Love is a Lyric (Rockstars Anonymous)

by Michelle MacQueen

  “I leave tomorrow.” Drew freaking Stone slid into the booth opposite her like it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing in the world. Even though she spent her life surrounded by famous people, she never got used to it. “Had a meeting I couldn’t miss this morning.”

  Was it really only this morning Ben had claimed the same thing? Some clandestine meeting he’d rushed out to? Who else could he have been meeting in Gulf City? She itched to text Melanie and ask her, but the answers might be sitting right in front of her.

  “Ben wasn’t with Mel this morning, was he?”

  “How would I know?” Drew reached across the table and scooted her shake toward him. “Emma’s has the best food. What are you eating? I’ll buy.”

  She checked the time on her phone, wondering how late she could push it before going back to the beach house to make sure they all ate. “What are you doing here? I called Matt.”

  He ignored her question and tried to reach for the open notebook on the table. She snatched it away from him and set it on the worn leather seat beside her. “Don’t be nosy.”

  A grin tilted his lips. “Making lists and doing whatever else you assistants do?”

  Her lips flatlined. “Our jobs are important too, you know.”

  “Oh, I definitely know that. Matt is basically my savior. I’d kiss the ground he walked on if he wouldn’t yell at me for looking like an idiot. He does that a lot, but then, I’m kind of an idiot a lot.”

  “I’m aware.”

  His grin widened. “Matt and I have an understanding. He’s hard on me—at my request—and I don’t make him do stupid stuff like my laundry or making coffee I know how to make myself. That would be ridiculous.”

  Piper bristled at that, but he wasn’t wrong. It was ridiculous. She’d taken the job thinking she’d keep the band’s schedule, make sure their dressing rooms were stocked, arrange appointments and appearances—things like that. And she did it all, along with anything else Quinn didn’t want to do herself.

  Drew’s face sobered. “I’m not going to lie. Losing him is a kick in the gut, but I’d never keep him from furthering his career. He’s been with me from the beginning, and I’m kind of lost at this whole thing. I don’t trust people easily, but Matt seems to think you’re the only one who can replace him.”

  Piper took her shake back from him. “We weren’t supposed to meet until later this week, and this is starting to feel very much like an interview.”

  “Matt told me you called, and I couldn’t resist trying. Especially here in my home town. This is the one town where no one mobs me unless they’re tourists. My life is crazy, Piper, crazier than anything you’ve seen with Fate. I can’t hide like Ben prefers. I’m a household name, known even by little old ladies.”

  “Bragger.”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m being honest with you. This job won’t be easy. I know I’m fighting an uphill battle trying to lure you away from your own sister, but I know Quinn Hayes, and something tells me you’re being criminally undervalued.”

  “Who knew Drew Stone could be serious?”

  He laughed at that. “You’re one of the few. Please, just think about it. Whatever Quinn is paying you, I’ll double it.”

  She choked on her shake. “Double?”

  “I’m desperate. I leave for a nationwide tour at the end of the summer and can’t do it without a new Matt by my side.”

  “So, this is a real offer? Gotta admit, at first I thought you were just trying to anger Ben.”

  “Welcome side effect.” He laughed. “But really, I think you’d be surprised that Ben and I actually get along.”

  “When do you ever spend any time together without me?”

  He winked and slid from the booth. “I don’t think I’ll eat here after all. You look like you need some time.” His knuckles rapped against the wood. “Just please, think about it.”

  She nodded. “I will.”

  He flashed her a boyish grin, one so different from the smarmy smiles she’d seen in tabloids. Working for him would be like entering an entirely different world, and she’d started to think it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  Drew stopped at the bar to press a kiss to the waitress’s cheek before sauntering out.

  The waitress made her way over to Piper, a kind smile on her face. “That boy… if I wasn’t both married and older than him…”

  Piper matched her smile. “I know what you mean.” Drew didn’t make her heart beat faster, he didn’t bring the nerves to the surface, but she’d seen firsthand how he made the girls and women of America fall hopelessly in love with him.

  The waitress composed herself. “I’ve known him since he was a boy I hired to babysit my sons. We’d get home, and they’d have wrecked the house, but I always hired him again because my kids loved him so much.”

  Drew Stone babysat? Piper shook her head with a laugh.

  “You’re a lucky girl.” The waitress winked.

  “Oh.” Piper’s cheeks heated. “We aren’t… that was a business meeting.”

  “Ah, I see. There’s someone else. He must be pretty special.”

  Piper hadn’t dated anyone since her brief relationship with Matt, but she didn’t want to crush this woman’s impression of her. The only relationship Piper could handle right now was with her job. That was the man in her life.

  “Anyway, I’m Callie. I own this little diner. Drew told me to get you whatever you’d like. It’s already paid for.”

  Of course, he did. Piper shook her head. “Um, I actually need to get back to my rental.” An idea popped into her mind that would keep her from having to cook. “But do you do takeout?”

  “Of course, hun. What can I get you?”

  “Just… Drew isn’t paying for this, okay? It’s not only for me.”

  “Sure.” She pulled out a pad of paper.

