Whisky Melody: Rock Star Romance, New Adult College Romance (Tennessee Romance Book 2) (15 page)

The lights were low. The merchandise was piled in boxes, ready to be opened and sold to their adoring fans. All of them were nervous, but no one was more keyed up than Logan.

In spite of their dressing room interlude, he was sure Ashley as still somewhat pissed at him for even accusing her of wanting Charlie. He darted his eyes over at his stepbrother. Charlie looked relaxed enough, with his bass slung low and a half-bored expression on his face. Logan knew that expression all too well; underneath his cool, calm, and collected exterior, their re-hired bassist was just as nervous and hyped up as the rest of them. Fortunately Charlie was a fast study, and even though he’d only had a few days to get the bass lines down, he’d managed to do pretty well in their hasty rehearsals.

The tiny back rooms were cordoned off so each band had time to practice without bothering the other bands. Charlie adjusted a few controls and nodded, then ran through the opening lines of the first song, keeping in the key and not adding any fast little riffs or flashy runs. That was a plus, but it was a struggle for him to do so; Charlie was the consummate showoff, and everyone knew that the first chance he got, he would grab a solo and run with it.

“I can’t warm up anymore. I just…can’t,” Ashley said, her nerves evident.

Logan took a long breath and looked at his band, wondering how he could calm them all down. They needed the adrenaline, but they had to purge their nerves. After an equally long exhale, he said, “C’mon. We can stand in the wings and watch a few sets or something.”

“Yeah, we might as well size up the competition,” Charlie agreed, offering a snide grin. Logan had been an asshole to him, and they both knew it, and now his smile said it all.

The first band had just taken the stage, and Whisky Lullaby stood off to the side to listen in.

“Who the heck is that?” Ashley asked, pointing.

Logan looked at the stunning young woman wielding a gorgeous axe. She was short, not a centimeter over five feet. Her half-blonde, half-black hair hung down to her narrow shoulders in choppy but carefully styled layers. Her slender, petite body was contained in a thin tank-top that barely reached the curve of her bottom. Torn fishnet stockings, attached to garters, jutted out from her knee-high boots, completing her rocker-girl ensemble.

“I’ve got no idea who she is,” Logan said, “but she looks like serious competition.”

“I don’t know either,” Charlie said, his mouth practically watering as he stared at her, “but I’d sure as hell like to.”

Ashley pursed her lips, and Logan prayed she wouldn’t say something ugly, no matter how well deserved it was; now was simply not the time.

The young woman held up one finger and asked into her mic, “Who’s ready to rock?”

The crowd exploded.

“Uh-oh,” Logan said. He knew they were in trouble the minute the woman lifted her guitar over her head in a flashy little motion and hit a riff so badass that the crowd immediately lost their minds.

Meanwhile, Ashley’s little gasp of exclamation perfectly summed up everything he felt.

Whoever the young woman was, her band was really, really good. She was spectacular on the guitar, and she had a great vibrato, a unique way of mixing power chords with long strings of melody that impressed even Ashley. Her voice wasn’t the greatest, but it was really good, all growl and punch—a thick, chesty tone that cut right through the mix and went over the top at all the right moments. The whole band was into what they were playing, and that translated to the audience really getting into it too. They ended songs with style, and their between-song banter was witty; it worked like a charm to hype the crowd up even more.

Logan looked over at Charlie, who was still staring at the lead singer like he’d just found a life preserver in a rough sea. He poked him in the ribs. “Dude, we gotta go back to the dressing room.”

Zip was the first to say something. “Man, I know we’re good, and we knew everybody here would be, but
that’s
the opener? I mean, the producers put us last and all, but…shit.”

Mike looked really worried. He paced the floor for a few minutes and said, “If that’s the act with the least chance of winning, I don’t even know what to say. I know we’re good, but did you hear her playing? Why they landed on the bottom is anyone’s guess, unless we got it wrong and they really did just use a random lineup.”

