Forbidden Ballad - Rock My World (4 page)

I feel the smoke fill my lungs, and I exhale slowly, letting the smoke leak out of my mouth and drift up into the warm night air. I notice a young woman standing outside the building, her phone pushed to her ear, in what appears to be a heated conversation.

As I move closer, I notice that she is hot in that good-girl kind of way. She has long light brown hair that hangs down her back in soft waves, and bright innocent blue eyes, though her face is twisted into one of distress. She’s dressed in tight jeans and a black shirt that can’t hide her ample cleavage. She has the kind of chest that you just want to bury your face in and motorboat.

I realize, wryly, that she’s probably the type of girl that my parents would just love.

She catches my eye and I know that she recognizes me. Then she turns her back to me.

What the hell?

I edge closer, smoking my cigarette, and listen in to her conversation. I’m going to have to stand outside while I smoke, so I might as well have some entertainment. And I’ve never had someone recognize me, and then turn away from me.

“Stanley,” she says in a pleading voice, “Please just explain to me what the fuck is going on!”

Nice, the Good Girl curses.

“Stanley, it’s bullshit! You can’t just have the tour and put
her
in! Are you all out of your freaking minds? And why would she go on tour with Walker anyway? Isn’t that beneath her?”

There’s another pause and her voice cracks.

“It’s bullshit! Willow Green can’t be singing my songs!”

Willow Green? She was that bright-eyed little country girl. Why would she be singing this chick’s songs? Who the hell was this girl?

“Whatever!” she spits. “I hope her and Walker have a nice life together!”

She punches her phone angrily to end the call and then whirls around as if she knows that I’ve been standing there.

“What do you want?” she demands.

Is she talking to me?

“What?” she says angrily when I don’t respond.

“Nothing,” I say coolly, blowing smoke out.

“That’s a nasty habit,” she retorts, before turning on her stuck up heel and walking back in the building.

Christ. I just got a hard on from the Good Girl telling me off. I’m used to women falling all over me.

I’m also angry.

Who the hell does she think she is?

After I stand there for a few seconds like a dumb fuck, I stamp out my cigarette and hurry after Good Girl. I see her getting into the elevator.

“Hey!” I yell, thrusting my hand into the elevator, and catching it just before it closes.

She rolls her eyes at me, and I notice they look all watery like she was about to cry.

“Thanks for the public health announcement back there,” I say sarcastically.

“Anytime. I hope you enjoyed eavesdropping.”

“Eavesdropping? You think I give a shit about whatever you were saying on the phone?”

“If you didn’t care then you wouldn’t have been hanging on my every word.”

I let out a snort of laugher. “Please!”

“Whatever,” she says, turning her back to me.

Seriously? I don’t know if I want to kiss this girl, or tell her she’s an uppity bitch. I don’t have time to do either because the doors swing open and she storms out of the elevator.

What the hell is she doing on the second floor too?

She marches ahead of me, going right into the rehearsal space, and flopping down on a bench by Amber.

Oh, fuck.

How did I not recognize her?

She’s the new back up singer.

She starts speaking to Amber, and I see Amber look up and give me a nasty look.

Whatever.

I make my way back over to the band.

“What the hell did you do to the new girl?” Kyle asks.

“Nothing!” I say too quickly. “Why?”

“Because she came storming in here, and then you followed right behind her.”

“Nothing. I might have pissed her off.”

“Jesus, Leo! She’s only been here two hours. Can’t you lay the fuck off?”

“It was an accident! I didn’t know who she was!”

“How could you not know? Mark just introduced her?” he asks disbelievingly.

“Well, I wasn’t paying attention,” I mutter, pretending to fidget with my phone.

“You’re such an ass,” Kyle says, laughing. He walks away, and I notice while fiddling with my phone, that I have an email from my mom.

It starts out with her perfunctory greeting
Dear Leo, I hope you are fine and doing well.

I know she only says that out of obligation; she couldn’t care less how I’m doing, which she and my dad made abundantly clear when I wasn’t taking care of myself a few years ago.

She goes on to brag about my sister Anna getting a hot shot pediatric position at some hospital after completing her residency in Philadelphia. My parents loved to brag about Anna and my brother Josh, even though I made tons more money than either of them. Because I didn’t follow my parents’ footsteps in medicine, I was a loser. My mom and dad couldn’t understand why I wanted to play music instead of doing something truly worthwhile, like helping people. When I was younger I tried in vain to explain that music does help people. It helped me deal with my dickhead parents as I was growing up.

I delete the email and stow my phone in my pocket. I learned a long time ago not to bother responding to my mother’s emails. She never cared what I was actually doing, and she always came back with a disapproving comment or two when I mentioned what the band was doing.

“Everything okay?” Jacie asks softly.

I jump, not realizing she was standing before me. Her eyes are wide and concerned, and I’m suddenly grateful that Jacie is here with me. She’s the one person that I feel safe to be real with, and she understands how things are with my parents. I don’t want to come across as some little pussy that can’t handle my parents, but Jacie has been good at listening over the years. She’s used to constantly disappointing her folks too.

“Just another email from my mom.”

Jacie rolls her eyes. “Bragging about the golden children.”

“Of course. Apparently, Anna was just awarded a halo and a pair of wings.”

Jacie snorts. “I’m surprised she didn’t already have a pair.”

I wink and bump my shoulder against Jacie’s.

“Same old shit.” I pause and look over at the Good Girl. “Hey – what is that new girl’s name again? Carey?”

