by Thia Finn
Thia Finn
His Distraction
Assured Distraction Series Book Two
By Thia Finn
Copyright 2016 Thia Finn
Dunn, Ronnie and Terry McBride. You’ll Always Be Loved by Me. Sony/ATV Publishing LLC. 1999.
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WARNING: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book contains graphic language and sexual content and is intended for mature audiences, ages 18 and older.
Edited by: Kristen Grammar Lands
Book design by Swish Design & Editing
Cover design by Deranged Doctors Designs
Cover image Copyright 2016
Being on tour is great for the hot new alternative rock band, Assured Distraction, but not for relationships. Guitar player Ryan and girlfriend Krissy quickly realize they have two different visions for their future. She wants the house and two point five kids. He wants the band to be on top.
The band is ready to leave leave on their epic tour with Ryder Steel. It’s in Europe and going to be epic. Ryan and the band are ready but where does that leave the two lovers?
Peri can’t believe how great her life is playing out. She loves living in Austin. She has finally landed her dream job as Assured Distraction’s tour manager.
She doesn’t leave on tour to find love. It literally falls in her hotel room. She quickly finds with love comes complications that she must weave her way around or give it up.
She’s never been a quitter and this time is no exception.
To my mother, Norma Jean Seal
With all my love now and forever.
Music Poetry by Tiffany Simone
Of Dirty Sweet Poetry
I fell in love with the music.
It fell in love with me.
Losing you, the song skips.
Emptiness,
playing on repeat.
Music is art.
Art is sex.
Sing for me, Baby.
Let’s make art among this mess.
I choose this life,
twists and turns,
but you’re all I’ve ever seen.
Losing you
the song ends for me.
I give myself to the music,
as you have given yourself to me.
Dance for me, Baby,
you’re the melody.
Blurb
Dedication
Music Poetry by Tiffany Simone
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Book #3 Teaser
Acknowledgments
Playlist
Connect With Me Online
About the Author – Thia Finn
“Who tha fuck wha dat?” Carter slurred, his tongue thick with the copious amounts of alcohol he, and the rest of the band, had consumed over the last several hundred miles. His speech was all but impossible to decipher, but it was just as likely that the overall degree of inebriation would render any comprehension of their conversation null, anyway.
“Aw, ‘ell. It ‘as Krissssssyyy.” Ryan drew out the last few letters as though his brain got stuck on the name. They had been drinking on the bus since they left Denver almost a day and a half ago, heading home to Austin. Chandler, their new keyboardist, had disappeared from the bus during their stop in Amarillo the night before, and the guys had picked up the pace of their alcohol consumption trying to keep Keeton, who had fallen head over heels for her, calm until they could get home and track her down.
“My fuskin’ kitten’s pissed at me, again, ‘cause Imma drunk in th’ middle of th’ dayyyy.” Ryan took another pull off the long neck beer.
“She’ll get tha fawk over it, man. And then y’all can have that gooooood make-up sex when ya’ getto ‘er.” Carter mimicked the act, thrusting his hips forward from his seated position, spilling beer everywhere.
“Awww, shit man,” Ryan started laughing at him and fell over sideways on the couch. “Nooowww it’s like ya’ pissed yourself in th’ chair.” He couldn’t stop laughing while Carter attempted to brush the liquid off his crotch.
“This sucks. Wasted almos’ a whole fuckin’ brew.” He continued wiping.
Laughing so hard he could barely utter decipherable words, Ryan tried to get out, “Wha the fuck are ya’ doin’, asswipe? Ya’ can’t wipe beer off.” He laughed even harder until he passed out and let his bottle hit the floor and roll away, spilling beer across the living area of the bus.
KeeMac went back to the bedroom, calling Chandler every ten minutes, until he passed out on the bed, while Gunner insisted he needed to get out of his pants. He stood and stretched, stumbling to his bunk where he crashed when everyone complained about not wanting to see his white ass. Ryan finally stopped laughing and closed his eyes, Carter soon followed suit and put his head back against the chair drifting into a snoring, drunken slumber.
The band members woke up hours later as the bus came to a halt in the middle of the same parking lot they departed from over two months earlier. The airbrakes gave a great gasp as though giving an audible sigh, happy as the rest of them to be finally home again.
As soon as the door opened, KeeMac retrieved his bags and jumped into the waiting taxi that would take him home. He needed to shower and figure out where he was going to go looking for her first.
Carter woke up to find a bottle laid askew on his jeans, its contents spilled causing a damp spot between stretched his stretched out legs. “Awww, Fuck!” The yelling woke up Gunner and Ryan.
