Chasing Lyrics
Written by: Debbie Dickerson
This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Author: Debbie Dickerson
Copyright © 2016 by Debbie Dickerson. All rights reserved, including the right to publish this book or portions thereof (except for reviews, news media reports, brief quotes with attribution, and purposes of promotion of this book or other novels by Debbie Dickerson) in any form whatsoever.
Written permission may be obtained from the author.
About the Author
Debbie Dickerson is a mother of two phenomenally awesome boys, wife, daughter, sister, Aunt, friend, and Executive Life Coach. From the time she could speak, stories have flowed out of her. Since early childhood, she knew one day many people would read and enjoy her stories. In 2014 she published, Confidence is Your Game Changer and in 2015 The Unbreakable Contract, both of which became Amazon Bestsellers! Debbie is looking forward to publishing three more books this year and is working diligently to make each one better than the last!
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my family. I am blessed with the best family ever and love y’all like nobody’s business!
Michele Sues - My sister, best friend, and #1 fan. (I’m your #1 fan too)
To my niece & Cover model, Chelsea Sues - Thank you for being you!
I would like to give a huge thank you to my fanfuckingtastic fans, y’all absolutely rock. Double D’s Supporters, y’all are incredible and I love y’all.
Thank you to my PA, Beth Ann Miller
Thank you to my incredible Editor, Terrie Meerschaert of Indie Editing Services
Ana Rita Clemente - Thank you for your constant support and friendship!
Thank you to SP Cover Design for creating the best covers ever!
Chapter 1
‘What if I told you that not a day goes by without you running through my head at least one thousand times?’
Tanner –
Eight texts and five calls in twenty minutes! Wow, that may be a new record, even for her. “Please, come back Tanner.” “I love you baby, and you know you love me to.”
I can’t get past the fact that she misspelled “too!” I guess I at least owe her a text. “It isn’t you, it is me.”
She quickly responds with, “Tanner, I am in bed, naked, waiting for you!” I run my hand through my hair and contemplate for a moment. Admittedly, that tempts me a little bit, I mean, this girl is a real people pleaser. Guess I have her nonexistent father to thank for that! I shake my head and convince myself that I am going home, to my home. I have been on exactly five dates with Samantha and if she wasn’t so willing and eager to please me, I would have walked out on the first date shortly after I had to hear her speak about…well actually just speak. Oh, and by date, I mean meeting her at her house to bone in some of the craziest positions I have ever experienced! I have realized that no length of leg can silence stupidity for too long. Hearing her speak was like being throat punched by deer hooves! I wasn’t fully lying to her on my text. She really didn’t do anything to make me leave like that. I guess I truly am all kinds of messed up…just like Lyrics always tells me! If I could find a woman like Lyrics, I would be the happiest man in the world. I seriously doubt there is two of her though. I am certain that the world can only handle one!
As soon as I get home, I plop down on my bed, grab my phone, and call Lyrics. She answers on the first ring “Early night for you isn’t it?”
I smirk from her sarcasm. “Jesus, I couldn’t take one more of Samantha’s stupid questions!”
I could almost hear Lyric’s eyes roll, “Tan, asking your last name is not really that stupid.”
I spit out my water everywhere, “She doesn’t need to know it, I mean, it’s not like it will ever be hers. Anyway, what are you writing?”
“How do you know I am writing? Maybe I have some hot guy here with me right now?”
I smile, “Well, let me talk to him then.”
She snorts, “He is busy right now, thank you.”
“Dylan Brooks, you know you can’t lie to me. Come over and let me check out your latest soon to be hit!”
She yells, “Tanner Staff! Okay, see you in five.”
Lyrics is the nickname that I gave my best friend, Dylan. Dylan and I met when I was fourteen and she was thirteen. Living in a small town just outside of Beaumont Texas, you tend to notice when a new family moves in; it is almost like Christmas morning. Dylan and her Dad pulled into the farmhouse right next to ours and until she hopped out of the truck and took her hat off, I thought she was a boy. When her hair flung out from under that baseball cap, I felt my shoulders drop and it was like a horse kicked me in the gut! Once they were settled in, my parents made me walk over there with them to introduce ourselves. It was only Mom, Dad, and I living there at that time. Brent, my older brother was a freshman at LSU. He was the super star quarterback, full ride to college. When we knocked at the door, Mr. Brooks opened the door. He was about six feet tall and had a beer gut. He stared blankly at us. My dad extended his hand to him, “I am Bo. This is my wife, Teri, and our son, Tanner.” I was fourteen, almost six feet tall and built like a rancher.
