Chance (Rusted and Reckless Book 1)

by Charlotte Casey

  Jason and Greer grew up in Canton, North Carolina. The old mill town sat on the foothills of the Smokey Mountains in western North Carolina. His family said things like “Yuns” and “done gone” and they add R’s when no R was needed. It’s an accent Greer and Jason fought like hell to drop. Jason’s came out when he’s mad and Greer slipped back into it when he’s drunk. Thankfully, they had Asheville less than twenty minutes away. Without that city, those two would still be playing at Colonial Theater and nearby fairs.

  Greer and Jason met Nix and Sawyer on vacation one year. They were all in their early teens and suffering from boredom in the northern Outer Banks where there was no boardwalk, no amusement park and more houses than should physically fit in one area. Jason’s grandma lived in Corolla Lite and their parents shipped them off for two weeks every summer.

  They would spend their days on the beach sitting with their guitars and attracting every girl they could. It was that or mini golf for the thousandth time. One day, when they got to the beach there were two other kids sitting in their spot. One of them picked a guitar and the other sang.

  This, of course, meant war.

  The day was full of the two pairs fighting for attention on the beach. Each pair would constantly try to one up the other. Problem was, Greer and Jason weren’t singers. Nix had this rough, smoky draw to his voice that even at sixteen, sounded like mountain made whiskey. Admitting defeat, because they couldn’t beat Nix’s voice, Greer and Jason went over and introduced themselves. The rest of the trip was spent sitting under the sun jamming with their new friends. Each summer they would meet up and play their hearts out till one of them had to go home.

  It was on that beach that Rusted and Reckless was born. Rory didn’t come onboard until a few years later. He was an accident that needed to happen. They were playing at a dive bar in Knoxville when Nix overheard the bartender talking shit on them. Nix invited him up on stage to do better. He didn’t, Rory was more rock than country but he was damn good. After a round of drinks to clear any bad feelings, Rory was invited into the fold. He changed their sound and suddenly, they had found their niche, southern rock.

  “Get up, Assholes,” Rory said from their small kitchen. “This shit is perfection and needs to be admired.”

  Greer pulled back the curtain that provided little privacy but was the best they got, and found feet hanging from the bunk above. He swatted at Jason’s hobbit feet and ducked around the kick that came his way. He ran into the bathroom before either Sawyer or Jason could stink it up. A shower now meant guaranteed hot water.

  “I am not eating those.”

  “Fuck that.”

  “You’re a dick, Rory.”

  “But it smells so good.”

  The problem with Rory cooking is he always sabotaged it somehow. Greer finished up his shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Before he changed, he went out to the kitchen and took a look at what all the fuss was about. At the little table, Sawyer and Jason sat with plates of pancakes in front of them. Each were frowning and shoving the sweet breakfast into their mouths as fast as humanly possible. Jason had syrup dripping down his chin but he didn’t stop to wipe it up.

  Rory was grinning from his spot by the cook top. He picked up a plate and handed it to Greer. They were pancakes alright. Penis pancakes.

  “Is this one ejaculating?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Rory said proudly.

  “Wha’d you get?” he asked sitting down beside Jason.

  Around a mouthful of pancake, he said, “Crabs.” Greer looked down and found that Jason had gotten the chocolate chip pancakes.

  Sawyer tilted his plate so Greer could see his. “I got hairy balls.” Cinnamon had been dusted across the perfectly formed balls. “I’m pissed but fuck, these are good.”

  Rory was much like a Sour Patch Kid. He was sour and sweet at the same time. It drove them all nuts and no one could ever decide if they were mad or not at the man.

  “Yo B! You hungry?” Rory yelled to the front of the bus. Brandon was one of their roadies who was a truck driver for UPS in a previous life. The man liked to drive big things and none of them minded him stepping in for the tour. Greer had hated back when they were starving artists and they had to take turns driving their first bus around.

  “I’ll wait till the rest stop. Could use some coffee though.”