“Ugh, dude, can you keep it down a little? My head is killing me? Oh man, what did we do?” Ryan muttered.
“Looks like we killed a bottle of tequila at some point then chased it with a few more beers,” Gunner said, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I think I swallow
ed an entire cotton tee shirt.”
“Better than some of the stuff you’ve swallowed.” Carter laughed at his witty retort, which won him a one-finger salute from Gunner. “Yeah, you and KeeMac pussied out on us so early that we could have pulled some good tricks on y’all.”
Gunner stopped rubbing and looked over at Carter. “Damn, dude, you were so drunk that you pissed yourself in that chair!” He pointed to Carter’s crotch and started laughing himself.
“Hell no, I didn’t.” When Carter stood and the bottle rolled off and onto the floor. “See, it’s beer.”
“Cash is going to love this. Piss and beer all over the furniture and floor, he’s going to start referring to us as ‘the circus animals’ again.” Gunner was still laughing at Carter.
“I’m telling you; I did not piss on myself, fucker. I’ve never been that drunk.” Carter stated emphatically.
“That’s a fucking lie, right there. Remember that time we decided to…” Gunner was gearing up for a good story.
“Shut the fuck up, Gunner.” Carter knew Gunner had a variety of stories to draw on from all their escapades during the band’s early days, living out of a van, traveling around Texas for several years. When the laughter from the three died, they collected their gear from around the inside of the bus.
“I’m glad we passed out when we did, man. At least, we got to sleep it off before we had to drive home. I am so ready for a hot shower and to see my own fucking bed for like a week.” Carter picked up his bags and headed out the bus door, walking bowlegged from the wet crotch. “Damn it! I feel like I have a wet diaper on or something.” His comment induced another bout of laughter as they stepped off the bus in the evening sun, shielding their eyes.
“Yeah, by the way, my head feels right now, I think I’ll sleep a few days,” Gunner grumbled, lowering his sunglasses to cover his bloodshot eyes. “Y’all check for my body if you don’t hear from me in a week, m’kay?”
Looking over at Ryan, Gunner asked, “Who you calling already… no, don’t answer that because I already know this shit- The Queen of Your Crotch: Krissy. Didn’t you tell her what time we would be here?”
“Yeah, but she’s not here, and she’s not answering the damn phone. Shit, I don’t need this right now. My head is exploding from last night. All I want is more sleep.” Ryan knew she was not all that dependable, but he told her almost the exact time to be in the lot to get him. He was dying to see her since their visits had been short during the two-month tour, which had been hard on both of them. He had to work to keep the groupies off when it would have been so easy to give into their advances, but simply remembering his beautiful girl waiting for him was all he needed to keep them away.
Krissy was angry the last time they parted, but she’d kept it in check around the other band members. She hated being apart from him and was quick to tell him so each time they talked which was one reason he hadn’t told her yet that they were invited to continue the second half of the tour with Frission. That information was going to provoke a huge fight he was not looking forward to. She could raise hell with the best of them when it came to getting her way, but he loved her all the same. When she was happy, they were great together, and he’d always felt that those times made up for all the bad times. Unfortunately, those moments seem to be getting further and further apart, especially with his travel.
“Looks like you’re fucked, dude.” Gunner chuckled without humor as he bent down to get the rest of the items from storage under the bus. He stood and grabbed his head in his hands. “Damn, leaning over that long is a bad idea. How much did we drink last night? Never mind, I don’t want to know that answer.”
Ryan dialed her phone and left another message. “Hey baby, I’m here at the studio pulling my gear off the bus. Where are you? I can’t wait to see you. I need to get my hands on you in the worst way. Hurry up and get here so I can show you how much I missed you. I love you.”
Ryan set aside his luggage so he could call a cab. He called Krissy’s number one more time and still nothing. He hung up the phone and looked around, worry and irritation clear on his face. As soon as he hit end, the phone lit up with a text message from a number he didn’t recognize.
Unknown number: This is Janae. Krissy’s in jail and you need to bail her out ASAP.
Ryan: WTF?! I just got off the bus in Austin! What happened?
Janae: I’m at work, get your girlfriend, douche
Ryan: Is she OK? I gotta call a cab first. WTF happened?
Janae: Whatever, just get her out of jail. She’s been there a few hours.
“This is un-fucking-believable!” Ryan said to everyone standing around. “Janae just texted me and said Krissy’s in fucking jail, and I need to bail her ass out!” He seethed.
