Straight from the Heart (9 page)

I nodded. “You could say that. Only time I
was able to eat anything without a fancy name was when I snuck out
with my friends and my ex, Ethan.” Dammit, I mentioned him. I never
told anyone else in Everlasting about him, and I sure didn’t want
to bring him up on this date with Damon.

“Ahh, so what happened with him?”

“We had different goals I guess. Thought I
loved him, but things changed.” That was some of the truth. I loved
Ethan with all of my heart, before I could even comprehend what
love meant.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But his loss,
right?”

“Exactly.”

The rest of the night went better than I
anticipated. We both had the seared salmon with cauliflower and it
reminded me of home. Like when my parents would hire a cook to come
in for our monthly family “get together.” I was surprised by how
well the conversation was flowing between Damon and me. We talked
about how he grew up just outside of Mackinaw Island, and how he
formed Ignite the Flames after he met Lucy at a guitar workshop in
Grand Rapids one summer in High School.

“So what happened between Lucy and Cale?” I
wondered. “Luke mentioned her once and Cale basically flipped out
on him.”

Damon rested his elbows on the table, moving
his empty plate to the side. “Ahh now that is a sticky situation
I’m afraid. Let’s say their ‘break-up’ is the reason you’re sitting
here with me now.” What was he talking about? I cocked my head to
the side in confusion and he cleared his throat. “I knew that’d
make you think.”

“Wait, you’re saying that Cale kicked that
guy out because of Lucy?” I still wasn’t putting it together, and
how it had to do with me.

“Long story short, yes. But that’s something
Mr. Know-it-all will have to tell you about, I’m afraid.” Damon’s
hand rested on top of mine, his fingers grazing the spot above my
wrist. “But why don’t we get out of here and head back to the
hotel?”

Not a bad idea. The air was starting to get
cool, and my shoes would not hold up if I walked a long way. Stupid
stilettos. “You know what I’m in the mood for?” He raised his
eyebrows in question.

“Movies on HBO?”

“How did you guess? They had an ‘Evil Dead’
marathon on tonight, those are my favorite movies.” I smiled
widely, and he chuckled.

“Mine too. How about we go back up to your
room and watch it? I’m sharing a room with the guys and I know they
were already partying when I took off,” Damon said, and I could
relate. But the idea of Damon Charming in my hotel room ALONE had
me nervous. This time it was different though. I had to tell myself
that. He wasn’t drinking anything besides water, and I could tell
he was genuinely trying to prove he was “charming,” so to
speak.

It was working.

He wrapped his hand in mine on our way back
to the hotel, instantly warming me up. He was talking about some of
the music he had been writing with Lucy, wanting to play it on the
last leg of the tour.

“You really can play you know,” Damon
complimented me as we rode in the elevator to my room.

“Think so?”

“Uh, yeah. You put a lot of guitarists to
shame. That cover you guys do of ‘Afterlife’ is insane. Like I said
before, Cale’s lucky he’s got ya.”

“Thanks. It took me awhile to nail the solo
because I was so used to playing an acoustic guitar. I’m finally
getting the hang of it.” I admitted and he clutched my hand tighter
as we landed on my floor. Straightaway, I heard the sounds of girls
screaming and glass breaking against the wall. I shook my head as
Damon and I stepped out. “Why does that not surprise me?”

Damon half smiled and gestured towards the
guy’s room as we passed it. “They’re guys, Bryn. When you’re stuck
on a bus for months on end with only testosterone, it’s good to get
out and,” He saw the disgusted look on my face and stopped. “I’m
sorry.”

I laughed it off. “No worries,” I replied as
I opened the door. I secretly thanked myself for cleaning my mess
of papers and clothes up before I left for the date. “Make yourself
comfortable, I’m going to go change really quick.” I was ready to
take off that dress. After eating as much food as I ate, I was
busting at the seams. Damon mouthed ‘Okay,’ sitting down on the
edge of my bed. I grabbed a pair of cotton shorts and Detroit
Tigers t-shirt, hurrying into the bathroom.