He looked at me and asked, “How old are you, son?”
“Fourteen, Sir.”
He shook his head, “Well, shoot, I got a thirteen year old daughter around here somewhere. Guess y’all will be going to the same school?” I shrugged my shoulders and looked down.
After about five minutes of awkwardness, Dylan said, “Maybe you should invite them in, Daddy?” He moved out of the doorway and we entered their home. Dylan was tall for thirteen. She had long, dirty-blonde hair tied up behind her head, and did not wear makeup like the other girls at school. She had on jeans, a t-shirt from some feed store, and a pair of boots. She wasn’t ugly, she was different.
When my parents sat down with her dad, she sat in a beanbag, and opened up the notebook she was holding and started writing. I asked, “Homework?” She looked at me and shook her head no. I said, “Well what are you writing then?” She rolled her eyes and handed me a book filled with song lyrics. I flipped through the book and handed it back to her. I gave her my nod of approval, which she made clear to me she did not need.
My mom came over to us and said, “Dylan honey, you can walk to school with Tanner tomorrow.” We both fell silent and just nodded our heads. Mom said, “Well then, great!”
We said goodbye and the moment that door closed, I said, “Mom! Why did you do that to me?” Mom smiled and didn’t answer. The very next day, as fate would have it, I was given the best friend anybody could ever ask for! Dylan Brooks!
Exactly five minutes pass since I hung up the phone and the door flies open. Lyrics tosses her notebook to me and cracks open two beers. She sits down next to me on the couch and hands me a cold one. I read the first song, look at her, and say, “Glad you are finally over that waste of space asshole.”
She smiles, “God, if I wrote one more song about him, I was going to vomit!”
I laugh and ruffle up her long hair, “You deserve better!”
She half smiles, “So tell me about Samantha, the human pretzel.”
I roll my eyes and take a deep breath. “The good stuff or the bad?”
Lyrics gives me a sour face, “Please spare me the weird circus-like positions. What was so bad about her?”
“For starters she has some serious daddy issues, which isn’t always a bad thing for a one night stand. Next, she was ignorant and ignorant to the fact that she was ignorant
. Lastly, she is boring, predictable, and absolutely fake!”
Lyrics laughs and says, “To be fair, you did meet her at a bar.”
I smile and say, “Dylan, I don’t think my soul mate is going to move next door to me , well at least not twice in one lifetime!”
Lyrics put her head on my chest, “Tan, when the right girl comes around, she will be the luckiest women on this planet!” I kiss her on the forehead and tell her thank you. When she says something, I know she means it so I believe it!
Chapter 2
‘What if you knew that it is you I think about when another’s lips are on my body?’
Dylan (Lyrics) –
We have been in Austin for five years and still no big breaks. If it wasn’t for Tanner, I would have given up a long time ago. I write the music and he sings the songs. Hell, I don’t even think he loves to sing, he just does it so I will continue to write. Tanner is an easy draw for club owners. He is thirty years old, six feet two inches tall, dark shaggy hair, light brown eyes with hints of green and yellow in them, and I guess his body is that of a Greek God…well at least that is what the groupie is yelling out at him during his set. Clearly, I am not blind, Tanner is my best friend, but he is undeniably handsome.
I can remember our ninth grade year in high school. From day one of us walking to school together, we were inseparable. The girls that wanted him would be nice to me because they figured I was his gatekeeper or something. He could have had any girl he wanted at our school but he never got into a relationship. I think it was because of me and the time he spent with me that kept him from getting close to another girl. He would say, “If they don’t understand my Lyrics then they don’t understand me!” I was always somewhat awkward I guess. I was taller than almost all the other girls were, I was new to town, and my dad raised me by himself. Thank God for Tanner and Mr. and Mrs. Staff or I would probably have my head buried in some hole somewhere to avoid human interaction.