Charlie leaned against a wall, angling one of his hips against it for support. “Dude, I think it was pretty stupid to take for granted that being last in the lineup had anything to do with any-damn-thing. I said that before. This isn’t just a show. It’s a contest, and they don’t line the bands up based on who’s best. It has nothing to do with who the producers consider headliners. I wanted to tell you all before that I figured doing some of the older covers would be a stupid move, but y’all were so positive you were on top, simply because they put you at the bottom of the schedule. I guess now’s as good a time as any to say it.”

“If we don’t do something fast, we’re all screwed,” Mike said, nodding. “We gotta fix that set list.”

Zip’s head fell into his hands in frustration. “Man, you guys are right. Shit. How could we have been so cocky?”

Ashley shifted from foot to foot. “Is there any way we can do more new songs?”

Logan gnawed his lip. “Most are still being written, or we don’t know them as a group.”

Silence fell. The three weeks leading up to Rock Star Royale had been hectic and fraught with personal tension. They’d lost sight of their goal in the process, as they were all more focused on everything else. Now, seeing the opening band had hit home the reality that Whisky Lullaby had simply been arrogant, naïve, and stupid, and they’d squandered away all those practice hours because of it.

Charlie said, “Well, I’m a quick learner. If we do just enough flash over the songs, just a little bang for the buck, maybe we can squeeze a few of the new ones in there. At the very least, we need to dump two covers and bust our asses to get into the next round.”

Logan felt paralyzed, wondering how he could possibly have let his beloved band down so much. He knew it was because he was so distracted with relationships, particularly with Ashley and Charlie, but those issues had to be sorted out before the band could be glued back together anyway. He’d done the best he could to cement the people back together, and a truce was the best he could pull off. In the process of all those reparations, though, he’d let too much go with the band and the music, and now they were on the front lines with little in their arsenal. He rubbed his temples with two fingers. “Okay, listen up. This is the first round. The best acts go forward. We need to be in that lineup. We’ll have time to work on stuff while other bands are up, so that’s what we’re gonna do. We have to pull it together. Ashley, where’re those lyrics you were working on?”

She looked down at her feet. “In my head.”

He hadn’t seen them yet, but he knew they would be dynamite, coming from her. “Good, then let’s go with two new songs. We’ll use one set of my lyrics and one set of yours. We’ll mix ’em into the four-song first round set with the two new ones we played at The Cave.”

“Man, are you high?” Zip asked, looking at him in astonishment. “We can’t possibly write and learn two new songs in less than an hour.”

Logan glared at him. “We don’t have a choice. Let’s focus and get to work. Like Charlie said, we’ll keep it simple. We’ll just fill in a few gaps with a little flash and rock it out as best we can. Our covers just aren’t good enough to get us through. My lyrics are simple, and we can toss them together with an easy but good-sounding finger-picked melody, so let’s start there.” He hurried over to his case and dug out the lyrics he’d scribbled down, then passed them around to the group. “I’ll sing the melody, and we’ll start filling in from there. As long as we all stay on key, we can make it work.”

“What key?” Charlie asked as he strapped on his bass. He seemed willing to play along, even if no one else was.

“Just sing the melody, and we’ll work it out as to what key and all,” Ashley offered.

The others nodded, and everyone tried to work together, but tension quickly filled the room. The mistakes were clear, as was their only recourse. They couldn’t go onstage with just a few originals sprinkled in amongst some covers. The first act had shown them, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everyone there was hungry to win that battle of the bands, and for the moment their best was not good enough.

Logan blamed only himself. It was up to him to lead the band, and he hadn’t done that. He feared it might be too late to rectify the situation, but he had to try. They deserved better from him, and all he could do now was give them his best.

Ashley was pretty sure Logan had lost his mind, even though she knew what was driving that insanity. They’d all been stupid and just assumed they’d automatically tumble into the second round based on where they fell in the lineup. They had gotten cocky and arrogant, letting that rule their emotions, and now they had no idea if they even had a real chance.

