Forstner Breigh - Dont Break My Heart (Straight from the Heart #3)

Don’t Break My Heart (A Straight from the Heart Novel) Breigh Forstner

Don’t Break My Heart  Straight from the Heart Series Book # 3 Copyright © 2015 by Breigh Forstner Cover designed by: Madelene Martin Editing: Editing by Rebecca Amazon Kindle Edition All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. The characters and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used factiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Table of Contents Dedication: Chapter 1: My Girl Chapter 2: On the Road Again Chapter 3: The Manor Chapter 4: Party Time Chapter 5: Tempted Chapter 6: New Guy Chapter 7: Kissing Her Chapter 8: About Time Chapter 9: Behind it All Chapter 10: On the Road Again Note from the author: Acknowledgements:

Dedication: This is dedicated to all of my readers, friends and family. Never settle!

Chapter 1: My Girl Lucy I love this life. I have been playing on stage at least 300 days out of the year for the past six years. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My body practically humping my Schecter Nikki Sixx Signature model bass onstage in front of over 4,000 fans, I can hear people screaming my name while I strum my bass line and put on a show. This feeling is what kept me breathing most of the time. The sound of rock ‘n’ roll music pulsating through my veins, I let myself go and put everything I have into playing my instrument. My best friend and lead guitarist Paul, better known as Pauly, stands beside me as we let the music take over and finish our last song of the night. Damon Charming, the lead singer of Ignite the Flames, lands his typical high note scream and the people go wild, especially the ladies. Apparently, they like guys that can sing high notes like a girl. “Thanks, all you crazy fuckers, for coming out tonight!” Damon growled into the microphone as the pyrotechnics fired off. Even when I was far away from the flames burning on each side of the stage, it still made being on stage hot as hell. I couldn’t wait to get out of the sweaty clothes that clung to me and showed off every little ounce of fat I had. “We’re Ignite the Flames. Glad you all came out to be a part of the freak show. Stick around for the after party; you don’t want to miss it.” This was news to me. But this was Damon’s ploy to score more women. I knew him like the back of my hand. The only time I had seen him fall for someone was when he met Bryn Schaefler, the new lead guitarist in Everlasting, when she first joined the band and toured with them. I’d dated the lead singer, Cale Pelton, for over two years but he broke up with me after he found out I cheated on him with his best friend Tyler Donahue, who is also in the band. Yes, call me a slut, I still feel horrible about it to this day, but Cale and I are on friendly terms now which is better than nothing after the long history we had. I also love Cale’s girlfriend Bryn. I met her the first night they came on tour with us, her first show. She reminded me of myself back when Ignite first started playing major venues. She had this sweet, good girl personality about her, and we clicked instantly. “So where’s this after party, huh, Charming?” I nudged him as we headed toward the tour bus, letting our roadies get the equipment put away for us. Damon draped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, squeezing me tight. “In my suite, of course,” he winked. “If I’m going to get lucky tonight, it won’t be on the bus, that’s for damn sure.” I rolled my eyes and giggled. Typical Damon. It never got old. “Yeah I’m glad I’ll be sleeping far from you tonight. I don’t want to hear those girls screaming your name at three in the morning,” I told him, and he shrugged. “I can’t help that, Luce. The ladies love me. I must be doing something right.” He winked at me as he stepped onto the bus. “Better start getting the alcohol ready because this is going to be a long ass night my girl.” “Nah, man, this is my girl,” Pauly interrupted as he emerged from the back of the bus. I kept my mouth shut, but

really, it wanted to drop straight to the floor. I’ve seen Pauly Donovan shirtless hundreds of times before over the years, especially since we grew up together. Why was it today that I felt myself getting wet just staring at his hard rock abs? They were chiseled to absolute perfection, and not one ounce of fat on them. Pure muscle. All 6’5” of him was standing in front of me, and I was at a complete loss for words, a first for me. That’s my secret ladies and gentlemen: I’m in love with someone I should consider my brother and he just happens to be my band mate. His black jeans rode low on his hips, revealing the colorful snake tattoo that he had done to wrap around his entire waist. I had the sudden urge to lick it, among other things, but Damon snapping his fingers in front of my face quickly pulled me out of that dream. “Sorry, what’d you say, Pauly?” I asked him, wishing he would wipe the smug look off his face. It was driving me crazy. “I said you’re my girl, and you’re hanging out with me tonight,” he repeated, using the towel in his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “You, me, a bottle of this brand new wine I’ve never tried before, and a hotel room all to ourselves.” Damon snorted, and I slapped his shoulder in response. “You’re skipping out on my after party so you can have sexual relations with my sister here?” I wasn’t really his sister; that was just what he liked to call me. Pauly’s eyes widened in response. He didn’t look shocked to hear that since it was coming from Damon’s mouth, but he looked at me with a cheesy grin on his face. “You like the sound of that don’t you, Damon?” Pauly teased. “I can hang out with a girl without wanting to rip her panties off, unlike you.” Damon looked back and forth from me to Pauly, still not comprehending what Pauly told him. “Whatever you say, man,” he replied, shaking his head. “I give it a month and you’ll be at it like bunny rabbits. We all see it’s there.” And with that, he walked away, our other band mates, Alex and Mike, passing us as they started chanting for beer. “I sometimes question my sanity,” I murmured to Pauly, rolling my eyes. He laughed again and flashed a smile. “You’re just as crazy as the rest of us, tommy girl.” He ruffled my hair and gave me a huge bear hug. I’ve been stuck with that nickname ever since we were in school and the guys treated me like one of them, and the fact my last name was Tomlinson. “So do those plans sound good or do you want to party with the rest of those pussy- hungry men?” “Of course I’ll hang out with you. Do I get to pick what we eat?” I asked, my eyes gleaming up at him. “Whatever you say, tommy girl. I’ll pick the movie, though. I’m in the mood for some scary shit tonight.” Pauly actually sounded excited, but I wasn’t sure if it was at the prospect of cuddling with me because he knew I still got scared during scary movies. He was going to use this opportunity to his advantage. “Just not Saw please!” I begged him. “I’ve seen that series one too many times with Cale and I really don’t want a reminder of that relationship.” Pauly shook his head as he ran back to his bunk to grab a shirt and pull it on over his head. I inwardly frowned, disappointed that I couldn’t get another glimpse of his abs. He reemerged, his white Sublime shirt clinging to him in

all the right spots, and I had to wipe some drool away dribbling down my chin. Damn, he’s gorgeous. “Don’t worry, best friend, I’ll pick something extra gory that’ll give you nightmares tonight.” “You’re a jerk sometimes, you know that?” I told him. “If I have nightmares, I’ll be sleeping with you tonight.” “You’re catching on, tommy girl.” Pauly grinned, playfully slapping my butt, leaving me confused. “Now let’s have some beer with the guys before we start on that wine.” *** I thought I was a crazy partier, but drinking with my band mates made me feel like a chump. “Awww, come on guys you know you want to come to the suite with us and get trashed.” Mike, our rhythm guitarist, linked his arms with Pauly and me as we all packed into the elevator at the hotel we were staying. “Damon just got off the phone with some dude and he’s getting some strippers with a makeshift pole.” Gag. That was the only downfall with being the only girl in a group full of men. The way they talked about other girls drove me insane. I didn’t want to hear about sucking tits and wet pussies. However, after a while, you learn to tune it out and just nod your head when they’re talking to you and act interested. “Dude, I told you I’m just hanging out with Lucy tonight.” Pauly tried to explain, but then the other guys started hooting and hollering, tuning out his voice. “Fucking party pooper.” Alex, our drummer, frowned, pretending to be sad. “Oh well, more for us and our lady friends to drink.” I laughed, patting Alex on the back as soon as we got to our floor, which was at the very top of the hotel where all the fancy-schmancy suites were located. Pauly clasped his hand with mine as we headed the opposite way down the hall. “I BETTER NOT HEAR ANY LOUD NOISES LATE IN THE NIGHT YOU CRAZY ASSES!” He yelled. “Oh, I’ll be knocking on your door just to piss you off fucker!” Damon yelled back, fifths of alcohol in their hands as they struggled to open the door to Damon’s suite. Pauly shook his head as he used his free hand to open up his suite. “If he knocks on my door tonight his ass will be thrown off the roof,” he mumbled under his breath and squeezed my hand. “At least it’s just the dynamic duo tonight, right?” He then turned to look at me and gave me a sincere smile. “And I promise I will be a perfect gentleman.” Just one look from his piercing honey eyes, along with him squeezing my hand, put me in the kind of mood I did not want to be in when around my best friend. He was my best friend and ONLY that. We were incredibly close and had been since we were little. Around me and only me, he was the perfect gentleman. For a long time I had thought ‘what if?’ What if we were normal, not rock-stars? Could we make a relationship work? My mind flashed back to the night when I told Bryn that I was in love with Pauly. It was the truth. However, he didn’t know that and he could never know that. It would ruin everything. “Damn, I need to buy this suite from the hotel and keep it for myself, this is amazing.” Pauly beamed as he let go of

my hand and walked over to where our luggage stood courtesy of Lennox, one of the road crew slash does whatever we want guys. “And look Luce, even a huge California King so you don’t have to be worried about us being up to no good when we shouldn’t!” He grinned, and I rolled my eyes. “Let me take a shower while you put the surprise movie in.” I was anxious to get out of my sweaty clothes and wet panties. I felt dirty and grubby to say the least. I unzipped my small suitcase, grabbed a pair of old cheerleading shorts and worn out tank top, locking myself into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror before I undressed. My almost 24-year-old face stared back and I took a moment to study my reflection. My stick straight black hair had its usual colored streaks in them, which I put in myself, and my blue eyes were still covered in dark eye shadow and starting to smear because I was so sweaty. I stripped down to nothing, and turned on the water for my shower. I cooled down the water and stepped in, closing the curtain behind me. Over the sound of the water, I could hear the television outside the bathroom blaring and I sighed, forgetting about the world outside as I finished washing myself. “Lucy Ann Tomlinson, the food out here is getting cold!” Pauly yelled through the bathroom door, knocking on it at the same time. I had just slipped my tank top over my head and over my waist while pulling up my shorts. Placing my wet hair into a high ponytail, I opened the door and there stood Pauly with two dishes of Thai food in his hand. My stomach instantly growled as I set the wet towel down beside me. “Sure you won’t get cold wearing that skimpy stuff?” He asked as his eyes slowly raked over my body, landing on my breasts. That’s when I realized I wasn’t wearing a bra. Shit, I cursed to myself, but I had to remember Pauly has seen me naked before, so why was I making such a big deal out of this? I whipped my wet ponytail back and forth so water landed on Pauly’s face. “I think I’ll manage,” I replied, eyeing the Thai food that was looking more and more delicious by the second. “How did you get that so quickly?” “I have connections downstairs at that restaurant.” Pauly winked. When he said connections, it was code for he’d slept with someone who worked there. “I also said if the food was not up here by the time my girl was done taking her shower then I’d go stay someplace else.” My girl? That was the second time he’s said it tonight over the course of a few hours. Typically, I’d get a ‘tommy girl’ or ‘Luce’, which I’ve grown to like, but him calling me his girl gave me instant butterflies. If anyone heard him call me that, they’d assume we were dating. And we were far from that. “Well, thank you, Pauly, you know the way to my heart,” I joked, sitting down at the dinner table that sat parallel to the mini bar, and began digging into my food. The smell of spices and soy sauce filled my nose as I devoured every bit of food on my plate. I looked up; Pauly was already done and his plate was pushed to the side. “I take it that it was good, huh?” I groaned and clutched my stomach in response. “Like you wouldn’t believe.” I got up and then plopped onto the California king bed and dived under the covers as Pauly put in his movie choice. As soon as the main titles displayed on the flat screen, my mind immediately flickered back to a time when I was in my pre-teens and cried during every sappy movie I watched with my mom and sisters.

A Walk to Remember . Now I knew Pauly was up to something. What happened to wanting to watch something scary? He pressed play and dove onto the bed in a belly flop, causing me to grip the sheets. “I’m not up to anything Luce, I swear.” He put his hands up in defense. “I just remembered that one time back when we were 11 and…” I covered my face from embarrassment. “Yes, you tried to kiss me; how could I forget? I started bawling my eyes out when Jamie told Landon she had Leukemia and you took advantage of that!” I remembered that day as if it was yesterday. Pauly scooted closer to me, wrapping his arm around me, drawing me closer to him. “It’s funny now, don’t lie.” Before he could say anything else, the opening scene started flashing before our eyes “Shhh, the movie’s starting, tommy girl. I don’t want to miss this part.” That was how Pauly and I stayed up until nearly half way through the movie when the final school play scene came on. A shiver caused me to shake a little and Pauly squeezed my side where his fingers were playing with the bottom of my tank top. I forced myself to believe it was completely innocent. “Come here,” Pauly gestured to me and pointed to the extra blanket on his side. “Looks like you could use it.” I nodded, and as I reached over him to grab the blanket, his hands quickly grabbed my hips, causing me to straddle him. “Pauly, we can’t…” I pleaded, hesitant to make the biggest mistake we could ever make, as much as it pains me to say that. Trust me, kissing and having sex with Pauly Donovan is something I have thought about often. I’ve wanted to show him just how much I love him, even if he doesn’t feel the same. Sirens were going off in my head. I tried to open my mouth again, but Pauly repositioned his fingers so they were crawling up my spine, reaching the tip of my ponytail, and yanking my head back. “Pauly…” I said once more as I felt his hot breath on my skin. “We shouldn’t do this.” I might as well have been talking to the ceiling because that’s all I could see from the angle he had me. He let go of my ponytail, and lift his face closer to mine again. We were eye level with each other. “I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time, tommy girl. You look too fucking delectable for me to pass up right now. My dick is completely hard under these shorts, and I can tell you are soaking wet and need some special attention…” Was this real right now? Was he trying to seduce me? I raised my eyebrows in shock. All too eager to go along with his plan, I knew our relationship would ultimately disintegrate from there. Having sex with a band mate, even if I loved him, would make things awkward when it didn’t work out. But a little of curiosity never hurt anyone. I tuned out my inner thoughts and took the plunge. Our mouths met in the middle for a hard, passionate kiss. His lips were absolutely perfect, plump and completely kissable. I don’t even remember why I kept telling him we couldn’t as he deepened the kiss. I let a moan slip from my lips as I felt his hardness underneath me and I rubbed against it, wishing that it was inside me right then.

“So much for saying ‘we can’t’, huh?” Pauly mentioned after we broke our kiss, his hands gripping my sides tightly now. I was done thinking we can’t at that point, shaking my head and reaching for the hem of Pauly’s shirt, I helped him get it off over his head. I tossed the shirt onto the floor and crushed my lips to his once more. Our tongues met somewhere in the middle as our kiss grew hungrier and more passionate. I let my hands run down his muscular shoulders, to his biceps, then to his abs. Just feeling his skin with my fingers drove me wild inside. Pauly withdrew his lips from mine as he started leaving a trail of kisses from my neck to my collarbone, my most sensitive spot. “Holy shit,” I breathed, not paying attention to my swearing filter at least for right now. “Do that again.” Pauly flipped me over so that he was on top of me. I felt so small compared to his large, muscular frame as his eyes were glued to mine. With both hands, he managed to pull off my shorts and underwear with one swift movement, the clothing getting lost somewhere in the sheets. I think he’s done this before, I thought to myself, and I suddenly felt bare to him. Well, almost bare, but using both hands, I slipped my shirt over my head, and then, I really was bared to him. I had never felt so good. “Damn,” was all that came out of his mouth as he licked his lips. He used his fingers to run them up and down my sides. “You need to be naked around me more often, Luce. You’re fucking perfect.” His eyes trailed from my face to my very visible D cup sized breasts on full display for his pleasure. I crossed my arms over them, suddenly feeling insecure. “Now you’re making me feel all nervous,” I whispered, my face turning away from him. He used two fingers to tilt my face back toward him. “Why are you nervous? You’ve known me forever.” Pauly made me feel at ease again. “I’m just telling you what any guy should tell you. You need someone that will make you feel good and put that sparkle that I miss so much back into your eyes.” Using one hand to keep himself hoisted, he used the other to unbutton and unzip them all the way down. “You’ve been so down ever since you and Cale broke up; I can see it in your eyes even when you pretend you’re okay. Let me help you feel happy again.” I didn’t know what to say to that. Here was Pauly, on top of me, admitting that he wanted to fuck me. Technically, I was agreeing, because here we were taking each other’s clothes off when tonight was just supposed to be a movie and wine night… between friends! So much for that. I took the liberty of pushing his unzipped pants down to his feet, realizing he wasn’t wearing any boxers after my hand briefly grazed his hard cock. Pauly looked at me as if he was surprised I’d made the next step. “What?” I grinned at him, feeling myself getting wetter by the minute just knowing he was so close to being inside me. “You wanted to help me feel happy again, that’s the way to do it.” He grunted, reaching for one of my hands and guiding it towards his solid hardness. How the hell will this fit within my hand, let alone inside me? I gripped his cock tight, but not too tight, and started moving my hand up and down his length, not breaking our eye contact. “Luce, holy fuck, you keep doing that and I’ll be finished in no time.” Pauly groaned, briefly kissing me on the neck, creeping his way to my perky breasts just waiting for him to touch. I quickened my movements, loving the way he

felt in my hand. I felt him stiffen for a split second, before he ripped my hand away from him. “Why did you do that?” I was almost out of breath just as I felt his teeth graze my nipple and his hand squeeze my free breast. I tipped my head back and let out an involuntary moan as he had me this close to having an orgasm before he was even inside me. Pauly lifted his head up, hand still in place, and he said, “If I’m going to come, it’s going to be inside you where I belong.” Reaching for his pants at the foot of the bed, he grabbed a condom, and removed it from the foil. “Are you sure you want to do this, Luce? I don’t want you to feel awkward with me or feel like I’m pressuring you.” As sweet as he was being at the minute, we had gone this far already, so I snatched the condom form him and placed it over his cock myself. “Shit, next time you touch me like that, I’ll come right inside that pretty set of lips.” I felt myself blush at the way he was talking to me, but I liked it. I was at the point where I craved his dirty talk; I wanted him to fuck me like this was the only time we’d ever be together. I was completely, one hundred percent ready with desire. He repositioned himself so he was in between my legs. “I promise,” he whispered in my ear as he slowly slid his way into my wetness, inch by glorious inch. “This will be something you’ll never forget.”

Chapter 2: On the Road Again Lucy The next couple of days flew by as we wrapped up our short two-week tour. I wouldn’t really even call it a tour. We played a few shows around the Midwest and drove back home again. Our record label wanted us to have a new record out by the end of summer. However, with the time off that we’d had so far this year, everyone has been so caught up in their own lives to think about song writing. I was thankful to get home to the 2- bedroom apartment I’ve had ever since I moved out of my parents’ house when I graduated high school. I’ve never really cared about having a big huge mansion or anything like that because I had no one else to share it with. My siblings, Lucas and Lizzy, who were almost thirty, had families of their own and lived around the state of Michigan. The only time the three of us got together or saw each other was when I was off on a break during holiday season. Those were few and far between. The first night back home, I immediately went to my Jacuzzi tub, took my clothes off, and just enjoyed the warm water crashing over me, relaxing my muscles. I have been on edge ever since the night I woke up in Pauly’s arms after we had sex. It was the most amazing night of my life; we spent almost the whole night taking out our aggression and passion on each other. I had no other words to describe what happened. However, I realize now we shouldn’t have done it. I lifted my head off the crook of Pauly’s arm and noticed he was wide-awake, staring at the ceiling, keeping his breathing quiet, and music on his phone low so he wouldn’t wake me. “Hey,” I whispered, my lips on his neck, giving him a good morning kiss. “Please tell me I wasn’t the only one that got sleep.” Pauly shifted, so he wrapped his arm around my waist, kissing me on the forehead. “Yeah, it’s a little hard when I heard girls screaming in the hall way not that long ago.” We both shook our heads and laughed, knowing very well what happened outside of those doors last night. “Damon probably grew tired of the company and kicked them out once they did their job,” I retorted, and Pauly ran his hand up and down my back as I laid a hand on his chest. “Not surprising.” I felt him take a deep breath before he  said, “I had fun last night.” Oh, shit. Here comes the bad news. It always started with “I had fun last night…” “But?” I egged him on. “Was I bad or something?” Pauly immediately shook his head, unwrapping his arm from around me so that he could sit up against the headboard. “No, Lucy, it wasn’t that at all. You blew my goddamn mind and I don’t regret any second of it.” “I’m still waiting for the ‘but.’ You can just spit it out; it will make things go a lot smoother…” “Why do you expect me to say something bad?” “Because you’re forgetting that I know you all too well, Paul.” I used his name this time, which meant I was deadly serious. I scooted up against the headboard and kicked my legs out of the covers, attempting to get out of the bed. “Just tell me the truth.” There went another loud sigh. I couldn’t even face him; I had such a bad feeling in my gut that he was going to reject

