THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (23 page)

Tessa looked surprised. She
clutched the top of the towel. Her eyes looked glossy.

“
What
does that mean? Are you
…”

“
I
’
m telling you I love you,
”
Colby said.
“
And that fate is always going to
be on our side. So when you need to go to Texas for a conference, you go. And
when I need to go San Diego for a show, I go. We
’
ll
always have this place. Each other. And fate.
”

“
And
if fate turns its back?
”
Tessa asked.

Colby grinned. He then ripped the
plane ticket in half and dropped it to the floor.
“
Then we make our own fate.
”

He slid his arms around Tessa and
held her tight.

If she hadn
’
t tracked him down, Colby would have easily found
out where Tessa was. He would have been there, waiting in a heartbeat, ready to
make his own fate. Whether the game of love worked on purpose on randomly, one
thing was for damn sure
…
Colby was a wild rockstar and always would be
…
but his heart
…
his wild
heart? That now belonged to Tessa.
To pretty eyes.

(24)

Christie was three drinks deep and
sat on a black square case that had
Willow Son
spray painted on it in
white. Her feet dangled and she giggled as she talked to Ryker.

Oh, the trouble there
…

They were waiting for the final
call for Willow Son to take the stage. The outside venue had an estimated
twenty-five thousand people, all there for a five hour music festival hosted by
Portis. The grand finale was the announcement of Willow Son signing with his
record label and then a fireworks show out in the water.

Tessa hadn
’
t seen Colby in almost an hour. There were some
last minute discussions going on with Portis. But that didn
’
t seem to make much sense since
the rest of the band was lingering around the backstage area.

The stage was empty, the techs
quickly setting up the Willow Son gear.

The fans were cheering, chanting,
waiting for the band.

Tessa hated to interrupt Christie
and Ryker, but she grabbed his arm.
“
Where
’
s Colby?
”

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
Ryker said.

“
Is
he meeting with Portis?
”

“
We
’
ve been done,
”
Ryker said.
“
Portis is sitting on the roof of
his restaurant.
”

“
What
…
what about Harry?
”

“
He
’
s over there on his phone.
”

Tessa looked and Harry was pacing
back and forth, wearing a backstage pass. He had his phone stuck to one ear, a
finger in the other. Tessa couldn
’
t
even bother him about Colby.

She licked her lips and started to
worry.

That
’
s
when the lights went out on the stage.

The sun was mostly set, leaving
next to no light all around. There was just the neon glow of the lights from
the bars and restaurants next to the water.

The crowd exploded with screams,
leaving it impossible to talk and be heard.

Ryker let out a yell,
“
GOTTA GO!
”
and disappeared.

A tech was there, handing him a
guitar.

Tessa watched as Willow Son -
without Colby - took the stage.

Brantley got behind the drums and
started to play, hitting the bass drum. Van came in with the bass. Ryker and
Jett hit an open chord, letting the thundering cry echo all around.

That got everyone more excited.

Tessa stared at the side of the
stage. Christie held her arm, jumping and screaming.

She saw a figure approaching from
the darkness of the hallway. Her heart pounded, and not just because of the
blaring and heavy rock music carrying through the speakers.

When she saw it was Colby, relief
swept over her.

He stopped at the side of the stage
and grabbed ear pieces and put them around his neck. He then patted the tech on
the shoulder and ran to Tessa. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he kissed her, hard,
and then let the tip of his nose gently brush again hers.

That was it.

No words.

Colby turned and walked to the
stage.

Tessa backed up and watched him as
he became visible to the crowd. They got louder. And Colby started waving his
arms, getting everyone moving. They all started jumping and bouncing, moving
with the music.

“
We
’
re back!
”
Colby shouted.

And that
’
s all it took.

Willow Son was officially back.
They went right into a song
…
and they didn
’
t stop. This
wasn
’
t some dumb show to
look fancy because they were signed with Portis. This was a rock show. This was
Willow Son showing the fans - the world - they were far from done. And each
song somehow sounded better than the previous one. Colby ran the stage corner
to corner, jumping off, going into the crowd, working harder than Tessa could
have ever possibly imagined a rockstar work.

She had a front row seat tonight
…
and she wanted one for the rest
of her life.

**

Willow Son stood at the edge of the
stage. Colby pointed out to the crowd and couldn
’
t
stop waving. The feeling in his chest was unbelievable. Never once did he
believe the band would never play a show again, but it had been too damn long.
Now it was back to business and back to being the rockstars they were meant to
be.

What Tessa didn
’
t know was that Colby had used
some favors and contacts to get her schedule for the rest of the year. Wherever
she went on business was where Willow Son would be going on tour. They
’
d take a tour bus, they
’
d fly, whatever, to and from the
studio, to shows, to anything needed.

Colby would be with Tessa as much
as he could.

Temping fate? Yeah.

Controlling fate? Definitely.

But he loved her. He wanted her.
He
needed her.

Once he was off the stage, he
peeled his shirt off his body and tossed it to the side. The band huddled
around him, the energy from the show still flowing through them.

Portis approached, a drink in his
hand.
“
Gentlemen.
”

Colby nodded.
“
Portis.
”

“
Shall
we announce this?
”
he
asked.

“
Tell
us what you thought of the show first,
”
Colby said.