Whisky Lullaby did rule the stages they’d been playing on, but this was not their usual stage. Also, the bands who were competing against them had done their share of stage-ruling, too. Everyone was there to win, and the others had obviously not been busy fighting and breaking up and all the other stuff they’d been busy doing instead of actually working on their music.

Remorse hit Ashley as she realized she was to blame, too. She had to apologize to Logan, but first she had to work hard on getting done what they needed to do. She looked down at the lyrics, scrawled in his typical messy handwriting. “How about we change this verse here? Like… We could have it lead into the chorus at this line and just forget this one.”

“Why?”

“Well, there are too many words that start with S in that line, and I don’t wanna be spitting all over the mic or the audience.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. I put it in because it sounds good on paper, but I guess I shoulda considered the S factor.”

Her smile was genuine as she ran a hand down his arm. She took in his smile, but she noticed that he very quickly turned away and that made her heart ache. She wondered if he had forgiven her. Even more than that, she wondered if she had really, truly forgiven him.

It wasn’t the time to worry about their relationship, though. They had to focus on what they were going to do onstage. Losing was unacceptable. They couldn’t possibly be booted out in the first round; the band was too fragile and shaken already, and they all knew that kind of a blow might rattle them apart for good. They had to make it to the second round, and as far as most of them were concerned they had to make it to the top of this battle. Even Ashley wasn’t willing to settle for second place. None of them were, and it showed as they spent the next hour working their asses off to get the songs done and down.

When the call came for them to go onstage, they handed their instruments over to the techs to set up, and they all gathered together in a huddle.

“Hands in, guys,” Logan said. “We’re going to do this.”

They didn’t have much of a choice, but they all nodded in agreement and followed one another to the stage. As they headed along the backstage area, they heard people screaming and cheering. “Whisky! Whisky! Whisky!” the audience chanted, and that was an encouraging sign.

Ashley’s heart rose into her throat and lodged there. Her hands shook, and the nerves came back, flooding her body with adrenaline. It wasn’t really anything like their last gig at The Cave. For that, they’d planned a sexy little jump-in, but they couldn’t pull that kind of stunt here. At Royale, everyone expected her to be onstage with the boys, and they already knew she was with Logan. They had to perform their butts off, had to be better than anyone else, and Ashley only hoped she could live up to those expectations.

The stage was just slightly higher than the waists of the people gathered near the small, curved section where the security guards stood. The faces were a blur, and the whole room seemed to tilt and whirl like some crazy carnival ride.

Ashley nearly swooned, even though she wasn’t sure what swooning was.
Uh-oh,
she thought, knowing it was not the time for a panic attack or a blackout. She somehow managed to shake it off and held up one hand, driving the crowd wild with just that little wave.

Logan took his place next to her. Their rearranged set list was taped to the floor over the set list of the group that had just gone. The PA system buzzed and crackled, then settled.

Ashley’s hands grasped the mic, but she feared she might drop it because her palms were so slick with sweat. Beneath her t-shirt and skinny jeans, she was soaking wet and shaking. Her eyes scanned the crowd. Her heart thundered so loudly that she was sure the beat of it would sound out through her mic at any minute.

The first notes sang out, a slow, ringing sound. The crowd hushed. Glow sticks illuminated the place in myriad purples and greens. Notes were held and drawn out, then crashed into power chords and a thudding bass beat.

Ashley looked over at Logan. The words came into her head, but she didn’t sing them. She waited till the melody was just right, till it perfectly fit the phrasing, then sang out, “I’m sorrier than I can say, but what’s in a word anyway? You weren’t right, and I wasn’t wrong, but just hold on tight. Don’t string me along…”

The crowd went wild.

Logan moved closer, till their bodies collided.

The rest of the band, obviously confused but managing to stay in time and key, hit the next surging chords and harmonies.

Logan’s face was within inches of hers, and the crowd sucked in a collective breath.

Ashley stared at him dreamily, gulping in a breath of her own. She couldn’t help but wonder—just as the crowd was—if he was going to kiss her or not.