Once I put on my t-shirt and shorts, I gave
myself another once over and walked out into the main room. Damon
had taken his shoes off, back against the headboard. He whistled
when I sat beside him and as a result, I slapped him on the chest.
“Never seen you this laid back, Bryn. You’ve been avoiding me ever
since that first night on tour.” It was the truth. No one had seen
me in anything besides my show outfits except for the guys in the
band. But then again, they walk around in practically nothing,
sometimes just shorts and no shirt, not caring that I was in the
room. Good eye candy though, I had to admit.

“Alright.” I stopped him. “
No
more
mentioning that night okay? We’re starting on a clean slate
tonight!”

“Fine, whatever you say, boss.” He saluted
me, draping his arm around my waist, scooting me in closer. My head
laid against his shoulder as the beginning to the original “Evil
Dead” was starting.

Not once did I worry about what Cale was
doing or the tour.

I woke up the next morning with my face
muffled in the pillow, deep in the satin sheets that were on the
bed. That was the best night’s sleep I had in a long time. I
couldn’t help but smile when I replayed the events from last night
in my head. Damon was a gentleman and treated me like a princess.
We ended up watching movies until past midnight when I must’ve fell
asleep. Sitting up in the bed, I noticed a note lying next to
me.

Bryn,

I didn’t want to wake you up when I slipped
out during the night. You looked so peaceful the way you were
sleeping, and I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries by staying. I
hope you had as much fun as I did and I really hope you’ll let me
take you out again soon.

Good Luck Tonight,

Damon

P.S. If I didn’t tell you already, you are
gorgeous.

I immediately felt my cheeks flush. I’d gone
on dates with Ethan to fancy restaurants, courtesy of our parents,
but last night felt different. I was able to be who I wanted to be,
not some stereotypical snotty rich girl on a date with her equally
rich boyfriend. Damon was the complete opposite of what my parents
would approve of, and I think that’s part of the reason I
gravitated to him.

Then there was Cale.

I had feelings for him too. There was no
denying that, as much as I hated to think it. As I sorted out my
clothes for the day, I thought of how the guys and I were going to
spend the whole day together singing songs and practicing for
tonight. Cale wanted to do a cover of “You’re Going Down” by The
Sick Puppies, planning to add my voice in the mix. I had the song
on replay as I ate my room-service breakfast, my mind flickering
back to Cale. Again. Cale was easily one of the most creative
people I have ever met. He could take a song and completely flip it
around, adding a few extra notes and harmonies and making it epic
in my mind.

Hearing a faint knock at the door, my body
froze. I hoped no one heard my out-of-tune singing or seen my crazy
dance moves through the peep hole. I peeked through the little hole
in the door and saw Cale’s right eye staring back at me. Standing
back, I unlocked the door, allowing him in. His hair was wet from a
shower and was wearing a tight solid navy shirt and silver
basketball shorts.

“Did you have a good night?” I asked him
with a flirty smile as he gave me a hug. I breathed him in and he
smelled like Axe body spray and men’s shampoo.
Keep it together
Bryn. Just because he smells good doesn’t mean anything.

He yawned, stretching his arms over his
head. “Wasn’t too shabby. Had some people in the room, drank, that
kind of stuff.” I think he was purposely trying to leave out that
he had girls in the room. As much as I didn’t like the sound of it,
it wasn’t like I owned him. We were just bandmates. He glanced at
my unmade bed, pointing at it. “So why didn’t you come in and party
with us?”

I shrugged. “I had that date.”

 “You still went out with the bastard?”
I cringed when he started to swear. This over protective act was
starting to piss me off a little bit, like he was just another
older brother that I didn’t need. “I’m surprised he didn’t try to
put the moves on you. Was he at least a gentleman?”

“Like I just said, yes I did. Everyone
deserves a second chance, Cale. He’s a really nice guy.”

“I never said he wasn’t, but, whatever
that’s your choice.” He kicked the wall and sat down. Luckily his
foot didn’t leave a dent. I really didn’t want to have to pay for
it.

I started to laugh. “You know you’re pretty
sexy when you’re jealous.”

He looked at me as if he didn’t expect those
words to come out of mouth. But I knew I was right. His face formed
a weird expression and mouthed “Sexy?”