  Rory poured a cup from their ever brewing coffee maker. Sawyer alone drank a full pot each morning. While life on the bus went on around him, Greer poked at his ejaculating pancakes. He knew that anything Rory made was going to be delicious no matter what it looked like. But his mind and appetite were elsewhere.

  Like, say, on a plane flying over the mid states with a layover in Dallas.

  “You have a thing against pancake cum? I ate my crabs; you have to eat your cum.” Jason was drinking his first Red Bull of the day. There would be a half a dozen more by the time he crashed tonight. Couldn’t be healthy, but then again, life on the road never was.

  “Nah, just not hungry.”

  He didn’t buy it. Jason grabbed Greer’s fork and cut through both of his pancakes. “The secret to getting them down easier is to eat both at the same time.” He held up the bite of pancake. “Open up muthafucker or I’ll start making train noises.”

  Someone behind them, probably Rory, coughed into his hand. “Two dicks at the same time.”

  He wanted to say this was weird and out of the ordinary but Jason always mothered him.

  “I’m more of an airplane kind of guy.” Greer grabbed the fork and ate the bite.

  “So what is it?” he asked stretching his arms across the back of the booth. “Wait. I know. It’s because University Girl is coming today, isn’t it? If you ask me, I’m surprised she is giving you another chance after you didn’t even seal the last encounter with a kiss.”

  “How the fuck did you know?” Greer hadn’t told anyone she was coming yet. He planned on them figuring it out when he brought her back to the bus once he picked her up. The last few days each and every one of them had gotten in dig after dig about that damn kiss.

  “Dude, we are on a twelve hundred square foot bus. There are no secrets.”

  *****

  Aveline wasn’t a fan of flying. It wasn’t the fear of being rocketed through the air, or turbulence, or landing and taking off. It was that she had to be stuck next to or in-between strangers with no room for escape or elbow room for at least an hour.

  Rob loved flying. He was that person who would try and strike up a conversation with the other people in the row. Airports were like museums to him. He would go entirely too early just to sit and people watch. Aveline wished she had that mindset but flying was up there with going to the dentist. It was a necessary evil.

  This trip, however, was completely different. Greer had gotten her first class seating. She must have complained to him at one point about her problems with flying because her booked her a solitary seat by the window. Aveline had no neighbor. No one to look over her shoulder to see was she was reading. No one to introduce themselves and tell her where they were going and why. It was just her.

  …and a dozen people who all looked at her like they knew she didn’t belong there.

  Aveline was a coach kind of girl. She would never throw away her money on a first class anything. As she sat there, she felt like an impostor.

  This weekend, though, she wasn’t going to worry about money. Aveline had called off work for what might be her very first time in a non-mother related issue. She needed every dollar she could make so calling off work for personal time wasn’t an option. When it came time to making the actual call, she began to freak out.

  “Just tell her you’re sick,” Rob had suggested.

  Lying to her boss held no appeal but what else was she supposed to do? She put it off till the last moment and when she did call she prayed that it went to voicemail.

  “Creative Elegance, this is Patricia.”

  All those prayers got her nowhere. Rob wa
s silently mouthing to her to lie her ass off. He then started to fake cough and pretend to throw up all over her desk. “Patty…uh, hi. It’s Aveline.”

  “Hey, sweetie,” Patty said, her customer voice evaporating.

  “So I am not going to be able to come in today.”

  “Is everything ok?” Concern. There was concern. Aveline couldn’t lie to a woman who was concerned.

  “Yeah…I mean no. I, uh. Look, I could lie to you and say I’m sick but I just need a personal day.”

  Patty laughed. “Good. It’s about time, girl. I’ve been worried about you. Aveline, you work too much and then there is your momma at home. You’ve been losing weight and look pale most days. I was about to not put you on the schedule for a few days just so you could rest. No need for that now.”

  Losing weight? She’d have to check out the scale later on. Aveline hadn’t had time for such trivial things like weighing herself. Plus, she ate crap all the time. If anything, she should be gaining weight.