Jacie shoots me an exasperated look. “Don’t you ever listen? Her name is Carly. And she’s pretty hot, don’t you think?”

Jacie’s eyes light up as she mentions Carly and I smirk.

“Wonder if she bats for the other team?”

“I don’t get those vibes, but a girl can hope, can’t she?”

“I guess so. She just told me off downstairs.”

Jacie’s eyebrows shoot up. “She told you off? Thee Leo Nash?”

Now she’s mocking me.

“Shut up. It was almost funny.”

“I’m sure it was,” she muses, “Wish I had been there to see it. Mmm, so she’s a feisty thing. I think I like her even more.”

I don’t know why, but it bothers me a bit that Jacie is talking that way about Carly. I must have drunk too much scotch earlier, and I shake my head to clear it.

Mark calls us back together, and this time I keep looking back at Carly. I can’t tell much from her voice, she’s just trying to find her way through the vocals, but I’m curious about her now.

Rehearsal ends, and I watch as Carly quickly yanks her hair back and secures it in a ponytail. She grabs her purse, and I see Amber quickly pull her aside and start talking to her in a low voice.

What the hell is that about? They just met.

And why the fuck do I care so much?

I see Carly nod and then brush at her eyes as if she’s crying.

I look over to see Kyle and Maddox looking at something on Kyle’s phone and then glancing back up at Carly.

I look back at Carly who is violently shaking her head at Amber, and then hurries out of the room. For some reason, part of me wants to go follow her, but I don’t.

I’ve never chased after a girl before, and I’m not about to start now.

“What the hell was that about?” Jacie asks quietly, and I notice that she’s standing beside me. She must have been watching the exchange between Amber and Carly also. Again, I’m annoyed that Jacie is watching Carly so closely.

Kyle and Maddox walk up to us.

“Dude, do you know who Carly is?” Maddox asks in a low voice.

I shake my head. Is she someone? She did mention Willow Green.

“She was part of the country group Sideroad. Ever heard of them?”

I’m not a fan of country music, so I don’t really know anyone besides the bigger stars. I know Willow Green because she’s a hot little piece of ass with doe eyes. She’s the kind of girl whose cherry popping is something every guy dreams of.

I shrug. “I don’t think I’ve heard of them.”

But Jacie cries out in surprise. “Yes! That’s where I know her from!”

I look at Maddox blankly. Christ, I’m like a chick listening to this gossip.

“They were an upcoming country group who just released an album that’s doing great. They were about to headline on their first tour this week and Carly was engaged to Walker, the other member. Then a few days ago, it came out that Sideroad had broken up but there weren’t any details. And there was no mentioning of their tour being cancelled.”

Maddox looks around to make sure we aren’t being overheard.

“So then Carly shows up here today all of a sudden, looking totally different.”

Jacie nods her head vigorously. I don’t know what Carly looked like before.

“And then just a few hours ago they announced that the tour would continue but Willow Green would be stepping in to do the shows.”

“What?”

That’s the craziest bullshit I’ve ever heard. Some A-list country star was going to step into a tour for another lesser-known group.

“What the fuck?” Jacie breathes.

Maddox shrugs and Kyle only shakes his head.

“That’s some fucked up shit,” Kyle agrees.

No wonder Carly seemed so upset outside. She had just found out that Willow Green was taking over her tour.

“So, if she was some up and coming country star, then what the hell is she doing in New York singing back up for a rock band?” I ask shaking my head.

I have a headache.

“I don’t know,” Kyle says, “Maybe she got run out of Nashville.”

It was definitely interesting, but I needed to go to bed. My head was throbbing and I still had to talk to Mark to see if he had any more information on Skyler’s paternity test.

I say goodnight to the band and head over to Mark.

“Hey,” Mark says, slapping me on the back. “What did you think of the new girl?”

“She was alright, I guess. She needs to learn the music.”

“Yeah, yeah, she’ll learn it. She used to sing country.”

“That’s what I heard. What happened?”

Mark shakes his head. “Not sure, but I think some serious stuff went down between her and Walker Stevens.”

I nod like I know what he means, and then I clear my throat.

“So, about Skyler?” I begin.

“Right. She’s taking the test next Tuesday. I’ll forward the details over to you so you can get tested too.”

“Right. Great. Thanks.”

I shove my fists in my jeans and hurry out of the building.

Fucking Skyler. I whip out my phone to call her and then stow it away. That will only make matters worse and I don’t want to get into some kind of legal battle until I know if the kid is actually mine or not.

As I make my way home, I find myself thinking about Carly. I wonder what could have happened to make her come out to New York and sing back up when she could have been going on her own tour.

I don’t think about her for too long, because my phone starts to buzz and it’s Mindy, one of the girls I like to randomly hook up with.

Smiling to myself, I text her to meet me at my place in half an hour.

Mindy is just what I need to get my mind off all the other bullshit in my life.

Carly

I don’t remember walking home from rehearsal, but I suddenly find myself back at Quinn’s.

Quinn takes one look at me. “Oh my god, what’s wrong?”

I dissolve into tears and Quinn waits patiently until I can speak.

“It’s Walker,” I sob, “My tour is still going on but Willow Green is stepping in to sing my music.”

“What? That little tramp is now taking your spot on the tour?”

“They aren’t cancelling! How could Walker do this? How could he rub it in my face like this?”

Quinn pats my hair, and moves to the kitchen to pour me a glass of wine.