me after everything we had done last night. “I think we should keep this as a one-time thing,” Pauly finally spat it out. “But, listen Lucy, please.” He reached for me across the bed, stopping me from getting off the bed. I pulled myself out of his grasp, planting my feet on the ground, and standing up. “Why should I listen to you? What was this to you? Was I like some fucking groupie slut to you last night?” I tried so hard not to cry in front of Pauly because he would feel bad for saying this to me. Nevertheless, he’d said it, and that was that. There was no going back and pretending he actually cared about my feelings. That was out of the question. I quickly walked to the foot of the bed where my clothes were lying in a heap. I snatched them up and started putting them back on again. “Lucy, that’s not it at all.” Pauly sounded frustrated. “We have to see each other every day and you’re my best friend. I don’t want to ruin our friendship…” “And create tension in the band?” I retorted. “I should’ve fucking known, Pauly. I’m going to go. One of the others should be up by now.” I snatched up my luggage and made a dash for the door before Pauly could make it over to me. He was standing fully naked in front of me, trying to find clothes to put on so he could chase me and explain some more. “I know you feel the same way, Lucy. Come on now… I’m not saying you were terrible because you weren’t. Please don’t think that. You were the best person I’ve ever been with…” I wasn’t ready to hear this. I flipped him the bird without looking back and slammed the room door shut. I hate to admit it, but he was right. We couldn’t have sex with each other or even date for that matter because if we were to end it, it would only create problems down the road. In addition, if things didn’t work out, how would that be for the band? He was better off being single Pauly while I was just… Lucy. I didn’t want to be single forever, but I’ll suck it up for now because this band is my family and I’ll do anything for each and every one of those guys. After soaking in the Jacuzzi for almost a half hour, I heard a knock at the door. “Just a second!” I shouted. “I’ll be right there.” I ran out of the bathroom and into my bedroom where I had a pair of shorts and a T-shirt I had just bought before our mini tour. I threw the shirt over my head and the shorts over my legs, rushing toward the door. I peeked through the hole in the door to see Damon standing there with his hands in his pockets. “What were you doing in there Luce, touching yourself or something?” Damon chuckled as he gave me a bear hug, kicking the door shut behind him. “You wish Charming. I was soaking in the Jacuzzi. It looked awfully lonely after being away for the tour.” I grinned. “You should be at your place. What are you doing here?” I always liked to tease Damon because he was the one that had a decent sized house on the outskirts of the city. Pauly, Alex and Mike had their own houses too, but Damon being… well Damon, had to go all out and show all of us up; hell, his was practically a mansion. “I felt like coming to see my sis instead.” Damon, ran a hand through his blond hair. He had buzzed it off back in winter and was slowly letting it grow back, complaining that he felt like an old, bald man with buzzed hair. “Plus, I

had an idea.” I cocked my head to the side. “Idea, huh? This better be good…” We sat down on my black and gray pinstriped couch, flipping the TV on to one of the music stations. I tried changing it to the next channel, but Damon stopped me mid-song. “Keep this on, Luce, I love this song!” I chuckled and set the remote down, leaning back into the pillow behind me. I loved how soft this couch felt on my skin, I could sleep on this thing if I wanted to, but I preferred my bed any day. “If you say so, boss. So what was your brilliant idea?”  “What would you say to a couple weeks up at The Manor?” Damon suggested, mentioning the cabin we visited when we had the chance. “I mean since it’s getting close to the fourth of July and everything, we could throw a huge bash up there on the lake, invite some friends, it’ll be pretty kick ass.” “But what about putting out our album by the end of summer.” I interjected. “We only have a couple of songs written, and the label wanted us to have everything done by now.” We’ve been receiving phone calls almost daily from our representative at the label, asking us how the recording process was coming. Quite frankly it was a pain in the ass knowing they were on us like wildfire. We all agreed we were going to take a decent sized break, especially after what happened in Pontiac last November when Brayden Schaefler, Bryn’s brother, injured her, Cale and their Everlasting band mate Tyler, ultimately killing himself. “We can write up there like we usually do,” Damon replied casually, stretching his arms over his head. “Plus we got the studio in the downstairs, we don’t need those fancy ass producers this time around.” I chuckled. That was easier said than done. However, I really liked the idea of spending some time up at the official “Ignite the Flames” cabin we purchased in Alpena a few years ago with our first royalty check. It was right along the lake and was absolutely enormous, but that way the five of us each had our space when we needed it. “Sounds like a plan to me.” I rested my feet on the coffee table in front of us as we bopped along to the song that was now playing on TV. “Have you mentioned this to Pauly, Alex or Mike yet?” “Hell, no. You’re my go to girl, Lucy. I always like to go to you first for stuff like this.” He ruffled up the back of my hair and I glared at him while he shot me a broken smile. “Are you okay, Luce? I know we just got back but even the past couple of days you’ve been really tense and haven’t said much.” As much as Damon Charming loved his women and acted cocky and arrogant when he was around them, he was a softy and a big teddy bear when it was just him and I hanging out, playing music. Neither of us have had any feelings toward each other which makes things a lot more relaxed between us. “Thanks, Charming, I knew I liked you for a reason.” I cracked a smile, leaning into him. “That still doesn’t explain what’s wrong with you. Did something happen between you and Paul?” I always thought it was weird to hear anyone say Pauly’s name, not his nickname. Just hearing it gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. My mouth tensed up, and I started to bite the inside of my mouth when Damon finally caught on. “Holy shit, I was right that night! You two totally fucked like bunny rabbits, am I right?” I nodded slightly, trying to block the memory of that night out of my mind. “You got it Sherlock.” Damon slapped his knee. “Shit. I should’ve known from the way you’ve been completely silent around him.”

“And I’d like to not talk about it, D, please.” I pleaded with him. “That morning ended very badly and I don’t want to relive it right now.” “Do you need me to kick his ass? Best friend or not, I will Lucy. I know you love the guy, actually Alex, Mike and I do. It’s obvious he cares about you, too. I don’t know how he screwed that up between the two of you, but he’s an ass for doing so.” I tipped my head back and laughed. This was exactly what I needed… quality talk time with Damon. He usually makes me feel better about everything. “It’s fine, Damon, that trip up north and spending my days writing might do some good. Are your brother and his band coming up, too or are they busy?” Damon shrugged. “I don’t know yet. You should drive up with Emily; she’s been blowing up my cell about seeing you.” Referring to his close cousin Emily Charming, she and I shared the same birthdate and went to school together until the band started touring in late High School and we’ve kept in touch and hung out whenever I was back home. She was one of the only true friends I kept in touch with except Bryn. “Yeah, I think I might call her. It’d be fun to catch up with her.” “I guess I better get going. I still have a shit ton of laundry to do and I’ll get ahold of the guys and give it a couple of days and we can plan on going up north.” We both stood up and Damon drew me into another hug. “Let that shit go with him, Luce. You’re way too good for Pauly and he doesn’t realize he lost a damn good woman.” “Well, he never really had me,” I said truthfully. “But he hasn’t lost me as a friend.” That’s the way it had to be. “That’s the spirit, tommy girl,” Damon chuckled, opening the door. “I’ll text you sometime later ok?” “Sounds good. And thanks for stopping by, Damon.” I waved to him as he shut the apartment door behind him. *** Damon called me back bright and early the next morning to tell me we were leaving the next day. So I called his cousin Emily for a girl’s day with me before we were supposed to leave. She was so excited when I asked her if she wanted to drive up north, too. “You need to spill some dirty secrets about those gorgeous men you tour with every day. Well, except for Damon since he’s my cousin.” She said to me as we sat on the middle of my bed painting our toenails before I finished packing. “Have at them, Em. They’re like family to me. Although you’d be good with Alex.” “Alex Dawson? Girl, you definitely know my taste in men!” And we both started giggling uncontrollably. Emily and Alex briefly dated when we were all freshmen.. I think Emily still had a little bit of a crush on Alex, and I didn’t blame her. He was the nerd of the group, always building a computer for someone or fixing my laptop whenever I couldn’t get it to work. In addition, he’s easy on the eyes. “Now, don’t base your decision going with me just because of him…” I scolded her, and she threw the closed bottle of nail polish at my arm. “No way. I’m there for you chickadee. And this little road trip is going to be ah-mazing!” She shrieked, and I couldn’t help but laugh. After ordering pizza around midnight, and slamming it back in less than 15 minutes, we finally decided to get some sleep.

Pauly: Wake your asses up. I woke up to the next morning that text. I rolled over in my bed and was tempted to throw my phone against the wall. I felt tired and didn’t really like being awakened like that, but that was Pauly for ya. I ran a hand through my snarly bed hair as I looked at the message again, thinking of my comeback. Lucy: You’re up this early? Oh wait… you must’ve kicked a girl out of your bed this morning… Pauly: Spare me, you dork. We’re leaving Damon’s place in like an hour so you can follow us there or just be the first ones dunked into the lake when you two get there. Lucy: You wouldn’t… Pauly: Yes, I would. Get you all wet and have you pissed at me? Sounds like a blast to me! Lucy: Shut up Paul. *Yeah I used your REAL name* we’ll be there, don’t you worry. To my luck, Emily was already awake, in the spare bathroom using my straightener and applying makeup to her face. “Good morning, sleepy head,” she said, giving me a hug as I stumbled into the doorway. “I already got you a cup of coffee from your Keurig thing. I need to get me one of those; it works like a charm!” She tried getting me to laugh, and I displayed a lazy smile. “Thanks, best friend, I need that since I’ll be driving.” When I was off tour, I always liked to drive. Whether I was with family, the guys, or Emily, I had a control freak thing going on where I didn’t like to sit in the passenger seat. I’ve seen way too many crazy drivers out there, and I didn’t care if I drove the actual speed limit. As long as I got to my destination, I was good. “What time are we leaving?” Emily shouted at me as I walked out to the kitchen. I picked up the black coffee waiting for me on the counter and sipped. “Pauly texted me and said they were leaving in less than an hour.” “Shit, do those guys like to get up early? The guys I know sleep in until the damn afternoon…” Emily rolled her eyes as she headed to the kitchen. “They’re different all right.” I laughed, finishing my coffee, while I contemplated on what to wear for the trek up north. It wasn’t as if I was dressing up for a show with my tutu’s and my ripped pants and shirts so I eased up a little bit. I knew the moment I got there, I would want to go swimming in the lake, so I made sure I’d packed every bathing suit that I owned. I finally decided on a plain pink T-shirt and a pair of my Bermuda shorts. I used the straightener Emily left on for me and finished getting ready while she was packing our suitcases into my Ford Edge. I gave myself another once over, adding a touch of eyeliner as my only make-up, and I was ready to go. Score! Only took me 20 minutes to get ready! I praised myself, slipping a pair of slip-on shoes onto my feet and surveying the apartment, making sure I had everything I needed for the weeks we’d be up there. Shit, my bass! I almost forgot my prized Nikki Sixx possession, signed by the man himself, so I ran back to my bedroom at lighting speed, and made sure it was tucked neatly and safely in its case. I locked the door to the apartment for the last time for a few weeks and sighed. It felt like I just left and here I was, leaving again.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and playing music for an audience that likes our music. I love everything that comes along with it, too; I’ve gotten used to the routine by now. But a part of me wishes I had my WHOLE family there to support me. My dad has come to a few shows over the years and has been fairly supportive. He swears he doesn’t shoot himself up anymore with heroin, but the last time I saw him, I knew he was lying. My mom and I are still pretty close now. Even though I can’t talk to her about my music, we still have our occasional mother/daughter nights that started when I was eleven and how happen whenever I get a free night back home. At least my other siblings were smart. They had sensible careers with young kids, nice white picket fenced houses. They never really got into music like I did, so I was sort of the black sheep of the family. “About time!” Emily grinned at me as I walked out into the sunshine and put the bass on the floor in front of the back seat. “Damon’s blowing up my phone asking where we are.” I scoffed. “Well,” I said, placing a hand on my hip. “You just tell your bossy cousin that he needs to not get his big boy panties in a bunch because we’re on our way.” It wasn’t even like his house was that far from my apartment. It was a few miles away toward the outskirt of Muskegon. Emily shook her head laughing as she quickly texted Damon back and we strapped in. Once I started the car up, I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road toward Damon’s place. Emily was looking through my cases of CD’s that I had in the glove compartment and slid her pick into the CD player. “Hinder?” I looked over at her and gave her a questionable look as Hinder’s Extreme Behavior album started blaring through the speakers. “Why not Hinder is the question?” Emily smirked. “Totally gets us in the mood for a fun road trip just you and I. Besties for life.” All I could do was shake my head at Emily. She was my best friend for a reason; we were both crazy. “Very true though. I mean we could totally stick our heads out our windows while we’re on US-131 and sing at the top of our lungs.” I suggested, just as we arrived at Damon’s mansion. The driveway to his place was at least a halfmile long, with a loop around at the front of the house. Next to the loop was a huge garden he had been adamant about putting in his yard himself last year. “I forgot how huge this fucker is,” Emily gasped as we took in the view before us. We parked behind Pauly’s Mustang and I heard music even louder than ours blaring from Damon’s white van. I honked the horn, and the guys turned around and waved. “Were you worried we would beat you up there or something?” Emily stuck her head out of the window and shouted. “Considering how Lucy drives, I know I wasn’t worried about beating you two there,” Pauly shouted back, winking in my direction. How could he act like we were perfectly fine when not that long ago, we’d had a night of unforgettable sex… only to have him reject me. I wasn’t going to let it get to me anymore. Pauly was still my best friend and part of me would love him no matter what. Letting his words get under my skin only made me feel worse and I couldn’t let happen, especially when it was crunch time for our next album. I’d find someone or maybe while on our little vacation. I’ve always dated

someone that’s been involved with music one way or another so it’d be a breath of fresh air to go on a date with someone who isn’t in the scene. Someone normal. “Very funny, smart ass.” I flipped him the middle finger. The guys started howling with laughter and slapping Pauly on the back. “Are you guys done stuffing in your luggage? We’re ready to go.” Alex walked over to the car, opened the door to my side, and gave me a hug. “Had to do it,” He grinned, kissing me on the cheek before winking at Emily. “You look good, Em.” I watched Emily practically melt into nothing as her face flushed a deep shade of red. Hide it all she wants, she definitely still had a thing for Alex. “So do you,” she half whispered. “Hey, Alex, come on! Everything’s loaded!” Damon shouted, and Alex mouthed a ‘See ya, later’ to us, walking back toward the guys. We turned up the music and pulled out of the driveway, and we started following them toward US-131. I left the windows down since it already felt like it was 70 degrees outside. For mid-June, it wasn’t surprising around here, but you never knew what to expect. Hell, it could’ve been May and might still be snowing. Once we got onto US-131, Emily and I started bopping our heads along to Hinder and Lips of an Angel , holding up our imaginary lighters as the lead singer started up the chorus and the two of us joined in. We stayed behind the guys most of the way up, but we stopped once to get some iced coffees and take a bathroom break. “Did you see how fast those fuckers were going?” Emily pointed out as we walked out of Dunkin’ Donuts with our large vanilla coconut iced coffees in our hands. “I am surprised they haven’t been pulled over yet for going like 30 over the dang limit.” It didn’t surprise me. I knew Damon had some kind of radar detector in his car. Even when the guys have been pulled over, they just offered the cops free tickets to one of our shows and it usually worked. Keyword usually. I rolled my eyes as I started the car and said “Now, let’s enjoy the rest of our drive.”

Chapter 3: The Manor Lucy “Wow. We stop for coffee and a bathroom break and you already have the food and drinks lined up?” We stood with our hands on our hips as we lugged all of our suitcases into the cabin. Or as we call it, The Manor. I still get the chills knowing that I split a fifth of this cabin, and when I look at it from the road, it looks like a huge house instead. Spanning over 100 acres, this force to be reckoned with had 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, and had a direct view of the lake that we could see from the backside of the house. Nothing beat hearing the water crash along the shore; it calmed me down. Closer to the lake, there was an outdoor pavilion where the past couple of times we’ve been here that’s where we’ve practiced our music instead of the studio. “You know it, tommy girl.” Pauly strolled up beside me, draping an arm around my shoulder. I felt his warm, bulging muscles against my neck and I felt a shiver run down my spine. Shake it off, Lucy, I told myself, Pauly is obviously still wants to be friendly. “But first, I’m going out to the lake for a swim. You wanna join me?” “Let me unpack first and I might join you.” My eyes trailed over to where Emily was on Alex’s heels as he took her luggage to her bedroom upstairs. She had a look in her eyes that said ‘Fuck me, now!’ and, knowing Alex, I’m sure he’d happily oblige. “Have you been out to the end of the dock yet?” “Not yet. We’ve gotta clean out the pavilion, too; all the furniture and shit is dusty and we’re already planning a huge bash for the 4 th of July so it’s got to get done.” Pauly lightly squeezed my shoulder. “So I haven’t seen you in a few days…” “What… I can’t take a break from seeing you? We practically live together 90% of the time?”  Pauly laughed. “You know what I mean. You’ve been avoiding me ever since that morning…” I lifted his arm off my shoulders and stepped away, noticing we were alone and the others were off somewhere else. “It is what it is, Pauly. I get it. I do. You can have all these one night stands with these sluts that come to our shows wearing practically nothing but when it comes to me, you push me away and treat me like one of your sluts!” “I didn’t push you away, Lucy. Dammit.” I could tell Pauly was about to punch the wall next to him. His fists curled up tight and his mouth tightened up in frustration. “Whatever. I’m not up here to fight with you, Pauly. We have new music to write and record.” I hissed, inching closer to his face. “Don’t ever try to kiss me again. That ship has sailed.” I patted his chest and snatched the last of my bags that needed to go upstairs. “I’ll be down at the lake in a half hour for that swim.” I think my assertiveness surprised him because he didn’t have any smartass remarks to say as I walked away. Good. After finishing unpacking, I slipped into the only one-piece bathing suit I owned. It was all black with the sides cut out from the bottom of my breasts to my hip bones. It made me feel incredibly sexy and showed off the spots where I had lost the most weight in the past few years. I admired myself in the mirror while putting on a pair of plain white flip-flops and making sure my butt didn’t look huge in the bathing suit. I had a huge bubble butt throughout Middle School into early High School and people would make fun of me for it. I still didn’t like showing it off so whenever I wore my usual tutu’s I’d pair it with leggings or tights. Looking over my shoulder again at my reflection, I finally decided to head downstairs, putting on my sunglasses as I

walked down the steps. I saw Emily, Damon, and Alex in the main living area where the huge 60 inch TV was playing Baseball. I didn’t pay attention to what teams were duking it out, but once I reached the door to the patio, I heard Em whistle out to get my attention. “Damn girl, you look hot.” She winked at me, and the guys gave her a funny look. “What? She’s my best friend. You can’t pretend like she’s not hot in that bathing suit and you know it.” The guys chuckled and looked my way briefly, then turned their attention back to the game. “You don’t want to come down and swim, too, Emily?” She shook her head, reaching for the beer in front of her. “I’m good in here for now. I think Mike is down there with Pauly though, haven’t seen him around.” “Not surprising.” I chuckled, stepping onto the patio and walking down the dock toward the water. I felt the breeze from the lake hit me as I got closer. I couldn’t wait to get into the water, get my hair wet, and let all of my nerves and frustration wash away. At the end of the dock, I could see Pauly and Mike a little bit farther down toward the rocky part of the property. I took my sunglasses off and set them down in the grass, along with my flip-flops, feeling the grass between my toes. Sticking one toe into the water, my other foot followed. It was surprisingly cool on my legs as I continued to lower my body until the water was at my chin. I swam out as far as I could go and let myself float on top of the water. I don’t know how long I stayed there but eventually, I heard voices coming toward me and knew it was Pauly. “You know you’ve been out here for at least an hour, tommy girl.” Pauly spoke, standing right next to my side. I swam back a bit towards shore so I could stand in the water, taking out the hair tie that was holding my hair, and shook my hair out, splashing Pauly with droplets of water. He smirked as I replied, “I couldn’t help myself. It’s so calm and peaceful out here.” I felt his eyes staring me down, from my now messed up wet hair, to the top of my bathing suit which was visible through the water, which was clear as glass. I had the sudden urge to cover myself. “Why are you staring at me like that?” “Whoa, I wasn’t staring, Lucy.” He was grinning like a possum. “I was just taking in the view.” Yeah, I was taking in a certain view myself, his bare chest wet from the water, showing off that tattoo I’ve had dreams about. Key word HAD, as in, I shouldn’t think about him that way anymore. I turned away, climbing out of the water as we reached the shore. Writing in the pavilion would do the trick. “I know what you were talking about Pauly.” I teased him. “And now you know how it feels to want.” Once I got back to the shore and put my flip-flops back on, the breeze gave me a slight chill. I grabbed a towel from the ledge of the porch to dry off before I headed inside to grab a pen and paper. I didn’t want to be worried about being wet and cold while I had an idea for a song. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I trudged inside, where everyone, minus Pauly, was inside eating nachos and cheese. “You want to take a plate out there, Luce?” Damon asked me as I grabbed a pen and paper from under the coffee table in the living room. I ran a hand through my wet hair, giving him a small smile.

“That sounds amazing,” I replied, my stomach growling afterwards. I made myself a plate, grabbed a can of beer. “Is the stereo system still out there?” “Mhmm. It’s ready, and I took some new cd’s out there if you want to look.” Alex said, standing awfully close to Emily as she took one last bite of her food. “Are you gonna write our next big hit?” Pressure much? That was always in the back of my mind. Between Damon, Pauly and I, we did most of the writing in the group, but Mike and Alex have written stuff, too. But they give me most of the credit because I wrote our biggest hit to date: Freakshow . So yeah, the pressure was on me to think of something even greater than Freakshow, lyric wise. I needed to find some sort of inspiration. Pauly was right when he said the furniture in the pavilion was dusty. I walked in and the small couch beside the stereo system was covered in dust. I used the towel around my waist to wipe a spot off for me to sit on, but first I turned the stereo and picked out Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory album, which was sitting on top of the stack of music. I pressed play and let the music consume me as I grabbed the pen and paper and started writing down the first thought that came to mind. Untitled Friday night and I’m at the bar Watching your every move You consume my every thought Mind, body, and soul I need to have you in my bed tonight I heard a tap on one of the wooden beams supporting the pavillion and I spun around, nearly jumping out of my seat. “How’s it going?” Pauly asked, now fully clothed in basketball shorts and a T-shirt, leaning against a beam. “Good song choice, by the way.” “You scared the shit out of me.” I tried to study his body language. His bulging arms were crossed in front of his chest and his head nearly hit the ceiling. “Come see what I have so far.” I gestured toward my notebook and he walked over and plopped down beside me. I heard him hum the melody to Crawling by Linkin Park as he studied the lyrics I had just written. “Damn, girl, I think you’re off to a good start,” Pauly replied, gently patting my knee. “All I see in my head right now is that Freakshow vibe, and it needs to be different than that.” “I haven’t thought of a melody yet, Donovan.” I stuck my tongue out at him. He was pretty critical of the lyrics I’ve written, either telling me this sounds to fake, or a chorus is too cheesy. I didn’t mind his opinion though. He pushed me to write better songs. “No, I know. What you need is some help from the king of guitar.” I couldn’t help but cackle. “I meant that in all seriousness Lucy. We’re a team here; you could use my help if we’re going to make this next song our biggest hit to date.”

