Key Change: A Slow Burn Rockstar Romance (Common Threads Book 3)

by Heidi Hutchinson

  “And then we were both called into HR for conflict resolution, where I refused to apologize.” She smirked as she remembered the flustered HR rep. “In fact, I doubled down and got slapped again. Same cheek.” She shrugged. “They fired both of us.”

  He stared at her, eyes round, and she waited for him to react in some way.

  When he still didn’t say anything, she huffed and stomped a foot on the floor, stopping their dancing.

  “What? She was really mean!”

  Johnny dropped his head back and laughed, placing the palm of one hand on the center of his chest. His voice rumbled and echoed through the kitchen, and Hannah nervously looked toward the upper rooms. Hopefully he wouldn’t wake Shawn, because she really didn’t want him to think less of her on the eve of her trying to mentor him.

  Johnny righted himself and wiped moisture from under his eyes.

  “Please,” he begged, still trying to stop laughing. “Please promise me that you will always stay who you are.”

  She stared at him. Maybe he was crazy.

  That would clear up a few things.

  He rubbed a hand over his face, still smiling broadly. “Hannah Lee, the woman who never backed down,” he murmured, looking her right in the eye like…

  Like he was very pleased with what he saw.

  “I’m not a nice person,” she reminded him.

  “True,” he agreed. “But you’re a real person.”

  For some reason that small compliment hit her in the center of her heart and fanned a flame that had no business being there.

  The song switched, and he must’ve been telling the truth about it being on random because this time it was Paul McCartney. The same song Johnny had played for her in the studio.

  Their eyes met and held.

  After a beat he held out his hand to her. Without thinking about it, she took it.

  He gently pulled her into his arms and slowly began stepping them around the kitchen, humming. He folded their hands together and held them to his chest, his other hand pressed softly on her lower back. He bent his neck to hold his cheek right at her temple. Which brought his mouth to her ear, where he began to softly sing to her.

  Her feet lined up with his, and her body followed his lead to a point where she didn’t know she could dance so effortlessly.

  Soft, graceful, tender.

  And his deep voice murmuring words written by a legend in her ear.

  The timer went off and they stopped dancing, but they didn’t jump apart.

  It felt too perfect.

  Too safe.

  She didn’t want to move.

  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and slowly backed away. His eyes let go last.

  As he got the mac and cheese out of the oven, she found plates and forks. He dished up their middle of the night meal and they moved to the couch in the lower living room.

  Neither one said anything about the dancing, and maybe it was okay to just let those small moments be small moments shared with one another.

  He treated her with such kindness and beauty that she dared to feel lovely.

  Hannah knew that she had begun to treasure those experiences with Johnny. She kept them locked away in a secret part of her heart. And if she didn’t have him in her life someday, she would be able to look back and know those things had happened. And she’d been there.

  For a moment, she had been cherished.

  They sat in opposite corners of the couch to eat.

  “So he can cook too,” she murmured between bites.

  He grinned, like he knew he was good at it, and she held on to that too.

  Looking around the living space, she spotted a large canvas with a wordy quote on it, hanging on the opposite wall. She read it out loud.

  “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival. C. S. Lewis.”

  She read it again to herself.

  “Nikki got that for me for a housewarming gift when we first moved in,” he explained.

  “Have you and Nikki been friends a long time?” she asked.

  “A while. Decade or so.”

  “I like Nikki,” Hannah revealed. A tremor shook her stomach at her admission. Liking people, being friendly, it wasn’t exactly her “normal.”

  “She’s likable,” he agreed. “Really good at her job.”

  She wondered what it would be like to have a friendship last that long. To work with someone she respected and trusted.

  Fear rushed through her body and she sat up a little straighter, placing her fork on the plate. She took in a deep breath and held it, then let it out.

  As unwelcome as the fear was, that never stopped it from barging through the door without notice.

  She took in another deep breath and reminded herself where she was.

  She was in Chicago. Terrence didn’t know where she was and he didn’t care anyway. She was safe. Piper was safe.

  “Having thoughts?” Johnny asked when she hadn’t said anything else for a minute.

  “Yeah,” she confirmed, staring at the quote on the wall, just realizing how true it was.

  She faced him, needing to tell him…something.

  She just didn’t know what. Or how.

  It was as if what she needed to say was a huge ball of emotion tangled up in her thoughts, and she couldn’t unravel enough of it to make sense.

  She cared for him, that much was clear.

  But she cared for him in a way that was new and scary.

  In a way she was afraid of losing.

  Hannah had lost people before, many times over.

  But she could pick up and move on and know they were better off without her anyway.

  “Did you know you’re my best friend?” she asked all of a sudden.

  His eyebrows tilted up just slightly and his face softened.

  “Your friendship gives value to my survival.”

  He didn’t leave her out there all alone with her big reveal.

  “Yours is the most important friendship I have ever had,” he said roughly. “I’ve never valued anyone’s opinion or ideas or…life the way I have yours.” He swallowed.

