Risky Rockstar: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 23
“Yeah.” Josh comes over and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Sorry about the baby.” The statement about my miscarriage is so random it takes me a while to recover, but before I do, Kade cuts in. “Fucking hell, Josh.”
Josh turns to face Kade, and he throws his hands in the air. “What? It’s fucking tragic. I’m just being a human being.”
It’s about as uncomfortable as it can possibly be, so I dig deep for something to say. “That’s okay. I’m sorry you got your junk stuck in your zipper in Oklahoma.”
Kade throws his head back and laughs, and the others join in, including Josh, who tweeted about the incident a few nights ago, along with some very graphic suggestions on how to make it heal faster.
“You guys nailed it out there.” Kevin not so smoothly changes the topic, but I’m grateful.
“Yeah, you really blew me away,” I agree. “In fact, it’s why I’m here. I have a little proposition for you guys.” Butterflies duel in my stomach, and I figure it’s best to go with the Band-Aid off approach on this one. “It’s been a really long time since I was so inspired. I love your sound, and I think with both your sound and mine, we could work magic together. How would you like to collaborate with me?”
We haven’t moved away from where we’re standing at the front door. The guys all look amongst themselves, and it’s pretty obvious this was the last thing they expected. I hold my breath, realizing this is probably a lot to take in.
“I realize this is very out of the blue. I’m proposing a one-song deal to start with, and we can see where it takes us.”
Kade gestures to the couches behind us. “Why don’t we take a seat and we can talk logistics.”
I smile. “I’d like that.”
Maddie bounces on the balls of her feet. “I’ll get us some drinks.”
Chapter 8
Kade
I close the door after saying goodbye to Hayley and Kevin and lean against it, wanting to bang my head against the hard wood but refraining since every eye in the room is on me. I can’t believe I eye-fucked Hayley in front of her date. Who is none other than Kevin Peyton, by the way. I’d heard she’d split from that asshole Ethan Hartnet, and I can’t say I’m surprised. What does surprise me is that someone like Hayley would find herself involved with a guy like Ethan to begin with. The guy is a douche of epic proportions. I’ve been to a few parties he’s also been at, and let’s just say he pushes every boundary, but what he did to Hayley after her miscarriage was another level of evil altogether. I have to hope that there’s a special place in Hell for fuckers like Ethan.
I’m passing judgments on Hayley like I know her when this was the first time I’ve actually met her, but I’ve heard her music and know she writes her own material, and what I hear in her songs tells me that three-quarters of the bullshit printed is just that. Bullshit. She has heart and soul, and what I saw reflected in her deep brown, almost black, eyes tells me I’m not off on this.
And…despite the fact that I gawked at her like a fucking adolescent, she still proposed a collaboration with us. I’m not gonna lie, I’m impressed that she stood out in the sun and watched our whole concert, then came back here, sweat-soaked and without makeup to propose the deal. And I’m gonna add just for good measure that the woman is even more attractive wet with sweat than she is on her album covers. I’m also impressed that she came here without an agent or a lawyer. Just her and Kevin, who was more generous with me than I probably deserved after the way I looked at Hayley.
“You want a minute, Kade, or can we get to business?” Keller is looking at me, eyebrow cocked and a fat smirk across his face.
“He hasn’t been laid in a while; I think he’s gonna need less than a minute with that hand of his. So soft and smooth from his rich-boy life. He can close his eyes, and it won’t take much to imagine it’s Hayley jacking him off.”
I flip Josh off and sit at the round table, waiting for my bandmates to join me.
“How do you know they’re soft? You two been holding hands again?” Jeff nudges Keller, and Keller grins.
“Fuck off.” I shake my head, throwing and catching the flash drive containing the song Hayley asked us to listen to.
Keller sits opposite me, and Maddie comes up behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders. “There’s absolutely no way his hands are callus-free with all the work he’s doing at Elphin Lodge. I have to believe they’re real rough.” She winks at me, and I know she’s doing this to wind Keller up.
A few weeks ago, I came back from Elphin Lodge, the assisted-living facility where Pops is being cared for, with my hands pretty banged up. Pops was having a particularly bad day; he kept asking about Emily, which wasn’t unusual. Emily was like a granddaughter-in-law to Pops. He loved her as much as I did and took it just as hard when we broke up. But he always remembered things had ended between us. Except for on this day, the more I told him she wasn’t in my life anymore, the crazier he got. I watched him