A Second Chance at love The Rocker Girls Series

by Jennifer Byars

  A Second Chance at love

  The Rocker Girls Series

  By: Jennifer Byars

  Copyright 2015 Jennifer Byars

  This story is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are invented by the author or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author.

  ISBN 978-0-9963634-6-4

  Published by Bare Tree Press, United States of America

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is dedicated to my wonderful husband Bob…

  You’ll always be my rock star baby!

  Acknowledgments

  I just want to take a minute to thank all the wonderful people in my life that have helped me make my dream of becoming an author a reality.

  First I want to thank my husband and children for all your love, all your support, and always understanding when mom is wrapped up in book and forgets things. For my husband who finds ways to help me find way to keep my dreams of publishing my books alive, and for believing in everything I do so completely. (Except the bills… I really stink at the bills! LOL!)

  I love you all so much! I can honestly tell the world that the best thing about being an author is, how proud of me you all are when you tell your friends what I do. I love you, and thank you from the bottom of my heart!

  To all my loving and dear friends… What can I say? You are the voice that breaks through when I start to doubt myself and my writing. You are the first ones to tell me what to change in a book knowing that I need that second opinion to make it everything I want it to be. You are my girls, and you know who you are, and I just wanted you to say thank you for all your encouragement, support, and for those five words that keep me writing… when’s the next book Jen?

  Last but not least an enormous Thank You and heartfelt gratitude to Mark, Betsy, Colin, and to Colin’s staff, whom are forever dubbed when I talk about them to people as… my team. (Yup, I’ve adopted you all!). You all are the absolute best, and I am truly grateful for all your work and dedication you all put into each and every one of my books to make them simple amazing. I just wanted you all to know how much that means to me and how much I truly appreciate everything you all do.

  Thank You!

  XOXO

  Prologue

  It was 11 p.m. on a hot Hollywood summer night. This was the time of night when the city was starting to really come alive. The craziness on the Boulevard was jumping and it was the girls’ favorite time of the night. But instead of living the scene, they were in the Hollywood Hills trying to get a whole bunch of shit out of a house where they stayed with their best friend, the lead singer of their band Spitfire.

  Three women snuck into the house, trying to retrieve everything their friend needed before they got the hell out of California. “Shit, Mindy, get the guitar!” called the bass player for the hundredth time. “I swear if Jimmy sees us getting Addison’s shit, he’s going to go postal!” Her jet-black short hair was spiked in the front and the tips were dyed blue. Her dark makeup was smudged from rubbing her hands over her face when Addison called earlier today from the hospital. Her tall frame threw the luggage into the 1980 van easily, since she was the one who really worked out in the group.

  Mindy ran into the house, then back to the van where she put a very expensive guitar in its box, before it got damaged. They tucked it carefully into the back away from the shit Lynn was throwing in in a hurry.

  Jimmy was passed out across the street in his Fiero, drinking himself into a stupor once again after he’d beat the hell out of Addison. She must have found him with another woman, and told him, once again, she was leaving his ass. But it’s hard to get a divorce from the James Richardson. And even harder when his manager is the famous Nickels, who can make anything go away for the rich and famous.

  “I’m trying, Lynn, cut me some slack!” Mindy hissed back at her. “Who knew marrying a rock god could lead to so much trouble!” sighed the little brunette. Her brown doe-like eyes looked over to Lynn and they both frowned.

  Margie shut the front door and locked it. They needed everything to look normal, if or when Jimmy tried to get into the house tomorrow. “I just got a call from Ad at the hospital, she’s able to leave now. She said her arm’s in a cast.” She shook her head. “So let’s get her, and then get the heck out of here,” she whispered to the girls.

  The girls quietly piled into the van, and headed out to get their best friend from the emergency room where her husband had put her earlier that evening. “Don’t forget Tia. Ad will kill us if we forget her!” Mindy told Lynn, who was driving at the moment.

  The girls were quiet on the way. “So did she tell you, Margie, just where the hell we’re going, to escape fortune, fame, and the long arm of Jimmy?” Lynn asked.

  Margie sat back with her glasses on, texting on the phone. “It seems, girls, we’re heading to Cleveland, Ohio,” she told the group.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” yelled Lynn. “How the hell are we going to get laid in Cleveland fucking Ohio?” she barked out.

  “There are many other things that we need to get through first, before you’re worried about getting laid, Lynn. Addison’s just got out of the hospital. We need to get her away from Jimmy for good this time,” Margie hissed.

  Lynn’s head fell back against the seat as she drove. She pulled out a smoke and lit it. “Yeah, well, the last time would have worked if Mindy could keep her damn legs and mouth shut around Dax.”

  They heard Mindy gasp from the back of the van. “That’s so not fair! I didn’t think he would tell him. He told me it was an accident, it just slipped out!” she said, sitting back and pouting.