“Whatever you say, mister know it all,” I retorted, writing down some more lyrics that came to mind. From the look on Pauly’s face, he must not have liked what I wrote. “Is something wrong with my lyrics?” “Why must you think that way, tommy girl? It needs more fire and spunk. And you know that’s exactly what Damon is going to say. This is just song one and we need to write like another dozen.” He was starting to get on my nerves, despite the fact that he looked extra handsome with his wet hair slicked back. “Well, what do you suggest I do then since you seem to have an opinion? Should I just go out to a bar and actually fuck a guy so I can get decent lyrics like you’ve done before with other girls?” I was intrigued by my own idea. One time, and maybe that’d get Pauly out of my system so we could go back to normal again. As if we ever really were normal. Pauly had a sour look on his face, his body stiffening up next to me just thinking about my suggestion. “That’s just trouble Lucy. You’re not the one-time kind of girl so please don’t go do that…” I got up, turned off the music, and snatched up the pen and notebook. I gave him my pissed off stare and said, “You’re a walking contradiction, Paul Donovan. You tell me not to have a one-night stand with a random guy, yet you have the freedom to do that shit on a daily basis. You did it to me too asshole. Except we have to be around each other. You make no sense at all.” Storming past him, walking back toward the cabin, I could hear him behind me. “Lucy, come on,” he yelled, but I sure as hell wasn’t stopping. “Lucy Rae Tomlinson, stop your fine ass right there.” I stayed put, not bothering to turn around. He was so close to me, I could feel him breathing on the back of my neck. As I stood there, I told myself that maybe I was overreacting to this whole situation. To him. Not once over the years I was with Cale did we get into spats like this, except when we argued over his addiction. What was it about Pauly that made me act this way? Slowly turning, I tipped my head back so I could look him in the eyes. “I’m sorry, I snapped at you,” I caved in. “I shouldn’t have said that stuff.” Pauly looked surprised. “Are you actually apologizing to me? The Lucy Tomlinson apologizing to me?” He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. Squeezing me tightly around the waist, he sighed. “Apology accepted by the way.” I enjoyed his friendly embrace, resting my head on his shoulder. “But I’m open for other suggestions because I feel like I have an early case of writers block coming on.” Letting go, Pauly winked at me, and linked his arm with mine as we walked back inside the cabin. “Don’t worry, babe. We’re going to write our best record to date and you’ll become queen of the bass once more.” I nudged his side hard. “I’m not your babe, you ass,” I scolded him. “That’s saved for my next boyfriend.” Pauly rolled his eyes at that comment. “Oh, spare me,” he pretended to gag. We spent the rest of the night hanging inside with everyone, playing a couple of games of Cards against Humanity and enjoying each other’s company. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life, but part of it was the alcohol in my system. Reading those dirty sayings on the cards wasn’t helping either. Around midnight, we all called it a night, heading up to our bedrooms. I changed into a thin black nightgown that

fit loosely on me and brushed my hair so it draped over my shoulders. Before I got underneath the covers with my Kindle, there was a knock on the door. “Hey girl, can I come in?” I turned my head around and saw Emily standing in the doorway. It looked like she hadn’t changed yet; she was still wearing the same shorts and shirt from earlier. “Of course,” I waved her in, and she came over to sit next to me on the bed. “What’s up girly?” “What happened between you and Pauly earlier?” She questioned me, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean… nothing ‘happened’ between us.” “I don’t care what he says. Even if he told you the two of you could only be friends, he still gives you that doughy eyed look like he loves you.” I wanted to say of course he loves me; we’re best friends. That was it. I had apologized for how I acted and was slowly going to move on. Just friends. Easier said than done. “Em, trust me he has no feelings towards me,” I laughed. “You lie so badly, Luce, but I give it by the 4 th . He’ll finally admit his feelings. You’re too hot for him to pass up, friends or not.” Emily gave me a compliment, and I hugged her. “What about you and Alex? You guys were getting pretty cozy during the card game.” “Don’t get me going on that fine piece of rock star goodness. I would totally crawl into his bed right now and pull his boxers down if he even wears them to sleep…” Emily gave me a mischievous grin, and we started cracking up. “I’m serious, though! I had forgotten how good looking he’s gotten since the last time I saw him.” “Trust me, I see him every day. They don’t change to me,” I groaned, leaning back against my pillow. “But I’ll tell him he better take you out somewhere nice and do something besides screw you because it’s about time they all settle down anyway.” Emily patted my hair. “You’re like the mommy of the bunch.” I let out a hearty laugh. “Far from it. You saw how I was when Cale and I were together. I wasn’t mommy- like at all.” The memories Cale and I shared stayed fresh in my mind. He had been the person that made me feel the most comfortable in my skin. When he met me at a show, I was still trying to lose a bunch of weight; he told me I could weigh 300 pounds and he would still think I was beautiful. And I remember telling him I’d stick by his side no matter what.  See how that turned out? “You’ve got a point there, Luce. But I think I’m going to take a shower and get some sleep. I’ll see ya in the morning.” “All right, night Emily,” I replied, turning my attention to the book I was about to start. I don’t know what time I fell asleep, but I was awakened to loud music playing from downstairs. I shot straight up in the bed, realizing I still had the Kindle in my hand. Slipping out from under the covers, I changed into a pair of Bermuda jean shorts and a halter-top that tied behind my neck. Putting my hair into low pigtails, I headed downstairs to see what the hell was going on. “Good morning, sleepy head!” Damon shouted from the kitchen, where he was starting a pot of coffee. “I would

have made breakfast, too, but all we have is shit for the grill and nothing that sounded good.” “Loving the pigtails, sis,” Mike joked with me as he came in the front door. He gave one of the pigtails a tug, and I slapped him on the chest. “What are we doing today?” I asked, sitting on a stool at the island. “Well, Mikey here had a few ideas for a guitar line for a new song. He wanted Pauly to test it out later, and we’ll fill in the rest,” Damon explained, pouring me a cup of coffee and handing it to me. I mouthed ‘thank you,’ and I took a sip. “You forgot to mention the house party we’re having tonight, too, dude.” Alex butted in. Noticing my ‘what the hell’ expression, Alex clarified. “We just thought of it this morning. Kind of a ‘Let’s welcome Ignite the Flames to Alpena’ party. Mike was out putting flyers in front of all the bars and restaurants nearby.” “Jeez it’s like eight in the morning and you’re out passing flyers? You’d be better off going when all the bars open later and kind of making an appearance. Girls see you and everyone else will follow,” I suggested. I didn’t understand how these guys worked sometimes. They weren’t like normal guys like the ones we went to school with, ones that actually slept in past sunrise. “Well, I already met a few lady friends at the breakfast place nearby who said they’d stop over after their shift,” Mike gloated. “Are they under the age of 30?” Damon teased Mike, shoving him playfully into the wall. “Sure as hell looked like it to me, they had big tits, that’s what I cared about, dude,” Mike replied, and the guys started cackling and laughing while Emily and I stood there rolling our eyes. “Sorry, I forgot you ladies were in the room.” “No, you didn’t, jackass,” I smiled. “You treat me like I’m one of the guys so I get stuck with hearing that shit.” They all put their hands up, giving me their cheesiest grins. “It won’t happen again, tommy girl.” Pauly gave me a wink and turned on the TV. The rest of the morning Damon and Mike made up a list of things to get for the big party tonight along with some things we would need for our stay. By mid-afternoon, Emily and I were sent off to the local store. “Did you see all the shit on this list, Luce?” Emily eye’s bugged out as she surveyed the shopping list in front of us. “I mean these employees are going to think we’re opening up our own bar with all of this alcohol.” “That’s why they sent us,” I explained to Emily. “Because they would live on that if they absolutely had to. We’ll have to get some steaks and burgers, though. The grill at the cabin works wonders.” “Now we’re talking!” Emily high-fived me as we each grabbed a shopping cart and, as quickly as we could, found everything on our list. “I’m going to start lugging this cart to the checkout.” Emily said, pushing her heaping shopping cart away from me. “Sounds good; I’ll grab the rest of this stuff in this aisle and meet you up there,” I told her. As I was reaching for the last item on our list, which was of course on the top shelf, I heard a loud crashing sound. I had accidentally knocked down a few bottles of wine, and they spilled all over the floor around me. Shit, I cursed under my breath as I looked down at the mess I’d just created.

“Need some help?” I spun around and saw a gorgeous man standing in front of me. He looked like he was an inch of two shorter than Pauly, probably 6’2”, with curly blond hair that stopped a few inches above his shoulders. However, my gaze was immediately drawn to his piercing green eyes. They were so light, almost like a mint green, and I found myself staring for a little too long. “Sorry,” I managed to get out. “I should probably find someone to clean this…” “Don’t worry about it,” Mystery man said, almost like an order. And from the look on his face, he really meant that. “Yes I should, I have to pay for this since there’s a few broken bottles.” I spat back, and he chuckled. “So insistent, huh? Like I said, don’t worry. This happens more than you think.” “What are you, like the frickin store manager or something?” I questioned him. He surely didn’t look like it to me. He was wearing a loose fitting navy T-shirt and tan cargo shorts with all white tennis shoes. Yup, definitely not a manager. “If I was I probably would stand here and laugh at.” His eyes trailed to my chest where a crashing bottle had stained my shirt. Then he glanced over at my shopping cart. “ Just kidding. Are you buying enough alcohol and food for an army or something?” I shook my head. “My friends and I have a cabin on the lake and we’re having a party tonight.” He let out an ‘ahhh’ as if my explanation made complete sense. “Well, from the looks of it, you and your friends have good taste.” I really wanted to say ‘I’d love to taste you’. NO, stop thinking that way , Lucy and find someone to tell them about the mess . “I suppose; why don’t you come by?” I offered before I realized I hadn’t even asked him his name. Now I was inviting a complete stranger to the house? Even though Mike had invited random people over, telling them about the party all morning. “Damn, it’s hard to pass up an offer from such a beautiful girl.” I couldn’t stop grinning. “But I don’t even know your name, so how am I supposed to find the place?” Very true. “I’m Lucy,” I replied, offering him my hand. I didn’t want to tell him my last name because I was sure he’d put two and two together, and realize who I was, if he hadn’t yet. Maybe not. Mystery man took my hand and firmly shook it, sending electricity through my bones. Before I could react, he leaned down and whispered “My name’s Liam.” “Well, Lucy. Are you sure you don’t need any help pushing that cart at all?” Liam asked me again. “I’ve pushed heavier things before; I can handle it, but thank you.” I smiled at him. “Anytime. That’s what a guy’s supposed to do.” He winked at me. “Let me get your number and you can text me the address to the place.” He handed me his phone, and I typed in my number under ‘The only Lucy you know’ and when he saw it, we both started laughing. “I better get going,” I told him, remembering Emily was waiting for me up front. “But if you have any trouble finding

the place, call me. It’s hard to miss, though.” “Yeah, it won’t be a problem. Born and raised around here, so I pretty much know every road in town,” Liam teased. “It was nice meeting you, Lucy.” “You, too,” I smiled a little too brightly. I was actually looking forward to tonight and getting to know this guy. Watch out, Pauly.

Chapter 4: Party Time Lucy By the time the party was in full swing, there had to have been at least a hundred people in and outside of the house. If not more. Some girls were dressed more sensibly in shorts and a T-shirt, but a few had come in tiny bikinis. I changed into a pair of my jean shorts and halter- top, braiding my hair to the side. I was watching the guys in their element. The majority of this crowd was girls. Yeah, there were some guys in the mix, too, none of whom I even knew, and they surely weren’t Liam. I had no idea if he was coming or not, but a part of me wished he would. I couldn’t get past his minty green eyes and that smile. Emily noticed the same thing too after he passed us in the store parking lot. She’d started to say that she’d fight me for him, but I told her Alex might get jealous and that shut her up. “Look at him,” Emily groaned, pointing over to Pauly who was sitting on one of the couches with at least three women around him. They were listening intently to whatever story he was telling. “Fucking schmoozer.” It wasn’t anything that I hadn’t seen before. Girls flocked to the guys because they were rock stars. In addition, they had the good looks to go with that, and the two together made for a lethal combination. Me, on the other hand, I’d had girls come up to me one too many times telling me there were going to steal my boyfriend away because I was too ugly for Cale Pelton. But guys always came up to me and wanted my autograph, saying it was hot that a girl could play bass guitar and rock the different hair color. “He can have those girls,” I lied. “We’re just friends anyway…” Emily raised an eyebrow. “For now! He’ll come to his senses at some point.” “Wishful thinking, Em. But let’s not worry about that and actually have fun tonight,” I said, changing the subject as we started dancing to the music blaring from the speakers outside. We started mingling with a few people who had asked for my autograph after finding out who I was. I was talking to one girl who had come with her boyfriend when I felt a shiver run through my body. Turning around, I saw Liam walk through the front door with a few friends behind him. He looked as gorgeous as he had earlier, except now he was wearing a striped polo shirt and blue jeans. He locked eyes with me and I waved him and his friends over to where Emily and I were standing. “Good to see you again.” Liam outstretched his hand, and I shook it, hardly containing my smile now. Then he pointed to his two friends. “This is Evan and Zach. Guys, this is the girl I was telling you about earlier.” “Nice to meet you guys.” I gave a small wave to Evan and Zach and they grinned. “This is my best friend from back home Emily.” Emily shook hands with them all, and we stood around the entrance to the back, making friendly conversation. “You look really familiar.” Evan, the shortest of the three, pointed at me after they had gotten something to drink. “Yeah, do you play in a band or something? I know I’ve seen you before…” Zach tagged in, both studying me now. I shrugged, noticing Liam didn’t seem to know what either guy was talking about. “Now I know where she’s from! She plays in Ignite the Flames! You didn’t see the other guys in the band over there scoring some chicks?” Evan nudged Zach. Liam didn’t bother to look over, his eyes on mine. “You’re an amazing bass

player. And for a girl. Damn, I can’t believe I met you…” “That’s enough being star struck, you dicks,” Liam scolded them. “Leave it alone or I’ll call you two a cab.” I giggled, not offended by them recognizing me. It happened more often than not. “Thank you,” was all I managed to say. Eric and Zach maneuvered their way through the rest of the crowd to talk to some girls that were standing alone, and Emily made up an excuse that she had to check on Alex, leaving Liam and I standing alone. “So you play bass, huh?” Liam gave me a quizzical look, and I nodded. “How long have you been playing with the band?” “Ever since we were teenagers not that long ago,” I explained. “We met our lead singer while we were at a summer music camp and the rest is history, I guess you could say. Alex, Mike, Pauly and I grew up on the west side of the state while Damon was from up north here.” “It’s awesome that you guys have played together for that much time and haven’t broken up or anything.” Liam said, sounding amazed. “I know I’ve heard of you guys, I just never saw you before.” I laughed, gently touching the free hand that was dangling at his side. It was refreshing to talk to someone that didn’t follow the band constantly. He was just a normal guy. “Why don’t we go outside?” I suggested, pointing to the open door to the enormous back patio. “There’s also a walkway that leads you down toward the lake.” “That sounds perfect. I’m going to get another drink first. Do you want anything?” “Just water,” I said, opting for the good choice. “Thank you.” His hand cupped my shoulder before he walked over to the drinks in the kitchen. “So you are going to ignore my advice?” I heard a husky voice whisper form behind me. “He seems like a winner…” I turned around and Pauly was standing with his arms crossed, a crooked grin across his face. “What are you talking about Pauly?” I asked. “I’m saying are you going to fuck this guy …” “You don’t even know him, Pauly, so leave me be. I’m trying to enjoy myself and make some new friends. I saw you sure as hell did,” I spat back, trying to walk away, but he grabbed ahold of my arm. “Let me go.” “I’m teasing with you, you know that right Luce?” Pauly joked. “You know how protective I am of you; you’re like my sister.” When you’re romantically interested in someone, the last word you want to hear is sister. “Yeah… sister…” I whispered. “When he comes back over here please don’t be a dick, Pauly.” He put a hand up to his heart. “Me, act like a dick?” “Hey, sorry that took so long.” Liam walked back over to me, handing me my cup of water and he noticed Pauly standing so close to me. “I’m Liam, by the way.” Pauly stared at Liam’s hand for a split moment, contemplating if he wanted to shake it, but then he did. “Paul Donovan. How’d you meet this gem?” Liam looked from me over at Pauly. “I actually met her at the store earlier when she knocked over a couple of

bottles of wine…” My face flushed at reliving the moment. I was completely embarrassed knowing I’d made a huge mess and Liam could actually laugh about it. I know I couldn’t. Pauly gave me a look that said ‘How the hell did you pull that off?’ “That’s my girl for you, sometimes she can be a klutz, but ya gotta love her for it.” Pauly chuckled, patting me hard on the back. “I’m going to get back to some people over there. Enjoy yourself tonight,” he said to Liam and they shook hands again. When he strolled past us, I looked back for a split second and so did he; I saw a hint of jealousy in his eyes. I hoped he didn’t see it in mine. Liam and I stepped onto the porch and made the trek down to the lake. “So Lucy, tell me something about you. I mean besides that you play in an obviously well known band.” Liam asked me as he reached for my free hand. I took it and squeezed his hand. I exhaled.  “Well, I grew up on the west side of the state, over in Muskegon, and I still live there now when I get a break in the touring schedule,” I paused and turned the tables on him. “Tell me something about you?” Liam followed suit, exhaling and said “Not much to tell. I went to college up here on a hockey scholarship. I’ve lived in Alpena my whole life, and I played a year in pro hockey but broke my leg so badly I couldn’t skate again. Instead, I own one of the restaurants in town.” He shrugged his shoulders as if that wasn’t a big deal. “My parents live nearby, but it’s a very strained relationship because they hate that I can’t skate anymore.” I was flabbergasted. “Why would they blame you for that? That seems stupid for parents to blame their son.” “Well when they paid for me to take every hockey lesson there was available and pushed me to practice at home on our own rink, it’s a big deal. I was all my parents had; they put all of their time and frustration into me and grooming me to be an NHL star.” Liam explained. “After the NHL, I took the money I had and put it into the restaurant, and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.” “Do you still speak to them?” Liam nodded. “Once a week or so. They ask how business is going, and I give them the same generic answer I do every time. They don’t care about my business. They want to know when I’m going to hang it up and try to play again.” I’m fortunate I still have my mom around, despite our periodic differences; we were still close. I couldn’t imagine her hating me. I don’t even know how Liam deals with it. In the time I’ve spent with him, he’s been such a gentleman and a sweetheart. “So you spend most of your time up here with friends?” “Sometimes. I spend just about every waking second I have at the restaurant, adding on to the business, making my own wooden tables, things like that. I’m actually in the process of constructing the bar right now. But I still have my friends from high school I hang out with. Like Evan and Zach. They were my college hockey buddies, and we’ve been friends ever since.” “It’s hard for me to keep friends anymore.” I said honestly. “Because as the years go on and the band’s popularity grows, gossip and rumors spread. I only have one or two friends outside of the music business because of that.”

Liam smiled. “Well, three now including me.” Seeing that smile warmed my heart. He had such a positive energy around him, and I was hoping I’d be able to see him more often now. “I know that’s kind of crazy considering we met just hours ago.” “I like crazy.” We slipped off our shoes and dipped our feet into the water. The water felt warm between my toes as I watched other people swim out past the point I usually did. “It’s nice out here.” Liam smiled, gripping my hand tighter. “I’ve seen the lake up close and swam, fished, just about everything, but being down here having your own private section just seems so surreal.” “I know, right? That’s why I love to come up here. There’s something so peaceful about watching the water and how the sun light hits the lake at the right time.” I sighed, inhaling deeply. “If I wasn’t into the band stuff, I’d kill to live up here year round.” “You wouldn’t say that when the snow is piled up to your roof!” Liam teased, and I laughed. “True. But it gets just as bad over where we’re at. That’s why I’m thankful most of the winters we’re on the tour bus so we don’t have to worry about that.” I explained. We spent the next couple of minutes just staring at the water around us and enjoying each other’s company. I had just met Liam, but I felt so comfortable around him, I didn’t want him to go. On our way back up to the cabin, I decided to show Liam the pavilion, which the guys had thoroughly cleaned up during the day, except for the various pieces of music lying around, and my acoustic guitar, which was kept at the cabin. “This is one of my favorite places to write.” I told Liam, plopping down onto the seat in front of us. “I love to come out here and just listen to music peacefully while the guys do their own thing.” Liam was perusing through the music, and his eyes settled on an old Deep Purple CD I’d had since I was at least 12. “Do you mind if I put this in?” he asked, showing me the cd. “Nah, go ahead. I love Deep Purple,” I told him, and he put the cd in the music player before sitting down next to me. “So what else should I know about you, since we’re all alone…” Liam asked me, scooting closer to me so that our legs were almost touching. “Not that it means anything, because I’m not one of those guys that will just out right try to kiss you when I barely know you.” He seemed nervous. I only knew that from the way he’d started. “Well, I have never dated any of my bandmates.” His eyebrows rose in response. “You mean you’ve never dated any of them, even before you guys were a group?” It was the truth! The only one I had ever been involved as far as anything to do with sex was Pauly, and that was only once. I shook my head in response. “Does that surprise you?” “No. But I don’t know them, either,” Liam joked. He positioned his arm so it was now draped around my shoulders. I snuggled closer so my head lay on his shoulder, and we made small talk, taking about our childhood, what we’d wanted to be when we grew up, and our first kisses oddly enough.