“What the hell did she do to get thrown in jail since you talked to her last?” Carter pulled the handles of the suitcase up to the trunk to his car, his bloodshot eyes covered with dark sunglasses just like the others wore.
“Hell if I know. Janae’s text was bitchy and vague and just said I needed to get her.”
“Dude, where’s your truck? I’ll take you to it. Get your shit and let’s go.” Gunner was already moving in that direction.
When they headed out of the parking lot, Gunner aired his speculation, “There is no telling what she did. It’s the middle of the work week, and she should be there, right?”
“Yeah, she should be. She’ll probably get fired now for not showing up. How the hell could Janae just leave her in there? Man, she is a bitch.” The more Ryan thought about it, the angrier he became. He knew his girlfriend riled up easily when she drank, but he didn’t see her doing something so dumb she’d get arrested. She liked to drink a little, but she wouldn’t be drinking in the middle of the day, especially after busting his balls about doing it earlier.
Ryan eased out of Gunner’s truck in front of his apartment and pulled his luggage out of the back. “Hey, thanks for the ride, dude. I’ll catch you later.”
“Well, text me and let me know what’s going on. I’m going home to crash and burn to sleep this pain off.”
“Yeah, first chance I get.”
“Really, dude, call me if you need anything,” Gunner offered.
“Thanks, man. I have a feeling I’m going to have some shit to clean up. I was looking forward to coming home to my girl and getting buried in pussy for a couple of days. I have a feeling things aren’t going to go quite that way, though. I’ll catch you later, Gun.”
I cannot believe this shit is happening right now. What in this fucking world has she done to get herself thrown in jail, and why didn’t she call me instead of Janae to get her?
The downtown Austin police station was fairly quiet since it was mid-week and the college kids hadn’t had a turn on the bar crawls down Sixth Street since Saturday night. Walking up to the desk behind the large pane of glass, Ryan spied an officer who looked fairly underwhelmed by his work.
“Excuse me,” Ryan said, waiting for acknowledgment from him.
“Can I help you?” the officer asked, sounding annoyed by Ryan’s appearance at the window.
“I’m here to bail someone out,” Ryan explained, his fatigue apparent in his voice as the grimy feeling from the long night and day on the bus and the stress of his ongoing conflict with Krissy suddenly weighing on him. Add on his barely sober state from partying on the bus all day and he felt like he didn’t have the energy for any of this right now.
He ended up sitting in a silent, deserted lobby for what felt like hours, waiting to hear whether he could make bail getting Krissy out at this point. He sat on the only bench in the large space and laid his head back against the wall, and the next thing he knew someone was kicking his shin and yelling in his face.
“Get the hell up, dumbass, and take me home.” He jerked to consciousness, not realizing he’d even fallen asleep, to a very unwelcoming expression on Krissy’s familiar face. Their reunion shouldn’t start this way after two months apart. The stormy
look on her face said everything he didn’t want to hear.
“Krissy, what the hell?” Ryan stood and tried to pull her in for a hug.
She was having none of it and stomped off toward the door. “Take me home. I’ve been in these clothes all night in that damn, nasty ass cell.”
He grabbed her arm and spun her around to look at him. “Wait a minute. I haven’t paid your bail yet.”
“You don’t have to. I was released since I’ve never been in jail before.” Ryan heard the anger in her tone. It felt like he had returned home to some alternate universe. He still hadn’t found out what happened to cause the arrest, even for the few hours she was in jail.
“Baby, wait a minute. Are you okay? I come home and this is what I wake up to. I was freaked the hell out with worry about you when you weren’t at the studio to pick me up. Then I get this text from Janae that you were under arrest. And now I’m here, and you don’t even seem a little bit happy to see me when I missed you like crazy. Don’t I even get an explanation as to why?” His hurt and worry were boiling over and turning to anger more and more by the second. His girl had a rough night, she’s acted like it was his fault, and now she ordered him around like he’s her servant waiting to attend to every order she barked.
“We’ll talk about it later. Right now I just want to get the hell out of here, get cleaned up, and get some decent breakfast.”
He opened the truck door for her, and she climbed in, pulled down the visor, and started checking her appearance in the mirror. He stood looking at her through the window for a moment while she ignored him, puzzled by the icy greeting he was receiving. He walked around to get into the driver’s seat then he turned and looked at her expectantly. “Well?”
“Well, nothing. Take me home.”
“Like hell I will. Not until you tell me what the fuck’s going on here.” Ryan’s patience grew thin with her.
