Romance: Alpha Rockstar : SING, PUNCH, KISS. 3 (Rockstar fiction) (Romance Rockstars)

by J. S. Lynn

  “Yeah,” Heather said. “Help me with this tree.”

  Cameron helped Heather carry the tree from the truck it was delivered on and then to the hole in the ground they had just dug for it. It was their latest community service project. He was finally planting a tree.

  “But there’s a level of appreciation I have now that I’m working in the food industry,” Heather said.

  Cameron nodded, only sort of understanding. He supposed he would not fully understand unless he did what Heather was doing. But Cameron had no desire to do that. He was glad Heather didn’t want to make him quit MMA with the amount of resentment she still held for it.

  “Hey, did you submit your application to that college?” Cameron asked.

  Heather nodded. “My new life begins now.”

  They finished putting dirt around the tree and stepped back to take a look at it. It was still a small tree, but one day it would get a lot bigger. The thought was an inspiring one for Cameron.

  THE END

  As promised here is your 4th free romance story:

  “Shades of Desire”

  NOTICE: This is a contemporary romance story.

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  Chapter 1

  I heard some people behind me talking. “Did you hear what happened?” someone whispered.

  It was a little after one in the afternoon. The party had died down since last night and only a few people were left in Caroline’s house. I was in the living room helping clean up the mess that others had left behind. There were broken pieces of a vase that had been knocked over, as well as left over beer cans lying all over the floor. I had promised to help Caroline keep her 22nd birthday party under control. I started picking up some of the empty beer cans and headed into the nearby bathroom where there was an empty trash can.

  Caroline was in the bathroom. She had on her red dress with black accents, a dress that looked like it had come off of a movie set. Her golden brown hair was in curls down to her shoulders, but it looked messy and greasy today, not glamorous and fresh like it had last night. Caroline was known for always looking put together, ever since high school.

  Her house was on Thomas Street, the one she grew up in. The one we grew up together in. We had been planning her 22nd birthday party for months. We had decided that Caroline’s 22nd birthday had to be just as special as her 21st, which we had celebrated in New York. It was spring break and Caroline’s parents were traveling in Mexico. They had agreed to let us use the house for this birthday party though, as long as we cleaned up everything afterward and kept things under control. “Don’t get us in trouble!” they had said, half seriously, before they left. I could hear people yelling upstairs. I don’t know if we kept things under control, but I always did my best to help Caroline.

  The bathroom was on the first floor, in between the living room and kitchen. It was the bathroom that actually reminded me of all the times I had spent with Caroline in high school. When we were seventeen, Caroline and I would do each other's makeup in this bathroom and get ready for prom or whatever other big event at the time that seemed like the most important thing in our lives. Caroline looked in the mirror. It looked like she was holding back tears.

  I looked at myself behind her in the oval shaped mirror above the sink. My wavy black hair was pulled up into a bun. I had straightened it for the party last night, but it had gotten naturally wavy throughout the night, so I had pulled it back in a bun this morning. I still had on my pink dress, the one Caroline let me wear. My face had blue eye shadow which seemed to stay on pretty well from last night, even though the bright pink lipstick Caroline had lent me was faded now. I was wearing a silver necklace that had a pendant of an envelope on it. It was a simple necklace, but it was had a certain spark to it that made me like it. Knowing I had my eye set on it in the popular shop in our hometown, Glitter and Jewelry, Caroline had given it to me as a gift before I went to college my freshmen year. Even though we did everything together, we went to separate colleges. It was the first time in our lives we had ever been apart. In my head, the necklace symbolized our friendship - that we would keep in touch no matter what happened and that we would always be close. It reminded me to write to her and not to forget who was a true friend.

  Someone’s maroon underwear was lying on the ground next to a white tank top. Caroline picked both of them up, giving me a look. She was carrying a large white trash bag in her other hand. Her face looked distressed and greasy, not neat and proper like it usually did.

  “I have to find Jeff,” Caroline said quickly, not looking at me, as she flicked the dirty clothes into the trash bag.

  *****

  The day before, I had woken up in Caroline’s bedroom. I had spent the night over at her house. Caroline was at her desk, typing on her Macbook computer which was covered in a turquoise case. Her hair was up in curlers, getting ready for the big night.

  “Happy Birthday!” I yelled, jumping out of bed. I had on Caroline’s sweatpants from the night before. Caroline was about six months older than me, something I had always been secretly jealous of. Now that she was getting older though, maybe she would be the one who was jealous that I was younger.

  “Oh, thanks!” she said, getting up to give me a hug. “22 still feels as great as 21. I was just on Facebook, inviting some more people to my house tonight. I know were going to keep it low key, but I thought inviting a few more people wouldn’t hurt. Most people won’t even show.”

  “I guess,” I said. I knew Caroline always liked to do things in an all or nothing way, but I liked to be a little bit more cautious. I guess Caroline was more of the wild one, pushing me to take risks. I liked to take things slowly though, making sure everyone was safe. I was like the mother to Caroline, and she was my wild teenage daughter.

