by Alyson Hale
When it’s clear the crowd is not going to calm down on their own, Jace approaches the mic and holds out his hands to silence them. I am once again awed by how quickly people respond to him. His commanding demeanor and piercing gaze could stun anyone into obedience.
The stern look on his face fades into a warm smile. Jace welcomes the audience to our concert and gives an introduction to our first song. Tears stream down Kyri’s face when Jace tells the audience the song is about her and how she gave him faith in love. Alex hugs her from the side, gazing at Damien with the love of a thousand lifetimes in her eyes. We had to postpone the tour for a bit because my crazy brother broke his fingers defending Alex from a rapist. I thought Alex had tamed the beast, but it turns out he’s more feral than ever when it comes to protecting his woman. The two of them seem happy together, and I’m happy for them.
Still, I would give anything to have my girl standing beside them, cheering me on and waiting in the wings to come up on the stage herself. Before I met Elyza, the joy of performing had mostly died out for me. I was going through the motions. Writing lyrics and playing bass guitar were still my calling, but it was all business as usual, not much unlike jerking myself off alone in my room to get rid of blue balls. Hearing Elyza’s music and sharing my inspiration with her revived that joy in me. I wish we’d had time to work her piano piece into our song, but it was already too late by the time I’d heard her play. It’s the last one in our lineup, and it sounds empty to me without the softness of her piano overture.
What follows is a night of sweat and visceral artistry with ear-splitting responses from the audience. Our set was engineered with care, a virtual smorgasboard of our previous works; some melancholy, some lusty, some you can dance to and forget your cares in the world. The crowd calls us out for two encore performances. We play a couple of our most popular songs, which we always hold back in case they call us out again. Finally, we walk off the stage, gritty, grimy and covered in sweat. I’m ready to head back to my loft one more time and take a warm shower when I notice a third woman has joined Kyri and Alex on the side stage.
My heart skips at first, thinking maybe Elyza was able to get away after all, but then I draw closer and realize this person is familiar in a different way. That blonde head, that tanned body, those obvious enhancements on her chest and buttocks…my God. I haven’t seen this walking disgrace to humankind in over ten years.
“Chelsea Kent,” I say darkly. She turns around to face me and her unnaturally white teeth threaten to blind me, finishing the job the stage lights started three long hours ago. “Who in the bloody hell let you backstage?”
Kyri and Alex move away to give us our space. Chelsea reaches out to touch me. I jerk away from her, but I’m not fast enough. She attaches herself to me like a leech. “Eddie, baby, it’s been so long. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since we broke up all those years ago.” Her big blue eyes are wide and unblinking. I’m not a moron; I know when someone is faking attraction to me for the sake of my fame and money. Looks like Chelsea Kent hasn’t changed one iota since I saw her last.
I try to push her away from me, but she keeps clinging to my arms. “You’ve got to be fucking mental. Ten years later and you decide to come and harass me at one of my concerts? Security!” I glance around, looking for my bodyguards or the security guards for the stadium. No one is around. Chelsea latches on to me even more insistently. “Get off me, woman!”
“Come on, Eddie. I know you’ve been pining for me too. After all, why else would you have been single all these years?” Chelsea bats her false lashes at me. Looking down at her now, I don’t know why I never noticed that everything about her is fake, including this strange outburst. She’s probably just looking for someone to buy her more implants and wait on her hand and foot. This little rich Daddy’s girl needs to be knocked down a peg or two.
I’m about to give her a piece of my mind when she lunges for my lips. I turn my face, making her kiss land on my jaw instead of my mouth, but Chelsea doesn’t stop her quest to dominate me. My whistle for security is cut off when she forcibly turns my head and plants her fillers-enhanced lips on me. My stomach churns until I feel the urge to vomit. I expected to feel something if Chelsea ever came back into my life, but now that she’s here, I feel nothing but disgust and desperation to get her away from me. I try to wrestle her off of me, but the woman has a grip like a damn python. I’m trying not to hurt her, but if she won’t let me go, I’m going to have to use force.
