Taut Strings: A Rock Star Romance (River Valley Rebels)

by Gabrielle Sands

  “Fuck, I almost forgot this place existed,” Silas said from the front seat as the lit-up facade of the venue came into view.

  The Barnyard.

  It looked exactly as I remembered it. The current manager, Bryan, was an old acquaintance of mine and had invited us to see a local cover band.

  “They’re good,” he’d promised over the phone when we’d spoken a few days ago. “They’ve really found their groove in the past year.”

  I was desperate to do something fun with the guys to help us find our groove once again, so I’d told him we’d be there.

  “Charlie loved cover bands,” Silas added as the driver pulled into the parking lot, and I let out a frustrated groan.

  “Dude, c’mon. We agreed to keep it light. I didn’t work on convincing Abel and Ezra to finally come out for you to ruin the mood before we even get into the venue.”

  Silas grunted something vaguely apologetic.

  Abel, sitting on my other side, stayed silent but his lips curved into a frown. Our lead singer hadn’t said much in the days since Charlie’s death. It was like his signature anger, the force that had always been bubbling just below the surface in him, had been replaced with something even more potent. I never thought I’d wish for him to lash out, to snap and say something harsh to Silas, to do anything besides maintaining the silence that emitted from him like toxic fumes.

  I knew Abel wasn’t happy being here, but at this point, I didn’t care. Despite agreeing to come to this show a few days ago, he’d tried to flake when we got to his house. It had taken an hour for me to convince him otherwise, and now we were very late.

  Was I a fool to hope that tonight might bring back some degree of normalcy? That a simple night out to hear live music could remind all of us why we’d embarked on this journey together more than ten years ago?

  Our driver, Leo, parked in front of the venue, and we piled out of the car one by one. I pulled him aside when he got out. “It’s a local band performing for a small crowd. Bryan says there’ll be a hundred people, tops. Having you there will only bring more attention.”

  Leo pursed his lips. He doubled as our bodyguard at the insistence of our record label, but I knew that his presence irritated Abel. The singer hated having a handler, which is what he called Leo and any of the other bodyguards.

  “I’m supposed to go with you,” he said in a low voice.

  I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. He was just trying to do his job, but I knew he’d put Abel even more on edge, and that’s exactly what I was trying to avoid.

  “This isn’t LA, Leo. You’ve seen how calm it’s been these few weeks.”

  At this, his frown softened. He knew I was right. “All right,” he responded gruffly. “I’ll be waiting in the car.”

  I shook his hand in gratitude and headed in after the rest of the guys.

  Inside, the Barnyard was lit with soft-orange lights. Its walls were plastered with old concert posters, and the stage sat empty. We must have arrived between sets. The space in front of the stage was full of people, and I wondered for a second if I had underestimated the size of the crowd earlier. It seemed like this cover band was pretty popular. We weaved our way to the bar to grab some beers, paid, and managed to get closer to the stage before we were recognized by a dude in a Metallica T-shirt and an enormous beard that put Silas’s to shame.

  “Hey, sorry for your loss. I’ve been a fan for years. Could I get a picture and an autograph?

  “Thanks, man.” I smiled and shook his outstretched hand before giving Abel and Ezra a nervous look over my shoulder. This was the first time the two of them were meeting fans after weeks of self-imposed isolation in their homes. To my relief, both of them wore expressions that were only a little tense, and as I stepped away from the man, they moved to greet him.

  Silas’s hand landed on my shoulder. “He’s still got it,” he said, nodding toward Ezra. Our drummer had always had a way with our fans, and sure enough, within seconds, the fan was chuckling at some joke with him.

  We signed the first thing we could find—a paper coaster—and posed for a quick photo. The man thanked us and walked away, only to reveal that a small line had formed behind him.

  We shared a quick look and got to work. The faster we managed to sign everything people had for us, the more time we’d hopefully have to enjoy the show.

  ADELINE

  “What’s up?” I asked Liam, standing.

  “Where is Elly?”

  “She was just here, must be taking a piss or something. What’s wrong?”

  Liam’s brows were furrowed. “Bleeding Moonlight is here. They’re in the crowd.”

  I shook my head even as my heart began beating faster. “You sure? How could you even tell?”

  “They must have arrived after our first set. They’re just to the left of the stage. The four of them are all here and there’s a line of people waiting for autographs. I recognized them immediately because I looked them up again last night after we talked.”

  “Well, that’s awkward,” Elly sounded from behind, her arm leaning against the doorway.

  “Yeah. A cover band performing their original right in front of them? Makes me fucking cringe inside,” Liam added.

  Mason sat up, leaning his elbows on his knees, his face a mask of concern. “Should we cut it?”

  I ran a hand through my hair as my pulse pounded in my ears. I could tell this development was freaking them out, but I wasn’t gonna let this happen. We were on a roll tonight, and this was not going to ruin it. I was the defacto leader of the band, and it was my job to whip them into shape, even though we were just a cover band that no one took all that seriously.

  No one but you, said that little voice in my head again.