  Piper perused the menu. “I’ll have the grilled chicken salad with vinaigrette. No croutons or cheese, and I don’t need the roll with that.” Quinn wouldn’t eat it, anyway. “The grilled cheese with fries.” Conner was basically a child. “And two Emma’s burgers with bacon and sides of fries.” Ben would complain at first, but it was their first week after the tour, and she knew he could never resist a bacon burger.

  “I’ll be back in a few.”

  Piper thanked her before letting her attention drift back to the blank page of her notebook. Pulling it back onto the table, she sighed. Since writing the first hit at fifteen, she’d only experienced block a few times. Getting inspired wasn’t something Piper had to try to do, it happened naturally. Everything once inspired her. The world around her, a busy street, even just a phone call from Chase. Every moment was special.

  She didn’t know when she’d lost that.

  Maybe it was tour fatigue or the decisions looming over her head, but nothing felt right. Not anymore.

  She chewed on the end of her pen, a habit Quinn yelled at her for. When had their relationship turned from sisters who had nothing but each other to that of a diva and her frazzled plebe?

  Piper couldn’t pinpoint the moment it all went wrong, but she knew when it started. The moment Quinn took that first song six years ago, something shifted. Piper became someone who could get her to where she wanted to go, someone she held onto for the future rather than the past.

  And Piper let it happen.

  She didn’t know how long she’d been staring at the blank page when Callie set a bag down in front of her. Piper smiled and pulled a couple twenties out of her purse. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, sweetie.”

  With that, Piper took the bag and walked out to the rental car. The drive back to the house lasted only a few minutes, and before she knew it, she pushed open the front door and stopped.

  Sitting at the kitchen table, the three members of Fate shoveled Chinese food into their mouths as they talked excitedly.

  But it wasn’t the fact that they were eating without her or that they’d seemingly forgotten she’d even be coming
back. Her eyes bounced from face to face before landing on a single sheet of paper in the center of the table.

  A new song.

  Piper’s chest tightened as she neared. The page wasn’t torn from her secret notebook. No, Quinn had rewritten the words in her own handwriting.

  Conner and Quinn didn’t seem to notice she’d arrived as Quinn explained the inspiration for her song. Only Ben’s eyes found her, brightening as they did. “Piper.” He jumped up. “Quinn said you had a date, so we ordered food.”

  Unable to voice words clogging in her throat, she walked into the kitchen and set the takeout bag on the counter, willing her tears not to come as she heard Quinn singing the first lines of the song.

  We didn’t know

  This wouldn’t last forever

  We didn’t see

  The end of everything

  Tears built in Piper’s eyes as she bent over the sink trying to catch her breath.

  A firm hand landed on her back. “Hey, you okay?”

  It took everything in her not to turn into Ben’s arms and let the feelings swirling inside overwhelm her. But that wasn’t who she was. She held people together, she didn’t break them apart. Sucking in a breath, she nodded. “Fine. I’m just not feeling well.”

  “You should sit down, then.” He pulled a stool over and guided her onto it. “How was your date? Matt, right? I always liked that guy.”

  When she didn’t answer him, his eyes found the food from Emma’s. “You didn’t have to bring us dinner.” He stepped around her to rummage in the bag.

  “You don’t have to eat it. I know you have Chinese food out there.”

  He looked across the kitchen island to where Quinn and Conner were laughing about something as they poured more wine. His eyes drifted back to the Styrofoam in his hands as he opened it. “You got me a bacon burger?”

  “I know. I know. You’re going to tell me you can’t eat it.”

  He gave her a crooked smile and wrapped his free arm around her for a quick hug. “I was just going to say thank you.” He took a bite. “How do you know me so well?”

  “It’s my job.”

  “You say that a lot. I don’t want us to just be a job to you.”

  She shrugged, cringing as Quinn’s perfect voice sang Piper’s not-so-perfect words. They were never meant for public consumption. The songs in that specific notebook were raw, real. Piper poured every emotion into them, unlike the more salable songs she wrote for Fate.

  Ben gazed at his girlfriend as if he’d never been more in love.

  Piper wanted to puke. She didn’t want this particular song to be another prop in their love story.

  I never wanted to say goodbye

  “I can’t,” she whispered to herself. Jumping off the stool, she avoided Ben’s concerned frown, leaving her own bacon burger on the counter as she rushed from the room, not stopping until her bedroom door slammed behind her. The tears broke free, rushing furiously down her face as she ripped her notebook from beneath the mattress and opened it to the page she knew would be missing.

  Quinn never left evidence behind that her songs were not her own.

  “Not that one, Quinn.” In all these songs she tried to keep hidden, “Goodbye” was the one she couldn’t bear to hear hit the airwaves. She flopped onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow as she recalled the rest of the words she’d written.

  There was zero chance Quinn didn’t understand the meaning of the words she sang. She wasn’t an idiot.

  Which meant she just didn’t care.

  It took Piper ten years after the crash to finish a song about her parents.

  And only a single night for her sister to forever change it.

  Yanking her phone out of her pocket, Piper scrolled through to find the one person who could change everything for her. She no longer owed Quinn her loyalty or her songs. It was time to become someone other than Quinn Hayes’ sister.