  She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded, peace spreading through her from the center out. A laugh bubbled out of her and she covered her mouth.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I just…it’s stupid,” she said. “But I’ve never had that.”

  “Never had what?”

  “This.” She waved a hand between them. “A best friend. Someone who cared about me just for the sake of caring about me.” She shrugged one shoulder, attempting to shrug off the sadness of the truth. It kind of worked.

  He blinked at her before he scrubbed a hand over his face. Then he hit her with his trademark Johnny earnestness.

  “It’s not difficult, babe.”

  Warmth hit her square in the chest and turned her insides to melted rubber.

  “You’re great,” she blurted, smiling crooked.

  He chuckled and bit down on his bottom lip.

  She liked that too.

  She liked everything about him.

  “So, tomorrow we’re recording a new demo for Shawn?” he easily segued.

  “Yeah.” She nodded. Shop talk. Yes! She loved shop talk.

  No one ever wanted to talk about work with her outside of work. What kind of artist stopped thinking about art just because they weren’t in the studio?

  Lazy ones, that’s who.

  She brought up some ideas she’d bounced off Shawn, and Johnny nodded along, putting in little tidbits about his brother he thought would be helpful.

  “I definitely want to get him to open up in the live room. I still feel like he’s holding back in places.”

  Johnny’s lips twitched. “Hold his feet to the fire, babe.”

  He would let her too. She just knew it. He trusted her to do right by Shawn, and what a wild difference that was from where they’
d started a few weeks ago.

  They continued chatting about what they planned on doing tomorrow and it was easy conversation.

  But in the back of Hannah’s mind was the herpes.

  Or at least the knowledge that she needed to tell him.

  Or maybe she didn’t.

  Really, she only needed to tell someone who was a potential sexual partner. It’s not like she had to tell someone who was “just a friend.”

  Also, there was the fact that once Johnny knew, he wouldn’t be interested in sex with her anymore.

  If he even was.

  Gah!

  This was so crazy stupid and difficult.

  This was why she’d bought the bottle of wine and driven it around town.

  Because she needed to prove to herself that temptation wasn’t stronger than choice. She could be around Johnny and not have sex with him.

  But the memory of that kiss had her confused.

  She wanted him. In all the ways.

  But sex for her wasn’t so much a hello as it was a goodbye. It was the final thing before she or they moved on.

  And she didn’t want to say goodbye to Johnny.

  Maybe she could tell him in a joke form.

  That was a friend thing, right?

  Ooh, she’d come across a vintage sex-ed video on one of her streaming services. Maybe she could send him that.

  “Herpes: The Scourge of the Earth! This video will teach you how to avoid getting herpes. Also known as the Worst People’s Disease.”

  That was probably not an actual quote from the movie, but she wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

  “What are you thinking about?” Johnny interrupted her self-deprecating thoughts.

  “Hmm?”

  “You got quiet,” he commented, not pushing.

  She glanced down at her empty plate and then set it on the nearby table. Folding her hands in her lap, she held her shoulders back.

  Just do it, James. Be an adult.

  “I have to tell you something,” she started. His eyes grew wary, but he didn’t say anything. “There is literally no good time to tell someone this. I’ve been trying to come up with the perfect scenario, but it doesn’t exist.”

  Her heart pounded hard in her chest and she squeezed her hands together to keep them from shaking.

  “Are you moving?” Johnny accused, his voice hard.

  “What?” She frowned and jerked her chin back. “No, of course not.”

  He heaved a sigh of relief that surprised her. “Thank God.”

  “Why would I be moving?”

  “I don’t know. You sounded like you had really bad news. I panicked.”

  Oh, buddy, don’t relax just yet.

  “I’m not moving,” Hannah clarified, trying to get back to her original point. “I have herpes.”

  Bleck.

  There.

  She’d said it.

  She stared down at her hands and waited.

  He didn’t reply for a long time and she finally looked up.

  His expression was uncharacteristically blank.

  She swallowed and decided to continue. Though when she’d practiced this in the car, he’d had more of a reaction.

  “It’s HSV-2. The STD kind. I’m on medication for it and it’s being managed by a doctor.” She licked her lips and looked around the room.

  “Do…do you have any questions?” she asked.

  He shook his head slowly. “No.”

  No?

  “Okay.” She rolled her lips inward and tried to not freak out.

  It was out there now, and he had the information. She’d done the hard part and told him. Which fucking sucked. But part of her was just relieved to have it done.

  She picked up her phone and checked the time.

  “I should get home and sleep a little before we have to meet tomorrow.”

  They both stood and he took her plate up to the kitchen. She put on her boots. He met her back at the door and helped her into her coat.

  It was all very sweet and sad at the same time.

  “Are you parked in the back lot or in the street?” he asked, putting on his own coat.

  “The lot.”

  They left his townhouse and he helped her down the steps.