“Whatcha got going on in that brilliant head of yours?” Tanner nudges me on the shoulder and laughs.
I look at him and shuffle my hand through his hair, “Maybe this isn’t my calling? I don’t want to hold you back, Tan, I mean, these people love you but maybe if you had better lyrics someone would have signed you already. Maybe you should start considering taking some of the offers you’ve been given?”
Tanner looks at me like I am a moron. “Better lyrics? Who in the hell is going to write songs besides you that I want to sing? Nobody that’s who! Stop your bitching and who gives a damn if anyone ever signs us? That is not the measure of your talent!”
I give him an appreciative smile. “But it would be nice to have a little extra change in my pocket at the end of the month.”
Tanner looks at me and says, “Your time is coming. I would not waste my time on a loser, you can bet on that!” We were standing at the bar and all of the sudden a pair of foreign hands wrap around Tanner’s chest and stomach. I roll my eyes and pretend as if I am spraying cootie spray on him. He gets a devilish smile across his face and his dimples go deep. He pulls the random hands around to the front of him and it’s a girl, maybe all of twenty-two years old. She is wearing jean shorts that barely cover her butt, a pair of cowboy boots that have zero scuffs on them, and a handkerchief for a shirt. The girl looks at me and gives a snare. I smirk and Tanner half smiles at me. He looks at her and says, “Put your claws away sweetheart, she is the only reason I sing and she is my best friend.” He leans into her ear and says something.
The girl looks at me, rolls her skanky eyes, and gives me a fake smile. She says, “Sorry for acting like that.” Tanner smiles at me and glides his knuckles over my jawbone as they walk away. I shake my head and grab my notepad. My stomach does a few flips then gets that familiar knotted feeling. The one I get every time Tanner’s fan base comes around me!
Austin is a rather small town for having so much going on. The music scene is extremely localized, and we all kind of know and support one another. We have made some cool friends out here. The band that is on stage right now is a three-piece ensemble, two guys and a girl. They call themselves, ‘Ménage’ The singer’s name is Tyler, and he is pretty damn cute. We have been flirting back and forth for about one year now. I don’t think Tanner really likes him too much though. I’ve seen them exchange looks and words before. When we are all hanging out together and jamming or drinking, Tanner is fine with him. Maybe Tanner just doesn’t like Tyler for me. I look to the bar and little fake cowgirl is groping Tanner and he is practically banging her right there! He is my best friend, not my boyfriend but I swear, sometimes I can’t help but to get jealous. Nobody that knows us believes that we haven’t ever crossed the line. If we had a dollar for every time one of us said, “We are just friends,” I swear we would be wealthy by now! I don’t know, maybe I need to get a life. It has been ages since I have been laid and my writing is starting to become bitter. I look back at Tanner; he looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. He gives me this what am I supposed to do look when the girl drags him out to the parking lot, well, he didn’t really resist! I roll my eyes and applaud for Ménage as they wrap up their set.
Tyler seems to be scoping out the bar then comes directly over to me. He asks, “Tanner leave?” I shake my head and point to the parking lot. He half smiles and asks if he can buy me a drink.
I smile and say, “You know they are free for us, right?”
He says, “Ugh, yeah…shit, I can’t afford to buy drinks for other people.” He laughs because he knows that I know he is loaded with money. Tyler was a child actor and his parents invested very wisely for him. He truly does not need to work another day in his life. He motions to the bartender to bring us the usual. He lingers for a moment and then sits down next to me. When she brings our drinks over, he throws down some money for a tip, then he raises his glass to mine. We don’t say anything, but the stare is almost painful. He is stunning. I throw back the shot of whiskey and he takes a swig of his beer. The smile he gives me literally makes my knees weak. We are sitting so close to one another that our knees bump with every move we make. I know why I am shy but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Tyler is. God, he is beautiful, and he has such a charming personality. He has short naturally jet-black hair, green eyes, and a perfect face. He has never been anything but sweet to me, maybe too damn sweet. He hands me another shot of whiskey and says, “Cheers to another great night with hot lyrics and soulful music.” My face burns with embarrassment because I am not sure if he is referring to me, Lyrics, or the lyrics that have been sung tonight. Nobody calls me Lyrics but Tanner. To everybody else, I am Dylan. Either way, I am very tired of over analyzing everything anyway.