  “Thanks Patty. I’ll be back-”

  “You have off till Tuesday,” she interrupted. “Go do something fun…or nothing at all. Sit in bed and watch Netflix for all I care. Just enjoy yourself, Aveline.”

  She got an extra day off. Not something she had expected. And Patty said that she was getting paid for the time off. Since she always used her vacation time for doctor appointments for her mom and never for herself, Patty was giving her a few extra days this year.

  “Consider it a birthday bonus.”

  “But my birthday was two months ago.”

  “I’m the boss. I make the rules.”

  Aveline loved her job.

  When they began their decent, she turned on her phone—Aveline was a rebel like that—she had a ton of texts from Greer and a number she didn’t know. The first one was a picture of pancakes shaped like penises and ejaculating syrup. The second picture was of Rory holding Greer’s arms behind his back and Jason force feeding him the pancakes with the caption “Two dicks at the same time.”

  She snorted out a laugh so loud that the passengers around her all gave her the stink eye.

  Greer’s messages began as frantic responses to those pictures.

  Sorry! The guys stole my phone to get your number.

  Shit. Ignore that picture.

  And that one.

  That’s Sawyer texting you. I haven’t been kidnapped and forced to eat dick pancakes in a towel.

  Although, that would be preferable at this point.

  Much less embarrassing.

  Fuck. I’m sorry.

  The messages then changed to excitement as she got closer to Arizona.

  On my way to the airport.

  I had to fight off the guys. They wanted to come with.

  You’re welcome, btw.

  At the airport. I’ll see you soon.

  Aveline sent him a quick reply.

  Landed! No baggage but I’ll meet you at baggage claim B.

  First class also brought with it the perk of exiting first. She was off the plane minutes after landing. Aveline always seemed to be seated next to that guy who would stand up right after the plane landed and stay standing the entire time. Like that was going to make people move faster or something.

  Aveline grabbed her bag and backpack and followed the other passengers out. Many of them seemed comfortable with where they were going and she hoped they would lead her to the baggage claim. Which they did. It was at this point that her heart decided it wanted to try and escape her chest. Aveline had never felt it pound so hard. Was it possible to have a heart attack at twenty-five because of exuberant excitement? The Cinnabun she couldn’t deny her stomach earlier, was threatening to make an appearance as well. That was all nerves. Her chest held the thrill of excitement, her stomach the upturn of nervousness. Her brain was somewhat functional as long as she didn’t let the anxiety get to her. All she needed were her legs to keep doing their thing and maybe she would survive this.

  She found the escalators down to the baggage area. Greer was there waiting for her. He had a sign tucked under one arm as he smiled and scribbled away at pieces of paper that a small group of fans thrust at him. He didn’t bother disguising himself very hard, which was probably the reason he had fangirls all around him. His brown hair wasn’t visible at all under the worn baseball cap he wore and he had a pair of sunglasses hanging from the neck of his t-shirt. The rest of him looked as she remembered. Tattoos down his forearms, jeans hanging off his hips, his smile was bright and genuine as he talked with his fans while trying not to attract any more attention.

  Aveline made it to the bottom of the escalator without him spotting her. She smiled while watching him try to be the good little rock star and acknowledge his fans all while obsessively looking at his phone. Waiting for her text.

  Yeah, there was a petty part of her that loved the fact that all of those girls were going to hate her because she got to leave with Greer.

  She walked over to them, the crowd of people had begun to grow as bystanders looked to see if they recognized the man taking pictures and signing autographs. Aveline slipped into the group.

  “No, I’m actually waiting for a friend of mine,” Greer said politely to someone who asked where he was flying to.

  “Ohh party! You guys need some extra bodies?” one of the groupies asked.

  Greer let her down with a smile. “No parties this time, ladies. I plan on having a very laid back weekend.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Aveline said joining the conversation.