“What?” I asked in between giggles. My
laughter was uncontrollable now. I fell back into the recliner in
the corner, trying to hide my face from him. I’m sure it was beat
red from laughing so hard. “That’s the first word I could think of
Cale! You just seemed so protective. And sexy just popped into my
head.” As if he needed an explanation.

Cale walked over to me and knelt down,
putting his hands on my knees that were curled up to my chest. “Of
course I’m protective. You’re 18 and new around this scene. These
guys are eating you up alive and I hear every little thing they are
saying. I’d say I’m sorry but I’m not because it’s up to the guys
and I to keep you safe.”

Swatting him away, I got up, pulling down my
shorts so they didn’t show so much skin. “Let’s just get to
practice. Raptor, Vince and Luke meeting in here too?”

He nodded. “Yeah, they had more fun than I
did, so it’s taking them longer to wake up and recover. Gives us a
head start to work on the vocals.” I handed him my iPod and he
flipped through the songs to find the one we were practicing. His
fingers stopped scrolling and played “You’re Going Down.”

We listened to the song a couple of times,
and in the middle, he would tell me when to come in and what pitch
so our voices stayed in harmony. I didn’t quite understand why he
thought we should perform this song but Cale admitted to me that
The Sick Puppies were one of his favorite bands.

“The bass line is sick,” was his excuse. He
didn’t even play bass.

You learn something new every day.

Vince, Raptor and Luke knocked on the door a
few minutes later, smelling like they hadn’t showered or put
deodorant on. It didn’t help that when they gave me a group hug the
day old smell wafted up. I made a mental note to take another
shower later on, or just spray extra coats of perfume before the
show.

“We should go up to the Sears Tower, dude.
None of us got the chance to see it last year when we were here.”
Raptor moaned, lying flat against his stomach on the floor. Luke
kicked his side and he stood right up, clutching his rib in pain.
“The fuck? I’m still tired.”

“Well don’t have sex with random strangers
and maybe you’d sleep,” Cale remarked, feeling pretty proud. The
guys started laughing, and I gave him a strange look. “Don’t laugh,
Rap. I know you messed around with more than one of those girls.
Wasn’t the groupie, was it?”

“I can have ‘relations’ with whomever I so
choose, Mr. Boss Man.” Raptor air quoted ‘relations,’ deflecting
the attention from him to Cale. “And don’t tell me you didn’t have
some fun either, Pelton. You seemed pretty amused by that stripper
giving you a show and what’s his face from that other band. I don’t
remember his fucking name.”

So he was caught. I knew Cale had to drop
his so-called perfect act at some point. I had a feeling someone
like him would’ve been the biggest ladies’ man of them all. That
tended to happen when the lead singer of a band was flawless and
had a cocky attitude that draws hundreds of women to him on a near
daily basis. That was exactly why I needed to stay away. Damon was
the exact same type, but something inside me told me he was really
being genuine and wanted to get to know me better. At the same time
I had to remember I couldn’t be too trustworthy either. With what
happened with Ethan, I wasn’t fully ready to give someone my trust
yet, let alone heart.

“Ooooo you loved it alright.” Vince reminded
Cale. “She was trying to take you into the bathroom and…”

“And what?” I asked Vince, amused by the
situation and how Cale hated being put in the spotlight.

“She was trying to give him a private
one-on-one tease show in the bathroom, more like ‘come here and
fuck me.’” Luke started cracking up, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Cale shifted uncomfortably in the chair next to me, slouching
down. 

He glanced over at me, giving me an
apologetic look. “You weren’t supposed to hear that, B. Believe me,
and I’ve already tried to forget it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I think it’s quite
amusing actually.” I admitted. “But I really think we should go see
that tower. Get away for a bit before the show.” Everyone else
agreed reluctantly.

So I fixed my hair and threw it into a
sloppy ponytail while the rest of the guys went back to their room
to clean up.

It was the nicest afternoon I’d had with the
guys so far since knowing them. Not once after leaving did we talk
about the show, but instead talked about how amazing the view was
from atop of the Sears Tower. I had grown over the past few weeks
to consider these boys my brothers. Except whenever I caught a
glimpse of those amber colored eyes, I felt different. Maybe it was
the way he would sneak glances when he thought I wasn’t paying
attention. It gave me butterflies and a sense of uneasiness all in
one combination.