I hear a strangled cry come from behind Chelsea and my heart drops into my stomach. When I summon my strength and shove Chelsea off of me, she lands on the floor and squeaks in pain. I’ve never been put in a position where I had to get physical like that with the opposite sex before. I feel a pang of guilt for hurting a woman, but that’s quickly overshadowed by another kind of guilt.
To my horror, Elyza is standing ten feet from us with tears in her eyes. She looks like a dream with her hair pulled into a high ponytail, wearing a long black sweater over skinny jeans with the boots I liked from before. I try to approach her and explain, but she backs away from me.
“I knew this was too good to be true.”
“Elyza, wait! Please, let me explain—”
“I’ve seen enough,” Elyza sobs. Her beautiful face crumples in pain. She turns and runs down the corridor.
My heart bleeds after her. I can imagine how much she’s hurting right now, but she doesn’t understand that Chelsea was basically assaulting me. I didn’t want to even see Chelsea again, let alone kiss her.
I whistle for security again and hear footsteps thunder down the corridor to meet us. My glare blazes down at the woman who may have just destroyed the best thing that ever happened to me. “What the fuck was that?”
Chelsea startles at the volume and intensity of my shout. “I-I thought you still wanted me,” she whines. Even now, she’s still pushing her chest out, trying to break me down. Looking at this girl, who I once thought was the sexiest woman alive, I have never been less aroused. “You haven’t had any serious girlfriends since we were together.”
My security guards finally arrive and start to escort Chelsea off the scene. Before I go, I lean down on her level and look her straight in the eyes.
“The reason I’ve been single all these years is because I didn’t want to risk getting involved with another harpy like you.” Her face screws up in offense. My mouth curls into a smirk. “Besides, I’m not single anymore. I’ve met the woman I’m going to marry and it isn’t you, so you might as well just move along.”
I sweep past them and burst out in a full run after Elyza. Chelsea screams obscenities and threats at me, but I just hold up my middle finger and keep on running. I follow in the direction I saw Elyza leave, but she’s nowhere to be found. Exiting through the rear door, I leave the stadium and call out her name into the chilly evening air. I run up and down the sidewalk in both directions but don’t see a sign of her.
My desperation hits an eleven on a one to ten scale. I take out my mobile and dial her number. The phone rings once, and then I hear a message saying she isn’t available. I leave her a message explaining the situation and ask her to call me. Then I send her a text with the same thing.
After sending the text, I pinch the tears out of my eyes and take a deep breath. I refuse to lose Elyza because of the same person who robbed me of my dignity and my faith in love. If I lost Elyza, I would have nothing left. I don’t care how many times I have to reach out to her. I don’t even care if we have to postpone the tour again. I can’t let my angel think for one second that I would hurt her like this.
Chapter 18
Elyza
After pulling into a parking lot, I lock myself in the car and let my sobs take over. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think Eddie was different from all the others. That was Chelsea Kent, the love of his life. She came back for him, and of course he fell into her arms. She’s tall, busty, tanned, beautiful...everything I’m not. He promis
ed me he would come back for me, but he won’t and he probably was never going to in the first place. It’s plain to see by now that I’m not good enough for any man. My only hope is to throw myself into my music and make something of myself.
I changed my major to music performance, which is why I was required to attend a concert at school tonight. I ditched early so I could race down here and see Eddie, but I barely missed the end of his concert. Now I’ve risked my standing in my new area of study for nothing. If I get written up for leaving early, it will all have been a waste.
My phone rings again. I press my lips together in an attempt to contain my sobs and press the red “decline” button for the tenth time. I don’t care how many times he tries to call me, it won’t change the facts. I was fooling myself to think I could handle a long-distance relationship with a rock star. I need to stop wasting my time with delusions of grandeur and start focusing on my future, which I now know is my music career and that only.