  Placing my palms on Elly’s and Liam’s shoulders, I looked at Mason. “We got this. We’re not changing the set list because Bleeding Moonlight showed up halfway through our show. Hell to the fucking no. Pretend they’re not there. There are over a hundred other people that we’re performing for.” They made me sweat for a few moments before finally nodding in agreement.

  Liam let out a long breath. “You’re right, Ade. Let’s do this.”

  Despite putting on a confident face for the guys, my insides were roiling. Everything I’d told them was true, but the thought of playing lead guitar in front of the dudes who’d written “The Thing About You” was more than a little mortifying.

  When Elly, Liam, and Mason walked out onstage before me, I covered my face with my palms and took a deep breath. Just stop thinking. Cut that shit off and be in the moment.

  I saw them as soon as I walked up to my guitar. Four guys in total, with the Viking dude from the picture Molly had shown me towering above the rest. Beside him was a long-haired blond that I recognized as the lead singer. They were constantly moving, blocked by people coming up to chat to them, so I couldn’t get a good view of their faces.

  Stop it.

  Right. I was here to perform, and I needed to get the audience’s attention away from these spotlight hogs and back onto my band. I motioned to the soundcheck guy that we were ready, and he lowered the punk rock music.

  “How you all doing?” I shouted into the crowd. “Ready for some more music?”

  The crowd let out scattered whoops and cheers, quieter than before. From my vantage point up onstage, I could see just how many people were craning their necks to look at the newly arrived celebrities.

  Nah, this wasn’t gonna fly. I riffed on my guitar, drawing more attention. “I said, are ya’ll ready for more?”

  The response was louder this time. I grinned at the audience. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the members of Bleeding Moonlight turning to face the stage. “That’s what I like to hear. We’re Through Azure Skies and this is ‘New Fang.’”

  We jumped right into our heavier version of the song by Them Crooked Vultures. I loved playing and singing this one, and halfway through, I was nearly back to the high I’d had before
. Performing was my drug of choice. There were few things in life that made me feel this alive.

  I moved across the small stage with confidence, my shoulders back, and my head up high. In the first hour, I’d tried to conserve my energy, but now I could really leave it all on the stage. If I collapsed at the end of our set, that was fine by me. As long as we left people saying we’d put on a good show.

  We finished the song to decent applause and jumped right into the next one. As we played the intro, my gaze caught on the four guys down on the left. Their attention was fixed on the stage. They were all… stunning. The Viking was looking directly at me, his deep-set, hooded eyes appraising as he took me in. Was he assessing my playing? Fuck. I averted my gaze, moving up to the mic for the vocal part.

  I didn’t glance in their direction again, not when that one look had been nearly enough to throw me off. I wasn’t starstruck, not when I hadn’t thought about them in years until last night, but at one point in my life, their music had meant something to me, and that kind of shit stayed deep in your bones.

  Halfway through, I paused for a moment to peel off the leather jacket that was sticking to me like second skin. I was working up a real sweat by jumping around and moving non-stop.

  When I turned back to the mic, I smiled at the crowd. “We’ve got Mason on the drums. Liam on guitar. Elly on bass,” I said, pausing between each introduction for the crowd to respond. “And I am Adeline. I hope you’re enjoying your night.”

  Loud whistles and whoops came from the left, drawing my attention. The other guy from the photo, the shorter one with brown hair, was giving me a panty-melting grin, clapping above his head. His wild curls were whipping around his head, reminding me of my own. When he saw me looking at him, he wiggled his brows. I tore my eyes away, ignoring the way my pulse sped up, and jumped into the next track.

  When we were halfway through the song that came before the Bleeding Moonlight cover, and while Liam did his solo, I racked my brain for what to say. Should I intro the song? What the fuck should I say? If I didn’t say anything, would that be even more awkward? Like an elephant in the room. But how was I supposed to introduce it? Do I acknowledge they were right fucking here?

  I bit my lip as I strummed my guitar. A moment later, the answer came to me. I’d stick to the plan. When the time came, I gripped the mic, letting the guitar hang off my shoulder by the strap.

  “We got three more songs for you. This next one was one of my favorites growing up.”

  Mason started pounding the drums. Seconds later, Liam and Elly joined in, and the aggressive melody filled up the barn like it was a balloon.

  I didn’t look for their reaction. The guitar strings were buttery under my fingers as I launched into the melody. I headbanged in time with the beat until it was my turn to sing the chorus.

  This song built up to a crescendo, and I let myself get swept away by it. My fingers danced across the strings, the movement pure instinct and muscle memory, and I closed my eyes as the solo began.

  I loved performing, being up onstage, singing and jamming, but playing lead in front of all these people was like ascending into the clouds. As I shredded through the solo, this feeling of being outside of my body spread through me, and I swear I could see myself from some vantage point above. It was fucking spiritual.

  The solo slammed to an end, and I crashed back to reality. The crowd was going wild, and in that moment, I knew we were right to stick to our original plan. The final chorus was all me on the vocals, and as I sang the last few lines, I couldn’t resist the urge to look at the guys we were playing tribute to.

  I saw three grins, three heads bobbing up and down, their fists raised in devil horns. The Viking was headbanging like a mad man, his luscious hair billowing through the air like a flame. But where was the lead singer? He wasn’t standing beside the others. I scanned the crowd and spotted him leaning against the bar, a beer in his hand. He was staring at me, a fierce expression on his face. He looked pissed.

