels were calling. Now touring.
He’d remembered the day he’d signed with Texas Water’s label, joining the greats like Texas Waters and Sloane Kent.
It was humbling and overwhelming and, at the same time, awful.
Because she wasn’t with him.
Jaycee.
It’d been a year. A crazy, rushed, best and worst year of his life.
“You ready, Shay?” Liam poked his head back in.
But it was over now.
Jaycee was marrying Kurt.
Jaycee was…..gone.
He flashed open his eyes, sucking in another breath. “Yeah. I’m coming.” He waved him toward the door. “Give me five, I’ll be there.”
“It’s been five.”
He stared his brother down.
Liam nodded. Liam not only was an amazing guitarist, but he worked simultaneously with his other brother, Mason, to make sure all the band PR ran smoothly. He turned away. “Fine.”
Instantly, her red, fire hair entered his mind. Her aqua green eyes. The color of the prettiest ocean settings in the world.
Gut punch.
It was always how he felt when he thought of her.
Which was every day. He cringed, instantly back at that last day.
The fire. The smoke. The feel of her in his arms.
The weeks of trying to get close to her. Trying to get through all the layers the Senator put up between he and her.
Blocked.
That’s how Shay felt. Late at night, he would still call her old number. It always went to voicemail within one or two rings. He didn’t know if that meant he was blocked or not. He’d googled how to tell if a number was blocked and that’s what it said—straight to voicemail.
And when he texted her, the number never said ‘delivered.’
He sucked in a long breath and focused on the mirror that hung roughly above the dressing room table that had makeup and toiletries to use before a concert. The mirror was hung so roughly that right now it was crooked. The reflection looking back at him was crooked. He laughed. And then he laughed harder. Yes, finally, a reflection of himself the way he actually felt.
Off kilter.
Not the huge banners and posters and looking hyped up Instagram, Facebook and social media account pictures that were completely not real, but all air brushed.
Again, he thought of Kurt’s post.
‘My true love and I…’
He slammed his fist into the side of the couch. Bull!
But Kurt was NOT her true love.
No way.
His reflection in the mirror was sweaty and a bit haggard.
That’s what a year without the person you were meant for did to a man. Made him off. Out of true form. That’s the way he looked. A true reflection of the inner way he felt.
He sucked in a breath and ran a hand through his hair. The hard, cold fact was that he couldn’t do the thing he wanted to do—quit it all.
No.
His family had worked too hard for that. He’d worked hard too, given everything…but it didn’t matter now. Nothing did. But he would keep it together for them. One foot in front of the other. One day at a time. One vision at a time. Another stab of pain hit his chest. Slowly, he sucked in a breath. He couldn’t think of her.
Thought replacement, that’s what the latest therapist that Shar had dragged him to work with him had been working through with him; how to take one group of thoughts that lead you down a bad path and replace them with good thoughts. Thoughts that made you happy.
He scoffed. Happiness wasn’t possible.
Still, he had to be functional. He put on a smile and his face felt rubbery. Is that how he looked to the rest of the world—rubbery, fake, as phony as he felt?
He moved to the door as it suddenly flew open.
“Ohmygosh.” His sister Shar looked like she’d seen a ghost.
Concern filled him. “What’s wrong?”
Slowly, she pulled her hands down and stared at him. “Liam didn’t want me to tell you, but…”
He didn’t like shenanigans and this was starting to feel like that. “What?”
“I can’t believe it,” Shar said, looking confused. “It doesn’t follow the profile at all.”
“What?” he demanded, in no mood for all of this.
She put a hand to her head. “Wow, this is bad.”
“Spit it out,” he said, feeling angst and angrier than he’d previously been feeling as his mind spun, thinking what could be worse. “Is it Mom or Dad?”
Shar shook her head. “No, they’re fine, I spoke with them last night.”
“What?” He demanded. “Just tell me, Shar.”
“She’s here, Shay.”
He froze.
She swallowed. “Jaycee is backstage and she’s asking to see you.”
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Also by Taylor Hart
Here is a list of Taylor's books, grouped by series:
Hardman Brother's Ranch Romance:
Her Hidden Falls Anti-Hero Cowboy: A Sweet Brother's Romance
Her Hidden Falls Doctor Cowboy: A Sweet Brother's Romance
Bachelor Second Chance Cowboy Romance:
Her Country Star Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas
Her Quiet Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Football Star Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Horse Racin
g Billionaire Groom: Sweet, Christian Married by Christmas by guest author
Her Protector Billionaire Groom: KB Ranch Married by Christmas
Bachelor Texas Rebel Romances:
Her Second Chance Prodigal Groom: No Regrets Christmas
#NorthStar Series:
#Lost
#Seen
#Lured by guest author
#Caged by guest author
Coconut Bachelor Beach Romances:
The Second Chance Billionaire Boss
A Timeless Romance Anthology
Kissing a Billionaire Anthology: The Forgotten Billionaire by Taylor Hart
Royal Palm Resort Series:
The Dancing Groom: A Sweet Beach Romance
Last Play Masquerade Romances:
The No Regrets Groom (A Brady Brother’s Romance)
The Bighearted Groom by guest author
The Ever After Groom by guest author
The Blindsided Groom by guest author
Last Play Christmas Romances:
The Beauty's Groom
The Betting Groom (The Legendary Kent Brother Romances)
The Risky Groom by guest author
The Haunted Groom by guest author
The Midnight Groom (A sequel to The Football Groom)
The About Face Groom by guest author
Christmas Romance Series:
Her Hollywood Fake Fiancé (The Legendary Kent Brother Romances)
Her Football Boss Fake Fiancé: Sweet Brother's Romance
Texas Titan Romances (I recommend this order to read them)
The Tough Love Groom
The Second Chance Groom
The Dream Groom
The Prince Charming Groom
The Good Groom (A Brady Brother’s Romance)
Navy Seal Romances
The Broken Warrior
The Found Warrior
Bachelor Billionaire Romance Series (I recommend this order to read them)
The Football Groom
The Country Groom
The Unfinished Groom
The Barefoot Groom
The Masquerading Groom
The Christmas Groom