Then I heard a loud thud outside of the pavilion, which caused me to stand straight up, and out of Liam’s hold. “The fuck was that…” I murmured, peeking around the corner to see Damon lying against the outside of the pavilion, looking pretty passed out. “What the hell, Charming…” I groaned, running toward him, trying to get him to stand up without falling back on his ass. “Hey Luce, I’m perfectly fine… no trouble here. Pauly was trying to get me to come out and get you…” Damon slurred, and I rolled my eyes. I looked behind me and Liam came to my side to help lift Damon up. “And who’s your new boyfriend, Lucy?” “He’s not my boyfriend, asshole; his name’s Liam, and I just met him today. You need to go to bed,” I scolded him. “Did you kick everyone else out?” “Hell if I know. Alex was out there getting people that were in the water. It was getting too rowdy in the place for him, I guess. Frickin pussy.” “I’m sorry he’s acting like this,” I whispered to Liam. “Damon can be a sloppy, dickhead drunk.” “Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse than him up here before,” Liam chuckled. “I don’t think I’m ready just yet, though,” Damon whined. “I thought we’d sit down and watch a movie.” “Yeah and you’ll zonk out a second after it comes on,” I snickered. We stood on either side of Damon, hoisting him up to his feet, and holding onto him as we lead him back inside. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we opened the sliding door to the living room. There wasn’t a soul in sight, except for Emily, who was stumbling around, trying to pick up the red solo cups that were smashed on the floor. “I guess they really did kick the people out,” Liam said to me as we gently set Damon down onto the closest seat we could find. He turned to me and kissed me on the cheek. “I better get going. My friends probably got a cab, but it was an absolute pleasure meeting you Lucy.” “You, too. I might pop in sometime to your restaurant,” I told him and he gave me a huge grin. “That’d be amazing. It’ll be on the house,” he winked. “See you around Lucy,” and he walked out the front door, briefly waving at Emily who nodded in return. Once the door clicked shut, Emily squealed and frantically ran over to me. I heard Damon groan again behind us as she reacted to my encounter with Liam. “Holy hotness on a stick, Lucy! That guy is fucking beautiful, and he is totally into you,” she said, and I couldn’t stop smiling. “You think so? I can’t believe I didn’t scare him away with all of these crazy people here.”  “Please, girl. He’s seems like a gentleman if he didn’t try to put the moves on you. I respect him for that because otherwise I might’ve kicked his ass out… with a little help of course,” she giggled. “So are you going to go see him again?” My first thought was why wouldn’t I? “I told him I’d eat at his restaurant sometime, so more than likely, yes, I’ll see him again, Em.” Emily appeared even more excited by my news.

“That guy was trying too hard!” Damon shouted behind us. He had a shit-eating grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes and said, “He acted just fine, Damon. And by the grin on your face you seem perfectly fine, too.” He shrugged his shoulders and met my stare dead on. “Maybe I am.” I put two and two together. “You fucker, you pretended to be drunk?” I yelled, pointing a finger at him. “Why the hell would you do that?” “Because Pauly didn’t like that Liam dude and told me to do something about getting him out of here, along with the rest of the crowd. So I yelled parties over and kicked everyone out. Even though there were a few pretty gorgeous ladies hanging out…” “Damon Charming, you never cease to amaze me.” I shook my head, giving him the middle finger. For acting, he had done a pretty damn good job of it. “If Pauly didn’t like him, he should have told me. Besides, why does he care anyways? What was he doing, sucking face with a girl or is that what he’s doing right now?” “I can’t confirm or deny what he’s doing right now, Luce.” This only meant it was a matter of time before I heard random screaming coming from his bedroom. Great. “Now, how about we turn on a movie and you can fall asleep on me and I’ll carry you to your bed like a princess?” I couldn’t contain my laughter any longer. Anyone that would hear us talk would assume we had feelings for each other, but that’s never been the case. But we still crack jokes about it nonetheless. “Since it’s just the three of us apparently, why not?” I replied, and Emily and I plopped down on each side of him as he turned on American Pie 2 to round out our night. I must’ve fallen asleep during the movie. I could hear Damon whispering something to Emily as I was carried, like he promised. “Staying true to your word, huh?” I mumbled, my eyes closing again once I knew he had a good grip on me. “You bet, sis. Plus, I wanted to sleep in my bed; no offense to you sleeping on my shoulder or anything,” Damon joked, rounding the corner to my room. I heard complete and utter silence, so that meant all the others must’ve had their fucking fun and were finally sleeping like I was about to. “Thank you, Damon.” I said he set me gently under the covers and covered me up to my neck. “Anytime, Luce.” Damon kissed me on the forehead and patted my arm. “See ya in the morning.”

Chapter 5: Tempted Pauly I woke up this morning to some girl I vaguely remember from last night sucking my dick. Really? Not that I’m fucking complaining or anything; that’s the best way to wake up after a long night of partying. I gripped the girl’s hair as she bobbed her head up and down, her mouth taking in all of me. As soon as she finished, I pushed her aside and sat on the edge of the bed. Enough was enough. It was a new day, and she needed to get the fuck out. I had to work on damage control with Lucy. “You need to go now.” I didn’t even look this girl in the eye. Usually, I wasn’t this much of a dick to a girl after I’d fucked her, but today was different for some reason. I pointed to her skimpy dress on the floor and said, “Your clothes are over there.” The girl huffed, getting off the bed butt naked, bending over in front of me, ass in my face on purpose. I had a look of disgust on my face. She didn’t even have a nice ass, I thought to myself. What was I thinking? Lucy and new guy, Liam. That’s what. “So am I going to see you again?” the girl asked me sweetly. She tucked her bleach blonde hair behind her ears as she slipped her dress on over her head. “I’m afraid not…Uh… Amber…” I took a stab in the dark with her name. The girl rolled her eyes and flipped me the bird. “My names not Amber you asshole, it’s Melanie” Then, without another word, she slammed the bedroom door behind her, her heels clomping down the hallway. “Good fucking riddance,” I murmured, lying back in bed. All that was on my mind was whether Lucy actually went through fucking some random guy just so we could have some decent lyrics. Why had she even thought of that in the first place? Of course, at the party last night, I see her with some tall blond haired dude who looked like a cocky son of a bitch. So did his two sidekicks. I didn’t like any of them. Not at all. Maybe that’s why she invited him in the first place. After seeing her walk outside with that prick and being gone for a long time, I bribed Damon into pretending like he was a sloppy drunk to scare Liam away. Being the best friend that he is, he drove all the guests out of the house with a few short words, except for the girls we had all scored and taken upstairs. I’m sure Lucy was cursing my name after finding out Damon faked being drunk, but I love seeing her pissed at me. I loved seeing her no matter what. It crushed me when I’d told her we couldn’t have sex again, that we needed to stay friends. I wanted to run after her once she’d slammed the door shut and take every single word back. But it was what was best for the group, or so I’d thought. I wouldn’t look at her the same again though. It was completely obvious to the guys in the band that Lucy and I had a thing for each other, but that didn’t matter. I got out of bed and found a clean pair of boxers and basketball shorts, not bothering with a shirt. This morning, we were going to start working on a few guitar lines for a song Lucy had written awhile back. Or at least, that was my idea. Walking downstairs, Alex, Mike, and Lucy were sitting at the island counter drinking coffee. Fuck, just the sight of Lucy bright and early in the morning made my dick as hard as a rock. Her black hair was stick straight down

her back and she seemed to be happy this morning. Maybe I was in the clear. I decided to sneak up behind her and startle her. “Did you have fun with prissy dick last night?” My hands quickly cupped her shoulders as I whispered behind her. Mike and Alex saw me coming, but Lucy immediately dropped her coffee cup and let out a high-pitched scream. “Pauly, what the fuck?” She spun around in her seat and shot me daggers. Her blue eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted. I wanted to take those lips and claim them again; they were too fucking plump not to kiss them. “Why did you have to walk up and scare me like that? I could have spilled that all over my shirt.” “I certainly wouldn’t mind that happening.” I winked at her. “I’d totally help you change, among other things…” Mike and Alex stared hooting and hollering. Lucy rolled her eyes and tried not to crack a smile. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” she questioned me, “What happened to that girl that came down here not that long ago? She wasn’t good enough for you? Oh let me guess, she wanted to have a relationship, and you shot her down?” That was a direct hit if I’ve ever seen one before. Should I tell her that I regret saying those things and that I wanted nothing more than to be the guy that makes her smile, not pissed off? “I’m a sucker for girls who wear corsets.” I admitted, looking directly at her. “This girl didn’t fit the bill.” “Damn, you’re harsh, Donovan,” Alex piped in. “When is he ever nice?” Lucy interjected. “He’s Pauly for Christ sake, harsh is his middle name.” I put a hand to my heart and pretended to sound sad. “What’s with this ganging up on me? It’s no different when we brought girls to the bus or the hotels.” Alex stood up and patted my back. “I’m messing with you,” he smiled, lowering his voice “She’s pissed you bribed Damon, by the way,” he said, making sure Lucy didn’t hear us. I chuckled. “Figured that much. I didn’t like the looks of that prissy dick.” “Me either. But hey, that’s her choice,” Alex replied. “I’m going to get the equipment downstairs ready. I’ve got a killer idea for a new song, and I’m itching to play.” “Alright bud. I’ll go change and meet you down there.” I said to Alex and Mike; Lucy purposely ignored me. What the hell was her problem? I ran back upstairs to grab a T-shirt and bumped into Lucy as she came out of the bathroom. I couldn’t take my eyes off hers. There was a hint of sadness in them and I knew I was the cause. “Are you done staring at me?” She cocked her head to the side, trying to move past me so she could walk downstairs. “And we have practicing to do.” She was cute when she got pissy with me. “What is wrong with you?” I blurted out. “Even after I thought we were cool, and at least civil, you turn stone cold against me again, Luce.” Her facial expression softened, and she stepped closer to me, almost causing me to hit my back against the wall. “I don’t even fucking know anymore, Pauly.” She groaned, her hands messing up her hair. “I told myself I had to get over what happened with us, how I was just a one night stand to you, and I think I might’ve met someone I’d like to get to know.  You get rid of him while keeping some woman here but all I can think about is you. I hate this. I never

used to be like this. What is wrong with me?” I immediately pulled Lucy into a hug. “Tommy girl, it’s okay.” I whispered, my hand running over her hair, smoothing it out. “You’re the most important girl in my life you know that right?” She nodded in between sniffles. “I never want to lose you. I don’t want to see your heart get broken again, like what happened with Pelton..” My shoulder was soaking wet from her tears, but I didn’t care. My best friend was crying because of me and I needed to fix this. Somehow. She lifted her head up and all I saw were her blue eyes, shining from the tears she’d just cried. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get so emotional. You bring out that in me, you know that, right?” “I just thought most of the time I pissed you off,” I replied, rubbing her back. “And I still think you’re hot when you yell at me and call me names; it’s a big turn on.” Just having Lucy this close to me again was making me horny. Fuck. This couldn’t be happening. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or thinking anymore. I changing my mind like a girl changes clothes; yes, I just quoted Katy Perry. “You confuse the hell out of me, Pauly,” she sighed. “You say we need to be just friends, but then you say things like that to me. How am I supposed to act? How am I supposed to move on?” “It needs to be that way.” I said tight-lipped, making my painful decision again. “As much as it kills me to say that, Luce, and believe me, it does.” I tried to meet Lucy’s eyes, but she walked away. She grabbed a notebook from her bedroom and stopped in front of me again. “That’s fine; you made your choice, and now I’m going to try to make it work with Liam.” She seemed pretty calm for a woman who had been crying just a few minutes before that, and that made me feel like a dick. “We’ve got music to play.” The whole time we were in the basement playing out the group’s new ideas for songs, all I could think about was how I needed to get this Lucy shit out of my system. She said she was going to make it work with Liam, then fine, have at it. Guy seemed decent, even though I only met him for a split second anyway. “Donovan, I like that solo at the beginning, try it again.” Damon said to me as my fingers warmed up to play another solo. I let my fingers do the talking as they moved up and down the guitar as fast as slippery butter. “Yeah, that’s fucking killer.” We were working on another new song Lucy had written called Backstabber . When she showed us the lyrics, she explained exactly how she pictured the song going, and shit was it dark and heavy. But that was what we played, and the fans were going to eat it up. We played, wrote, and sang our asses off all day long, only stopping once when Emily brought us a couple of pizzas. I noticed Lucy was texting on her phone after she ate her pizza, and she was grinning like a little kid. I threw one of my guitar picks at her face and said “That’s about the first time I’ve seen you smile all morning kid. Is it your boyfriend ?” I teased. This time I was thankful she didn’t shoot me those daggers because that look killed me every time. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Pauly?” she winked, strapping her bass back on. She had the nicest instrument out of all of us. It was a Nikki Sixx custom bass signed by the man himself when we met the band backstage a few years ago. I

had been lucky enough to have a six string signed the legendary Mick Mars, but Damon trashed it one night we were partying in my house. I never forgave him for that shit. “For your information, Mr. Nosy Ass, it was Liam. I’m going over to his restaurant later for some dinner and dessert.” “I bet he wants you for desert, not the pie…” Mike interjected, and we all started laughing at Lucy. Her face flushed deep red and she tried ignoring all of us heckling her. “What? That’s how guys think, Luce.” “I’ve been around you guys ever since we were little, I think I know pretty darn well how you guys think,” she grinned. “And that’s with your dicks not your brains. NOW can we get back to practicing?” That mouth would get her into trouble at some point. We finished practicing and wrapped up a few songs late in the evening when Lucy headed upstairs to change for her ‘date’. The rest of us voted on building a bonfire by the lake and Emily went with Alex to gather up the firewood. I’d told Alex it was a matter of time before he screwed her. They dated back in high school during freshman year, but he messed up big time by losing her. In addition, Emily was Damon’s cousin, so that made her cool in my book. “Damn girl, you’re dressed to impress.” I commented on Lucy’s zip up hoodie and T-shirt look she had going. She did a little spin for me and I saw the sparkly angel wings on the back, hugging her small frame. “It’s just a restaurant Pauly. There’s no fancy schmancy places up here unless we went to Mackinaw.” She replied, grabbing her purse, sifting around for her car keys. “You guys having anyone else over tonight?” “Don’t think so.” I shook my head. “The bonfire will probably still be going on by the time you get back so we’ll be down by the lake. Ya know, singing songs by the camp fire like we used to do at music camp.” Lucy giggled. “How could I forget that?” She ran up to me, leaning up onto her tiptoes to give me a one armed hug. “I’ll see you later.” Way too close. She smelled like a mix of fruit and flowers. It was intoxicating. I waved at her as she hurried out the door, immediately retreating to the fridge to grab a beer. The only thing that was going to be on my mind tonight was what the hell Lucy was doing with this Liam guy. Drowning my sorrows with beer and s’mores wasn’t going to cut it. “Awe, you’re watching her walk out the door like a poor little puppy watches his owner leave for the day.” Emily teased, walking up to me and nudging my side. “Shut up, I was not,” I defended myself. “You broke her heart after that night, Donovan. Lucy cares about you more than a friend and you shot her down,” Emily scolded me. “She hasn’t been with anyone since the love triangle debacle and I don’t blame her for going to see this guy.” I rolled my eyes at Emily’s response. “I said that to her for good reasons, Em” “Good reasons, my ass,” Emily retorted. “Sounds like someone is afraid to let go of their sleeping with a different girl every night ways, huh?” “It’s not like that at all,” I said through gritted teeth. Although, that had been my lifestyle choice for many years now, I made no commitment to any girls. They knew that whenever I approached them. One time, one fuck, that’s it, get out the door. Don’t let it kick you on the way out. Most of them accepted it, but some still left their numbers

behind for me in case I was ever back in town. Those pieces of paper were quickly thrown in the trash. Not by me, but by Lucy. She would never admit it, but from the fake smile she would put on, saying goodbye to a girl each time they left the bus, it was obvious. “Sure it is, Pauly. I know you pretty damn well and know you care about Lucy, but you’re too scared to commit to her so you hide behind all of these groupies that flock to you.” That sounded more accurate. I didn’t respond to her, taking another sip of my beer and kept my thoughts to myself as I headed back downstairs. I grabbed my acoustic guitar from studio and took it out to the edge of the lake, where the fire was getting started. It wasn’t too chilly out, but right on the lake, the water had cooling effect. I wore a band T-shirt and a pair of jeans, plopping down onto a log used for a seat. “So what are we going to play tonight?” I said to the group as everyone sat down in front of the fire. “I’ll be taking requests for a short while before I let someone else take a turn.” “How about Zeppelin!” Damon started chanting ‘Zeppelin, Zeppelin’ like the drunk ass he was, then singing the intro to Immigrant Song . I almost fell backward laughing at how ridiculous he looked, but then we all chimed in, and I began to play the chords. After that, I played close to all of my classic favorite songs, Hendrix, Clapton, Deep Purple. That was the kind of music I’d listened to growing up, thanks to my grandparents, secret hippies all about peace and love. We stopped playing and singing for a minute so we could make our s’mores, the crew sending me off to find sticks for everyone to use. By the time I retrieved them all, I heard a very faint sound of a car pulling back into the driveway. And considering how much property this cabin is on, I only knew it was a car because no one else lives around here for nearly a mile. I carried the sticks back and Alex started telling Emily crazy stories about our last tour, which was with Everlasting, all except their drummer, Tyler Donahue. “Yeah, you should have been there, Em. After Pauly started dancing with Lucy, another guy tried to weasel his way to her, and Pauly damn near punched this guy in the balls. This was after Charming snuck off with goody two shoes, Bryn.” Alex slapped his knee in amusement at the smug look on Damon’s face. “Do we have to bring Bryn up at this time?” Damon whined, the smug look no longer there. “I fucked up big time with her, and now she’s on the road to marriage with fucking Pelton. Lucky bastard.” I knew that after what Bryn had seen in our dressing room in California, she avoided Damon like the plague, and it had killed him. Deep down, we all knew that Damon wouldn’t change for a girl. It would take a miracle for him to stray away from his Damon ways. We were almost one and the same in that sense. “Oh, stop it, you pussy; you’ll find another girl someday.” Mike threw a burnt marshmallow at him. “Just go to the bar downtown!” “Hardy har har, very funny,” Damon replied. “What’s so funny?” Lucy asked with a grin on her face, plopping down beside me. She had changed out of the outfit she was wearing earlier and now she was wearing a Sons of Anarchy hoodie and a pair of tight yoga pants.

“I didn’t expect you back so early Luce, what happened, did preppy boy burn your food?” I jokingly teased her, and she flipped me off. “No Pauly, sorry to disappoint; I did what I planned to do. I went to his restaurant, and we had desert. He makes his own family recipe cheesecake, and it’s the most amazing thing on the planet, seriously.” She started gushing, and I looked toward the guys and pretended to gag. I had a dirty vision of licking cheesecake and syrup off Lucy after she mentioned that, so I tried to think of the one thing that would keep me from coming in my pants right there. What that was, I wasn’t sure yet. “Well, tell Betty Crocker to come by and make us some food sometime, he’s more than welcome,” Damon said, and I could see Lucy holding back a laugh. “You guys won’t stop will you?” She looked directly at me, and I wrapped an arm around her. She made her s’mores and didn’t say another word about Liam as we sang more songs around the fire. Damon took the guitar from me, and I kept my arm tightly wound around Lucy and her small frame, squeezing her side from time to time just to let her know I was there. We finally put the fire out sometime after midnight, retreating to the house. I was dead tired. After working on music all day, I was ready for a restful sleep. I decided to take a quick shower before going to bed, so I grabbed a pair of boxers and opened the bathroom door by my bedroom. “Shit, Pauly, knock first!” Lucy was standing in front of me wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her. A towel that barely covered her, and if I stared any harder, I would see that wet pussy in between her legs. Her hair was still soaking wet as she reached for another towel to dry off her hair. Look away Paul; look away. “Stop staring at me like you want to fuck me, best friend, and shut the door on your way out.” Lucy stuck her tongue out and glared at me. I gave her a crooked smile. I wanted to do much, so much, more to her than that. “Well, I need to use the shower, Luce. Why don’t you just change in front of me? Remember I’ve seen you naked before.” My eyes lingered over her body once again. Why she was so insecure about how she looked was beyond me. I always thought she was prettier than the rest of the girls that we went to school with. Before she dyed her hair with the colored streaks. Before she lost as much weight as she has. And certainly before she started wearing those tight ass corsets and short skirts that barely covered her ass on stage. “Whatever Pauly. At least turnaround,” Lucy groaned, and I reluctantly agreed, turning around so I faced the open hallway. I heard Lucy move around behind me before she threw her towel at the back of my head, where it landed on top of my head. I spun around, and she had a wicked smile on her face. It was pure evil in the best way possible. She changed into a pair of short as hell pajama shorts and a skinny- strapped tank top. It was obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra since I could see her nipples trying to poke through. They needed my undivided attention. “Gross, tommy girl, now I’m all wet,” I joked, tossing the towel to the side. She crossed her arms in front of her

chest, leaning against the bathroom counter. “I should get you back for that.” “Have fun with that one,” she winked, patting my chest as she walked out. “Goodnight Pauly.”