Rather than doing that, Logan just opened his mouth and began to sing. The tension deepened and lengthened as they crowded together around the mic. His face was so close to hers that she could see the beads of sweat on his forehead.

The sexual longing and the regret seemed to swarm up out of her body and through her words as their bodies collided again. Logan backed away, then neared her again, repeating that move over and over again, and the audience ate it up.

When they immediately launched into another song, the hyped-up audience screamed even louder.

The stage vibrated beneath Ashley’s feet, and all her pent-up feelings gushed out of her, as deep and intense as her voice and as obvious as the sweat that gave the sheen to her face and body. Her figure moved and swayed to the music, and her hands kept time, tapping on the mic and her upper thighs.

Logan hit the notes perfectly as they ran through the final chorus and right into the next song, not stopping for any band-to-audience banter. They just continued singing, giving occasional high-fives to their wide-eyed, clapping, adoring fans. Charlie even blew a kiss at a young woman.

They held it for a second near the top of the third song, just long enough for the audience to yell for them to keep it up, to lift the roof of the place. Then they launched into the song Ashley had so eloquently performed during her first night with the band.

They finished on a high note, all of them gyrating and jumping up and down. The audience was just as busy. The flimsy plywood around the stage, meant to serve as a barricade, continued to shake, rattle, and practically roll as writhing, dancing bodies hit it. The security guards held their hands up to keep the flood of people back, so they wouldn’t crash through the thin barrier and tear the stage apart.

After Whisky Lullaby finished and ran offstage, Ashley felt a buzzing under her skin, so intense that she could hardly breathe. Logan grabbed her, spun her around, and gave her a hard, long kiss. When his tongue found hers, the sensation of it nearly seared her senses.

His hands ran along her back, pulling her ever closer. Their bodies met, and her pelvis rubbed against his for a delicious moment. Her whimpers were lost in the sound of the applause and cheers and the techs cranking up the gear for the next band.

She took a deep breath as the kiss broke.

Logan looked her in the eyes. “We good?”

Her smile was radiant. “Beyond good.”

He nestled her close, so close that their hips banged together as they headed toward the small dressing room. “I’m sorry about Kaylee.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. All the blame for that has to be on Kaylee. I know she’ll be okay once she gets her head straightened out. Her folks are putting her in rehab right now. I just can’t believe how fast she went downhill. School hasn’t even been in session that long, and she already screwed it all up.”

Logan leaned his head against hers. “I’m still sorry. It’s a shitty way to end your freshman year.”

Her eyes went to Charlie, who was standing by the dressing room door. The other guys had already vanished. “Are we good on your brother, too?” Ashley asked.

“I was just…being a jealous asshole. That was pretty screwed up of me, especially knowing what you went through with your ex. You shouldn’t have to take that pushy shit from me. I just wish you’d told me about the money sooner, about all of it.”

“Me, too.”

His arm dropped to her waist, and his breath was warm on her cheek as he asked, “Can we just start from here and go forward, without taking all this with us?”

The weight of his arm against her felt so good, so right. Ashley leaned into him and traced his jawline with her finger. “Yes,” she said.

“Good. That’s even better than winning Royale,” he said with a wide grin on his face.

“Well, as for Royale, I think we just made the cut, but we’ve got to do something to make sure we make the next one, too.”

His eyes glowed. “You’re a fighter, Ash. I’ve always liked that about you.”

Laughter came from her mouth in a whooping gust. “Ditto. Now, let’s get in there and get this together. By the way, I’m sorry about my part in not keeping the band on track.”

He shook his head. “No, that was all me.”

“The hell it was! It was all of us, but we’re cemented and solid now, right? I mean, we all want this thing, so let’s make it happen.”

“What I want is you.”

Her heart nearly exploded with happiness. “You’ve already got me, Logan. You’ve got me for as long as you want me.”

“Hmm. I like the sound of that. So what are your plans for, uh…forever?”

Her laughter was cut off by his intense kisses.