by L. T. Kelly
Evan sighed, his shoulders sagging. Alex knew exactly why Evan had chosen to come here—so he could feel closer to his roots, to his dad. Maybe, Alex simply wanted him to admit it?
“Look, I think you all know the reason.” His eyes traveled over each of their faces in turn. “I’m sorry, okay. I screwed up. It won’t happen again, we’ve got a few months left of the trip, and I honestly think we can bust out the rest of this album while we’re here.”
Tom and Jamie nodded slowly and walked back to their instruments as Evan cocked half a smile in Alex’s direction.
“Hey, how about this one, Alex?” He struck up the opening chords to one of their first songs, the one they’d penned together in Alex’s tree house, surrounded by a couple empty beer bottles they’d stolen from Alex’s dad’s refrigerator and a few porn mags they’d found in the same person’s stash. Alex’s dad had grounded him for three weeks when he’d found out his stuff was missing, but that song had made them realize they had something. Anything they tried to write without the other one’s input lacked something, the thing that made them dynamic. Evan watched Alex’s features soften as he struck out the familiar chords on his bass. A far away look took over Alex’s eyes, as though he were that boy again. The other guys joined in as they reached the first lyrics, singing them out in unison. They'd been committed to their memories forever.
Evan glanced at his best friend as the song finished. “I am sorry, okay. It won’t happen again. It’s just that…” He looked skywards, searching for his words.
“It’s cool. We’ll grin and bear this crappy place, with no hot pieces of ass or groupies, so you can get your mojo back.”
Alex’s words threw Evan back to the underground platform that morning, that girl, the beautiful dark-pink lips and high, rosy cheekbones. Merely thinking about her dipping her head so those ebony curls fell forward to cover her blush, forced his dick to respond.
“Hey, there are hot pieces of British ass, but you're not going to find them in your bathroom jerking off to an old porn magazine.”
“Fuck you.” Alex responded with a breathy laughter. “I don’t jerk off in the bathroom. I do it on the bed; I’m not at home anymore.”
They all erupted into laughter as Ray cleared his throat over the speaker.
“Heart-wrenching reunion, lads, but if we could get cracking with the track, that would be, you know, what we’re actually here to do.” Ray’s tone came over sarcastically, but then again, it always did.
They all mumbled in agreement, coming down from the elation of their tried and true song. It had given them relative success in LAs bars and clubs. That was all well and good, but this had to be their moment. They were headed for the big time.
“Hey, before we start, I think we all need a little boost. So, how about I check us into a more up-market hotel?” Evan grinned, watching their faces brighten. The place they’d been staying was a dive, and if he wanted a chance to see that girl again, he knew exactly what had to be done.
Chapter Two
“So, you got his number, though?”
“Whose number?”
“That lad from yesterday.”
“For God’s sake, Mel!”
“You can’t blame me for trying!”
“Yes, I can. I’ve told you, I’m not bloody interested.”
“Come on, Katie. Jessica is away tonight. You’re off tomorrow. Go for one bloody drink. What harm can it do?”
“If you’re so bothered, why don’t you call him?” Katie pursed her lips and handed Mel the card he’d given Katie the day before.
“Remind me what he looks like again.”
“About six-foot-three, twenty-one years old, floppy blond hair. Okay, okay, bloody gorgeous,” she said, throwing her hands in the air with exasperation. “And I’m still not interested.”
Mel chuckled, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement. “Thanks, love,” she said handing the card back to her. “Seems like that lad is looking for a petite, brunette, sex siren. Not an overweight blonde that prefers a cup of cocoa and a good book at bedtime.”
“You’re not overweight. You’re curvaceous.”
“Let’s make this less about me and more about you. You should go.”
“No chance on this God-given earth that is going to happen.”
Despite it being a busy day, Saturday morning was always chilled out for them. The boss habitually took the weekend off which eased the pressure on them. They stopped at the next room and knocked at the door, announcing that it was housekeeping. After no answer, they proceeded inside to get their job done.
The room smelled stale and the heat forced a rosy glow on Katie’s cheeks. A guy with thick, dark hair lay on the bed. He wolf-whistled as soon as he caught sight of Mel, and she cast him her usual death stare. For all Mel’s encouragement, she was off the market for love for much the same reason as Katie.
“And you slag me off?” Kate whispered, as soon as they’d stepped into the en-suite bathroom.
“Oh, come on, that’s a flippin’ boy,” Mel said, indicating back to the bedroom with a flick of her hand.
Katie chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I said about what’s his name from yesterday.”
“Whatever.” Mel’s eyes narrowed to slivers as she wiped a cloth over the sink. “It’s different.”
Katie’s laughter pitched up to hysterical as she cleaned out the bath. “It really isn’t.”
Mel muttered a response, but Katie couldn’t make out her words over the hot, rushing water. When they moved into the bedroom, the guy sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes roamed freely over Mel, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.
“Baby, we’re playing a gig around here tomorrow night. You wanna come?”
Katie stifled a giggle as she watched Mel turn puce from the American’s request. The tables had truly been turned.
Mel threw a glance back at Katie. “As long as my friend is invited, too.”