Chapter 6: New Guy Lucy Shit, could that man ever make up his mind? I try to tease around with Pauly like we used to, and he just eyes me up like he wants to eat me up… literally. I didn’t know what was going on inside of his mind, but based on how he was acting lately, he doesn’t even know what the hell he is doing. After our bathroom encounter, I retreated into my bedroom, where I had the idea for a song I wanted to show the guys when we went back to practicing in the morning. You eye me up and down like you want something Wel,l baby show me what you got Teasing doesn’t do it for me I want you, all of you Right here and right now Crap. I crinkled up the piece of paper immediately after reading over the lyrics. Why all of a sudden was I having writers block? Or a case of ‘I can’t write worth a shit and my lyrics are dog shit.’ The pressure to put out the next great album was always in the back of my mind. When you have managers that are up your ass every single day, plus the record company, telling us when and how we need to make our album, it is just too much sometimes. I just want to play my music. I don’t give a shit about those people who only care about the money we make for them. My phone chirped next to me, telling me I had a new text. Liam: Goodnight, Lucy. I’m glad I got to see you tonight. A smile formed on my lips. I almost forgot about how I saw him just a few hours earlier. I got to see him in his own element doing what he loved. He was back in the kitchen when I got to the restaurant, and when the server told him someone was there to see him, Liam came straight out and gave me a huge hug and kiss on the cheek, which made everyone in the restaurant stop and stare at us. “Sorry,” he whispered to me, gesturing toward a corner booth. “People are not used to seeing me bringing girls around here.” I texted him back. Me: Me, too. I was bragging to everyone how I got to eat the best cheesecake in town. Liam: I’m flattered. Am I going to see you again? Me: I hope so! We’re having a big 4 th of July bash coming up, you’ll have to be my date. Liam: I would love to. I really like you, Lucy. Me: Really? Liam: Yes. I’ll even send you a list of reasons why, but right now, I’m closing up shop. Me: Haha okay. Goodnight, Liam. In between practicing downstairs and in the pavilion, we were also planning our 4 th of July party we held every

year. We’d invite our families and friends to come out for a barbeque, then a huge bonfire by the lake, where the guys would light off a huge fireworks show. I was excited that my brother and sister were able to bring their kids and significant others this year, because in the past, something had always come up. My mom was working, but she said she’d make it up to me when we came home. “Hey, try that ‘I don’t want to feel this way’ line again,” I told Mike, who was our other guitarist. “Try it in drop D and see how that sounds.” Mike nodded, and we started the song we were working on again. I started out with a sick bass line, and he and Pauly followed in after me. Damon started screaming his vocal line, and we nailed our first run through perfectly… almost. “Alex you screwed up in the chorus and made us a couple beats behind.” Pauly scolded Alex, who sat shirtless and sweaty behind his mastermind of a drum kit. “It’s fucking practice, you dumbass,” Alex replied, throwing an empty water bottle at Pauly. “Plus it’s only our second run-through.” “I thought we sounded pretty kick ass if you ask me,” Damon gloated. He wiped his blond hair out of his face as he wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt sleeve. “If we keep playing this, we could do Want You at the barbeque. A ‘Hey this is our first single, don’t tell anyone yet’, kind of thing.” “Label would throw a fucking cow if they’re not the first to know about our music and the people coming are.” Mike replied, and we all agreed. But outside of shows and anything music related, the label stayed away from us, unless they were hounding us over the phone about one thing or another. “So what? What will they do, drop us?” I said. “We’re they’re biggest band; they can’t.” “Why don’t we just forget about the label right now and nail this song,” Alex suggested, and we were back at it. That’s how the couple of days leading up to Fourth of July went: wake up, practice, lunch, practice, dinner, Liam, write, sleep. Yes, I did mention Liam. After dinner at the house, I’d go visit him while he was working, and one night he actually left with me to go to another bar down the street. Of course, that ONE night, I get recognized as soon as I walk in the door. It didn’t bother Liam though, he held onto my hand tighter after some guy tried proposing to me. Liam kindly told the guy I was with him, which made me feel a lot safer. I wasn’t sure what was going on between us, maybe just a friendship, maybe something more. What would be once the band leaves at the end of July and heads back to the studio? I tried not to think about that, but when Liam took me back to my car that night, he full on kissed me square on the lips. Nothing else happened that night except for that one kiss. Wow, could that guy kiss. I didn’t dare tell anyone except Emily, otherwise I would never hear the end of it, and it would probably piss Pauly off so much he’d ignore me for the rest of the trip. “So who do you think is the better kisser?” Emily asked me as we sat in her bedroom flipping through music magazines. “Liam or Pauly?” “Why do you have to ask me that Em?” I groaned. “I don’t know, I mean, that kiss with Liam was so…” “Safe?” She interjected.

I hated to admit it, but that was the truth. “Yeah, but Pauly, he’s the kind of guy that comes off aggressive and kisses with that same amount of passion.” “And fucks like that.” “Emily!” I shushed her so the guys wouldn’t overhear our conversation. “Sorry, Luce, I had to say it,” she grinned. “I don’t know. When Liam stopped by while you guys were practicing, he seemed almost too… I can’t even explain it… he just seems like he would be a good friend, not boyfriend material.” “But what about Pauly?” I asked her. “Sleeping with groupies all the time does not make him boyfriend material...” “Just you wait,” Emily assured me. “It just takes one girl. One girl to steal his breath away. One girl to change how he thinks about himself, and the world around him. That one girl will cause him to stop his sleeping around ways and settle down.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I think that girl is you, Lucy. I know that you’re still trying to get to know Liam, and that’s cool, he’s a nice guy. But you’ve known Pauly forever. He needs someone like you who is in the same business as he is and knows everything about him. His flaws, what he like on his pizza, what he wears to sleep. Do you know any of that about Liam?” I slumped back against the pillows and realized Emily was right. Again. I didn’t know that stuff about Liam. In due time I would, but I knew only what he told me the first night at the party; we’d had casual conversations about how each other’s days had gone when I saw him at the restaurant. I didn’t know what he liked on his pizza, his flaws, let alone what he slept in. Like that really mattered, but since I’ve known him for a little while now, I should have felt a small spark, or a hint of hope that he wanted to take things further than one kiss. “I hate being caught in the middle,” I shouted into the pillow next to me. “No one’s holding a gun to your head, Luce,” Emily giggled. “You already know what I think. Keep hanging out with Liam, but Pauly’s the one who should be in your bed, if you know what I mean.” “EMILY!” I shrieked again. Lowering my voice to a whisper, I said, “Yes, I know what you mean.” “Okay, then so it’s settled.” She rubbed her hands together. “Tell Liam you don’t think things will work out, but you can still be friends.” “I never said I was doing that,” I reminded Emily. “I was going to see how he handled the 4 th of July Barbeque first…” “Excuses, excuses my friend.” Emily patted me on the shoulder. “But speaking of that, who else is coming that I’ve forgotten about?” “Well, we invited Abel and his band, maybe Cale, Bryn…” “And Tyler? All in one place?” Emily scrunched up her face. “Are you sure that’s a good idea after that whole situation?” “It’s not that big of a deal, Em. I’ve been around both of them since then. Remember that shooting in Pontiac? Both our bands were playing at that festival. We were fine,” I told her, referring to Tyler and Cale. “If you say so. Add your new ‘friend’ to the mix and this going to make one hell of a party.” She rubbed her hands together. “That’s an understatement,” I snorted. I only hoped that things would go well with Liam being around my friends

and family or else I was going to tell him I couldn’t see him anymore. We weren’t even dating, but with the way I saw him every day, people were starting to get that impression. There was only one guy I was truly interested in dating, but there was no possibility of that. I mean, it’s pretty damn obvious Pauly was trying to make up for being such an ass that morning, but it’s hard for me to trust him. “Why don’t we go out for a little girl’s day before we start setting up for the barbeque?” Emily suggested. “I’ll make reservations for that salon in town and we can get our nails done and everything. It’ll help take your mind off all of this guy drama.” That wasn’t such a bad idea. I ran a couple of colored strands of hair through my fingers, noticing how the color was starting to fade. “What do you think about a dark pink?” I asked Emily as I held out a piece of my hair. “It’d look hot on you, Luce. Pink to go with your natural color would look amazing,” she smiled. I had started getting colored streaks in my hair when I was nineteen while we were on break from tour. I liked them so much, I’ve been putting them in my hair ever since. “What would look amazing?” Damon asked as he stood in the doorway wearing pajama pants and no shirt. “None of your business, cousin. Now go to sleep, jack off, do something.” Emily tried shooing Damon away, but he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned even wider. “Watch your mouth, Charming 2.0; I’ll call Aunt Jessie and tell her you're being a brat,” Damon pretended to whine. We started cracking up. “Seriously, was it anything I needed to know?” “No, Damon, we’re talking about girl stuff. Now run along.” I got off the bed and pushed him out of the way so I could shut my bedroom door. “See you in the morning.” I sat back down and we started laughing again. I heard him shout, “You’re no fun!” as he walked away from the door. “Damon needs to get a girlfriend,” we both said in unison. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him settle down with someone… ever.” I said to Emily. “Besides this one girl he told us about before we met at music camp. And that feels like centuries ago.” “We should make that our goal when we get back home,” Emily said to me. “Make it a ‘find Mrs. Charming’ operation.” I gave Emily a funny look, and she giggled. “It’s the only thing I could think of on the spot like that, sheesh.” I high-fived Emily and said, “Sounds like a plan.” *** The Fourth of July came quicker than I had imagined. I woke up to a text from both my siblings saying they leaving in about an hour, and they’d get to Alpena by mid-afternoon depending on traffic. I was so excited to see my nieces and nephews. They were getting older to where they’d enjoy watching the fireworks and would probably let Aunt Lucy take them for a dip in the lake if it was nice out. I hadn’t heard from Liam yet and, quite honestly, I didn’t care. Emily and I went to the salon as we planned and had a fun time just us two, talking about the teaching job that she was offered for the year—high school advanced choir. By the time our appointment was over, I looked at myself in the mirror as the hairdresser finished drying my hair and was impressed with my new hair-do.

I decided to chop quite a few inches of my hair off, leaving the length just above my shoulders, and I told the girl who cut my hair to add the dark pink highlights into my hair, which looked great with my tanning skin. Having short hair was going to be something to get used to since I usually liked my hair longer and tied up, but I’d had a sudden change of heart. “Damn, Luce, I wish I could pull off the short hair,” Emily groaned, studying herself in the mirror in front of us. “Oh, please, you look hotter than me! Stop being so unsure of yourself,” I encouraged her, and we went up to pay. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw I had a few new texts. Bryn: Hey girl, we’re almost there. At least I think we are because Tyler has directions on his phone and Cale is driving. I smiled to myself. Putting those boys in charge of driving and directions sounded like they’d get sidetracked to Mackinaw pretty quickly. Me: Oh no, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten lost yet! Bryn: I know! Cale hasn’t even lost his temper once… well, except when a semi almost rammed into us, but that’s to be expected. Do you need us to grab anything? Me: It’s okay, Bryn, I think we’ve got everything covered. See you in a bit; I can’t wait! Bryn: Me, either! “That was Bryn,” I said to Emily as we got into my car and headed for the cabin. “You’ll really like her. She’s so down to earth and completely chill.” We were just passing the stop sign near Liam’s restaurant when Emily caught sight of him first. “Uhm, Lucy?” she nearly whispered. “Did he ever mention having like nieces or nephews?” I shook my head. He never mentioned anything about kids in his family before. “No, why?” She pointed over to the parking lot of his place, where I caught sight of Liam kissing some girl who had a car seat dangling from her arm. My mouth instantly dropped. ‘ What the fuck? ’ I said to myself as I came to an abrupt halt at another stop sign. “That didn’t look like a friendly sibling kiss to me,” my voice sounded bitter. “That makes no sense to me. He has a kid and never mentioned it to me, let alone that he was obviously seeing whoever that woman was.” “Explains why he hasn’t tried to sleep with you, or has barely even kissed you,” Emily pointed out. She was right. Catching sight of that explained a few of my reservations about Liam, but still, to lie to my face? Not fucking cool. I wanted an explanation from him and why he would lie to me about something that’s pretty fucking serious. How could you not bring up your kid in a conversation? Or maybe I was just overreacting, and it really was a sister, cousin, someone other than a girlfriend. As we pulled up to the cabin, I shot Liam a quick text that we needed to talk. I didn’t get a response right away, and I tried to forget about it when I saw a familiar looking van parked in front of us. “Looks like we’ve got some company!” I squealed, shutting my door as I spotted Bryn grabbing luggage from the back of the van. “Lucy, oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you in forever!” Technically, it had been a few months. Bryn shouted, dropping the suitcases in her hand and giving me a huge hug. I had gotten to know Bryn over the past year. She had such a kind

heart and was still learning more about the business every day, but she’d quickly became one of my best girlfriends. “How was the rest of the trip up?” I asked her. “Long as hell. Especially when you have five other guys in the van squished together like sardines who smell. But it was like that on the bus so I guess I shouldn’t complain,” she shrugged her shoulders. Emily walked up to my side, and I introduced her to Bryn. “Bryn this is Emily Charming, one of my good friends from home and Damon’s cousin. Em, this is Bryn Schaefler, Cale’s new lead guitarist in Everlasting.” They greeted each other and shared a brief hug. “Cale’s around here somewhere.” Bryn said. “How is he doing?” “Oh, you mean after rehab?” she clarified, and I nodded. “Pretty great, actually. It’s only been a few weeks since he got out of the program, but he hasn’t had any crazy mood swings or slip ups.” I watched Bryn’s face light up as she talked about Cale. It was obvious the girl loved him. I knew that look very well having dating him for so long. “I’m glad he went through it.” I gave Bryn a smile. “It’s because he loves you enough to get better.” “Well, it was either that or I think we were all about to walk out on him,” Bryn replied. “Can you help me with the rest of this? There’s not much left.” “Yeah, of course.” I grabbed a bag and we headed toward the front door. “I can’t believe you guys have this place. Just the property alone is crazy, and it actually goes all the way to the lake!” Bryn exclaimed as we stepped inside and her head darted all around, trying to take everything in. “This is so much nicer than what my parents’ house used to look like.” I knew the back-story with Bryn; how she’d left her extremely controlling parents’ house after graduation. Both of my parents worked their asses off for their money, and even after they divorced, my dad made sure we had the essential things the three of us kids needed. “Wait until you see the back, Bryn and the view of the lake. You’ll never want to leave!” I joked, linking arms with her and Emily as we set the luggage down and I gave her a brief tour of the downstairs. “Lucy’s right, babe, I think we should build another small place on the property and call it home.” I heard Cale shout as he walked downstairs with his band mates. This was the first time I’d seen Cale since the show in Detroit where he told Bryn and everyone else later that night, that he’d registered into a 90-day rehab program for his addiction to painkillers. He didn’t have the dark circles under his eyes anymore. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he just seemed genuinely happy, and Bryn was part of that. “Hey, you look good,” I said softly, pulling him into a friendly hug. “How do you feel?” Cale let go and scratched the top of his head. “The best I’ve ever felt actually. Been over three months completely pill free and it feels completely strange saying that.” “I don’t even know how to react to his lack of mood swings now,” Tyler teased Cale, punching him in the arm. He gave me a one armed hug and kissed me on the cheek. “Love the hair, by the way.” “Thanks, Tyler,” I replied. “You guys remember Emily, right?” The guys each gave Emily a hug, and then me afterwards. They were just another extended family I couldn’t live

without since I started dating Cale because of his band mates. “I’m going to get the grill fired up, you guys want to help?” Damon asked as he approached us from the kitchen, plates full of uncooked meat in his hand. “Shit dude, we just got here and you’re putting us to work?” Vince joked, taking a plate from Damon. “Just kidding, I’m a grill master.” “That’s a lie because just the other day you burnt our damn steaks at the house!” Cale shouted, and we all started laughing. “Hey now, I’m redeeming myself!” Vince responded, with Luke and Raptor following him and Damon out to the grill. I gave Bryn a complete tour of the upstairs and a spare room where she’d be sleeping, and she was in complete awe the whole time. As we were going out back so I could show her the walkway to the lake, my phone chirped. Liam: Can we talk? I immediately rolled my eyes. “Boy drama,” I said to Bryn, and she nodded like she understood exactly. Me: I’m busy with BBQ stuff right now. Is it about your wife and kid that you failed to mention to me? Right after I sent the text, I saw Liam was calling me. “I’ll get a head start outside,” Bryn whispered as I answered the phone, walking downstairs. “Hello?” “Hey, Lucy.” “So, I think you have some explaining to do. Like why you made me think you were this completely hot single man, when all this time you never mentioned you had a child, or a girlfriend for that matter?” I tried to stay as calm as I could. I didn’t like drama and confronting people about things, so I didn’t want to turn something like this into a full-blown war. He wasn’t worth it. I heard him take a deep breath as he began to talk. “I take it you saw me outside the restaurant today.” When I didn’t respond, he took the hint that I had. “That’s my ex-wife. Long story short, we got married in college and she became pregnant with our daughter less than a year ago. She was pissed, hated me for it, and took off before she had the baby. She mailed me the divorce papers. Right after I kissed you the other night, she showed up at my doorstep, arm hooked in the car seat, telling me she’s giving me Alexia and she’s never coming back.” “That doesn’t explain the kiss though…” “Yeah, I know. She considered it as an ‘I’m never seeing you again’ last kiss. What you didn’t see was right after that, she peeled out of the restaurant parking lot and I’m left with my daughter whom I’ve never seen before.” After hearing his explanation, I couldn’t be pissed at him. My heart broke for him because he’d had such a shitty relationship with his ex-wife and now he was expected to be the sole parent for a daughter he’d never met. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “So I’m guessing I won’t be seeing you anymore.” “Unless you like playing with baby rattles and making baby bottles,” Liam laughed, and I did as well. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I really liked you and I figured after you went back home, we wouldn’t talk anymore, but this is completely opposite of what I wanted.”

“I understand. It’s really fine and I wish all the best for you,” I told him. We talked for a few more minutes then said our last goodbyes. I wasn’t sad. In a way, I had known things between him and I wouldn’t be permanent, and I was all right. I had the band to worry about and getting our album out on time. I stopped in the bathroom for a quick touch up of makeup and as I walked down the hallway, I bumped into none other than Pauly. Why do I always bump into him when I’m alone? I thought to myself as I stared at a shirtless Pauly. I let out an involuntary gasp and backed up a few feet. Pauly chuckled. “I think your brother and his family are here.” He ran a hand through his wet black hair and shook his head. “Thanks,” I smiled, trying to move past him. “Is the water nice?” “I only went in for a minute, but it feels like you’re taking a warm bath, especially with the sun hitting the water just right.” Pauly studied my face. He took a strand of my freshly cut hair and said “Loving the short hair, by the way. I’ve never seen you wear it short.” I took it as a compliment. “It doesn’t look bad?” “Fuck no, tommy girl. You could be naked in a garbage bag, and I would still think you’re stunning.” I felt butterflies in my stomach after he said those words. “So what happened with that prissy Liam guy?” “That’s history,” I replied. “Long story short, he has family issues he needs to sort out.” Pauly stayed silent, holding my gaze. Damn his honey colored eyes. Why did it feel like I could get lost in those fuckers? I couldn’t even look down at his tattooed, shirtless body or else I’d melt into a puddle right in front of him. “That’s a shame. He’s missing out.” Pauly leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t let it get you down; it’s going to be a fun day.” Squeezing my hand, we headed downstairs where the place was abuzz. Damon’s brother Abel and his band arrived and were already drinking some beers, but when I caught sight of my brother Lucas and his wife Abby, I was practically running down the stairs. “Aunt Luffie! Aunt Luffie!” Shouted my three-year-old twin nephews Lucas Jr. and Max as they ran toward me and engulfed me into a huge hug. “Hey boys, I missed you,” I said softly as I kissed each one of them on the forehead. “Were you boys good for mommy and daddy on the drive up?” They both nodded in unison. “All we kept hearing was how they wanted to go swimming with the fish in the lake and make s’mores,” Lucas joked, embracing me before Abby followed. “I’m glad we could get the time to come up here,” Abby said sweetly. “I made a green bean casserole, which I hope is okay since it’s probably cold by now because of the drive.” I laughed and told her, “It’s okay, we can just heat it up in the oven before we eat. Now let’s get these boys ready so they can swim with the fishes!”

Chapter 7: Kissing Her Pauly I’m kissing Lucy tonight. I made that decision as soon as I overheard her phone call with that fucking Liam. He was never a problem, but now that he is out of the picture and won’t be bothering Lucy anymore, that just makes it easier to win Lucy’s trust back and maybe start something more than our friendship. Something inside of me shifted, and it took a nice long talk with my other band mates to realize that I needed to get past this “We couldn’t work” shit and now here I am thinking about my lips on Lucy’s once again. I have never been more certain of anything in my life. First, I had to get through the day and entertain all of our friends that were coming up. Damon’s younger brother came up with a few of his bandmates, and we were already in talks of putting together a mini-concert for everyone, including some kid friendly songs for Lucy’s niece and nephews, Lucy’s idea, of course. “When are you going to go after her, dude?” Cale, Lucy’s ex-boyfriend walked up beside me as I stared off into the distance. It felt a little awkward hearing that from someone she had been with for a long time. For cheating on him and breaking his heart, Cale seemed pretty calm and collected. “It’s too complicated,” was all I managed to say. “With the new album and trying to fit writing in…” “Bullshit,” Cale interjected. “If there was one thing I learned while I was in rehab, it’s that life is way too fucking short. If I’d had kept abusing painkillers at the rate I was going, they told me I would have overdosed soon. If you really care about her, you just need to be upfront about it and tell her what you want. Being in the same band shouldn’t deter you from being with her.” “I’ve already broken her heart once, dude, I don’t think she’ll want anything to do with me now if I asked her upfront, ‘Hey you wanna be my girlfriend?’” “Girls can be surprising.” He patted me on the shoulder. “I didn’t think Bryn would take me back after she found out about my addiction, but she was waiting for me the day I got out, with a brand new house.” “Well, you better keep her, Pelton,” I told him, and he laughed. “When are you going to put a ring on her finger?” “Ah, I’m giving it some time. I want it to be the right moment, and I want the proposal to be something over the top,” Cale replied, and we continued to watch as Lucy played in the water with her niece and nephews. She had on a one-piece suit that showed off her tiny curves and a frame that I wanted to hold in my arms so badly. She seemed happy out there with the kids as they splashed her and tried to climb all over her. “Hey, Pelton, you wanna help me grab some equipment from the studio downstairs?” Damon asked and Cale nodded. I made my round of hellos to the people that were outside that I hadn’t seen yet. I slowly made my way to Lucy who was trailing behind the kids who were fussing that they didn’t want to come out of the water from the looks of it. “It looks like that was fun,” I said to Lucy when I got down to the lake. The kids ran over to their parents squealing as Lucy started to dry herself off.

