by Thia Finn
“Yeah, we are, too. I’ve been wanting to see the Crew-man,” I told him. “I’m glad to see him getting better each day.”
“The doctor said he’ll be fine, but no more cats. I think we made Crew understand why he can’t have them. The whole thing scared him pretty badly so I doubt we’ll have to remind him.”
“I think it scared everyone,” Halo told him.
“You just don’t know the feeling that came over me when Nanny called and said he couldn’t breathe. Scared the shit out of me.” Halo and I both nodded. “That’s why I wanted y’all to stay. I have something I need to tell you. Well, really just Halo.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This was going to be bad. I knew it already.
“Halo, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my life with this situation. I thought my heart would explode on our way to the house after we got that call. After it all settled down, all I could think about was what if I’d been out on the road and Crew was here with Peri or Nanny. I might be thousands of miles away or worse, what if we get the chance to go overseas?”
I looked at Halo when she tried to talk. “But Hayden.”
He held up his hand. “No, wait. Let me finish, please.”
“Okay,” she said.
“I can’t do it, Halo. I can’t leave him. He’s only got me. What if I can’t be there in an emergency? I can’t do it, so I’ve decided to talk to Cash about getting out. I know I can be a studio musician and continue to write songs. I don’t want to hold you back because God knows you’re good, so you’d continue but as a solo act. We could finish the CD and market it as yours, not ours. I’m willing to give that up so I can stay here with Crew.”
Shocked. That’s the only way I could describe it. He wanted to give up a chance at a music career to stay here with Crew. Would I be willing to do this? Give up everything for my kid? I couldn’t fathom the idea. I looked at Halo expecting to see shock and anger, but she completely surprised me. She seemed completely okay with this.
“You know, Hayden,” she said, “if I was in your place, I’d do the same thing. Your child or your family should always come first. You have to do what you feel is best for that little guy. I’m honestly proud of your decision.” She stood and hugged Hayden.
I stood and stared at the two of them. What the fuck? How could they feel this way? They were willing to give up everything for someone else. Did people really do this? They’re fucking crazy.
“Are you sure about this, Hayden?” I didn’t want to give my opinion to them since they honestly seemed all right.
“Yeah, I mean, I won’t make the big money. I do pretty well with my songwriting, and I’d have to see about getting out of the contract with the label. I know Cash’s going to be pissed about it, but oh well. My son comes first, now and always.”
The look on Hayden’s face made me realize he truly meant what he said. His son’s health and happiness would always be first. The selflessness in that decision amazed me. I think he thought I was the crazy one staring at him the way I did, he and Halo both.
Halo looked at me. “I guess our work’s done here, Carter. He’s made his decision, and I’m not going to try to talk him out of it.” The pride she felt in Hayden astounded me. Most people would be pissed about it, but not Halo. She understood the decision. She knew where his priorities lay.
“Well, okay. We’ll be going then,” I told them taking Halo’s hand.
We climbed into the truck and headed out for my home. “Are you okay, Halo?”
“Sure. Some things will have to be changed up, but I’m good. You know I knew coming into this it might not work out. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”
“But your music is fucking good. What will you do?”
“I don’t know until I talk to Cash.”
“Aren’t you mad though?”
“No, why would I be mad? We tried it. It didn’t work. I’ll talk to Cash and see how he feels about me going it alone. If that doesn’t work, I’ll do something else or use the degree I earned.” She seemed perfectly content with the idea of never singing again.
The shock hadn’t worn off me yet. Processing the idea skipped over my brain. It couldn’t find a place to land so I could consider all of the ramifications of her not being part of a duo. We rode home the rest of the way in silence.
The next morning Halo and Hayden scheduled a meeting with Cash. I wanted to go with her and hear how this all played out.
“I can drive you in if you want,” I offered.
“No, that’s okay. I’m sure you have things to do.”
“Sweets, there’s nothing I would rather do than spend time with you.” I nibbled on her neck. “Or maybe we could go back to bed now and spend our time playing with each other.”
“I have to go now, though. You should have mentioned this earlier. Don’t you have something you need to do today?”
“Oh yeah. Everyone’s coming back in town today. I forgot.”
“Convenient how that works when your mind is on sex.”
“Hey, I forget everything important when I have you to entertain me and besides my mind is always on sex like every other male I know.” I kissed her hard this time.
She pushed me back before the kiss got carried away. “No, I have to leave now. Go see Gunner, that way, you’ll be busy, too.”
“I’m busy already. I’d rather spend my time in bed.” I rubbed my semi against her hip. “See, I’m busy or rather, we could get busy.” She rolled her eyes at me.
“Yeah, yeah. I bet you say that to all the girls.” This got my attention, but I knew she was only kidding.
“There are no other girls, and you know it.” She pulled me down for another kiss.
“I know, babe. I know. Now I have to go.” Halo picked up her keys and headed for the door.
“Go play band with the boys.” She blew me a kiss and left.
I watched her go. I still hadn’t been able to wrap my head around the idea that she was okay with the whole thing. I thought about it more after we made love last night.