Katie groaned as she emptied the bin. It was as though Mel was trying to teach her a lesson.
“Yep, sure, I have two tickets here.” He stood and walked over to his open bag then pulled out two thick cards. He offered them to Mel, wearing a Cheshire cat grin as he did.
“Oh, and there’s another condition.” Mel said pointedly.
“What’s that, baby?”
“My name is bloody Mel, not baby. I strongly suggest you use it.” Her blush had disappeared, replaced by a scowl.
The guy chuckled and plunged his hands deep the back pockets of his jeans. “Okay, bloody Mel, that shouldn’t be an issue. I’m Alex.”
Her scowl deepened, while Katie turned her face away as she made the bed, trying her hardest to disguise her laugh and managing to keep it to a whimper. The guy was cute and funny. A strikingly perfect match for Mel, but she was right, he was a little bit young. Plus, a bloody tourist, like the guy Katie had met on the underground the day before. Whenever she met an American, she couldn’t help but recall the old wartime saying…oversexed, overpaid and over here.
“Well, Alex, we’ve got work to do.” Mel turned on her heel and speedily left the room.
Katie shrugged and offered Alex a smile before following her colleague out.
Katie’s grin hurt her cheeks as she met Mel’s steely gaze after closing Alex’s room door.
“All that to teach me a lesson, huh?”
“Oh, pipe down. We’re going to a gig. It’s a night out for us, ain’t it?”
Katie giggled. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say. He is rather cute though.” She elbowed Mel, who brought the cart to a stop outside the next door.
“Will you go out with that lad, now that I’m taking a chance, too?” Mel tipped her head and softened her features as she looked at Katie.
The suggestive grin vanished from Katie’s lips as she shook her head. “I'm going to bin the card he gave me.”
“You could have these tickets. He might actually know who the bloody hell…” she focused on them and squinted, “Spires
actually is, with him being an American, too.”
Katie reached into her pocket and pulled out the card, without even taking a glance at it, she tore it in half, repeating the action over and over until it resembled something that had been through a shredder.
“Bloody hell,” Mel breathed, her eyes wide. “You’ve gone mad.”
“Nope, not mad. I know what I want, and a bloke isn’t it.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll drop it,” she huffed and slammed her hand onto her hip. “You’re coming with me tomorrow night though, huh?”
“Yeah, okay. I can’t see any reason why not. I don’t get Jess back from Helen’s until after school on Monday anyway.”
“No problem. Let me know for definite later.”
“Will do. I wouldn’t want to miss out on watching you squirm when that lad comes after you.”
“Bitch.”
Katie giggled, cheered up by the thought. “Yep, that’s me.”
* * * *
“I gotta hand it to you, boy wonder.”
Evan screwed up his face. “Just what do you have to hand me?”
Alex’s face lit up. “Other than your balls?” He tipped his head to one side and chuckled. “The women at that new hotel you checked us into are a vast improvement on the last dive.”
He frowned and waited for Alex to enlighten him further, keeping his eyes trained on his cocky expression while carrying out his morning ritual. They were having a quick run through of the last half of the set to prepare for that night’s performance.
“Some chick called Mel cleaned my room yesterday. She’s coming to see us play tonight.” He reached down and played out a suggestive tune on his bass, the sort you might hear on a porn film. “And I’m going to rock her panties off.”
“Whoa, hang on. You met a girl called Mel?” Evan’s eyes widened, and he held up his palms.
“That’s what I said.”
“And to get this straight, she’s agreed to see you tonight?”
Alex nodded, a self-satisfied smirk lingering on his lips.
“Fuck.” Evan hissed, quickly directing his eyes anywhere other than at Alex. “I never had her down as your type. I figured you were all about the bass, in more ways than one.”
Alex took a step back, frowning at Evan. “Wait, you know this girl?”
“I met her on the underground. She looked like she had taste. Clearly, I was wrong.” He played a few chords, looking down at the strings, then reached to tighten a tuning key.
“You knew she worked there?” Tom piped up from behind the drum kit cymbals, his voice pitched high with incredulity.
Evan nodded and watched Ray, who paid no interest to this newest set of band conflict, busy doing whatever he did behind there all day.
“You mean to say you hauled our asses across town on a pussy chase?” Alex laughed, shaking his head. “And that I snagged the piece of ass you were after? Man, that’s too fucking funny.”
“Shut the hell up, Alex. How about you get on with what we have to do instead of running your mouth off. Let’s start, Ray, before I have to kick some ass.”
Alex opened his mouth to speak then promptly closed it again.
They finally got the track laid down and without further altercation, used the rest of the studio time to practice for their debut London gig that night. Evan couldn’t lie to himself. It had stung that she’d chosen Alex over him. He’d given her his card, and he hadn’t heard a peep out of her since. Alex was always the guy in high school who’d dripped with girls. Evan’s mother had always said Evan would turn out to be a womanizer like his father, and it had always held Evan back. He’d stuck to one girlfriend…Monica. All that was history since she’d met some guy at college a couple years ago.
“See you guys later,” Evan said, slamming shut the lid of his guitar case.
“Where are you running off to?” Alex asked, his forehead creased.