“Oh yeah, they didn’t want to get out of the water,” Lucy groaned, drying off her hair. “I told them later I’d make them s’mores with extra chocolate if they’d get out and eat some hot dogs for their parents.” “Damn, look at you Auntie Lucy, spoiling them. Are you going to bribe your own kids like that someday?” I let out a hearty laugh. She swatted me on the arm. “Of course, I have a weak spot for kids and those cute little innocent smiles,” she replied, a huge smile on her face. I had always known she wanted a huge family with like five kids, a nice sized house with a huge backyard for them to play in. In the back of my mind, I wanted to be the guy that gave her that life. I mean, after we’ve made some more fun memories making music of course. We shared a moment, neither one of us really saying anything, until Damon told us to get our asses out to the patio, so we could grab some food. “Excited about the fireworks later?” Lucy asked as we slowly made our way toward the patio. She’d been inching closer and closer to me every step we took. Our hands lightly grazed each other’s as the smell of food finally filled our noses. I was fucking starving and couldn’t wait to eat. “As long as one doesn’t fall on my head or some crazy shit like that, I’ll be good,” I lied. I made it my goal that tonight I was going to roll out a blanket on the grass, hold Lucy next to me, and kiss her under the fireworks. She just didn’t know that yet. But everyone else surely did. Usually I’m one to help Damon out with setting off the fireworks, but he told me not to worry about it, and to make sure there were no funny noises coming from my bedroom tonight. Idiot. “You’re not going out on the boat to light them?” I shook my head. “I got off easy this year, I guess. Much better view from the grass anyway.” “Well, you can sit with the munchkins and me. I’ll save you a seat on my blanket,” Lucy winked, giving me a slight bit of hope. After grabbing two heaping plates of meat and other shit, my mouth watered at the food I was about to eat. I liked to eat, that was no secret. I would eat everything on the damn tour bus and then some, which obviously pissed everyone off. Especially Lucy, since I got into her mint chocolate cookies. You never mess with a girl and her damn cookies. I sat with Cale and Bryn, and I asked him about his time at rehab. He’d had a painkiller addiction for years. We all knew it. I could fuckin’ see it when he and Lucy dated and the band first met the guy. He was troubled, but we all had some sort of trouble inside us. “So how did he react when you drove him to the new house?” I asked Bryn as we sat in a couple of lounge chairs over by the equipment where we were going to play a few songs later. “The look on his face was priceless. He seriously had no clue that all of his things were out of the old apartment and set up in the house,” Bryn grinned, squeezing Cale’s hand. “I thought the guys had kicked me out and sold all of my things. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they had.” Cale remarked, tossing me a beer from the cooler next to him. “But they’re sure as hell not moving in.” Bryn snorted. “I’ve already had to shoot Tyler and Vince down once about that!”

I laughed as they updated me on how the band was taking a break the rest of the summer and planning to go on tour in the fall. The backyard was abuzz with even more people flooding in every few minutes. This was the most fun I’d had in a long time, being able to just hang out with family and friends in a laid back environment without any crazy hard core partying shit going on. I’d had to remind the guys of that when we planned it out. I knew Lucy’s siblings were coming with the kids and that we had to keep what we said PG at the most. It was getting darker out and I had Lucy’s nephew Lucas Jr. begging me to play my guitar. “Pwease. Pwease,” he said in his cute little toddler voice. “Can you play that, pwease?” He kept pointing to my shiny black six-string that I’d decided to pull out last minute to use. I knelt down so I was eye level with Lucas Jr., and I ruffled his black hair. “Of course, little man.” I pointed to his brother Max. “You two can be front and center. Make some funny faces at your Aunt Lucy.” “I heard that!” she yelled, strapping on her bass guitar. “You kids can make funny faces all you want. I’ll make them right back,” and she stuck her tongue out at us. We were originally going to do an all-acoustic mini set, but why not go all out since it is Fourth of July and what not. “Since we’ve got kids around, we have to choose carefully what we play,” Damon said to us as we huddled together in the corner. “How about Bon Jovi?” Lucy suggested. “Or Poison?” “You really think Talk Dirty to Me is appropriate for them to hear?” I looked at Lucy, meeting her eyes. I was getting her riled up now for the hell of it and I could see in her eyes that I was getting to her. Just a little. “Har har, very funny,” Lucy retorted as we decided on a couple of songs and started playing for our little audience. The kids were up front dancing along like crazy, bumping into each other, and being scolded by their parents more than once for acting crazy. After we sang a few songs, I let Bryn play my guitar and she and Cale got up to sing Whole Lotta Love by Zeppelin and a few other choices of our friends. An hour went by and it was dusk, which meant it was time for the fireworks. We left the equipment up on the patio and Damon and Tyler started walking down to the boat where the fireworks were sitting, waiting to be lit. I got out blankets and more chairs for people to sit on the lawn, saving a spot by the big willow tree for Lucy and me. “Still haven’t made a move?” Alex teased me as he laid down a blanket next to mine. Emily plopped right down and laid her head onto the grass. “She kept looking over her shoulder at you while she was talking to Bryn and Tyler about something and it’s like she was saying ‘MAKE YOUR MOVE, DAMMIT!’” I groaned. “Stop with that shit; I’m working on it. You people are ruthless sometimes, I swear…” “Because otherwise you’ll sit back and look like a little lost puppy,” Emily replied, and they both started to laugh. “That’s why we’re sitting next to you so we know you’ll actually try. ” My friends were going to drive me crazy. A lost puppy, really? I was a fucking giant covered in tattoos. I could nail a fucking girl anytime I wanted to. I’m far from a lost puppy. But as soon as Lucy plopped down next to me, smelling like a mix of lilacs and water, I found my tongue wagging and the tail between my legs throbbing through my jeans.

“The kids wanted to sit with Lucas and Lizzy,” she whispered at me, pointing over at where her nephews were fighting over something from the looks of it. “So looks like it’s just us.” She sounded so calm and collected, but how else would she be? I’d chased her away after telling her we needed to stay friends. Lucy wasn’t the kind of person to back down, but we’ve been slowly but surely returning to the playful way we used to act around each other. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, scooting closer to her. Just feeling the bare skin on her legs next to mine made me nervous inside. I felt her shudder as a cool breeze from the water hit us. “Are you cold? I can go get another blanket,” I said to her. Lucy shook her head. “I’m good. I’ve got you sitting next to me so that helps.” She leaned in closer, laying her head on my shoulder. I glanced over at Alex and Emily, who were pretending to be in a heated conversation, but Alex winked at me and mouthed something to me I couldn’t understand. I mouthed fuck you and enjoyed the fact I had my dream girl, who was also my best friend, in my grasp. I nestled my nose into her hair, taking in her scent. She moved her head away from me and wrinkled her eyebrows at me. “Are you sniffing my hair?” I chuckled. “You smell good, that’s all. I can sniff my favorite girl, can’t I?” She shrugged while still in my hold. “If you say so, you creep.” She replied sarcastically. “First, it’s the bathroom while I was in a towel, and now you’re sniffing my hair. That’s a little weird.” “Maybe it means something,” I whispered into her ear so Emily and Alex wouldn’t hear me. Lucy stiffened up, but relaxed when we saw a spark coming from the middle of the lake. Fireworks time. We all sat on the lawn and waited as Damon lit off the first firework, sending it into the sky, causing a loud boom. I heard the kids scream and saw Lucy’s pained expression as she looked up at the fireworks. Damn, she was beautiful. My hands longed to run along her cheeks, her lips, through her hair. Her expression softened, and I saw a smile form across her lips as more colors lit up the sky. Another loud cracking sound and she jumped a little. She willingly scooted closer to me, almost to the point that she was on my lap. Her arm was around my waist, holding onto me with a death grip. “Sure you’re okay?” I asked her loudly, and she looked at me smiling wide. “Mhmm,” she said with satisfaction and we stayed in that position for the duration of the fireworks. During the grand finale, she quickly glanced at me as if knowing I had been watching her the whole time instead of the actual fireworks. By the time the grand finale lit up the sky, she had taken the liberty of spinning herself aroundand kissed me. My hands rested on the small of her back as I kissed her back with as much feeling and passion as she gave me. Lucy gripped onto me for dear life and kissed me as if we’d never have the chance again; this was my forever moment. I loved Lucy Tomlinson. Our lips separated as everyone started packing up their chairs and blankets, heading inside or onto the patio. I, on the other hand, I had much better plans for Lucy and me in my bedroom. I wanted to have our movie and wine night like the one we tried that night we had sex, which I’d screwed up. The rest of the night was just going to be her and I, no sex, cuddled up together as she fell asleep in my arms.

I would die a happy man. “Are you day dreaming dude?” Damon snapped his fingers in front of my face, snapping me out of my Lucy thoughts. “Sorry, just lost in thought.” I said to him as we moved our music equipment back downstairs into the basement. “Uhhuh. You finally make the moves on our tommy girl? Alex said you guys were pretty hot and heavy toward the end of the show and of course I MISSED it,” Damon sounded disappointed. “It’s none of your business and tell Alex to fuck off. Luce and I weren’t hot and heavy, we just kissed, nothing more,” I explained myself. “Not yet,” Damon interjected. “I don’t want to have to pound on your door like I threatened you the last time something happened between you two.” I cringed, remembering that night. Only because of what happened the morning after, something I vowed to myself right then that I’d never do again. She was all mine, and I was going to prove it to her. “If you did that I’d kick you in the balls so hard they’d fall off,” I threatened jokingly, and we started laughing. “When you say it like that, I think I’ll just plug my headphones in and work on some late night writing after everyone leaves.” Damon replied. “I’ve got my brother crashing in the bedroom with me so who the hell knows what’s going to happen.” When we returned to the big living area space, Lucy’s family and a few other friends were saying their goodbyes, so I said goodbye to her brother and sister, staying quiet since the kids were passed out cold in their arms. “You’re pretty great with them, you know,” I went up to Lucy, whispering in her ear. She turned around and smiled. “I miss those little squirts. I told Lucas and Lizzy whenever we get another big break, I’m going to steal them all and have a big slumber party at one of their houses where they can stay up as late as they want and have a shit ton of sweets.” “I bet you would. Would you let me come crash?” Lucy shrugged. “I suppose. I mean they both know something is up between us and it’s not like you’re a stranger to the family or anything. But no funny business. There would be kids pulling out demands every two seconds.” And I was all right with that. I didn’t have any young cousins on my side of the family, or nieces and nephews, so I got my kid fix in when Lucy saw her sibling’s kids. My fingers slipped into the belt loops on her shorts, pulling her back to my front. “I think we could figure something out,” I said seductively. “Hey, people that are still here! We’re going to play this dance game Bryn brought along, so if you don’t want to dance drunk get out of the way!” Alex ordered, and we pushed the couches back as Just Dance 2015 flashed onto the TV screen. I rolled my eyes. No way in hell was I about to do this, drunk or not. I watched the rest of my bandmates try to get up and do some dance to Bang Bang , a song I vaguely knew, and I laughed my ass off as they messed up the moves, going in the completely opposite way of the person on the screen. “Come on, Bryn.” Lucy said. “Let’s show these guys how to really bust a move.” I was afraid I’d have to stand in the

corner because watching Lucy dance was going to make my dick hard. I didn’t want anyone to see that shit. They picked 4X4 by Miley Cyrus, and even though I had never heard of the song, just watching Lucy shake her ass and dance like she’s a pro kept my eyes glued to only her. I could hear Pelton whistling at his girl as they finished the song, high-fiving each other over their near perfect score. “Now it’s your turn,” Lucy came up to me, pushing me towards the dance area. “Oh, no no no no,” I said as she made her attempts to get me out there. “I’ll dance in a club where there are so many people I don’t get noticed, but not here where you people are staring at me, waiting for me to mess up.” “Come on, Pauly! Are you chicken?” Mike bellowed, drinking yet another beer. I shot him the middle finger, giving into everyone’s shouting and comments. I let them pick a song for me, which ended up being Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Dammit, these guys were going to pay. You couldn’t pay me to listen to her talking about ‘ You and me could make a bad romance .’ I danced my way through it, maybe getting two stars, but it was worth it seeing Lucy laugh so hard her face was tear streaked. A couple hours later, everyone had finally settled down, and the guests took their spots in the living room and Bryn stayed in Lucy’s room upstairs while Alex shared a room with Emily tonight so someone else could use it. Really though, it only made sense that Lucy share a bedroom with me tonight too, right? By the time I got out of a quick shower, sure enough, lying on top of my bed wearing nothing but a long T-shirt and bottle of wine was Lucy. I ran a hand through my wet hair and said, “Would you like some company?” She nodded, opening the bottle of wine. “Obviously, I can’t drink this on my own and I am sitting on top of your bed.” Turning her head the opposite way for second then back to me, I saw her eyes take me in from top to bottom. I shed the towel, leaving my bare ass on display to her as I pulled out a pair of boxers and slipped them on, plopping down beside her. “Why do you tease me like that?” “What do you mean?” She gestured toward my dick, already visibly straining through my boxers. “That. You come into your room with just a towel on; you knew I’d totally be turned on by that you jerk.” “It’s my room, ya know,” I reminded her. However, the fact she admitted that it turned her on only made me want to kiss her on the spot. “But I’ll remember that for next time you’re sitting on my bed and I’m taking a shower.” I flipped on the TV, finding a movie on one of the HBO channels and set the remote down on the nightstand. Between the two of us, we polished off the wine by the time the movie was finished. Lucy was sitting in between my legs, her head against my chest like I was a pillow. It felt like second nature, her lying this way. During a commercial, Lucy whispered, “So what are we doing?” I should’ve known that was coming. It had been such a crazy night that I hadn’t had the chance to ask her myself. Sure, I knew what I wanted us to be, but I was scared shitless that she wouldn’t want the same thing. “I was going to ask you the same thing,” I replied, running my hands through her hair. “I know what I’d like to be doing…” Lucy lifted a curious eyebrow at me. “And what’s that?”

Here goes nothing. “I think you know. But I want you to be my girlfriend, Lucy.” Lucy turned around. “Why? I know we’ve been getting back to being decent around each other without making it awkward, but what’s changed since that night? I don’t want you telling me tomorrow morning that we need to be just friends. Again.” I understood why she was hesitant. Sure, if I was in her shoes, I’d do the same thing I started rubbing her shoulders, trying to make her comfortable. “Because I made a mistake. I care about you way more than a friend Lucy. I see you and my heart beats a thousand miles per hour if that’s even possible. I want to prove to you I can change. I don’t need to sleep with different girls every night of the week; I just want you. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to tell you, but this is me saying I want you and me to be one hundred percent officially a couple.” Lucy studied me, her eyes welling up with tears. “You ass. Do you know how it makes me feel hearing those words actually come out of your mouth?” I wasn’t sure what to expect next. “But that’s definitely a big fat yes.” I couldn’t help the chuckle at her answer. A few tears falling down her face, she wrapped her arms around me, wiping her tears against my bare shoulder. I was officially turning into a pussy, but I didn’t care because Lucy Tomlinson was worth it. With her at my side, we’d be the hottest couple in rock ‘n’ roll. “I liked your answer by the way,” I said quietly, as we continued to hold each other in complete silence, the dull noise from the TV barely sounded in the background. “And I like this,” she replied, yawning and stretching an arm over her head. “I could get used to this the rest of the time we’re up here.” “Don’t worry, we’ll be hogging up that nice bed on the tour bus soon enough,” I chuckled. “Guys are gonna be pissed, but I don’t really care.” “Yeah, you do don’t lie.” She grinned up at me. “I bet you the first night on tour, Damon will have someone in that bed guaranteed.” I knew she was telling the truth. “No shit. But you’ll be in mine and that’s all that matters, Luce.” I kissed her forehead softly and yawned myself. “Now, let’s go to sleep.”

Chapter 8: About Time Lucy No surprise. Ever since the 4 th of July the guys have been heckling Pauly and me about finally being a couple. Damon’s obvious response was, “What the fuck took so long?” I wish I knew that answer myself. Of course, I was still doubtful. I would be for a while. Anything can happen when you’re on the road touring. It’s very easy for a guy to see a pair of breasts and an ass and just screw the woman right then and there. I’ve seen it happen. But I had to trust Pauly just like he would have to trust me. I had my issues just like he did, but he never blatantly cheated on someone like I have. “Almost ready to go?” Emily shouted over her shoulder as she started loading up the vehicle to head home. I felt kind of sad leaving the cabin this time around, wishing I could quit touring and live up here so I could stare at the lake all day long. Who was I kidding? I didn’t want to endure the snow northern Michigan gets, plus I suck at driving in snow. After since being stuck in a ditch back in high school during a huge snowstorm, I drove maybe 15 mph and didn’t care if people honked at my ass. “Yeah, I’ve got my last bag!” I said, dragging my suitcase behind me as I shut the front door and locked it. The guys were already stuffing their things into Damon’s car when I locked up the cabin; Atreyu was blaring from the car speakers. Nearing Emily, I stuffed my suitcase in the very last open spot in the trunk. “I can’t believe it’s already time to leave,” Emily frowned, shutting the trunk as I started the car. I nodded in agreement, taking in my surroundings. “But at least you get to see your boyfriend every day lucky girl.” Emily was going back to her job as a high school Choir teacher while we went on tour after recording, despite Alex’s constant pleas to get her to take a leave of absence. But Emily was dedicated to her students and loved what she did. I was sure going to miss her, too. Especially our late night girl’s nights when the guys were out building a bonfire without us. “When you get a break, promise you’ll come to one of the shows?” I asked her with a pleading smile and she grinned. “Obviously, I will. I wouldn’t miss seeing my cousin, my best friend, and my boyfriend on stage rocking it out,” Emily replied. “How about we make this a race, ladies!” Alex yelled at us, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Oh here we go,” Emily rolled her eyes, and we both started giggling. “I’m serious,” he said a little quieter now. “First car to get back to Muskegon has to make dinner for the rest of us at their place.” I raised my eyebrow at Alex. “Really?” He shrugged. “Why not? You can cook a mean dinner, Lucy. And Emily told me she’s made cupcakes for her friggin’ high school students, you two would make the best meal ever.” The guys liked that idea and they started chanting about how they wanted food. “You’re on,” I walked over and shook Alex’s hand. My eyes drifted to Pauly and his lips curled into a devious smile. “I

can guarantee your asses will be pulled over for speeding and when you are, we’ll be laughing our asses off the rest of the way home.” “Is that so, huh, tommy girl?” Pauly strolled over to me, drawing me into his arms. Kissing me on the forehead, he spanked my ass in front of everyone. “I’m looking forward to you in your kitchen wearing a French maid outfit. I know you have one in your closet from Halloween,” he whispered in my ear. I was cursing myself now for keeping that outfit stowed away, but no way was I wearing that outfit again for the rest of the band to see. It’d be for Pauly’s eyes only. “You pig,” I teased him, playfully slapping his chest and pushing him away. “Better get on the road or else we won’t be home for dinner!” Pauly grabbed me for one last kiss and we all got into our respective vehicles. Em and I decided to listen to an old Punk Goes Pop cd to start the drive, and we took off. “Isn’t it crazy?” Emily started to say. “That we came up north with you trying to get over Pauly and me pining over Alex, just for us to end up with them?” I looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny how things work. But I knew you and Alex would get together at some point. You were always so cute when you were together freshman year.” I briefly remembered our first homecoming and their first so called ‘date’. Another boy in the class who was crazy about me asked me and, since Pauly was taking some snooty cheerleader, I said yes. “But Alex is still the same smart ass he was then,” Emily sighed. “Damn is he ever good in the bedroom…” “Okay, I didn’t need to hear that!” I giggled. “Well, we certainly heard enough of you and Pauly to scar me for life,” Emily said with a smirk, but I knew she was only joking. “Alright, alright now we’re even!” I briefly took my hands off the wheel, and both of us laughed hysterically until I felt like I couldn’t breathe. We started singing along to the punk cover of Hit Me Baby One More Time and the rest of the album just as we passed an exit for the last rest stop before reaching Muskegon. I squinted my eyes, noticing a flash of red and blue lights not too far ahead of us. Emily and I looked at each other, and we both had a feeling our bet about the guys getting pulled over was accurate. As I kept going the speed limit, we drove past the state patrol and the vehicle they had pulled over; Damon’s vehicle was on full display. “Holy shit, we were right!” Emily slapped the dashboard, her head peeking out the window. She leaned out even further, giving them the middle finger even though they were probably too busy schmoozing the sheriff. “Have fun cooking boys!” she shouted at the top of her lungs and picked up some speed getting away from them as fast as we could. A half-hour later, we were pulling up to my apartment. I wiped the stray tendrils out of my face, dropping all of my suitcases at the door and plopping onto the couch. “Heard from any of them yet?” I asked Emily, who sat down beside me. Emily pulled out her phone to show me a text from Alex. “Apparently he saw me flip them the finger when they got pulled over and said ‘ha ha, very funny’.” I snorted. “It was pretty hysterical. If they got off scot free without a ticket I wouldn’t be surprised.” A car with four guys who thought they were hot shit? It was bound to happen.