I liked her in my bed, maybe too much, like she said. Yeah, I thought about sex a lot but what guy didn’t? Having her here made me glad I’d started on the changes I wanted to make in my life. I still had ideas I needed to follow through on them to show her my willingness to make sacrifices, but nothing like the ones she thought were okay in looking at Hayden’s issues.
She’d been staying over most nights, and I liked it. When she comes home, I like being here to greet her, and I’m pretty sure she likes it, too. I could get used to having her here full-time, but I’m not sure she’d be down with that just yet. What we have isn’t fragile like it was before, but it’s not set in stone either. I’m taking it one day at a time trying not to push for too much at once. She’s not pushing either which is good. She knows we’ll both be leaving at some point. We have some concert dates scheduled in a month or so but not a tour. She has tour dates or at least, they had tour dates. Guess we’ll see what happens today with Cash.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“You can’t mean that Cash. We’ve worked so hard on the CD and you want to totally scrap the project?” I blinked back my tears. I don’t know if I was angry or upset. I never considered that Cash would want to throw it all away.
“Yes, we can. We signed on with you and Hayden and now he’s backing out so we’ll back out.”
“But what about me?” When I said I backed Hayden’s decision, I meant it, but I thought there would be a way we could at least finish this CD and earn something for all of our hard work.
Cash ran his hand down his face. “We signed a contract with the two of you to do a CD and a tour to kick it off. I don’t feel like I can go to the suits and tell them that we have a CD and we have one singer even though there’s two on the CD. We paid you some up front. Fronted the musicians for the recordings even. Not having Hayden changes everything. You need Hayden to make your sound complete.”
“So what you’re sa
ying is I’m good, but I’m not good enough to carry it by myself.” I felt the tears welling up. I would not cry. I looked at Hayden, but I knew he wouldn’t change his mind. I didn’t want him to change it. He had a bigger obligation with his son.
Hayden stood and looked down at me. “I’m sorry, Halo. I truly am, but I can’t do it. I have to put Crew first. I feel like a dick for doing this to you, but it can’t be helped.”
“I’m not blaming you, Hayden. I know you’re doing what’s right for your family.” I tried to muster a smile for him, but I’m not sure it came out looking like one. I still have a long time that I had allotted for this idea. I could go back to playing in the local bars, but I wouldn’t have any kind of recording deal.
“Look, I feel bad about this, but unless I can find another singer that works with you who sings country music, I don’t know what else to do.” Cash sat back down at his desk. “I’ll keep looking.”
“What about the music we’ve done already?” I needed to know.
“For now, it’ll be put on the shelf. This happens all the time, Halo.”
“Not to me it doesn’t. I guess that’s all we’ve got then.” I looked at Hayden who shrugged his shoulders.
I stood and opened the door. “Are you going now, too?” I asked Hayden.
“No, I still need to talk to Cash.” I knew what he needed to talk about already. I prayed that the studio allowed him to work here. He needed the money and benefits for him and Crew.
“Okay, I’ll see y’all later then.”
“I’m sorry, Halo. I truly am,” Cash said, and I walked out.
The second I shut the car door, the tears flowed. How could this happen so quickly? One event and the domino effect took us all out. I started my car and drove around a while, since I knew Carter probably wasn’t home, ending up at my apartment. I walked in the door and flopped down on the couch. Six months I’d been here and what did I have to show for it? A partially complete CD. What good would it do us or me? None.
I couldn’t stand looking at the four walls of my small apartment so I grabbed some clean clothes and left for Carter’s. His house sat empty when I got there, but the pool called to me. I chose a chair in the sun to drink a glass of wine. The sun felt wonderful from my chaise, and the next thing I knew I woke up in the late afternoon. That wine must have put me out. I raised up and wiped the drool off my face. Nice, Halo.
A noise came from in the house. Carter had returned, then he yelled, “Honey, I’m home.” He did it every time he walked in the door.
I opened the large sliders peering in. “I’m here, Carter.”
His smiling face turned to me. “Hey, there you are.”
“Yeah, just waiting for you.”
“Now that’s music to my ears.” He wrapped me up in a hug and kissed me soundly. “I fucking love coming home to an answer.”
“You know you can get a Furbee for that,” I said with a laugh.
“Furbee? They don’t make those anymore.”
“I could be one,” I told him. I held my hands up as ears twisting them around rolling my eyes all around mimicking their odd behaviors.
“No, you could never be a Furbee. You’re prettier than those devils. Now if we found one that had violet eyes, you’d look pretty close to the same.” He laughed at his own joke.
“Real funny.”
“So how did the meeting go? I expected to hear from you with some news.”
“Not well, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, how ‘not well’?”
“Like I’m screwed ‘not well’. Cash said without Hayden, the CD will be completely scrapped. He doesn’t think I can carry it on my own. The project’s going to be shelved for now.”
“Forever, you mean?”
“Yeah, forever.” My voice quivered a little. I couldn’t help but remember all of the hours we’d put into the project. He hugged me again to his warm body. It felt wonderful to breathe in his comfort. My arms wrapped around his waist. I needed to stay right here for a while.
