by HB Heinzer
Tony grumbled and a door slammed in the background. "And you can't wait till you get home? What gives?" '
"Time to get a PA," I said, hoping he wouldn't pry. He and I had talked about it several times. Every time he reminded me that if I didn't get it done, I would wind up getting a hood piercing instead because I sounded like I was growing a vagina. Hell, I knew I sounded like a whiny woman sometimes, but growing up in a house full of women and a mother who was holding out for her Prince Charming, after marrying the frog that was my father, I had pretty clear ideas about what I wanted in my life.
"Okay, now I'm going to ask again... this can't wait until you get home?" I heard him light a cigarette, taking a long drag before continuing. "Seriously, bud. This isn't the type of thing you just go into any shop to get done."
"I know that. That's why I'm calling you. So, do you know anyone or not?"
"I can make some calls, but I'm not going to unless you tell me why this has to get done now. You do know there's down time, right?"
I knew exactly what he meant, and that's a big part of the reason I wanted to do this now. I figured by the time Rain got back to town, things should have healed and we could test out the new jewelry. If last night was any indication, this might be about the only time to get it done because the thought of keeping my hands off her when we were together was inconceivable; there was no way I would have my hands on her without also having my cock inside her.
"Look man, you have to keep your damn mouth shut. There's some sort of artist client confidentiality shit, right?" I knew there wasn't, but I also knew telling Tony to keep his mouth shut was like telling the Pope to keep his legs closed; it didn't really need to be said.
"Come on, fuck face, tell me what's so damn important, or I'm hanging up and diving back into bed. I have a piece getting cold back there." We were obviously at opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to women.
"Rain's out of town for a bit. I want to surprise her when she comes back." While there had been speculation, we confirmed nothing ; meaning no one outside of the band, crew and the other bands on tour with us knew we had gotten together. Well, other than Rain spouting off to some drunken groupies. Saying it to someone on the outside was a big deal to me.
"No shit. You finally bagged that sweet thing?"
I growled, balling my fists at my sides. I knew this is how he was, but hearing him talk about her that way pissed me right the hell off. "Tony, love ya like a brother, but you keep talking like that about her, and I might have to fly up just to knock your ass out," I warned. I meant it. She wasn't some sweet thing to be bagged, and I would be damned if I was going to let people think that about her.
"Dude, chill. Seriously, I'm happy for you." He sounded sincere, so I calmed a bit. "She's a good woman. A bit high strung, but good shit. So, you're going to surprise her when she comes home. What, you gonna tie a red bow around it and tell her to open her present?"
"Shut the fuck up. We've talked about this, and it's time to get it done. So, you gonna find me someone you'd trust or not?"
"Yeah, give me a bit... and Colt?"
"Yeah?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know what he was going to say knowing how crude he could be sometimes. Seriously, he made the worst of the roadies seem like altar boys.
"I meant it when I said I was happy for you two. Now, don't fuck it up, or I'll be the one knocking your ass out."
I started to wonder why everyone felt the need to remind me to keep things right with Rain, not to piss her off, and not to hurt her. I was the one who spent five fucking years trying to get her. Did they all think so little of me to think I would screw that up?
"Not planning on it, but thanks. Send me a number when you find someone."
I hung up the phone and started walking back to the house. I needed to get some work done before Jon and Travis pulled in. Where Jon was a maverick when it came to arranging, he had always leaned heavily on me for the lyrics and riffs. Wrapped up in Rain since we hit the road, I only had a few things ready to go.
My phone buzzed again and I felt my stomach drop when I saw the caller ID. It was tempting to hit the ignore button, but I knew that would only work to set off a series of rapid-fire phone calls and texts.
"Hello, Tanya..."
"I hear congratulations are in order," Tanya sneered. God, I hated listening to her whiny voice, especially when I knew she didn't mean a word that passed through her lips. "Then again, rumor has it she's already run off on you, too. Seems like you're having a hell of a time down there."
I wasn't sure which pissed me off more: the fact that she had heard through the grapevine that we were together or that she'd heard Rain had to make a trip home. It was a reality check that no matter what we did, our relationship would never be between the two of us.
"Save it," I barked. "I know you're just fishing for information, so here it is. Yes, Rain and I are together. No, she didn't run off, as you put it. She's dealing with some family issues before we have to be in Memphis. Then again, if your information came from anyone credible, you would have known that."
I could hear Tanya huffing into the phone, obviously upset that I wasn't taking her bait. "Look Colton, you need to think long and hard about going down that road with her. You're going to lose a certain appeal with the fans if you're suddenly off the market, and your fans aren't going to like seeing that flaunted in front of them every night."
Listening to her bullshit wasn't how I wanted to spend even a minute of my day. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but you'd be well served to stick to dealing with band business and keep your nose out of my personal life."
"Do you not realize this is band business? Anything you do that affects the band is my business." She had a valid point, but that didn't mean I was going to sit by and listen, especially since I knew she wasn't speaking as our manager, but as a jilted lover.