A few minutes later, while we reminisced on the past couple of weeks, my phone buzzed, telling me I had a few text messages. Pauly: I’m crazy about you Pauly: And I have no problem cooking for you, but it’ll be breakfast in bed. Pauly: Naked My cheeks flushed, and Emily saw me squirm. “Are you and Pauly sexting?” I shook my head and shot him a reply. Me: I know how you cook, Pauly, and I’ll settle for IHOP! Once we had a text from Damon closer to dinner, confirming they had a meal cooking, his fancy shmancy table was set up and ready, we drove over. The Tigers - Yankees game was on Damon’s flat screen, and I heard glasses clanging in the kitchen. “Uh, we’re here!” I shouted, and from behind me, I felt a strong pair of hand encircle my waist and grab me. “Pauly, I know that’s you!” I squealed, his fingers sinking into my skin. “I took that comment about you settling for a pancake joint rather than my cooking quite offensively you know,” he said to me. “Shit, that cop wasn’t going to let us go scot free. We even tried bribing him with an early copy of the new album, but he was old and wasn’t buying it at all, said we were just wannabees.” “Oh, yeah and that middle finger stunt wasn’t that funny.” Alex entered the hallway with an apron around waist. I covered my mouth, trying to hide the laugh that was about to erupt. “You think it is funny, Luce?” “No,” I replied, pointing at the apron that wasn’t even tied right. “You’ve obviously never worn an apron, huh?” “No shit, Sherlock,” Alex retorted. “Now it’s ready so you girls need to get your asses in here and eat up.” He shot Emily a smile and spanked her ass as she walked past him. I was still in Pauly’s hold, not wanting him to let go. “So what’s on the menu?” I looked back at him, my eyes meeting his. “Just some macaroni and cheese with bacon, pepper jack cheese, fancy shit. Then Mike made some garlic mashed potatoes and Damon put in some garlic bread.” Pauly explained to me, his hands leaving my skin only for him to come to my side and grasp my hand. Squeezing it, he licked his lips. “It’s kind of what Damon had here so we had to think quickly.” When I saw the spread in the kitchen, my mouth started watering. We hadn’t eaten since Emily and I had stopped at a rest stop. The skittles I had eaten were long gone, so my stomach was growling very loudly, and I started piling food on my plate. I had grown up with these guys and never had I seen them cook as they had tonight, and they had done it in such a short time. By the time we were done with dinner, I was drooling over the taste of cheese in my mouth, and I wanted to take the leftovers home with me so I could pig out on them in the middle of the night. Em and I hung out for a while with the guys, leaving not too long before midnight. The band had to be up bright and early in the morning to get to the recording studio. “I’m going to miss seeing your beautiful face, Lucy,” Emily said, pulling me into a hug after we pulled into the parking lot to the apartment. “Before you guys go on tour, come see my kids in class sometime. They would love to

see a real live rocker since they’re all obsessed with you guys.” “Of course,” I replied. “And I’ll save you a backstage pass.”  “Sounds good. See you later, hun!” “See ya!” I waved.I took a quick shower, letting the cool water wash over me, before I put on a nightgown and crawled into bed. I dialed Pauly’s number before I dozed off for the night just so I could say good night to him. After three rings, he finally picked up. “What’s up, babe?” he answered, music playing in the background. “Where are you?” “At home. I couldn’t get to sleep so I put on some music to help me chill a bit.” I heard him chuckle. “You in bed, yet?” “Mhmm, I wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep.” I was turning all sappy toward him and I kind of liked it. Cale and I had never been the most romantic couple there ever was, but we’d had our moments. “Aww, I should just come say good night to you in person, it’d be much sweeter,” Pauly replied. “Plus, I’d get to feel you next to me, and I’d kiss you and…” “Okay, none of your sweet talk, Pauly! I’ll have dreams about you now.” “Good. But just think, in a few hours you’ll be locked in a studio with me and we can sneak off…” “Goodnight Pauly,” I cut him off before he could give me the explicit details of his plan. He laughed again and said, “Sweet dreams, my Lucy girl.” *** The next morning, my alarm woke me up bright and early. I’d slept like a baby, but all of my dreams were about Pauly and me. I was anxiously waiting to make some head way on recording the album. Management, of course, expected us to be done with recording in a week and the album out in a month. Crazy bastards. But they’d never steered us wrong yet so we just went with it and hoped the fans would like the new music. I decided to wear some PINK sweatpants and a Detroit Tigers T-shirt since we were going to be cooped up in the studio all day and I wanted to be comfortable. I straightened my hair and twisted it into a sloppy braid, making a cup of coffee before we all headed to Detroit. A couple of minutes before seven, I heard a pounding on my apartment door. I knew it was the guys and rolled my eyes as they started to sing Freakshow way too loud for this time of morning. “All right, all right,” I said, letting them in. “I’m ready, so let’s go! You’re lucky no one else heard you out there!” “I’d be happy if they did,” Damon stuck his tongue out at me. “Who doesn’t like to hear a song in the morning?” “Not my neighbors, you ass.” I nudged him and the guys pulled me into a big bear hug. I let them continue to hug me for another minute then I said, “Okay, I love you guys, too, but shouldn’t we have left by now?” “Pushy, pushy.” Pauly slapped my ass, kissing me on the mouth before he went into my room to grab my bass. “You look beautiful this morning by the way.” A blush immediately formed on my cheeks and I grabbed my purse before we headed toward Mike’s van. We only used his oversized van when we had to take our equipment to the studio. It was a lot easier than taking the tour bus. “I call shot gun!” Alex shouted, instantly opening the passenger side door and slamming it shut.

“You dick, I was going to sit next to my boy Mike.” Damon sounded sad, but the smile on his face indicated otherwise. “That’s okay; I’ll keep you two love birds entertained.” He gestured toward Pauly and me. “This is going to be a long drive,” Pauly groaned, tightening his grip around my waist. “We need to find him a girl,” he whispered in my ear. “Easier said than done,” I retorted, keeping my voice low so he wouldn’t hear us. “Damon settling down? Have we ever seen him have an actual relationship with a girl?” According to Damon, he’d dated a girl back in high school when he was in Mackinaw City, but she’d cheated on him before we started touring for the first time. “I heard that!” he said, coming around the van in our direction. “As much as I love you guys I’ll find my own girl without your help thank you very much. Never had the trouble before.” “Whatever you say, Charming.” I smiled at Damon, opening the van door so we could get into the middle row in front of the equipment. “Find a good girl, please. Maybe Emily can hook you up with someone she works with…” “For all I know, she works with dudes and old ladies.” Damon immediately shot down the idea. “No way in hell.” As Mike started up the car, I shot Emily a text. Me: Hey, you work with any young teachers? Emily: Do I even want to know why? Lol Me: Setting Damon up with someone. Emily: ABOUT DAMN TIME! One of my friends, Isabella, has a sister who’s secretly in love with him (Or so Bella told me) Me: What is she, like 17? Lol Emily: Don’t think so. Maybe 21? Me: Perfect! Let’s talk about the plan later; our subject is sitting right next to me. Emily: K sounds good. Operation find Damon Charming a girl was underway! (I’ll have to think of a better code name than that though.) We pulled up to the studio in Detroit where we would be recording for the next week and a half and unloaded all of our equipment so we could get to work. I was excited to work with our producer, Gates Noble. He produced the last Everlasting album and we’ve met him a couple of times; he’s a down to earth guy. “Good to see you again you, guys.” Gates was sitting at a stool as we walked into the studio. “Bright and early at that.” “How are you doing, man?” Pauly shook his hand. “Pretty awesome, can’t complain. I just got a new apartment in Rochester Hills, so I’ve been busy moving in and what not. But I can’t wait to get started on this shit. It’s going to rock.” Gates smiled at us. By the time day one was over with, we had recorded one full song and the guitar lines for a few others. We stayed in a rental apartment about fifteen minutes from the studio and got to chill out for a few hours before going to bed to be ready for the next early morning session. “I just hate feeling like we’re being rushed,” Pauly said to me as we laid in bed after we’d each taken a long shower. “I mean, it sounds good so far , but they want to push this album out in less than two months?” “It’ll all work out,” I said reassuringly even though I was thinking the same thing. “I must say though, I like watching

you play that guitar instead of playing beside you. It was pretty sexy.” Pauly wriggled his eyebrows at me. “Sexy, huh? Is that what you’re going to say after every show now?” I patted his chest. “We’ll see.” I kissed him on the cheek. “It’s those groupie girls I’m worried about. I’ll have to stake my claim so they know to stay away.” I have seen how they fight over Pauly, line up just so they can see him. There was a difference between those girls and the actual fans. Then there are the women that wear next to nothing to a rock show just so one of the band members would sleep with them. Not going to happen. “You have nothing to worry about, Luce.” Pauly gently squeezed my side. “The only girl I’ll be sleeping with is you.” “Shucks, that makes me feel a lot better,” I replied sarcastically. We fell asleep quickly, both of us tired from the long day that we’d had. “And Luce?” “Yeah?” I asked in a daze, almost asleep. Pauly looked at me with a warm expression in his warm honey eyes and said, “You’re beautiful when you’re lying next to me.” I lightly chuckled. “Thank you.” He gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead and whispered, “Good night, gorgeous.” “Good night, Pauly.” I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. Maybe it was because I had Pauly beside me. It was crazy to think that we had known each other almost our whole lives and now we were dating. We had always been flirty with each other, and Pauly would make comments here and there like it was no big deal, but I always had that ‘What if’ question in my head? How would we make it work? We obviously see each other on a daily basis and work together in the band, which was great. Pauly and I mesh perfectly music wise, and that is part of the reason the band has been so successful. Now we were going to be partners in a relationship. I loved him even though I haven’t told him yet. I’ve loved him for a long time. I knew that once we got back on the road and into promoting the album the girls would flock to him as they usually did, hoping they could get a piece of him. But Pauly and I would make things work. I won’t let my heart get broke by him again.

Chapter 9: Behind it All Pauly The album was done. Recorded, mixed, all the behind the scenes shit done and taken care of. Now Behind It All was going to be released and I couldn’t be more stoked. I loved touring with my friends. This was what I lived for. Now, I had Lucy to live for, too. Nothing could be better. We were gearing up to play an album release show in Grand Rapids in a few days, the same day the album would be released. From radio interviews in Detroit, to magazine interviews, the band had been non-stop promoting our asses off, hoping it would pay off. I was feeling pretty confident this would be our best album to date. I just had a feeling in my gut. “So did Emily give those tickets to her friend yet?” I asked Alex as we were picking up the tour bus where it had stored since the last tour. We had let Alex and Mike in on the plan that we were going to set up Damon with one a friend of Emily’s. . Emily promised Alex she’d met this girl before and she wasn’t just some fan who wanted to date a rock star for the fame. That’s what sold us. And our mission began. “Yeah, said she did when they had some teacher’s meeting at school. Isabella was pretty stoked and is totally down with our plan,” Alex replied, referring to Emily’s friend. “It’s about time Damon found a girl.” “Been a long time coming,” I said. “Or it could backfire and he’ll despise us for doing this.” Alex snorted. “So what? He’ll thank us later. Just wait and see…” Oh, we shall. Lucy stepped out from the warehouse where the bus has been and I took a sharp breath. She had cut her hair so that now it was just below her chin and she’d dyed the ends dark red. I had never seen her with short hair like that, but oh boy, I needed tell her how much I liked the results. It was still warm out, so she was wearing a snug tank top that clung to her fit frame and jean shorts that showed off her toned legs. Her light blue eyes met mine as she closed the gap between us. She squealed when I grabbed her in a huge hug, nearly squeezing her to death. “Ouch, you’re lucky I didn’t break!” “You ready, tommy girl?” I asked her. “Of course I am. I can’t wait to get back onstage and near home at that.” Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “I wish my mom could make it, but she has to work that night.” Her mom recently got a job managing one of the local bar and grills in Muskegon during the night shift, so she and Lucy hadn’t had as much time to spend together. “Don’t lie; you’re just excited to play on stage with your boyfriend,” I remarked and Lucy couldn’t contain the smile on her face. “You know it.” Lucy kissed me on the lips, pushing me against the side of the tour bus, her body pressed up to mine. “You’ve always been hot when you’re sweaty after a show. I know that sounds completely disgusting, but it’s the truth!” “I never expect anything else from you,” I chucked, kissing her again, my tongue slipping into her mouth. Next thing I knew guitar picks were thrown at my head. “What the…” I muttered under my breath, separating myself from Lucy to turn around.

“Alex, you dumbass, I’m going to hurt you for that shit,” I yelled in Alex’s direction. He had drumsticks in one hand and a cheesy grin on his face that I wanted to wipe off very quickly. He put his hands up in defense. “Well, I had to break up the PDA. It’s still kind of weird seeing you two kissing and all lovey-dovey. I couldn’t help myself.” We laughed, loading equipment onto the bus and the van the roadies would drive when we left. This first night was going to be difficult for me to say the least. Ever since Ignite the Flames had been touring, there had been girls throwing themselves at me left and right, ready to take off their clothes at the drop of a dime. That’s why we had a more of girls and their friends come to our shows than guys that gawked at Lucy. I liked it. Correction: I fucking loved the attention. I used to love being with a different girl every night. Sometimes they would follow us to a few other cities just for another round. Now, it was going to be a totally different ball game. I had Lucy. I had to resist the temptation of tits and pussy standing in front of me and remember I had a girl I wasn’t going to lose for anything. I had to have self-control. Our manager, Bobby, flew in from Cleveland the night before we left for Grand Rapids and had a meeting with us to go over all the promotional shit we were going to do when we got there. I tried hard to like Bobby, he was just doing his job: make sure Ignite the Flames played shows and made the record label money by selling records in the process. He was only in his early 30’s, with dark blond hair always slicked to the side like he thought he was some professional. Then there was the suit. He ALWAYS wore a damn suit, didn’t matter the time of day or the time of year. I have never seen him in jeans and a T-shirt like the rest of us wear. The guy knew his music and that’s all I cared about. “So if you guys make it to the Guitar Center by about 10, they want you to have a look around and play an acoustic set of about 3 or 4 songs for a small crowd,” Bobby explained to us in his monotone voice. “Then there will be a brief meet and greet afterward where the fans can also get copies of the new cd signed.” “I have a feeling we won’t have any breathing time by the time everything is said and done,” Lucy groaned, leaning back into her chair as we all sat at the local Applebee’s. “You know the drill, Lucy,” Bobby scolded her. “Release day is crucial. You have to get out there and promote the album and yourselves or else no one will know about you and the fans you have won’t even know you have new music.” Pausing to take a sip of his iced tea, he asked, “So please tell me you guys decided to include new music in the set?” Some of his questions made me feel like he didn’t trust us to do our own work. I wanted to say, ‘Of fucking course we put new music into the set, dumbass,’ but we were in public and I was on a high with the album release. “Of course, we did.” Damon read my mind, putting on his fake charm for Bobby just so he’d shut up. “We added the new single plus a bunch of the other songs so don’t worry about it.” “It’s my job to worry,” Bobby responded, before giving us the rest of the day’s itinerary, including a meet and greet after the show for the people that won front row tickets and special backstage passes. All that was on my mind was Lucy sitting between Bobby and Alex. I wanted her next to me, but at least I got a perfect view of her.

I slipped my phone out while Bobby continued rambling on and texted Lucy from across the table. Pauly: Getting tired of him yet? Lucy looked surprised, giving Bobby an apologetic smile as she looked away from him and down at her phone, a grin forming on her lips as she typed away. Lucy: I didn’t miss him at all. Can this just be done so we can go home? Pauly: I don’t think so, love. Sounds like he has the rest of the day to plan We glanced up from our phone conversation and Bobby was still outlining everything we had to do up until the show, telling us every nitty gritty detail. I kept rolling my eyes, focusing on my food wishing he would shut his damn mouth. Finally, after what felt like forever, he actually loosened up and congratulated us on a job well done on the album. This hadn’t happened since he’d started managing us. His compliments would go as far as, ‘Great job on being platinum,’ and that was about it. “This was easily the best played album you guys have made. I think, despite what the team thought, the little trip you guys made paid off in the end.” Coming from Bobby that was the biggest compliment we’d get. Ever. After dinner and after Bobby paid the bill, I drove Lucy back to my house, a few miles away from Lucy’s apartment. With one hand on the wheel, the other reached for hers, our fingers linking together as we hummed along to the music on the radio. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to play you a song tonight,” I blurted out of nowhere as we pulled into my driveway. Lucy bit her lip and gave me a questionable look. “Like on the radio or on the TV?” I chuckled. Neither of which were what I had in mind. “No, tommy girl.” I shook my head, giving her a wide grin. “You’re going to sit down in the living room by my fire place and I’m going to sit next to you on that furry black rug you got me last year and I’m going to play you something special on my acoustic.” That was only part of my plan to have sex with Lucy on that rug. Ever since we’d gotten together that’s all I’ve thought about when I saw that rug. And I didn’t even care that it’s the end of summer. I was turning the damn fireplace on and living out my fantasy. “I’ve never seen be so romantic like this before,” Lucy said to me, leaning over to kiss me before getting out of the car. “Oh trust me; I can be quite the romantic when I choose to be,” I warned her, both of us getting out at the same time. “I just never had a reason to be until now.” “Yeah, I’ve seen the way you treated those other girls.” Lucy turned to me and scowled, walking ahead of me toward the house. I couldn’t blame her for acting that way. Before her, when I was with a different girl all the time, I wasn’t romantic in the slightest bit. No holding hands, no cuddling after sex, no stolen kisses, anything. It was safe to say I used girls so I could get myself off and fill some kind of void in my life. “But you have nothing to worry about,” I assured her, catching up to her and snatching her by the waist. Putting my lips to her ear, I whispered. “I’m saving all of my best romantic ideas for you.”

We got into the house and I flipped on the light in living room. Mmost of the downstairs portion of the house was decorated in various shades of red and black furniture. The chandelier hanging from the high ceiling lit up and Lucy stood beside me for a moment, looking up at it as if she hasn’t seen it before. In reality, she’d seen it hundreds of times. “First, can I go to the bathroom?” Lucy asked, pointing toward the hallway. “Go ahead, that will give me time to get things ready,” I winked, my fingers rubbing up and down her arm gently. Just that gesture alone made me want to forget the romantic shit I planned for us and just take her upstairs, but I tried to fry that idea out of my brain. Lucy deserved a romantic night in before we started on the “Crazy Madness” tour tomorrow night. She giggled and ran as quickly as she could down the hall, while I went to grab my acoustic Alvarez Dreadnaught perched in the corner of the living room. I grabbed a couple of candles that I’d bought the other day while buying dinner one night, setting them over by the rug in front of the fireplace. They were Vanilla Bean scent, Lucy’s favorite. The only reason I knew that was because she’d stopped at her favorite fragrance store numerous times on tour just to pick up a bottle of that shit. I could never understand women and their need to wear perfume. After lighting up the candles and placing them on the corners of the rug, I quickly tuned up the guitar and sat down on the rug, anxiously awaiting my girl. “Wow, loving the set up here,” Lucy exclaimed, slowly walking toward me. My heart started racing a mile a minute as she sat down next to me and nestled her head into my shoulder. “Sure you haven’t done this before?” I shook my head, making sure I never took my eyes off her. She was too beautiful for words and I didn’t know how to tell her that. That was why I wanted to express my feelings the only way I knew how to: through my music. “Lucy, you’re the first girl I’ve done this for. I’m over all of the one night stands, I only have my eyes set on you. I promise you, with all my heart, you’ll be the last.” Her eyes started watering as I strapped the acoustic on and reached for the pick on my other side. “Can you at least tell me what song you’re going to play?” Lucy wiggled her eyebrows and gave me the puppy dog look. I’ll be damned if it didn’t work, but I couldn’t tell her what I was going to sing because she had never heard of it before. “Nope,” I told her. “It’s one of a kind.” I flashed her a grin, playing the opening notes to Sleeping with Siren’s All My Heart . I usually don’t listen to the group, but I knew they were one of Lucy’s favorite bands.. I had scrolled through their songs one day, listened to the lyrics, and immediately thought of the two of us. It was a little cheesy and corny, but at least I knew she’d like it and that’s what mattered. I'd ask, "You think we'd ever make it?" You'd say, "I'm sure if it's right." Ain't it funny to think just how stupid I used to be? Hope you always believe You still have all of my You still have all of my

You still have all my heart I couldn’t sing as high as their lead singer could, but I focused on the guitar strings, notes I was playing, and the look on Lucy’s face. Her body was still close to mine, but she remained completely silent, listening to me serenade her like a pro. I sang the last words of the song about her having all of my heart and I saw tears streaking her face more so than before. She was smiling through the tears. She used one of her shirtsleeves to wipe the tears off her face. “You sang Sleeping with Sirens for me? You don’t even like them…” She sniffled in between words while she moved stray strands of hair out of her face. Placing the guitar on the leather recliner closest to me, I gestured for Lucy to come sit in between my legs. She scooted over, her ass in between my thighs; she let out a sigh and let her body sink into me. “It explains how I feel,” I said quietly, my arms encircling around her. “We haven’t been together long, but we’ve been best friends for so long, and you will always have all of my heart, no matter what, Lucy Ann Tomlinson. You’re perfect in every way possible. You know all of my secrets and everything there is to know about me. No one else knows me like you do, and I’m glad I have you in my life.” “I feel the same way,” Lucy whispered, her eyes focused on the fire burning in the fireplace. “You get me. You knew me when I was porky Lucy in school, made fun of at music camp, you stuck up for me when the other girls poked fun at me. I realized then how I couldn’t lose you Paul.” She didn’t use my nickname this time. “I love you so much. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been seeing each other. I’ve loved you for a while and it took fucking up with Cale to realize that and I’m not letting go.” She said she loved me? Lucy loved me. “I love you, too, Lucy.” I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. We both ended up falling asleep lying by the fire, holding each other as I sang her to sleep. I usually sleep like shit but having Lucy beside me, I slept like a damn baby. I listened to her gentle breaths, the little sighing noises she made when she shifted her leg, and I even heard her snore, but she’d kick my ass if I told anyone about that. The next morning, I woke up to Atreyu’s Right Side of the Bed, the alarm on my phone; it startled me out of my amazing dream. Lucy and I had been in some fancy hotel room somewhere, and she was lying down on the bed in nothing but a string of pearls, earrings, and a shiny rock on her finger. The way she looked up at me with her dreamy eyes screamed, ‘fuck me now’ but before I could get any further, the alarm sounded. And, sure enough, with a hard on. I fucking hate morning wood. I opened my eyes; I heard singing from the kitchen and realized Lucy wasn’t lying with me anymore. “ She looks so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear …” Lucy shouted at the top of her lungs as I stood up and straightened out my jeans. She was wiggling her ass to the song she was listening to out there and, lord help me, I felt like an animal stalking their prey. I stalked toward her, ready to carry her upstairs to my bedroom and have my way with her before it was time to leave. “Gotcha.” My hands gripped her shoulders, and she screamed bloody murder and turned around looking terrified as could be.

