A Voice to Love (Fallen Tuesday Book One) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (9 page)

“Good. I’ll make sure my
manager takes care of the bill tonight,” Luke said.

“You don’t have to…”

“Better get your seat,”
Luke said with a grin as he hurried away.

Amy found her seat just as
the first band took the stage. They were a local four piece band that sounded
pretty good. The singer tended to scream more than sing, and Amy struggled to
hear the words. They were very young too, and had a look of awe on their faces
each time they looked out to the growing crowd. They were well aware that
everyone there wanted to see Fallen Tuesday, but they enjoyed themselves. Their
set lasted a little over thirty minutes. They finished up and asked the crowd
if they were excited for Fallen Tuesday. Screams erupted. The band waved and left
the stage. Then in a systematic routine of long hair, ripped jeans, and
t-shirts, a group of guys took to the stage and began to take apart the opening
band’s equipment. The opening band quickly joined and in less than a minute,
the stage was clear. Then they started to set up everything for the Fallen
Tuesday show. Amy found herself on the edge of her seat, watching.

The crew grabbed guitars,
a bass, and made sure the drums were set. The mic stands were set up. Setlists
were then taped down on the stage. Monitors were placed all around the front of
the stage. The backdrop was then released, a long and wide banner with Fallen
Tuesday’s name and logo. That gained a reaction from the crowd.

When the crew left the
stage Amy’s heart raced. She played with her nails and waited for something to
happen.

The lights were cut a
minute later and the arena exploded with cheers and screams. A scratchy,
prerecorded song began to play through every speaker in the arena. The emotions
in the arena grew by the second. The sound of drums hit. Live drums. The band
was on stage. In the darkness, Amy could make out three figures on stage and
the drummer behind his kit.

Guitars kicked in, followed
by the thick sound of the bass.

Then came the voice…

“Are you ready?” Luke
asked, his voice carrying through the arena.

The crowd erupted again.
Amy even started to clap.

“I can’t hear you,” Luke
said. “I said… ARE… YOU… READY…”

The crowd was so loud
that it started to overpower the music.

“Okay then,” Luke said.
“Let’s do it.”

The sound of drumsticks
hit four times and the show officially began. The lights came on and the band
broke into a song. The middle of the stage was empty though. Luke wasn’t there
yet.

Amy wanted to see him.
She needed to see him.

She felt something touch
her shoulder and she looked up only to see Luke standing next to her. He looked
down at her and smiled. Amy gasped when a spotlight hit Luke and he began to
sing. The place went crazy and Luke jumped over a barrier and was then in the
mix of the crowd. Amy had never seen anything like it. For the entire first
song, Luke walked through the crowd, covering as much ground as he could. And
he didn’t miss a note or lyric.

The song ended with Luke
climbing on stage, putting the mic on the stand, and throwing his arms open,
pointing to the band. The cheers were so loud that Luke looked at the guitarist
to his left and nodded. Another song began to play. Luke stayed on the stage
but he didn’t stay still. He ran corner to corner, pointing to fans, waving,
smiling, calling to them in between singing. One thing was clear, Luke wanted
every person in the arena to feel like they were part of the show, and he did a
hell of a job at it.

The show continued and
after an hour of playing, Luke took a quick break and left the stage. The band
didn’t seem to know why he left. They hurried to collect themselves, everyone
returning with acoustic guitars. The band then slowed things down with a few
acoustic songs. Luke looked even hotter as he sat on a stool with one leg bent,
one foot flat on the stage, holding a mic. Surrounded by the other four members
of the band, everyone playing guitar, it was unbelievable. On the last acoustic
song, Luke made everyone stand up. Every person in the crowd, including Amy,
listened. Luke put a hand up. Everyone raised a hand. The connection between
Luke and the crowd was so intense and deep.

After the acoustic set,
the band took their original spots and began to play more songs. The concert
continued for another half hour. Then the band stood at the front of the stage,
arms around each other, smiling, bowing, basking in the applause.