As soon as I get back to school, it’s no more partying or slacking off for me. I’m working my ass off to seize my dreams, everything else be damned.
◆◆◆
I sag against the closed door, careful to remain quiet and not wake Maria. I drove a total of six hours tonight, and now it’s 2 a.m. In the near-darkness, with the room only illuminated by the moon streaming through the cracks in the blinds, I strip my clothes off and reach into the closet for a t-shirt and some shorts. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep, but it’s late and I need to lie down and try to get Eddie Turner out of my head.
My eyes fill up with tears again at the mere thought of him. I swipe them away angrily. Crying even one more tear over that cheating asshole is out of the question. I refuse to give any man another sliver of my heart or my time. They’re not worth it. For one stupid, gullible minute I thought Eddie was different, but men are all the same. It’s all about scoring for them. Eddie must have been in a massive slump when he met me and wanted a guaranteed fuck when he got back from the tour. Too bad, because I won’t be giving it up to any man from here on out unless I don’t give two shits about who he fucks after me.
I tuck myself into bed and pull the covers over my head, a small part of me hoping I’ll cease to exist if the world can’t see me. Not even two minutes later, when my eyelids are drooping, I hear something hard smack into my window.
“What the hell?” I glance over at Maria, who is still sound asleep. The same sound comes at the window again. I pull the shitty white plastic blinds to the side and see the last person in the world I want to see. Eddie’s a few feet away on the sidewalk, throwing rocks at my window like some lovelorn teenager.
I wave at him to stop throwing the rocks and unlock the window and slide it open, flinching when the frigid mountain air hits my bare skin. Indignant, I whisper-shout, “Eddie, what the fuck are you doing?”
Eddie crosses the grassy area and stands in front of the bushes. In the dim street lights, I can see the tension in every fiber of his body. He’s still a mess from performing. He must have come straight here from the concert. “The resident assistant wouldn’t let me in. I had to get your attention somehow.”
I cross my arms over my chest, careful to conceal the fact that I’m not wearing a bra. He isn’t invited to that party anymore. “Why are you here? Didn’t get enough of a fix from her after your concert, so now you’ve come to give me your sloppy seconds?”
His sharp, chiseled features twist with pain. I feel a slight pang of guilt, but when I remember the pain he’s caused me over the past few hours, that dissipates quickly.
“Fucking hell, Elyza. I came here to tell you that wasn’t what it looked like.” Eddie’s eyes grow wild with desperation. Squinting at him, I can’t tell for sure if he’s lying or not. “Chelsea forced herself on me. I didn’t want her to kiss me.”
I give a hard, cynical laugh. “You didn’t want to kiss Chelsea Kent, the girl you’ve been pining after for years who has the face and body of a Barbie doll? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”
“I was about to call security when she plastered herself on me,” Eddie says. He braces himself with his hands on the windowsill and leans down for direct eye contact. “Elyza, the one I wanted to see backstage tonight was you. I didn’t even want to see her again. Please believe me.”
I shift my gaze. If I look too deeply into those gorgeous, diamond-like eyes, I’ll lose my resolve. “Look, we’re both just wasting our time anyway. We never should have gone beyond that night in the limo. The two of us are going in different directions, so it doesn’t make sense for us to be together.”
Eddie takes hold of my arms, seemingly furious with me. I’m not sure where he gets off being angry at me, since he’s the one who caused this whole mess. “Goddamnit, stop pushing me away and just listen.” He reaches one hand up to take hold of my neck. I narrowly avoid melting under his touch. It’s been weeks since he touched me, which makes it even harder not to fall into his arms. “I didn’t kiss her back. She means nothing to me. I love you, Elyza. I don’t want anyone else and I never will.”
Hearing the words “I love you” from him gives me momentary pause. I love him too. I never thought I could fall in love with someone this fast and this hard, but it happened. Still, I’ve heard the old “I love you” song and dance many times from the previous assholes. “I made a mistake. You’re the one I love, baby.” It’s a song as old as time, and I’m done with it.