“We’ll think of something. I promise.”
“I’ve spent all afternoon thinking about it. I can’t come up with a solution. Cash said that he would start looking for someone to replace Hayden, but it could take months. The CD needs to be finished and released. The label isn’t going to let this go on forever.” I turned away from him and poured myself another glass of wine.
“Are you drowning your sorrows in the wine bottle, sweets?”
“No, it’s only my second glass. Why? I think I deserve to wallow in it for a while anyway.”
“Yeah, but it’s not going to solve this situation. I’ve been thinking, too. What if you and I did it?”
“Did what?” I said after taking a long drink.
“Finished the CD?”
“What? No. How will that solve my problem anyway? It’s a sweet gesture on your part, but that’s not going to work.” I kissed his cheek but when I pulled away, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him.
“But it could work for now. We could finish out the CD and then see how long before it releases. Cash could line up some local shows and maybe do some around Texas while we’re waiting. You know, just try it out. See how it goes over.”
“You can’t go out on tour with me. You have a band, remember? A successful band.”
“I’m aware of that, sweets, but this could be a side project. Lots of people in bands have side projects or solo projects going on.” He kissed down the side of my neck.
“Don’t use your kisses to persuade me.” I tried to back away.
“Why, is it working?” He continued across my collarbone.
“No, yes, stop.” I pulled away. “Are you serious about this?”
“Hell yeah. Let’s do it.”
I didn’t know how to respond to his generous offer. It sounded too good to be true. To have someone from AD onstage with me would be awesome, but I didn’t know if we could work it out.
“How do you think the rest of the band will feel about you doing this? They might be against it.”
“Why would they? It’s not like I do any real music writing for the band or that I’m quitting. You’ll have to work around our schedule with planning stuff, though.”
“And what about Cash? How’s he going to feel about it?”
“He should be in total agreement with the idea, Halo. Hell, he’s getting me.” He held out his hands in a joking way.
“I’m serious, Carter. Will he go for it?”
“Listen. Cash works for AD remember? And another thing, this is a fucking great deal for him. He gets us, together, and he still gets a piece of the damn AD pie. How could he be against it?” Standing behind me, he moved my hair to the side and went back to kissing down my neck. “Now if you’re through negotiating, I have some other things we can discuss.”
I turned and faced him. “I’m trying to be serious here, Carter. This is my life we’re talking about.”
“Sweets, we damn sure have it worked out until we can run it by Cash.” The kisses turned into little nips with his teeth causing me to melt when he ran his tongue over the spots to soothe his bites.
I found the hem of his t-shirt and ran my hands under it and up the valleys of his solid abdominals. His warm skin felt heavenly as I traced the path back down dragging my nails and causing him to suck in a breath. When I leaned forward and bit his small distended nipple through the shirt, he grabbed me and lifted me onto the island whipping my shirt over my head.
“My turn at that,” he growled out as he popped the clasp on my bra and pulled until it dropped at his feet. “God I love your tits, Halo. They’re so beautiful and perfect.” He picked them both up, slightly squeezing them while his tongue circled around the pink of my nipple before sucking the hard peak into his mouth to work it over with his teeth. The other he continued to torture between his index finger and thumb. He pulled them both together and lavished both nipples alternately driving me insane with need.
I und
id his jeans and pushed them down over his hips then used my feet to push them to the floor where he dropped his Chucks and stepped out. I wrapped both palms around his length and pumped up and down before using one hand to caress his balls which caused him to suck in a breath around my nipples.
“Fuck, that feels so good, sweets.”
Taking my cue from him, I slid down off the granite and went all the way to my knees never taking my hands off him. He didn’t try to fight it. Instead, a smile stretched across his face, and I knew he would be happy with my idea. I continued pumping him, swiping my thumb across the slit to collect the drops that leaked out so I could add some slickness to his hardened length. His head dropped back, and I knew he enjoyed my movements.
When I licked up the engorged vein running the underside of him, he let out a moan that shot straight through me landing between my legs causing my panties to be soaked through. I licked back down and took his sac in my mouth fondling the orbs with my tongue.
“Shit, Halo. This will be over before we start if you keep that up.” He spread his legs a little more to allow me better access.
“Then I guess I better change tactics.” I licked to the head and circled it with my tongue before taking as much in my mouth as I could and earning me a loud growl this time. I wrapped one hand around the section I couldn’t take in, and between the two, I was able to manipulate and suck his cock like I knew he enjoyed.
He moaned again, and I looked up wide eyed when I had him hitting the back of my throat. He watched as I did this over and over pumping him in and out of my warm mouth.
“The look on your face with me in your mouth makes me so fucking hot for you, sweets. I don’t think I can stand it anymore. As fucking gorgeous as it is seeing my cock disappear between those lips, I need to watch my cock disappear into your tight pussy even more.”
He pulled me to standing and made fast work of getting rid of my jeans, taking panties and jeans together before he sat me back on the island. “It’s a perfect height,” he said as he slid one finger between my lips and collected a coating of liquid to circle my clit.