  The song ended, and the crowd roared in delight, but a cold sensation spread through me. Why was he looking at me like that? Had my playing sucked?

  Nah, he was the only one who wasn’t clapping. Was I really going to let one guy ruin this for me?

  I grabbed the mic, making a point to plaster a pleased expression on my face. “This next one is an original. It’s called ‘Green Roses.’”

  COLE

  We got through signing stuff for about five people when we heard the cover band come back on.

  “How you all doing? Ready for some more music?” a female voice asked over the microphone.

  I cringed at the muted response, fully aware that people were whispering and looking at us instead of the band onstage. Whoever was at the mic seemed to share my thoughts, because seconds later, an aggressive guitar riff forced me to hand the pen back to the girl in front of me.

  “Sorry, we want to watch the show. Come find us after?” I said to the handful of folks still around us, and to my relief, they began to disperse. Silas gave me a grateful look and turned to face the stage.

  “I said, are ya’ll ready for more?”

  I didn’t know who I was expecting to see onstage, but it sure as hell wasn’t her. My breath caught at the sight of the stunning brunette grinning tightly at the audience. I took in the bouncy curls that fell into her face, the lithe shape of her legs under the skin-tight jeans, the sensual curve of her red lips…

  Holy shit.

  The crowd cheered with more enthusiasm, and I joined it, albeit a bit late.

  “That’s what I like to hear. We’re Through Azure Skies and this is ‘New Fang.’”

  The song began, and she proceeded to completely dominate the stage. Time blurred and lost shape as I watched her move across the stage with confident ease. Her voice, while pleasant and well developed, wasn’t particularly attention grabbing, but her playing was a whole other story.

  She was changing the chords, adding certain embellishments to them that the original lacked, and making the song her own. Despite playing rhythm, she was the more interesting guitarist onstage by a long shot.

  I couldn’t look away. I could hear the drummer pounding out a solid rhythm, and the other guitarist jumped into a decent solo, but my gaze was fixed on her, held captive by the gravitational force that seemed to extend from her into the crowd.

  When she began the next song, she looked directly at us, her expression tense. I wondered if she was irritated with us for showing up here and drawing attention away from her band. If she was, I’d be willing to do anything to get her forgiveness. I’d fall on my knees and kiss her feet if that would bring a smile to her face. Her eyes met mine, and then she quickly turned away.

  Silas had moved to stand by my side and nudged me. “Dude.”

  “I know.”

  The wheels in my head were turning, and I’d bet anything that Silas was thinking the exact same thing.

  She could be the answer to one of the two problems that had been swirling above us like vultures over the past weeks. I glanced to my left and saw that Ezra, and even Abel, were watching her intently. Hope, a foreign feeling, swelled inside my chest.

  Ezra caught my eye and shuffled closer. “She’s good.”

  I nodded and smiled at him. Behind Ezra, Abel was watching her play, his expression unreadable. I wished I knew what was going through his head.

  Despite being occupied with serious thoughts, my dick twitched when she took off her leather jacket and revealed tightly toned arms. I rubbed at my chin, my hands clammy from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Should I be embarrassed about being this affected by a woman who was more than twenty feet away? I sensed that I wasn’t the only one when I noted a slight blush on Silas’s cheeks.

  She told the audience her name.

  Adeline.

  Silas and I cheered as loud as we could, Ezra joining us a second later. I whistled to get her attention. My effort was rewarded with an unimpressed look.

  Ouch
.

  Ezra elbowed me with a smirk, and I returned the gesture with a huge grin. He was getting into the show and seemed more alive than I’d seen him in weeks. We headbanged and danced to the music, cheering when the band played some of our favorites.

  Silas nearly choked on his beer when a few songs later, she started to play the intro to ‘The Thing About You.’

  One of her favorites growing up, huh?

  “We need to talk to her after the show,” he stated, and I didn’t think anyone would disagree with him at this point, not even Abel. She nailed the solo as if she’d been playing this song for years, and my arms pimpled with gooseflesh. It was always exciting to see a masterful take on our music, and she was utter perfection.

  They finished our track to wild applause and launched into an original. I couldn’t explain it, but I was sure Adeline had written this song. Something about the way she sang it, as if every word had a hidden meaning, reached right inside me and tugged on my heart.

  “Been walking on a road to nowhere,

  Green roses lining my way,

  Won’t you come and see,

  Where the path will take me.”

  What was she singing about? I wanted to discover her, to learn everything there was to know about the life she had lived and the dreams she was chasing. When she announced their last song, I felt a twinge of regret. I really wished Abel hadn’t made us miss their first set.

  Twisting my head around, I looked for the lead singer, but he was no longer standing with us. How the fuck was he missing this?

  Silas caught my eye. “He left during ‘The Thing About You.’ He knows this is a sign.”

  The corners of my lips inched up. A sign we’d record this album after all.

  ADELINE

  “I think I’m going to sleep for twenty-four hours when I get home,” Mason commented between gulps of water when we made it offstage.