"Tanya, if it really worries you that much, talk to Jon about it. You have no reason to call me. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do with my day." I disconnected the call without waiting for a response. There was nothing left for us to say to each other. I needed to remember to talk to Jon, give him a heads up on her antics because I could see this becoming an issue for the band down the road.
True to his word, Jon walked through the doors of the beach house ready to get to work. They had loaded up the Silverado with our instruments and Rain's and my luggage, then locked the buses in a storage yard until it was time to hit the road again.
"Get your ass up, punk! It's time to get to work." Jon's booming voice echoed through the first floor of the house. While I had gotten quality sleep last night, or should I say this morning, it wasn't enough. On top of that, I was in some serious discomfort after going to the tattoo shop Tony referred me to. It was a good thing Rain wasn't going to be around for a while because I didn't even want to think about her looking at my newly pierced cock much less touching it.
"Damn dude, did she break you before she left?" Travis asked when he saw my tentative movements towards the front door.
"Something like that." No way in hell did they need to know what I had done. That was something I intended to be for our eyes only.
With the truck unloaded, we ordered pizza from a family owned restaurant on the beach and got to work. I tossed my lyric journals on top of the piano, so Jon could pull out what had potential for us to build on, and I flopped back on the couch, hoping to get some more lyrics down before he found the weakness in my recent writing.
I'd almost wanted to puke when I realized how many pages I'd filled with words better suited for an eighties power ballad than something hard-hitting enough to make our mark on the music industry.
He threw the first journal on the ground beside him, picking up the next in the stack. "Please tell me this shit gets better somewhere," he laughed, "or your books were stolen and some fifteen year old girl's journals were left in their place. Seriously, bud... you got it worse than I thought."
There were times I hated th
is part of the process. I loved writing poetry and lyrics, but they were a window to my soul, and I knew it. That's why Jon was the only person I allowed to open the cover to see what was inside.
"It's not that bad," I mumbled, knowing it was every bit as bad as he said. I blamed my mom and Emerson. If not for them, maybe I wouldn't have been quite so in touch with the touchy feely side as I was.
"It is." He dropped a second journal onto the floor and moved on. "Thank god, there might be something in this one." I looked at the cover trying to figure out which one he had. Not placing it in my mind, I returned to the blank page in front of me as Jon started tapping out a melody on the piano.
We stayed in the living room until the sun was rising over the water, completely lost in the process. If every day went as well as the first, I had a good feeling that we were on the right track to something edgy and new, exactly what we were looking to have.
There were some talks I liked having with Jon. Others, I would gladly put off if something as pleasant as, say, a root canal came my way. I knew as I pulled a round of beers out of the fridge that this was going to fall into the latter category.
I motioned for Jon to follow me out to the veranda. It was another gorgeous day for Florida in late May, and we had holed up in the house working on new music since they got here. It was time to relax.
"I need you to talk to Tanya," I said, leaning against the railing staring out at the water.
I heard Jon's Zippo flip open and knew he was lighting up. He didn't smoke often, but always carried a pack with him for when he was stressed. He said it was his insurance policy to keep him out of prison for killing someone. "What's going on? She still trying to hook up? I warned you to stay away from her, dammit." Jon turned to mimic my posture. We stood in silence while I put together my thoughts.
"No, it's not like that. She called the other day; knew about Rain and I getting together. Hell, she knew about Rain going home. I thought we were keeping that under wraps so she could have some privacy." Even though it had been a few days, I couldn't stop wondering how she had managed to find out about that since Jon was still sleeping when she had called me.
"I'll talk to her. Dammit man, out of all the pussy you have available to you, why in the hell did you go after that one?" Jon shook his head like a disappointed father. "She's hanging off the edge of crazy, which would have been enough to keep most guys away. But add in that she's damn good at her job, and now we're all in this position...not good, buddy."
My phone went off, alerting me to a new message. "What the fuck," I mumbled as I stared at the picture in front of me.
"Everything okay?" I felt Jon standing behind me, trying to see what caused such a reaction. "Uh, wow." He seemed to be as much at a loss for words as I was.
We knew that it was Rain staring back at us from the photo, but only because we knew her so well. Her red hair, which had become somewhat of a signature feature for her, was gone, along with the bouncy curls. Her new look was smokin' hot with long, almost black hair with blue peeking out from the lower layers.
"What's up with her eyes?" Jon asked, reaching for the phone so he could take a closer look. Thrown so much by the hair, I didn't notice the absence of the bright green eyes I had become accustomed to over the years.
"She's not wearing her colored contacts." I had seen her natural, honey colored eyes a number of times, typically early in the morning before she put in her contacts, but not frequently enough to really appreciate them. They were a haunting contrast to her new dark hair.
"Damn, she looks hot." Jon whistled, taking another long look at her picture. If it had been anyone else, I would have been upset, but I knew Jon saw her like a little sister. "Good thing you snagged her when you did. She's now officially out of your league."