  “Yeah, I know, it slipped out, while he slipped his ass in… Too late to do anything about it now. Let’s get Tia, and then swing by to pick up Ad. If we play our cards right, Jimmy will never know that we’ve gone until he sobers up, and if we’re lucky that will be about four tomorrow afternoon.” Lynn scowled.

  Chapter 1

  In the heart of downtown Cleveland there was an apartment building known as the Wanex. Nobody really knew how the building got the name. It was said that a once-struggling musician was too drunk to tell a cabby the name of the building he lived at and babbled something about wanex, and it just stuck. The Wanex was the home of Cleveland’s hottest band, Inferno.

  South Parker was the lead singer for the band Inferno. Standing at six feet three, with his shaggy sandy blond hair and sea-green eyes, yeah—he’d be the first to tell you he had the women falling into his bed every night. He made sure he worked out every day after work to keep himself in shape, and it helped with the construction work he did for a living.

  Winston Malloye (the guys called him Win for short) was the lead guitar player for the band Inferno. He was six feet five of lean-built muscle. He boxed every night when he came home from work, and the only times he’d miss were the nights they were on stage. His styled auburn hair was short, but had just enough thickness to let the ladies run their fingers through it. His eyes were dar
k blue, and he drove all the women nuts, and he loved the fucking attention. His left arm was one complete tattoo that went over his shoulder and onto his chest. And he had his piercings…but that was his business.

  The guys loved to party and have a good time. Becoming famous was something they’d always wanted, but they were having a fucking good time just playing the field and partying. Then they got a call from some hotshot agent in California saying he saw a video of them on YouTube, and he wanted to see them play in person.

  One of the chicks from the club must’ve shot a video with her phone and uploaded it to the Internet, which was the only thing the guys could think of. This guy said he wanted to feel the vibe in the room when they sang, whatever the fuck that meant, and if they played as good in person as they did in that video, he would like to sign them to a recording deal. Might as well ride the wave until the end, they all concluded.

  They played in the downtown heavy-rock area of Cleveland, and at the bar known only as The Tab. You could say they owned this town and the rock scene; they had groupies spreading their legs for them every damn night. The only question was, how many girls they’d have in their beds in one evening.

  It was turning out to be a sticky summer and the damn apartment had no air conditioning in it. South was already sweating his ass off so early in the morning. A body was stuck to his side, making him feel disgusting, because she was sweating as well. In truth Win was getting a little tired of all the same chicks that were rolling out of his bed every morning. But he had his two women screaming out his name, shaking the damn walls, just before wrapping it up to kick out last night’s groupies.

  South peeled himself out from under the girl he’d brought home last night. He hated when they got all clinging when they slept. He must have been pretty fucking drunk if he didn’t kick her ass out after he came. Sitting up, he ran his hands through his hair, trying to shake off the hangover, and pulling on his boxers headed to take a shower.

  He walked by Win’s room and pounded on the door. Excited female voices echoed through the door. “Dude, it’s 7:45. We need to get to fucking work. Wrap it up. I’m jumping in the shower first.” He heard a grunt of acknowledgment, then made his way into the bathroom.

  After his shower he wrapped a towel around his body, and rambled into the kitchen to start the coffee, popping some aspirin. He heard giggling as Win said something clever as usual to the groupies, then Win shutting the door and heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

  Two loud knocks came at the apartment door and Rex and Andy came sauntering in. “What up, shithead?” came Andy’s usual morning hello. They heard female voices coming from the back rooms. “What, you still have your fucking chicks here? Man, we kicked ours out last night,” Andy laughed.

  “Coffee’s ready. I’ll be out in five.” South rolled his eyes, heading back to his room to get dressed. Then Rex shouted back at him.

  “You’re out of fucking cream, man!”

  But he was too hung over to be dealing with that shit.

  His lay from last night had finally woken up. Good! That meant he didn’t have to shake her ass out of his bed. “Hi, South, I was wondering if you were coming back to see me again?” she purred.

  He must have drunk too fucking much, to bring home the girlfriend type. What the hell was he thinking? “You need to get your ass up and out, I’m heading to work. You’ve got five minutes,” he said with his back to her, getting his pants on.

  She sat up and the sheets fell around her hip, exposing some big-ass tits. Okay, that’s what caught his eye last night. “Do you want me to leave my number? Maybe I can come over tonight?” She giggled in that fake sweet tone, and South shuddered.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, got shit to do tonight. If I want you in my bed again, I’m sure I’ll see you at the club,” he told her. “Now, get your shit on and get going. I’ve got to be at work in thirty minutes.”

  Her mouth fell open. He really didn’t know what these women expected. They fall into bed with him, let him fuck them, and then what? He’s supposed to fall in love or some shit like that?

  She huffed out of bed, bitching as she put her clothes on. He was completely dressed and ready to head to work, when she slipped on her shoes, stomped out his bedroom door and down the hall.