  In silence, they walked to her car. He waited until she started it and drove off before he went back to his home.

  She drove home in silence, wondering if everything would be different now.

  Why hadn’t he asked any questions?

  He hadn’t said anything.

  And she’d been worried he’d have questions that might make her uncomfortable.

  She should have known better. Johnny was often on the side of unexpected.

  Fuck.

  Well, now he knew and he couldn’t unknow it.

  She got home, washed her face, took off her clothes, and crawled into her big, empty bed.

  He knew now.

  His lack of communication on the matter felt so final.

  Like closing a door on something that hadn’t been revealed yet.

  She rolled onto her side and hugged her pillow to her chest.

  And cried.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Passenger

  JOHNNY

  He heard the front door open and stepped out of Studio Y’s live room into the hallway.

  Piper came around the bend first, bright smile on her face.

  “Hey, Johnny!” Piper greeted.

  “Hey, kid,” he returned, holding up a hand for a high-five.

  She smacked his hand and bolted past him into the live room, already hollering at Shawn about what kind of socks she was wearing.

  Hannah came around the bend next, and like usual, it happened in slow motion.

  He inhaled deeply, his stomach tightening, his shoulders relaxing, his fingers tingling.

  When he’d sent her off in the dark last night, it had felt unfinished.

  Most of him was worried she wouldn’t show up this morning, though he couldn’t articulate why. Paranoia, maybe.

  She greeted him with an arched eyebrow and a small smirk.

  “Coffee?” she asked, holding out a to-go cup.

  She was absolutely gorgeous.

  And not just because she was handing him coffee.

  Black distressed skinny jeans, high-heeled boots, a white and pale blue flannel with a pale blue silky tank underneath. It was just a small change from her black and gray wardrobe, which she also rocked. Her hair was in loose waves again and she looked fresh and awake.

  Unlike himself.

  He ran a hand over the stubble on his face as he remembered that he hadn’t shaved that morning.

  At least he’d showered.

  “Mmm,” she said, breezing past him. “You smell nice.”

  He’d been in a hurry because he’d lost track of time and had accidently used Shawn’s body wash. He would now be going out to purchase a case.

  Johnny followed her into the live room, where she was already holding court like the queen she was.

  She stripped out of the flannel and tied the sleeves around her waist.

  “Get up to the crow’s nest, pipsqueak.” Hannah nodded at Piper, who skipped up the steps.

  Hannah turned her attention to Shawn.

  “I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

  Shawn’s eyes bounced from Johnny to Hannah, and Johnny thought he actually heard the kid gulp.

  “I want to multitrack it,” Hannah said. Multitracking was a common method of recording, where each instrument, including vocals, are recorded separately and then put together. That way, each sound can be engineered separately to sound their best.

  Some artists preferred live recordings of the entire band in the same room at once. This was usually done to capture the energy of the live sound they wanted on their album.

  Shawn only ever used one instrument and he preferred to play and sing at the same time.

  Johnny raised his eyebrows. He had
n’t expected Hannah’s suggestion.

  Obviously neither had Shawn, because the teenager’s mouth was already open to argue.

  “I like playing live. It’s more of an authentic sound.”

  Hannah was nodding, her hands on her hips.

  “Okay, maybe. For some people.” She tilted an eyebrow toward him. “I have an idea and I want you to trust me enough to try it.”

  “I…” Shawn was already rethinking this entire thing.

  “I’ve really thought about this, Shawn. You’re too comfortable when you hide behind that guitar.”

  Johnny came to stand beside her, but he didn’t have anything to say. He just wanted to watch whatever happened next. Shawn looked to him for help, but Johnny only shrugged.

  Hannah also glanced at Johnny, her blue eyes flashing in the morning light streaming through the upper windows.

  This live room had always been his favorite, but the added images of Hannah in this room had cemented it.

  “I lose track when I don’t have my guitar,” Shawn said.

  She shook her head once. “No, you don’t. You feel safe with the guitar.”

  Shawn’s chin dipped, like he’d been caught in something.

  “Guess what, kiddo,” Hannah said, her tone flat and edged with dark amusement. “It’s about to get really fucking unsafe in here.”

  Shawn held her gaze for a beat and finally acquiesced.

  “Great. Let’s get you in the isolation room.” Hannah looked to Johnny, who nodded. He knew what she needed.

  Energy raced around the room, touching every person in it.

  This wasn’t going to be just a favor or a placating appearance to make a young musician feel almost important. Hannah was ready for work.

  He’d worked with musicians for half of his life. Only the truly great artists could make work feel like it was just as necessary as having fun.

  And only the really great ones shared their magic with everyone else.

  Hannah and Johnny worked to make sure everything on the tech end was ready as Shawn tried not to hyperventilate in the isolation room.

  Hannah had seen something even Johnny had missed.

  Never would he have guessed that focusing on vocals would leave Shawn shaking.

  “Let’s roll,” Hannah gave the go-ahead, putting on the second set of headphones.