“What the heck was that for?” She pulled the ear buds out of her ears and placed her hands on her hips. “I was just making you breakfast AND I was in the middle of listening to a good song.” Hearing Lucy get whiny because I scared her only made me grin wider. “And what song were you listening to?” “ She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer.” Lucy stuck her tongue out at me, before she returned to the stove where it appeared she was making scrambled eggs and bacon. “5 Seconds of what?” I asked, not knowing what the hell she was talking about. Lucy groaned and shook her head in disappointment. “Never mind; you don’t listen to boy bands so you wouldn’t know.” I scoffed, leaning against the cupboard. “Damn right, I don’t. But I’ll listen to you singing any time.” Placing my hand on top of hers, I suggested, “You should forget making me breakfast so we can get ready. The bus is coming in an hour, anyway.” Lucy peered down at her watch and turned off the oven. “This better be good…” She winked, linking her arm with mine and she let me drag her upstairs. I didn’t care about the wasted food; I was more interested in taking care of my girl before we went back to our crazy second life in just a matter of hours. “Oh, trust me, darling; it will be better than good,” I promised her. And it sure as hell was. *** “All right guys!” Damon hollered as we met in the living room of the bus. It had a huge ass wide-screen smart TV equipped with the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and probably a hundred games and movies to cover us for the next few months. This area was, of course, where the guys spent the most time, while Lucy typically read a book in her bunk with her ear buds plugged in. The couch was my favorite part of the whole bus, except the bedroom where I planned to be spending a lot of time with Lucy. It was a dark shade of red, and the fabric was soft as silk. I’ve passed out on it one too many times. “It’s time for a toast! Pauly, get the wine out!” I reached for the bottle of red wine on the table near me and opened it up. The five of us each held up a wine glass as I poured an even amount into each one. “What are we toasting to?” Lucy wrinkled her eyebrows at Damon as she placed a hand on her hip. “To the new album! May we kick ass harder than ever before, and maybe I’ll find a Mrs. Charming!” Damon said enthusiastically, and we all started laughing hysterically. When everyone calmed down, we lifted our glasses to one another’s and said, “Cheers!” I chugged the red liquid within seconds. After disposing of our glasses, we turned on some music and waited for our arrival in Grand Rapids. My eyes flickered out the window toward the high-rise buildings coming into view. Different city every day. I loved the fact that I’ve been able to see so many amazing cities while touring with the band, going as far as Hawaii and even playing a show in Alaska. I wasn’t going to be the Pauly that brought women on stage and kissed them in front of crowds of thousands anymore. I wasn’t going to get completely trashed and wind up in my hotel suite with a women on each side of me. Now? Lucy is imprinted in my brain and I can’t stop thinking about her. And I don’t want anyone else but her.

Our bus driver, Frank, pulled the bus up to the local Guitar Center, where fans were already lined up outside. This was no surprise, but still to this day, it seems so surreal that people want to meet us, and are waiting to get their hands on our new music. “You look nice,” I walked up to Lucy as she changed into a band T-shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged her ass just perfectly. It took every ounce of willpower not to touch her or kiss her, but doing that would’ve made my dick stir in my pants and we had an acoustic set to go play. I was going to make things special for my girl tonight, the hard part was fucking waiting. When it came to sex, I’ve never had to wait until now, and I knew how shallow that made me sound. “Thanks,” She replied sweetly, giving me a hug, and kissing me quickly on the lips. “This is going to be kind of fun. We haven’t played an acoustic set in forever.” “Yeah, did you see that crowd waiting to get in? It’s insane.” I pointed out the window, where more people were filing up to the Guitar Center by the minute. Lucy stood on her tiptoes to peer over my shoulder. “Holy shit! They really did spread the word around town, huh? This is so much more intimidating than the arena.” It’s a whole different ball game playing in small place like a Guitar Center compared to an arena that can hold thousands. It’s more intimate, and all eyes are on you. “Don’t worry; this is going to be a piece of cake,” I reassured her. “And you look sexy as hell on the cover. It’s no wonder half the people in the damn line are guys. They probably want to get a close up view.” Lucy giggled. “You’re the only guy that will get a close up view.” Her eyes met mine and she licked her lips. “And when I say that, I mean the only guy ever.” *** By the time we got set up over by the loud lounge, the managers of the store started letting people in slowly but surely. The looks on these people’s faces was something I would never forget. It was a combination of pure shock that we’re real people and that they’re part of a once in a lifetime set. There was a taped line on the ground in front of us set up so the fans couldn’t get too close while we were playing. They were still trickling in when we took our places and sat down on the wooden stools by our instruments. “Hey everyone, on behalf of Guitar Center here in Grand Rapids, we’d like to thank the members of platinum selling group Ignite The Flames for coming out this morning to celebrate the release of their new album Behind it All .” The manager spoke through the wireless mic, and the crowd started clapping and cheering for us. “They’re going to play a few acoustic songs for you and shortly after, you’ll be able to purchase the new album and be able to meet the group. Without further ado, I’ll pass the mic over to them. Thanks again, guys.” The guy patted my back, and I smiled as Damon took the mic. “Welcome lovely ladies and gents,” Damon spoke to the crowd. “Thank you for stopping by so early in the morning to check us out. We’re Ignite the Flames, and our first song we’re going to do is Limitless .” Mike and I launched into the beginning of the song, Lucy following in on her acoustic bass. Damon started singing the lyrics much differently than the non-acoustic version. I feel like I’m on top of the world

We’re limitless No boundaries, no strings attached We do what we please And I’ve never felt more alive After playing the first two songs, Limitless and Monster Inside , we took requests for our next two songs. I heard everything from Freakshow to All of You , which were two of our hit singles, and then someone in the front shouted Behind it All . “Someone’s already listened to the new album, huh?” I said into my mic and the girl nodded. She didn’t look a day over 18, her head partly down looking at the ground. She looked up and said back “Yeah, I bought it before I came here and I liked that song.” Lucy, who was sitting on Damon’s other side, replied, “Of course, we’ll do it. Glad you liked the song. What was your name?” “Anna,” she replied, her eyes lighting up as Lucy talked to her, her friends holding onto her as if she’d won the damn lottery or something. “All right, Anna, this one is for you.” Lucy grinned, turning to all of us and mouthing our cues. We hadn’t planned to play this one for the tour, but Lucy, being Lucy, wasn’t going to turn down a request. Behind It All was one of the deepest songs on the record as far as lyrics. Lucy and I wrote this one together, and when she written one of the verses, she’d literally broken out in tears and couldn’t finish it. I thought I was happy once Living a royal rock star fantasy I was the princess, and you were the prince We were living our dream so happily Then fate had to tear us down and break me apart Leaving what was left of me out in the dark Behind it all, I still cared about you I wish I could’ve helped you But it was all too late You were gone away All of the years of memories packed away Lucy sang in perfect harmony with Damon during the chorus as the hushed audience listened to the heartfelt words. I could hear Lucy’s voice shake, but she still sounded like a perfect fucking angel. My angel. When the song was finished, we took a quick water break, only to come back and play our biggest hit, Freakshow . Of course, everyone was singing along to the words of the song, making me smile even wider. All in all the acoustic set was a blast. Shortly after, we were directed over to a long table, where there was some of our merchandise and cd’s were ready for us to sign for the fans. I sat down next to Lucy and my leg brushed up against hers. “I love you,” I whispered into her ear before greeting our first fan.

After an hour of taking pictures, signing the new cd and other merch for fans, Bobby escorted us out of the Guitar Center, but not before I bought Lucy a brand new bass guitar she had been eying for a long time. She just didn’t know about it yet and would probably shit her pants when she saw it. It was a five string with black and hot pink stripes and a matching hot pink guitar strap. I had noticed it when we walked in and had the manager get it out for me to look at when Lucy wasn’t looking. I gave the guy cash and made sure it was tucked away safely until I was going to give it to her. And I knew just the exact time.

Chapter 10: On the Road Again Lucy Being in an arena getting ready to play a sold out show gave me goose bumps. I was watching our opening band, The Straight and Narrow, rock on stage while Pauly tuned up his guitar and the others were getting a shot in before we went on stage, which wasn’t for a while, still. The Straight and Narrow had been around for a few years and had amazing talent. In addition, they had a female keyboardist in the band, Nicki Phantom, who was from England and had the best accent I had ever heard! “I think I met my match, little sis,” Damon sounded excited as he draped an arm around me, handing me a shot. “What do you mean, met your match?” I asked him curiously. He moved me over so I could see some of the crowd, mostly the first few rows and in the stands. “See that girl down there? The dark red hair, short ass skirt…” He pointed with his free hand toward a girl who was standing next to what might have been her sister, and they were holding hands dancing along to the music. “That’s who I’m talking about.” When he showed me the girl, I was screaming a silent victory in my head. That was Isabella Woods and the girl he pointed out was her sister, Samantha. I don’t know how he saw her already, but I was happy Pauly’s plan and mine was working. Or should I say the group plan to find a girl to tame Prince Charming was working. “She’s cute,” I whispered loudly in his ear. “She looks young though. Too young for you.” “Oh please, you’re not my mother, tommy girl.” Damon let out a hearty chuckle, his eyes never leaving Samantha’s direction. “She’s hot and has a mouth on her. By the end of the night she’ll be in my private suite and will have the best night of her life.” I pretended to gag, hoping he didn’t go into any more details. Although having been around these guys for as long as I have been, I’ve seen and heard the worst a guy could say. I let myself out of Damon’s grasp and downed the shot, setting it down by one of our amps. “You won’t get her acting like that you dumbass!” I glared at him. “Some girls don’t fall for your ‘let’s go up to my suite’ act.” I used air quotes, but Damon brushed me off. “Never know, Lucy girl. The way her legs look in that fucking leather skirt, especially up closer, good lord., I wanted to fucking kiss her and would have if it wasn’t for the fact I had other girls looking at me like I was something to eat.” “So you’ve already talked to her?” “Before the show, hell yes, I did. I snuck down there and saw her dancing to that shit on the screens and I talked to her.” Damon told me, a bit of excitement in his voice. Before I could open my mouth again, he clarified “And no I didn’t try to get her number, yet. Lucy, I know what you’re thinking.” “You are so confusing sometimes, Damon,” I groaned at my friend. “Maybe, try being friends with her first. Would you want a girlfriend when we’re just starting this tour?” “I don’t even know anything about the girl!” Damon threw his hands in the air. “Shit, I don’t even know her name. But there was something about her…” “Well…” I patted Damon’s shoulder before turning around to go find Pauly. “Maybe she’ll come backstage after the

show like everyone else.” What he didn’t know was that we had given Isabella backstage passes. Well, technically, Emily gave them to her, and more than likely Damon was going to see his ‘girl’ again tonight. “Don’t screw it up for me!” Damon yelled as I walked toward Pauly as he finished tuning his last guitar. “I wouldn’t dare, Charming!” I grinned as Pauly welcomed me into his arms. This man was everything to me. I felt so safe in his strong, muscular arms that I never wanted to let go of him. I breathed in his strong scent of cologne, letting out a sigh. “He’s love struck,” I murmured as I relaxed into Pauly. “Damon is?” Pauly asked, and I nodded. “He’s apparently already talked to Samantha and is going crazy saying he’s never felt this way before,” I said to him. “It’s so not Damon, so I really think he must like her if he’s acting this way.” We separated from our embrace and Pauly’s fingers gently grazed my wrist. “Well, talking is always a good start… who knows? This might be the girl for him.” “I can only hope,” I replied, and we chatted with Alex and Mike while Damon pretended to be in a conversation when really he was checking out Samantha. The first night on tour always gave me a slight case of anxiety. This concert would set the bar for the rest of the tour: if we kicked ass tonight, then we’d just have to raise the bar over the next 40 shows. I was anxious to get out my bass and put on a show for the fans that had paid to come see us. If you’re going to pay fifty dollars for a concert, it doesn’t matter if you’re in front row or in the nosebleed seats. No matter what, everyone deserved a full-on rock concert from start to finish. After The Straight and Narrow performed their set, Don’t Remember Me and The Brittle Souls were next just before Ignite’s grand entrance. We stood watching and supporting each of the bands, rocking out to the music as if we were in the crowd ourselves. I was still a bit nervous, but after taking another quick shot to ease my nerves, I was ready to conquer the world. “Don’t worry, love, you’ll kick some fucking ass like you always do,” Nikki Phantom draped an arm around me. We stood about the same height, but Nikki had platinum blonde hair that reminded me of a Barbie doll. She had overdone makeup on her eyes and all over her face, but it looked well on her. “That crowd is fucking killer.” I laughed. “Thanks, Nikki. It’s just been a few months since we’ve been on stage and with the new album and everything that has been happening…” “Lucy Tomlinson, you have no reason to worry. You’re in Ignite the Flames. You guys are bigger than you think. If I were you, I’d go crazy ape shit tonight and celebrate!” Nikki smiled, and she was right. This album was something worth celebrating, and I wasn’t going to let my anxiety and nerves get the best of me. I was going to have fun and bang the shit out of my bass. “Well, in that case, let’s save it for after our set,” I chuckled. “I don’t want to get too wasted now and fall offstage halfway through a song.” Nikki patted me on the shoulder and said, “I’ll save you a few drinks, babe.” “Thanks!” I yelled as she headed toward the dressing rooms. We had less than five minutes before we went on stage.

The crowd was already chanting “Flames! Flames! Flames!” as our video for Broken By the Best , an older song of ours, played on the screens facing the audience. I started jumping up and down to warm up my muscles, my bass strapped on around my shoulders as I ran my fingers along the strings, playing some notes to help me get in my ‘zone.’ “Look at them,” Alex pointed with his drumsticks toward the few people we could see since the curtain practically shielded the crowd from the stage. “This is amazing.” “All right guys, come here really quick.” Damon gestured toward himself. We gathered around him, huddling up. “It’s our first show on the tour. The album released today. Let’s play our music for these people the best we’ve ever played. They deserve a damn good set from us and we’re going to give it to them!” We shouted ‘Yeah!’ in response, giving each other hugs before Alex sat down at his drum set to play the beginning to our opening song. The minute Alex started using the pedals, I couldn’t hear a thing besides loud shrilly screams, sending shivers down my spine. This is what I lived for right here. This thrill. The rest of us ran out onto the stage, rocking out the opening notes to Broken By the Best . We hit the end of the introduction, the curtain came tumbling down, and the flames rose, exposing us to the already roaring crowd. I couldn’t contain the smile that was on my face, it fed off the energy of the thousands of screaming fans, ready to sing along to every word of our songs. But when Damon growled into his mic, “How the fuck we doing tonight Grand Rapids?” The girls were screeching louder than before. I could hear a few ‘I love you, Charming!’ and ‘Marry me, Prince Charming!’ over the music, which was a normal thing. He started belting out the lyrics and I stood over on my side of the stage, singing backup vocals. You took advantage of me when I was at my weakest Bent me so far I couldn’t get up Broke me until I was in a thousand shards But I was broken by the best of them Because I’ll still hate your life And the ones who worship you Won’t be on their knees anymore I was never the best singer in the world, so I liked singing Damon’s back up on occasion. He didn’t need it, though, because his voice was pure perfection. It was reminiscent of M Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold in a way; he could hit the high screams and low growls like the best singers in the rock ‘n’ roll world. That’s why Ignite the Flames has gotten as far as we have. I quickly glanced over at Pauly, while he played an intense guitar solo. He slowly walked toward me. I swayed my hips, following the beat of my bass as we played our new songs for the crowd. There were a few rough patches, me nearly forgetting the opening to Freakshow but the crowd must not have noticed because they were screaming and chanting louder than before.

“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Damon growled into his microphone, hunched over so he could catch his breath. My eyes flickered over the front row and the girl Damon was already talking to, Samantha, was looking at her phone with a pissed off look on her face. I nearly tripped on a few bras that been thrown up on stage by our feet, picking one up when Damon started to introduce the band. “Looks like someone wants you to call her.” I flung the small-cupped white lacy bra at Mike, who was taking a drink of water. Mike picked it back up, looked inside the cup where there was a little love note, and a phone number so he could call the girl. “Look at that, I’m loved Lucy!” he teased, placing it down by a pile of others that were in front of the drum set now. “And last but not least, this here is the finest girl in rock ‘n’ roll to ever play the bass guitar, and can kick a guy’s ass with ease, Lucy Tomlinson!” Damon kissed me on my sweaty cheek as I started to play a few quick notes and stuck my middle finger in the air. I heard guys shouting my name and other words I couldn’t comprehend. “Enjoying the set tonight?” Pauly took his place in front of his microphone, on the opposite side of the stage. I took a long hard look at him as he was talking about the new album, and I wanted to pinch myself. I was with this man! His black hair was slicked back; the top of it dripping with sweat. His black Five Finger Death Punch shirt was clinging to his hard muscular chest. He looked pretty fucking irresistible, and I wanted to march over and kiss him in mid-speech. “All of you ladies look especially beautiful tonight, but right now, what we’re going to do is pick a few out of the audience here and have them come onstage for a special song we’ll be playing.” I looked over at Damon, and he gave me a wink. He was up to something because I hadn’t known about this until now. He mouthed to me the name of the song we were going to play, so I went over to Gianni, one of our other roadies, where he handed me my other bass guitar to strap on. “Thanks, G.” I patted him on the shoulder, and ran back out, where the spotlight was shining up and down the front row, finally showcasing none other than Samantha and Isabella. Why wasn’t I surprised? I smiled widely as the security between the stage and the railing helped the two of them over the railing, lifting them onto the stage. The look on both of their faces was surprised and shocked. “Come on over here,” Pauly gestured toward the two, who practically ran toward him, but Samantha’s eyes were locked on Damon as Pauly handed the mic to them. “Now what are your names?” The taller of the two leaned in and said “Samantha and this is my sister, Bella.” “Nice to meet you ladies,” Damon cut in, giving each one of them a one armed hug. I smiled politely at Bella and repeated Damon’s gesture. “It’s working, huh?” I whispered for her to hear me and she giggled, nodding as Samantha dragged her along to the side of the stage where they were watching the rest of the show. We played a few more songs to round out our hour and a half set, ending with Mastermind , one of my favorites that we’d written for the new album. It was sick and twisted in a way. When I wrote it, I thought of Cale and how I’d tried so hard when we were together to help him with his addiction. As we performed the song, a huge mosh pit started forming in the center of the arena, and security was pulling

crowd surfers out of the audience by the minute. It still amazed me how our music made people go insane like that. It’s my fuel for the day and it is what gets me a damn good sleep. Knowing we have fans out there, supporting our music, and actually wanting to see us play in concert gives me the greatest feeling. The pyrotechnics went off again as we exited the stage, my skin feeling the immediate warmth. Once we were off stage, the five of us came in for some high-fives and a big group hug. “That was awesome guys, way to kick off the tour!” Alex shouted, all of us still on a high. “They loved Mastermind . Did you see that pit? I have never seen one that big at any of our shows before!” A grin was plastered all over Pauly’s face as he picked me up and spun me around. Setting me down, he kissed me hungrily on the lips, not holding back at all. “Great job, tommy girl.” He ruffled my hair and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Plus, I think our plan is working, did you see those two? That girl has her eyes set on Damon and no one else.” “Just call us the perfect matchmakers, I guess.” I giggled, pulling out my phone, noting that I had missed a few texts from my siblings, congratulating me on the new album and one from my mom telling me she was sorry for not making it tonight. I shot my mom a text back telling her I loved her, too then headed back to the dressing rooms to prepare for our meet and greet slash after party for the people that had won special passes. Backstage was already abuzz with the other bands patting us on the back and giving us high fives, getting ready to drink off their asses. “This is nuts,” I muttered to myself, taking in the crowd that had poured into one of the spare dressing rooms Bobby had set up. The music blared some bubble gum pop song and girls wearing next to nothing were dancing with cups in their hands. I wanted to say ‘this isn’t a club’ but I refrained. It was going to be a good night. “Do you want a drink, Luce?” Pauly asked me, walking in behind me. I nodded. “Just a coke. I’m not drinking tonight.” “Wow,” Pauly sounded genuinely shocked. “Lucy, not drinking? That is surprise.” I smacked him in the arm. “All right, wiseass! I had a couple of shots earlier! Maybe I want to chill tonight…” “Damn. I was hoping for some hot drunken sex after this whole shindig was over with.” Pauly gave me a look of disappointment. His fingers ran up and down my bare arm, sending shivers through my body. Not that that idea didn’t sound tempting, I just wasn’t in the mood for drinking. “Well, the last part of that can be arranged,” I said seductively, placing my hands under his shirt, resting on his waist. “But not until later.” Pauly groaned. “You’re killing me here.” He laid soft kisses down my neck. “Can’t we go back to the bus for like… five minutes?” I let out a moan, but pulled away quickly because we were still in the middle of the room with people probably watching our display of PDA by now. “Rain check,” I winked, patting his chest as I went over to get the coke that Pauly hadn’t gotten me. I spotted Isabella talking in a corner close to Mike, and when I noticed Samantha, she was in a chair giving Damon a lap dance. My jaw dropped. Her skirt was almost showing her ass as she was grinding pretty hard on Damon and he loved every bit of it. Her hands were on his shoulders as she tipped her back and continued her dance. The looks on the other girl’s faces were priceless, though. Each one of them saw Samantha and Damon together

and scowls replaced their pretty little smiles. “Damn, look at that. Charming’s getting some right in the middle of the room.” Pauly nudged me. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arm around Pauly’s waist. Feeling him against my skin gave me tingly feelings inside, especially now that we were together. I was ready to take him up on his offer about going to the bus for a few minutes of alone time. Who knew how much of that we were going to have over the next few months. I tightened my grip around the guy of my dreams. “I changed my mind,” I said, facing him and looking into his honey-colored eyes, the anticipation of sex oozing out of him. “Let’s go right now.” He led me out the door and we didn’t look back. Tonight was going to end with a bang and I couldn’t wait to watch the fireworks and see what this new tour had in store for us.

TO BE CONTINUED… In “Finding Our Hearts,” coming spring 2015 Wedding bells are in the air…

Pauly: Lucy is the one. That much I do know. Our relationship is still new, but I have only one thing on my mind: asking her to marry me. Never did I think I would want to take this leap of faith with someone, but Lucy has changed me in more ways than she will ever imagine. Now getting her to say yes? That shall be fun. But this will be the proposal to remember.

Note from the author: Thank you so much for reading “Don’t Break My Heart!” I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Lucy and Pauly’s story. Needless to say, it is only the beginning. The next part to their story, “Finding Our Hearts,” will be released within 2015, but not too far away because I don’t want to leave you readers hanging!

Acknowledgements: First, I would like to thank my family. They have been so supportive of me in this journey I call writing, and for that I can’t thank you enough. My beautiful daughters, mommy loves you! To my co-workers, you rock! I have some of the best co-workers I could ever ask for, and Jennifer I still plan on writing you into one of my books I promise! My street team, you ladies are the best! You gave me a lot of honest feedback with this book and I can always count on you. To all of my fellow authors, bloggers, readers, your advice means the world to me. And a BIG thank you to Rebecca from Editing by Rebecca for editing this book.