“That’s none of your damn business,” Evan snapped.
“Hey, man, what’s up with you? You seriously hating on me over a girl?” Alex huffed and dragged his dark hair away from his face. “That’s never happened to us. I won’t allow a girl to get in the way of this band. Fuck that; fuck her.”
Evan sighed and inspected the floor, flicking his gaze up to Alex after a moment. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing to do with Mel. I’ve just got shit going on.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yep, one-hundred percent sure. Now, get you asses back to that hotel and get ready for tonight.” He grinned toothily at his band mates, an act to show he was okay. He snatched up the case, turned and left the studio before more questions were fired in his direction. What he’d decided to do today would be hard enough as it was, if he could even go through with it this time.
He made it onto the underground, no need to check the address. He’d been there nearly every day since they’d arrived in London. On the outside, he was all bravado and spunk, but inside he was so unsure.
With each chord he played and note he sung from the lyrics he’d written, he experienced a molten mess of nerves on the inside. He constantly agonized over whether the crowd really meant to cheer. Of course, the rest of the band thought their stuff was hot shit, but until he signed a record deal, he’d never truly think their music was any good.
When his twenty million dollar trust fund had been released, he’d chosen London to record their album, purely because he’d wanted to be close to where his dad’s band, Monument, had started out. He desired nothing more than the courage to knock on the door he’d been staring at since they’d arrived. The door that belonged to Al Wright, one of his father’s band mates. He needed to be welcomed into the fold, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be invited in or rejected. He’d already spent much of his life as the latter. His mother was always drunk out of her mind, telling him he looked like his father and he’d most likely turn out like him, too. It had always put him on edge, constantly checking and comparing himself. The last thing he wanted was to turn out like his father…dead.
He arrived in front of the address again, putting the case down and perching on the low wall across the street as he had done most days. High, white-painted walls and black iron gates kept people out. An intercom had been placed beside the entrance. That was part of the problem. How could he explain his identity through a damn speaker? He needed to see Al, take in his face, before the man turned Evan away, as he surely would.
A shiny, black sports car rounded the corner and drew up in front the house’s driveway. Evan’s spine stiffened, his breath quickened and his stomach heaved. His knuckles whitened on the handle of his case as the gates slowly moved open to allow the car entry. His muscles flexed, and his gut churned as he watched the car drive through them. His mouth dried as the car door swung open, and a pair of legs, wearing blue denim, exited the vehicle. The gates hadn’t closed when the guy with long, curly gray hair turned immediately to look at him, whipping his sunglasses off and squinting at him from the driveway. Evan clambered off the wall, snatching up his case and taking steps that matched his thundering heartbeat.
“Hey, hey, come back.”
Evan glanced over his shoulder, seeing the guy had chased after him. I guess it’s now or never. What was the point of coming here if I don’t speak to him, don’t ask all the questions I’ve needed answered all my life?
Evan stopped and turned slowly. The guy leaned against the wall, his palm pressed to his chest.
“Bloody hell, lad. Are you trying to do me in?” the man said breathlessly. “I’ve already got a dodgy ticker. Thought I’d seen a ghost.”
Evan screwed up his face. “What do you mean?”
Al waved around his spare hand. “Never mind.” He scrutinized Evan’s face, fine wrinkles fanning out around his eyes as he did. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re Ricky’s boy, aren’t you? You’ve got to be. The resemblance is uncanny.”
“That explains the ghost comment.” Evan sniggered. “You okay? You don’t look so good.”<
br />
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Do you want to step inside?”
“You have something to say?” A pitter-patter of excitement drummed in his stomach. He wasn’t being turned away as he’d expected.
“Yeah, lots, but inside though, lad.” Al reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handkerchief that he rubbed over his sweaty forehead.
Evan swept a glance up and down the street before nodding in agreement. “Yeah, come on then,” Evan agreed. Together, they walked onto the graveled drive toward the house.
“I’m glad I came back today. Wouldn’t want to have missed you,” Al said, his breathing finally returning to normal.
Evan laughed. “I’ve been here almost everyday for the last two weeks.”
Al’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you knock? I’ve only been gone a week.”
Evan scanned the large driveway then looked up at the house, searching for his words and trying not to make himself sound like a pussy. “I guess it’s because I didn’t know what to say.”
“That wouldn’t have mattered. I’ve sort of been expecting you.”
They’d reached the front of the house when a middle-aged, glamorous blonde threw open the door. Her eyes immediately fell on Evan.
“No way, Al. That isn’t who I think it is, is it?” Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she squinted to thoroughly inspect Evan’s face, her gaze so intense he had to look away.
“The one and only. Now, let us past, woman.” He ushered her from the entrance. Evan followed Al to the back of the house and into a room there. A smile crept over his lips when his eyes were drawn to the red-painted walls adorned with gold-and-silver records in picture frames, alongside poster-size photographs of the band in its heyday.
“He was a great dad to you, you know. He really cherished you, would talk for hours about how you’d be greater than he could ever be.”
Evan shook his head slowly, resting his guitar case against an oversized black leather couch. “No, I don’t know, actually.” He pursed his lips.