  She looked at Andy and Rex sitting at the counter, sipping their coffee and not paying any attention to her. “You’re an ass!” she hissed at South as he came into the kitchen from behind her.

  He just shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been called worse,” he said, filling his thermos.

  The door slammed shut, rattling the apartment, as Win came out. “What the hell was that?” he asked, but managed to kiss the two women goodbye, smacking their asses on their way out, waving to him.

  “Just my nighter. She was a fucking clingy one. I must have been wasted if she stayed the fucking night!” South told the guys.

  Rex ran his hand through his jet-black curly hair before putting his hat back on. “Dude, I have no idea what the hell got into you last night, but you were downing the drink like a man possessed.”

  Andy finished his coffee and put his empty cup on the counter. “Let’s just get our asses to work before Reggie fires us. We don’t have the record deal yet, and I need this fucking job if we don’t get it.”

  “Dude, I’m tired of you leaving your shit on our counter,” Win griped, smacking Andy in the back of the head.

  Andy rubbed the back of his head, getting pissed. “Man! Just because you’re a mammoth don’t go hittin’ me in the back of the fucking head!” he whined.

  Win started to laugh. “If you weren’t such a fucking shrimp, I wouldn’t.”

  They walked out into the parking area, when Win noticed a big old purple van with fucking dragons airbrushed on the sides. Like something you’d see from a terrible seventies movie. “Whose fucking ride?” he questioned, walking over to it. The plates said California, so he looked into the windows to see whose psycho van it might be. The dudes must be some pretty shitty band who couldn’t cut it in Cali and came out here.

  “Just fucking leave it, Win. We have to get our asses to work,” Rex called out as they got in his four-door truck.

  South shrugged it off. “Maybe Louie was looking for a band since he knows our ass is out of here!” He laughed and they all started talking. Win looked back once in the rearview mirror, but once out of the parking lot didn’t give it another thought.

  ***

  The girls walked into their new living space, and Lynn actually laughed. “Oh this is something special,” she said, dropping the bags on the floor.

  Mindy huffed at her, “Not now, okay!”

  They all seemed a little worked up, and when Addison came from the restroom they all remembered why. The side of her face was just one huge bruise, and the bruises on her arms were in complete handprints from where Jimmy had grabbed her.

  Addison went into the bathroom so she could take her ibuprofen in peace without all eyes staring at her. She walked into the kitchen and looked back at the girls. “Well, I’ve got to admit Lynn’s right on this one, this place sucks. But maybe with a little paint, I think it has potential.” She winked at her sister Tia, who was still shaken by the sight of her sister’s bruises.

  Marge came from one of the rooms with her book in hand. “Well, there’s only two rooms so I guess the real question is, who gets the sleeper sofa?”

  “I guess the only thing fair is we draw straws,” Mindy said.

  They grabbed the straws from their sodas, and Mindy cut them all one size, making one shorter than the rest. She then held them in her hand while Lynn started laughing. “You know, I think I’ll take the sofa. This way if I bring someone home, you all won’t get pissed when I kick your ass out of the room,” she smiled at them.

  “Okay then, Tia stays with me and Mindy, you and Margie are together,” Addison said, walking over to one of the suitcases. “Now we all need to register today in our classes, so let’s get that shit done.
And I called Tommy yesterday; he’s the one who told me they have a pretty good rock scene out here. He also said a friend of his owned a place called The Tab, and he’d help us get a gig,” she said, pulling out clean clothing.

  Tia looked at Ad as she rummaged through her clothing. “Did he say he was going to give Jimmy the divorce papers this time? Did you make sure you signed everything so we don’t have to see him again?”

  Ad sighed. “Yes, I had the hospital send out the papers to Tommy. And yes, Tommy said he’d make sure that Nickels has him sign them this time. So now I’m just plain old Addison Reade once again. Oh, that reminds me, Margie, I’m going to need help so I can dye my hair back to my original color. I don’t know how to take the black out and make it blonde again.”

  Margie came to her, giving her a loving pat on the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll get it out as much as we can.” Addison frowned, but Margie gave her a hug. “Don’t worry, Ad, I’ll fix it,” she told her.

  Addison took a deep breath and nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of everyone and make them worry. “Does anyone mind if I take a shower first?” she asked. All the girls frowned and shook their heads.

  “No, you go ahead, Ad.” Margie was the only one who answered.

  She headed to the bathroom as Tia came running to her. “Here, you’re going to need this,” she said, handing her a plastic cover for her cast. “Just yell when you’re ready for me to help you put it on.”

  Once Addison was in the shower and away from worried eyes, she let loose the tears she’d been holding in for days. How Jimmy could do this to her just baffled her mind. He never used to hurt her, ever. They’d loved each other since they were kids. He was her best friend, confidant, supporter, lover, and husband for so many years…and they’d been best friends since they were ten.