  There was a knock on the door and Caroline’s older brother, Jeff, came in. He was wearing boxers and a dark blue and white checkered shirt. One of the buttons of his shirt was undone. He had his glasses on, even though I usually had seen him with contacts. His messy brown hair lay at his face. He glanced over at me.

  “You two getting ready?” he asked. “Big party tonight. Don’t want to mess up the entire house.”

  Jeff was just a few years older than Caroline and me. He was still in college, but he was supposed to graduate this year. He had decided to go to college closer to home because he had received a scholarship to play soccer at a big school. He had played soccer throughout high school and was known for it. I had known Jeff ever since I knew Caroline. I always remembered him as Caroline’s annoying and mean older brother who would harass us when we were getting ready for school dances or playing truth or dare at sleepovers. He was so much older looking now, though. His face looked more mature and he reminded me of some of the guys who were in my classes at college who said sophisticated things and were level headed. I had only seen him a couple of times, when I visited Caroline, since I first went away for college.

  “Shut up,” Caroline said, jokingly. “It will be fun. Hopefully, it will be just as much fun as last year.”

  Last year’s party in New York City was epic for Caroline. We went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant where we were treated like royalty. We saw one of Caroline’s favorite bands play a free concert in the park. Afterwards, we went out for drinks at a bar downtown that Caroline and some of her friends from college loved to go to. Caroline was going to school in New York to study acting, so naturally, she celebrated her 21st birthday in the city. I felt like a bit of an outsider going to Caroline’s favorite bar with her New York friends. I had fun anyway though. I had never been to New York before that, so it was quite an adventure.

  I went to college in a small town in Ohio, in the middle of nowhere. I had applied to some schools in the city, but I did
n’t get in. I liked my small liberal arts college in Ohio though. I worked hard and had made some new friends, even though none of them had the same type of close friendship I had with Caroline. I had planned to study English literature, but after taking more classes, I realized I also had an interest in fitness. I had taken some science classes studying the anatomy of the body and thought maybe I would switch my major to something where I could become a fitness instructor. Maybe this was something I could excel at.

  Caroline always wanted to be an actress since she was a little girl. When we would watch television at her house, she would stand up and start saying lines from the show, adding her own lines to create drama. She had done school plays at our high school. I went to all of them, even though acting wasn’t my thing. She was pretty good even. Though she never got the lead part, she always did a good job playing supporting roles. She had decided she wanted to go to New York to study acting. “I know it’s hard to make it in New York,” she told me. “But maybe if I don’t become an actress, I can be a model or something. New York has opportunities for everyone.”

  “Is Brian coming?” Caroline asked her brother. She folded down her laptop.

  Brian was Jeff’s boyfriend. Jeff had come out as a homosexual when he was sixteen. I remember not even knowing exactly what it meant to be gay when Caroline told me. I was only thirteen at the time and never even considered that two guys could be together the way a man and a woman could. It didn’t bother me. I think Caroline always accepted her brother as who he was, even though her parents had a harder time accepting it at first. It was years later though and everyone had accepted that this was how Jeff was.

  Brian had blonde hair and tattoos. He was a bit of a rocker with a tough edge. He rode a motorcycle and smoked cigarettes. He was the type of person I might be scared of walking down the street, but I had met him a few times while visiting Caroline and he seemed like a decent person. We had even all hung out one time, on summer vacation when we went to the beach and ended up staying overnight at their condo. Brian and Jeff had been on and off dating since Jeff went to college. They had met each other in class and were currently living together in a place about half an hour away from here.

  “Of course he is,” Jeff yelled, as he walked out of the room. “Who else would I invite? I sent him to get some beer.”

  “You don’t think this party will get too wild?” I asked Caroline in a bit of a nervous voice. I got out the hair straightener I had packed and plugged it in. I always straightened my hair for special events. Caroline was putting cream on her face, some kind of anti-aging moisturizer that she didn’t need.

  “It will be fine,” Caroline said, always an optimistic. She headed to her closet, pulling out the two doors that closed it. “What should I wear? I want to wear a dress. Something fun, but a little sexy, you know?”

  I went over to the closet to help her pick out pieces. “Oh good, Betsy, you’re wearing the necklace I gave you!” she said looking at the envelope necklace around my neck. I hardly ever took the necklace off.

  “I’m always wearing it,” I said, touching the silver necklace with my hand. I liked letting Caroline pick out clothes for me. She had great taste in fashion and beauty. She just knew the right things to pick and how to put things together. “Do you have a dress for me?” I asked. I had packed some jeans and a simple t-shirt. Maybe I wanted to do something different though. Thankfully we were both the same size and always had been.

  “Of course I do” she said. “It’s my birthday and you have to wear something extra special.” I helped her go through her clothes. I saw a dark blue dress that looked like my style. It had short sleeves and a tie around the waist. It was a casual and fun.

  “That is cute,” I said pointing to the blue dress. I had never seen it before. I wondered if it was new, perhaps something she got in New York.

  “No, no, you have to stand out. After all, you are my best friend.”