  Greer’s smiled fell off his face when he spun to see her. For a moment she wasn’t sure he was actually happy that she was there. His stare was so serious, so severe that she felt self-conscious.

  Heat rushed to the tips of her ears, turning them bright red. “Uh, hi.”

  As she spoke his eyes went hot and his lips quirked into a smirk. “Ava,” he said breathlessly. Greer reached for her arm and pulled her into his body. His very hard, shapely body. They hadn’t touched last time, not like this. Not so fully. Every piece of her was touching every part of him. Greer kept her close with a hand on her nape and then did the very thing he promised he would do. He kissed her.

  And kissed her.

  And kissed her.

  She was drunk on his lips. The fun kind of drunk where there are lots of smiles and laughing. Tons of laughing. And dancing with no inhibitions. She swayed in his arms like she was dancing to a rhythm only they could hear. The kiss felt good. It felt right. It made her realize just how much she had wanted it to happen last week.

  It also made her think about when the last time she had been kissed. It had been long enough that the words “spinster” and “cat lady” came to mind.

  When he pulled back, she was breathless.

  She was also entwined around him like a vine. Aveline had practically climbed him. Their small group of fans had grown. She caught looks of envy, of lust and quite a few who looked pissed.

  Ignoring them, she lifted herself on her toes and kissed him again. Just a quick touch but it made him smile.

  “I do believe your mulligan was successful,” she said.

  Greer chuckled. His voice going straight down her spine and curling her toes. “I missed you.”

  “It’s been a week.”

  “Felt like longer.” Greer kept his hand on her lower back but put some distance between them. “It was nice to meet you all,” he said to his fans and grabbed her bag. “You ready?”

  She nodded. “Hell yeah.”

  *****

  “What’s with the sign?” Aveline asked after they got settled into the limo. She was trying not to freak out because this was her first time in a limo. Her dates to prom never sprung for one. It was kind of cheesy inside with all the color changing lights but fun all the same.

  Greer turned around the sign. It read, “UNIVERSITY GIRL.”

  Can someone be attracted to penmanship? Is that a thing? Aveline was crushing hard on his perfectly blocky, bold, sans se
rif lettering. Then again, the man just kissed her into next Tuesday so it could be that too.

  Speaking of Tuesday…

  “So my boss gave me off until Tuesday. Something about working too much and whatnot.”

  He looked at her as if her words were a puzzle that needed put together. “So what you’re saying is that I get you for another day?”

  “Um, yeah. What’s with the confused face?”

  Greer put the sign on the floor by his feet and grabbed her hand. He kissed her knuckles and then wove his fingers through hers. “You didn’t say you were going to spend that extra day with me. For all I knew you were going to go home and relax there. Or study since finals are next week. Or read to your mom. Or I don’t know.”

  “I’m here. If I planned on leaving early, I wouldn’t have come at all. I’m not sure what this is but I like you and I’ve liked you for a long time. Can that be enough for now?” Not even ten minutes into the trip and she was admitting her fondness of him. Her mouth needed an off switch sometimes. Greer was told every time he walked outside how much people loved him because of his fame. Ugh, she was so stupid. Now she sounded like every other person he knew. What made her say that?

  The fact that he was smiling at her and not recoiling was a good sign. He was surprised but not running. Maybe she hadn’t just committed relationship suicide.

  “I’m so glad you came.” He tugged her down to his chest and kissed her head. She wondered if he knew how perfect this felt? “I like you too, Ava. Now that the shock of meeting you has subsided, I’ll be a better host. In fact, if you could just forget our last meeting altogether, that would be great.”

  “What?” she asked lifting her head from where it laid on him. He couldn’t be serious. “Besides the being called out on stage thing, I liked last weekend.”

  His eyebrow quirked up. “Really?” he asked.

  “Yes!” she said with a smile. “It was bound to be awkward regardless of how well we knew each other. I’m just glad we got all the weirdness over with so now we can just have fun. Speaking of, what do you have planned?”