I want to believe Eddie, but no matter how much I want to forget about him kissing that girl, the image is seared into my memory. As long as I can picture him with his lips on another woman’s, this is never going to work out.
I pull away from his grip and reach for the window handle. “Have a nice life, Turner.” I pull the window down, lock it, and close the Eddie Turner chapter of my life for good.
Chapter 19
Eddie
I round the corner out of sight and pass a couple of the dormitory buildings before my rage boils over. I kick and beat my fists into the freezing cold metal of a rusty green dumpster. The banging sound is amplified by the mountains surrounding us. From where they’re parked on the street, Jace and Kyri notice the commotion and come running to stop me. They drove me here in Jace’s truck in case things went badly. I don’t think that confrontation could have gone any worse.
My knuckles split and start to bleed as I blast them against the dumpster, unheeding of the pain. Tears streak down my face. Jace grabs my wrists and, with considerable effort, wrestles me down to my knees. Once he’s pinned me to the ground, I use my voice to release the anger I can no longer purge through my fists.
“That fucking cunt!” I scream, my voice echoing throughout the campus. Jace kneels down beside me and tries to pull me into a side hug, but my body seems permanently rigid. “I can’t believe she’s trying to ruin my life again.”
“I’m so sorry, mate,” Jace says softly. Jace and I have both watched Chelsea in entertainment news as she hops from one sugar daddy to the next, collecting payouts every time one dies or she divorces him. Now it seems she’s after me. Jace knows how much I despised the idea of seeing her again. He grips my shoulder and leans down to look me in the eyes. “Do you want us to go and try to talk to Elyza?”
Elyza’s face flashes into my mind, and my body loses its tension. I sag toward the cracked cement beneath us. “No.” I swipe the tears out of my eyes and straighten my shoulders. “It’s going to take more than a mere conversation to resolve this.”
Jace nods. “Right. We should probably head to the airport and book our flight to Jacksonville, then. We need to get going if we’re going to have time to sleep and rehearse before the concert tomorrow.”
My heart tears out of my chest at the thought of leaving Elyza without a real goodbye. I know this isn’t the end for us. It can’t be. I don’t know how I’m going to win her back yet, but I figured out a way the last time she told me it was over. I know I can do it again. Still, it’s going to feel like walking
around with my heart hanging outside of me, spurting blood all over the place. And there’s always the chance she could find someone else while I’m away…
I clench my fists and stand to my feet. No. Elyza Calloway is not going to escape me that easily. Whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure I stay at the forefront of her mind. I’m a dick when it comes to keeping what belongs to me. By the time this tour is over, no other man is going to dare to breathe her name.
◆◆◆
Trees whiz past the bus window, creating a green and brown blur that never seems to end. The tour is in full swing, and right now we’re on our way from Washington D.C. to New York City. My arse is getting sore from sitting on the same couch for hours. The upside is that we got two extra buses this time—one for Jace and Kyri and one for Damien and Alex—so Connor and I have this one all to ourselves. The record company was none too pleased about the extra cost, but we’re making so much off this tour that they had no room to complain.
I look down at my mobile, a satisfied smirk on my lips. My screen is open to an article on a news site. The headline reads:
Eddie Turner’s New Girlfriend: What You Need to Know About Pianist Elyza Calloway
I know what I’ve just done is going to brand me in Elyza’s mind as the devil. We had an interview with a prominent online magazine a couple of days ago, and I shamelessly lied about my status with Elyza. I also talked about her talent as a pianist and made it sound like she was already an established artist. I did all of that on purpose for her benefit. With my endorsement, she’ll easily be able to secure her own label and anything else her heart desires. People are already asking me about her demo. I gave them her phone number so they can contact her directly.
I know what I’ve done is risky, but it was my only choice. If I can’t be there in person to make sure no other man steals Elyza away from me, I’ll have to make it known to the whole world that she’s mine instead.