  She pulled out a hot pink dress. It looked really short compared to the blue dress. It was a bit scandalous. It didn’t look like something I would usually wear. “I’ll try it on,” I said, giving Caroline a look. “It is a little short though.”

  I changed in front of her like we usually did. I pulled the pink dress on over my body. It wasn't strapless, but it was sleeveless, something I normally wouldn’t wear. It had a V-neck cut in front that revealed my cleavage. It was tight at the waist, in a fabric that hugged my curves. It stopped just at my mid thighs. I looked at myself from head to toe. I didn't know if I wanted to wear something like this, but then I thought, why not. It is Caroline's big day after all. "I don't know if I have the right shoes to go with this," I said.

  Caroline gasped as she looked at me. “Oh, it’s perfect! You like a TV star. You look even better than me in that dress. Not to worry about your shoes, I have the perfect pair of pink heels. This is much better than that blue dress”

  I looked at myself in the mirror again, looking at myself from every angle. It did show off my curves. I wasn’t stick skinny like Caroline was. She wanted to be thin, like a model and the people in the movies. I usually tried to cover up my hourglass shape, but this dress showed off my body and made me look good. The silver envelope necklace hung down on my neck. It actually looked good with the V neck shape of this dress. “Oh, alright,” I said laughing. “You better keep an eye on me though!”

  Usually at parties, Caroline stood out. She was always doing something to be in the spotlight. I had to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid, like making sure she wasn’t drinking too much at high school parties or coming home drunk. Caroline and I went to parties throughout high school together, and she loved the party crowd. We weren’t exactly the most popular people, but people knew who we were and Caroline liked that. We were known as a pair, two people who always did something together. I didn’t go to parties as much in college. Even though my college had its fair share of parties like all colleges do, my school had more of a serious reputation. It was more about the studies than the party scene so I only went out on the weekends when I really felt like it.

  Caroline laughed. “The boys will be all over you tonight!”

  *****

  Around six o clock that evening, Brian showed up with packs of beers. He had brought about six of his other friends with him. Just by looking at Brian, you would never guess he was gay. I guess he liked to keep it covered with a tough image of tattoos and piercings. I only knew him vaguely. I said hi to him as he showed up. He remembered me after those few times we had hung out. He was wearing a white t-shirt that showed off the tattoos of his arms.

  “Brian and Jeff are so good together,” Caroline had told me. “I think they are soulmates, the right people for each other. Jeff always had a bit of a hard time with people accepting who he was in high school. Some people gave him a hard time when he was on the soccer team and I think he just sort of dated around and could never find someone who really liked him. Brian seems to be the opposite of him, but they are also kind of alike. They bring out the best in each other, I think. I mean, come on, they even decided to live together which is a big deal.”

  Caroline wasn’t a serious dater. She was a bit of a romantic, hoping she would find the right person, but usually ended up just dating around. She told me she had dated a few people in college. “Mostly hookups though,” she laughed. She had dated a couple guys through high school. I remember Caroline’s excitement as she met a new guy and then her disappointment and pain when they broke up. I would be there as she cried over each failed relationship. We had always been there through the good and bad times for each other.

  I only dated three guys in my life, and two of them were in high school. One was a boy who was in my math class freshmen year. His name was Jack. I had known him since junior high and we had always talked in class or in the hallway. When he asked me out, I said yes and it lasted about three months. He was my first real boyfriend.

  My second boyfriend was named Edward, but we just called him Ed fo
r short. I guess he was my first real love. We had talked at a party that Caroline took me to and seemed to click. I hadn’t seen him in school so he had a mysterious quality to me. He had dark brown hair that looked almost black and his piercing blue eyes were what had mesmerized me. Caroline was always a big fan of us together. She said he was right for me and gave me the kind of edge I needed. I dated him for a little over a year and when he broke up with me for someone else, I was heartbroken.

  I had hooked up with one guy at college. We had known each other from one of my classes. After hooking up in my dorm room, we created a sort of relationship for about a month. I didn’t see him after the semester ended though, and I hadn’t sought him out.

  Brian and Jeff were in the corner talking. They usually did not hold hands or openly show their relationship, but I think people knew they were dating. Jeff had changed into dark denim jeans and a casual gray t-shirt. He looked put together, but at the same time, like he wasn’t trying at all. Jeff looked preppy compared to Brian’s tough rocker outfit.

  Brian had a bunch of red, plastic cups for the drinks. One of his friends also had a huge boom box. “This party is going to wake up the neighborhood!” one of Brian’s friends said.

  “Parties in New York are so different than here in this small town,” Caroline told me. “We usually go to the bars in the city. It has an exciting nightlife. But I wanted to have a blast from the past of high school since we are at my house. I want it to be just like our senior year of high school.”

  I remember senior year. It was less about studying and more about partying. Maybe it was fun for Caroline. She was a huge party girl that year. I had to pick up after her though when she drank too much and that one time when she got in trouble and almost got us arrested. I always made sure she didn’t drive home and I was usually the designated driver. I had to take care of Caroline, it’s just how it was. Nobody else would look after her like I did.