by RH Tucker
Twelve weeks of bass-pounding beats, girls, partying with Adam, who’s one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, girls, and living the luxurious life of a rock star. Oh, did I mention girls?
I love my life.
Jenny walks behind me, her hand running across my shoulders. When I glance over at her, she smiles, and I lift the headphone off of my ear. “What’s up?”
“I have to take off early. Gotta catch a red-eye flight for my agency.” Stepping closer, she lifts her lips to my ear. “I’ll be back next weekend, though. Can we hang out?”
“I’ll have to check my schedule,” I half joke.
She picks up on it. “Maddox, you know I’m so much more fun than any of those others.”
Chuckling, I wrap an arm around her waist. “I don’t know,” I tell her. “You might have to remind me when you get back.”
She laughs, pulling away a touch, but stays close enough to keep her arm around my neck. “I’ll be sure to do just that, King of Bad.”
Chuckling, I watch as she pulls away and walks through the crowd. Jenny and I have an on-again, off-again relationship. We’re on when we’re together, and we’re off when we’re not. I know she has a crazy schedule, and even though I’m not touring right now, she knows I … like to have fun. Okay, maybe relationship is too strong of a word for what we have. Let’s call it a mutual understanding.
“Very not bad,” Derrik jokes behind me, catching me off guard.
“Hey,” I call out, turning around and embracing him. “You know how I roll.”
“Oh, I know. Singer or actress?”
“Model.”
“Of course.” He laughs, stepping closer and examining my DJ stand. “The first weekend’s almost in the books, man. How’s it feel?”
“Awesome.” I smile widely, then take a drink of my cup. Before I do, I lift it toward him, giving him a salute of the Red Solo cup. “You didn’t have to come all three nights.”
“I know.” He nods, then looks around the club. We’re about an hour from closing down, but there are still people partying, drinking, and dancing. All with my music pulsing through the high-end dance club. Looking back at me, he offers another grin. “I’m proud of you, dude.”
I scoff with a smirk. “Okay, don’t go getting all sappy on me.”
“I’m serious. You’re like a second brother, Maddox. And I know how bad you wanted this gig. I’m stoked you got it, and even more so at how great this opening weekend went for you.”
His warm words finally crack the King of Bad exterior I try to always keep in place. It’s a nickname I’ve grown to love, for more reasons than one. Sure, it’s a great reputation to have as the band’s bad boy, but it works wonders with the chicks.
It’s not that I have a reason to hide real feelings or softer moments in my life. But now that I’ve embraced my new persona for the last couple of years, I save the real Maddox for the people that mean something to me. And Derrik, Jade, and EJ are on that small list.
“Thanks,” I reply, giving him a real smile.
“Bro! Bro!” Adam hurries over, with two girls under his arms—one blonde and one redhead. “Tammy? Heidi?” He looks over at them. “This is the King of Bad.”
Derrik chuckles to himself, turning away, but giving me one last nod before he does.
Adam raises his eyebrows, a huge grin spread across his face. “Tammy was just in Caleb Dexter’s indie flick …” He looks around the club, searching for the film’s name. “Home … House …”
“Home for All Time,” she corrects him.
Heidi breaks away from under his arm, grabbing mine. She’s the redhead. She’s cute, with a pink mini dress that clings to her tightly. It’s strapless and reveals a good amount of cleavage that tells me she wants people to notice. I’ve seen it enough times to know the difference between people merely dressing up or being attention seekers, both male and female.
Still, she’s hot.
“I just had a three-episode role in the police drama Deep Blue,” Heidi tells me.
“Lucky them,” I reply.
“We’re gonna head back to our place,” Adam tells me, wiggling his eyebrows again. “Meet you back there?”
“Yeah, for sure,” I reply.
Adam Coleman is a movie star. He’s starred in some big-budget movies, and one night he was throwing a party, looking for someone to DJ it. A couple people in the business that we both know threw out my name, so he called and asked if I wanted the gig. The rest, as they say, is history.
He’s become as close to me as my band. Most likely because we’re both on the same wavelengths. He’s a few years older than me, but he’s all about the party. I was instantly drawn to the guy. And it helps that he always—always—has women flocking to him. I think his manager has a list of current and potential stars to keep around him, and I’m not joking about that.
At first, I thought it was a little weird because Peter, our manager, would never in a million years do that for me. But after the second weekend seeing the kind of hotties Adam rolls with … Yeah, it’s amazing. If I don’t already have a girl lined up for the weekend, I know I can rely on Adam to help me out in that area.
Okay, okay, that sounded really bad. Look, I don’t mean to sound so misogynistic, but can you blame me? I’m eighteen, going on nineteen, and I’m in the Kings of Karmichael. The hottest band in the world. I’m a King. You tell me any other guy my age who isn’t going to take advantage of raging parties, drinks readily available, and girls throwing themselves at him. EJ doesn’t count.
I’m the King of Bad, and hell yeah, I love my life.
About the Author
RH Tucker writes cute & edgy YA romance and lives in Southern California. He also consumes too much caffeine, eats too much pizza, and firmly believes Rocky Road is the best flavor of ice cream.
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~~~ ALSO BY RH TUCKER ~~~
THE KINGS OF KARMICHAEL
King of Hearts
King of Nice
Queen of Kings
King of Bad (coming soon)
THE RUMORS HAS IT SERIES
Rumor Has It
True to You
Courting the Nerd
Heart Shaped Lock
Through the Layers
Piece by Piece
HIGH SCHOOL SIDEKICK
(written under Ron Tucker)
Freshman Sidekick
Trial by Fire
Riptide
Graduation