He was right, but part of me felt like she was out of my league before the makeover as well. I sat there staring at her picture, still trying to convince myself it wasn't a dream that she was mine. Seeing as she had run out before I woke up the morning after we had finally made love for the first time, that wasn't an easy feat.
"Come on, Romeo, let's go get some dinner." I shoved the phone back in my pocket and grabbed the keys for my dad's Audi Q7 off the counter.
Jon and Travis took me out to a local sports bar, hoping beer and a few friendly games of pool would shake me out of my funk. The concept of being in a relationship was so far off either of their radars that they thought I was a freak because I couldn't stop thinking about mine. Just about the time I was starting to forget about Rain, or at least not feel like my mind was being consumed by thoughts of her, my phone buzzed against my hip.
Shoot me. Mike has me at the bar. Convinced me to do karaoke.
It shocked me a little that she was at a bar, especially with her brother. She had threatened to stay inside the entire time she was home after pictures of her started appearing online yesterday morning, and to be out with her brother…that was huge. I was happy to see they were starting to get along and wished I were there.
Me: LOL, have fun with that. Whatcha singin?
Rain: That's the best part. He is picking.
Me: Want video.
Rain: Not fucking likely. Well, knowing people around here, Google it in a few hours, I'm sure it'll be posted.
Little did she know that was exactly what I planned to do. Knowing the assholes back there, I had no doubt it would be online if they recognized her.
Me: More problems?
Rain: Just the pic from yesterday. Wish they'd let me be.
Me: How's dad?
Rain: Not sure yet. Talked to Mike tonight, tell you about it later.
That didn't sound good. I wished I could have been sitting next to her, supporting her and her entire family as they went through the ups and downs of life.
Me: Okay. Btw, you know Tanya's gonna kick your ass over the hair, right?
Rain: Yep.
Me: I think it's hot.
Rain: Good. Because you know everything I do is done to make you think I'm hot.
Me: You could wear a burlap sack and I'd still think you're hot.
Rain: Too itchy. Mike's apparently picked, gotta run. Ttys.
"You really are turning into a teenage girl, aren't you?" Jon laughed as I put my phone away.
"Huh?"
He reached into my pocket, unlocking my phone to see what we had been saying. Yeah, it was a punk move, but Jon knew he could get away with it. We were close enough I couldn't imagine a time when I'd hide anything from him and he was just trying to give me a hard time as always.
"Oh hell no, she's doing karaoke? Tanya's gonna shit a brick by the time Rain flies back down here if she keeps it up." Jon shook his head. "Have you warned her that Tanya seems to have a vendetta against her?"
I nearly choked on my beer at his question. "And how do you propose I tell her that without telling her everything?" I asked, steepling my fingers under my chin. "You know she's going to want to know why."
"What can she say? What happened between you two was before Rain got her shit together."
I stared at Jon, wide-eyed. "Have you met Rain? Just because she technically doesn't have anything to say doesn't mean she won't have anything to say."
Some of the road crew joining us cut our conversation short. Almost everyone had gone home for the short break, but a few who were single opted to chip in and rent an extended stay suite. They had worked their asses off on tour, and I couldn't blame them for wanting a break.
It was nice to have some downtime really getting to know the people responsible for making sure we were ready to go on stage every night. By the time the bar closed, we had all had more than our fair share to drink, with the exception of Angie, the only female on our crew. She offered to drive us home, and we gladly accepted. Everyone piled into the SUV, and we moved the party back to the beach house.
That's where we found out that Jared, one of the guitar techs, was a fucking genius on the piano. What started with everyone throwing out drunk
en requests and him knowing how to play just about every song under the sun turned into Jon challenging him to keep up in a duel. From there, I pulled out my guitar, Travis got his bass guitar and we were suddenly having a jam session at five in the morning, drunk off our asses.
In my head, getting my piercing the day Rain left was perfect. Get it done. Heal while she was gone. Have fun when she got home. I probably should have told her about it at some point, but how do you start that conversation? "Hey, so while you were gone, I went and got my cock pierced. Trust me; you're going to love it." For some reason, I couldn't see having that talk over the phone.
Unfortunately, this decision wound up being like so many I had made in my life, much better in theory than in execution. The night before Rain flew home, I sat in bed trying to figure out how I was going to break it to her that we weren't going to spend the entire day in bed like she had been threatening for the past few days.
We had been up all night working on finishing touches on a few new songs when I heard the front door open. In the faint reflection of the window, I saw that it was Rain trying to sneak in. When she heard Jared and Jon working on a kick ass break, she stopped dead in her tracks. I couldn't blame her; they were awesome together. I used the distraction to sneak out of the house, back around to the front door.
"Pretty good, isn't it?" I wrapped my arms around her waist as I whispered in her ear.
Without saying a word, Rain turned in my arms and planted her lips firmly against mine. Her lips parted, her gentle tongue tracing my lower lip before pressing deep inside my mouth. I pulled away from the kiss tracing my finger along her cheek, taking in her new look. In pictures, the dark hair combined with her naturally amber eyes was beautiful. Standing in front of me, she was hauntingly gorgeous.