  He answered on the first ring. “I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

  “I just left you an hour ago, Drew.”

  She could practically hear his patented grin. “Yes, but Matt told me you were smart.”

  He was right. The smart thing to do, the only thing, was to choose a path that diverged from that of Fate, of Quinn and Ben and Conner.

  “I’m in.”

  “Really?” He laughed. “I thought you’d say no.”

  “Then, why bother asking?”

  “Because, Piper Hayes, I want you.” Anyone listening might get the wrong impression about his words, but Piper knew what he meant, and it felt good to be wanted… in the professional sense.

  “That’s good because I think I need you.”

  His laughter vibrated through the phone. “You have no idea. We’re going to be a good team, Piper Hayes. I’ll have Matt send you the details. Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

  Piper could have said the same thing to him as she hung up. The word team sounded good. She’d never been a team with Quinn, only the girl fetching her coffee or keeping things running behind the scenes.

  She wiped the remaining tears from her face and dragged her notebook onto her lap. Now, she had something to write about.

  Quinn.

  7

  Ben

  Words swam in Ben’s vision, but he struggled to remember them. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried again, but it was the same, it had always been the same. In school, they’d been quick to tell him he wasn’t stupid, that he only needed to work harder than other people because he couldn’t seem to memorize things on his own.

  But as the years went on and their extra study methods failed, he couldn’t help wondering if he really was stupid after all. Every time Quinn wrote a new song it excited him, but that excitement always came with a bit of dread. Before he could write the accompanying music, he had to memorize the words, and only one person could help with that.

  The same person who’d been in her room claiming illness for days.

  At first, Ben was worried about Piper and wanted to take her to the doctor, but she refused. He’d brought her meals, leaving them outside her door when she wouldn’t open it. And she ate.

  After three days of this, he’d started wondering if she wasn’t sick at all.

  With a sigh, he picked up his phone and tapped the name of the one person who might be able to give him answers.

  Drew answered right away. “Is the great Ben Evans calling little old me? How did I get to be so lucky?”

  “Anyone ever tell you you’re obnoxious?”

  “Every day of my life.”

  Ben couldn’t help laughing at that.

  The sound brought Quinn out onto the deck. “Who are you talking to?”

  “Erm… Chase.” Admitting he’d called Drew would provide a peek into Rockstars Anonymous that he refused to give. It was his safe space away from the band and the life, something he wasn’t ready to share with anyone other than those in the group.

  Quinn gave a bored shrug and removed her swim cover up before walking to the edge of the pool and lowering herself in.

  “Still there, bro?” Drew chuckled. “Let me guess… Quinn is there in her bikini. Is that something Chase would say?”

  “Well, my brother is gay, so he’d probably just roll his eyes. He’s not her biggest fan.”

  “Smart guy.”

  Ben let that slide. He knew what the guys—and especially Jo—thought of his girlfriend. “So, I called for a reason. Is your assistant there?”

  “Matt?” Skepticism entered his voice. “What do you want with him?”

  “You know Piper, right?” He already knew the answer to that.

  “Sure. Piper’s my girl.”

  He ignored that. “Well, she went out with Matt and now hasn’t left her room in three days. She says she’s sick, but I just wanted to see if he knew what was up.”

  “She didn’t seem sick when I saw her.” He issued a muffled curse. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “
When did you see her?” Ben’s voice darkened with suspicion. Had Piper been out with Drew instead of Matt? And why did the thought of Drew Stone’s hands on her shock him so much? Piper was awesome, one of his best friends, kind of like a sister. And girls fell head over heels for the All-American Drew.

  “Chillax, bro. I’m not going to tell you why I saw her, but she was fine when I left. If something happened, maybe look to that woman you worship so much. My money is on Quinn doing something. You’d see she was heinous if you weren’t so blind when it came to her.”

  “I’m not blind.” He knew Quinn was tough, she always had been. But they were connected through the music, and that wasn’t so easily breakable. “I try protecting her.” He always had. Not that Piper needed his protection.

  “Try harder. Look, I’ve got to go. I’m in New York, and Mel is going to gut me if I don’t get off the phone and walk into this event. We’re announcing tour dates. You know how that goes.”

  “Yeah, man. I do.” Pre-tour events were a whirlwind of promotion almost as exhausting as the tour itself.

  “Just… Piper is strong, but even the toughest nails disappear if pounded enough.”

  “That was profound, dude.”

  “Yeah, I have my moments. Don’t call me again, Ben. We aren’t friends.”

  Ben grinned as he hung up. They were so friends. It had snuck up on him, these bonds he’d formed in the rockstar support group. Melanie had been right. They all needed each other to stay grounded in this fast-moving world.

  “Sunday Funday!” Conner called as he pushed open the slider with his foot and walked out carrying a tray of margaritas. He’d started early with a Bloody Mary at breakfast. “Want one, Ben?” He set the tray on the table.

  “Nah, not today.” Ben didn’t know when he’d become the guy turning down parties, but all that mattered to him was the work, the music.