“
Simple.
I
’
m on the roof of my
restaurant. I
’
m enjoying a
thousand dollar plate of food. I
’
m
surrounded by the most beautiful women in the world. And you know what? None of
it compared to the sight before my eyes. Willow Son taking twenty-five thousand
people and removing them from their lives for two hours. It
’
s big, gentlemen. It
’
s big. Dare I say it, but I
’
m honored.
”

“
I
’
m glad you enjoyed the show,
”
Colby said. He grabbed Portis
by the shoulder.
“
But you
’
re wrong about something.
”

“
Oh?
”

“
The
most beautiful women in the world? They don
’
t
stand a chance
…”

Colby walked away from Portis and
scooped up Tessa in his arms. He kissed her, held her, letting the energy of
the show go to her. It never felt so good to be alive, to live a dream, to have
love.

An hour later, after Portis gave a
half drunk speech about Willow Son, the fireworks started to go off.

Colby sat on the side of the stage,
leaning on a guitar rig, Tessa curled up between his legs. He stroked her hair,
kissed her cheek, and waited.

When a firework exploded into a
heart, he squeezed Tessa tighter.

“
That
one
’
s for you, pretty eyes,
”
he whispered.
“
You make my heart explode.
”

She looked back at him, smiling,
eyes glossy again.

It was money well spent.

But nothing mattered
…
money, fame, being a rockstar
…
in the moment Colby and Tessa
stared at each other. All that mattered then was love.

The rockstar and pretty eyes.

*****

Jett finished another strong shot,
but it wasn
’
t strong
enough. Nothing was ever strong enough, that
’
s
just how it was in the life.

Everything was so busy, again.

Crowds coming and going. Portis
celebrating Willow Son. Willow Son celebrating Willow Son. The rockstars who
shouldn't have made it did make it and were going to be something even bigger.
That meant more work, more touring, more of everything.

Jett knew everyone in the band had
their skeletons hiding. Their demons were alive, maybe not attacking, but
certainly lurking. There was a phone number Jett could have called right then
to take care of some things for him. First off, the feeling of being so alone
around so many people. That was one thing he could never talk to the band
about. Being rich and famous put him in the limelight and put him in front of a
lot of people all the time. The one night stands, ten minutes of pleasure, all of
that was great.

But it didn
’
t take away what the true lonely feeling was like.

There was one thing that helped.

Those little white pills.

They were fucking brutal to mess
with, but sometimes Jett just needed them. He never took too many at once. He
couldn
’
t talk to the doctor
again because that would lead to questions, options for other treatments. The
truth was
…
Jett just wanted
to feel good. To feel normal in the madness that was his life.

From past to present, it collided
together.

It weighed on him terribly.

But just one of the pills could
help. That
’
s what they were
for.

Just talk to Harry
…

His mind reasoned with him over and
over about it.

Harry could have made a call. Shit,
he could have pulled a favor. Better yet, Portis probably had connections that
went up and down the coast. But Portis wanted the band to be good. To be on the
straight line.

The straight line.

That
’
s
what Jett was looking for. The straight line. Just to chill out for a minute.
To sleep off the show, the signing, the everything that had been happening.

Before the show started, like some
kind of fate or whatever, Jett got a phone call from an old friend. It had been
months since he
’
d seen his
friend. That
’
s because Jett
refused to worry about the lonely feeling and the pills for a while. Plus, his
doctor had helped him with a legal prescription. That was dry, and now his
friend was hang around near the front gate at the stage. Just like he always
did. Hands in his pockets, headphones around his neck. Looking like any other
Willow Son fan, right? That was the purpose of the guy.

Jett broke away and wandered toward
the front of the gate. The rest of the band was talking with Portis and Harry.
There were drinks, women, a night of
anything goes
.

That
’
s
what Jett wanted.

That
anything goes
kind of
feeling without hurting or feeling lonely.

He walked up to the guy -
his
friend
- and nodded.
“
Autograph?
”

“
Hitting
the big time again,
”
his
friend said.
“
You sure
about this?
”

“
I
took your call, didn
’
t I?
”

“
We
haven
’
t talked in a while.
Thought you cleaned up and got help.
”

“
I
don
’
t need help. I
’
m good where I am. You good?
”

“
Always.
”

Jett reached into his pocket and
took out some cash. He never looked around, never wanting to be suspicious. The
cash had a marker with it.

The guy -
his friend
- took
the cash and Jett took the top off the marker.

Jett was then handed a little black
pouch. Usually it was filled with guitar picks or random shit, the white pills
on the bottom. Jett took the pouch and put the marker to his friend
’
s palm. Hey, some fans were
crazy, right? Women wanted their breasts signed. Guys sometimes asked for their
arms to get signed.

“
Thank
you,
”
Jett said.
“
You have
…”

A hand clamped down on Jett
’
s wrist.

He looked up and saw a thick guy
standing behind his friend, lip curled.

“
Hold
up, my man,
”
Jett said.
“
I
’
ll
sign for you next.
”

“
No,
”
the guy said.
“
You
’
re going to come for a ride with me
…”

Jett opened his mouth to laugh
…
maybe tell the guy to go screw
himself
…

But then Jett looked at his friend.
He mouthed
I
’
m
sorry.

Jett looked back to the thick guy
and his opened his jacket.

He revealed a badge.

Jett had just been caught buying
drugs.