I check the door by the bar to see if Tanner has come back in yet and he hasn’t, so I take a deep breath and place my hand on Tyler’s hand. The warmth and electricity calms me and makes me nervous at the same time. “Dance with me?” Tyler looks at me and smiles as he rises up. He leads me to the floor and we start dancing. I am so tired of being the good girl, the one that is always making well thought out decisions. Not one minute into the dance and our eyes lock on one another. I allow my fingers to roam in and out of his gorgeous hair. It is freakishly soft. He pulls me in closer to him, one hand is firmly on my lower back, and he slowly puts his other on my neck. My heart is racing. I can hear each pump…boom…boom! I pull my head back and tell myself, just kiss him! Stop being a big wuss and taste those big inviting lips. Our sway begins to slow down and I feel him growing hard as he pulls me closer. I see his lips move, one, two, three…and he leans in for the kiss. Oh fuck, he is soft and utterly delicious. Wow, this is actually better than I imagined it would be. His hand is on my neck, pulling me so tightly against his lips. I am lost in him. As the kissing grows deeper, my hands begin to roam free on his body. As I slide my hand under his shirt, his breathing gets deeper as does mine.
Right as I am really getting into this, I feel a different hand on my shoulder. I rip myself apart from Tyler and
it is Tanner. He is not amused at all. He looks right past me as if I am not even standing there and holds an “I’m going to beat your ass glare” on Tyler. He sternly says, “Lyrics, ready?” I want to say no, but I swear I feel like I am about to get in trouble by my father! I stand there like a teenager whose father just busted her. I am mortified. I look at Tyler and tell him that I will call him later. Tanner is pulling me by my elbow out to the car. We drive together because we live in the same apartment complex. Tanner wants me to move in with him to save me money but he has too many women for my comfort! Tanner doesn’t need the money. He has plenty of money. He lives in our complex because I would not let him pay for me to live somewhere more expensive, so he moved there too. Sometimes it feels like he is my dad, brother, best friend, and platonic boyfriend. Not that I haven’t ever wondered what it would be like to be more than friends with Tanner, it’s just I don’t think he has ever thought about me that way.
Chapter 3
‘Although my tongue can’t find the words, my body is screaming for you to hear me…please hear me.’
Tanner –
“What the fuck Lyrics? What did I tell you about Tyler?”
Lyrics looks at me and says, “What are you so mad about, Tan? All I did was kiss him.” I don’t know why I am so mad at her. Truth be told, I like Tyler. He is a nice guy, super talented, and has never been anything but proper with Lyrics. All of the sudden, the beast is unleashed. “You mother fucker! You were outside getting your dick sucked by that fake ass wanna be cowgirl, doing God knows what else with her, only to break her heart in the end…you have the nerve to make me feel like I did something wrong with a man that has patiently waited for me to make a move for over a year now! What the fuck, Tan?”
I am stunned, she is right, and I am completely wrong! I didn’t know why, but, man, I did not like seeing her kissing him. It’s not as if I haven’t seen her kiss other guys before. I mean, Jesus, she is gorgeous. I always knew those other guys wouldn’t last. I mean, they were shallow and she doesn’t do shallow. If it weren’t for her, I am sure I would be married to a shallow woman right now and we would have four shallow kids. Lyrics took it deep with me. She made me push my belief system, made me think beyond what I’d been told. Lyrics wrote songs that made me have to sing them, need to sing them. I didn’t even know I had a voice until I sang her songs. I thought my dad was going to snap my neck when I told him that I didn’t want to play football in college. It would take up too much of my time. I wouldn’t be able to play gigs with Lyrics and that is when I am most happy; when she and I are creating music. I look at her and smile. I say, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I freaked out. Hell, you aren’t my girlfriend.”
Chasing Lyrics (Music & Lyrics #1) Page 1