Amy stood and clapped.
She watched the band leave the stage. The lights came on in the arena and the
fans started to pour out. Amy was unsure what her next move was supposed to be.
The same men that setup Fallen Tuesday’s equipment were now on stage taking
everything apart. The floor and seats were almost all cleared out. Was she
supposed to leave? Meet the band at the restaurant? She didn’t like that idea
at all. She wanted to see Luke, especially after the show.

A security guard came
walking from the side of the stage. He pulled and opened the gate that kept the
fans from getting to the stage and sound equipment. He pointed to Amy. He
motioned for her and she looked at the small barrier that kept her off the
floor. The security guard nodded and Amy climbed over it.

“Amy?” the man asked in a
deep voice.

“Yes,” Amy said.

“Follow me. Luke is
expecting you.”

There it was, Amy’s next
move. She followed the tall, wide security guard alongside the stage to a place
nobody else would be going. She watched the techs carrying equipment down a
small set of steps and down a hall. The backstage area was bustling with all
the work that needed to be done to pack up the equipment and get it to the next
city. Amy felt out of place backstage, but it’s where she was wanted. When she
heard the sound of Luke’s voice a warm feeling came over her. The security guard
stopped and pointed to an open door. Amy looked inside and saw the band. As soon
as Luke saw her, he rushed to her.

He was covered in sweat,
his hair still wet. He looked like a dream.

“That was amazing,” Amy
said. “I swear, I’m not just saying that.”

“Thanks,” Luke said. “I’m
glad you were here for it.”

Luke smiled and then
touched his throat. He stretched his neck.

“Are you okay?” Amy
asked.

“Fine. Just post show
stuff, that’s all. Let’s get a drink real quick.”

Amy nodded.

The rest of Fallen
Tuesday was suddenly there. They stood around Luke, smiling, looking sweaty and
tired.

“Who is this?” someone
asked. He had a scruffy beard and looked ready for a fight.

“Cut it, Mack,” Luke
said. “You know who it is. But she may not know who you are. Amy… this is Mack,
Jack, Trent, and the guy behind me is Gray.”

“Your name is Gray?” Amy
asked.

They all laughed.

“There’s a story behind
it,” Gray said and winked.

“Hey, we’re going to hit
the bus,” Mack said. “Celebrate. Relax.”

“Okay,” Luke said. “I’m
going to show Amy around. We’re going to her restaurant in a few minutes.”

“Restaurant,” Gray said.
“A businesswoman hanging around a bunch of rockstars.”

Amy opened her mouth to
say it wasn’t technically her restaurant but she stopped herself. What was the
use? She had five rockstars staring at her. She stood backstage at a Fallen
Tuesday concert. By tomorrow morning it would all be a ghostly memory. Amy
would wake in her bed and Fallen Tuesday would wake in their tour bus.

The band left the room
and Luke took Amy’s hand. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”

Amy wasn’t sure what
get
a drink
actually meant, and to her surprise, it was a bottle of water.

“You seem disappointed,”
Luke said as they stood at the end of a hall.

“No, not at all. Just
wasn’t sure what to expect backstage at a concert.”

“Well, it’s not a crazy
party,” Luke said. “Not right now. If you want something stronger to drink, we
can go to the bus.”

“I’m good with water.”

“Good. Listen, I need to
wash up a little. Can you hang for a few minutes alone?”

“Sure thing,” Amy said.

Luke stepped toward her.
The way he looked at her, Amy wasn’t sure what to feel or what to do. Luke’s
eyes seemed to imply something much different than a one night kind of thing.

Amy trailed Luke until he
went into a bathroom to shower. She stood outside the door, watching as the
crew for Fallen Tuesday still worked. She had never realized so much went into
one concert. The stages, the lighting, all the pieces of the fixtures,
speakers… it was amazing. It would all be taken apart, packed up, and driven to
the next venue.

When Amy heard the water
running, she felt her toes curl in her shoes. The thought of Luke standing
there half naked, splashing water on himself, it was a thought she enjoyed. She
shook the thought from her mind when she heard Luke cough. It was a deep cough,
followed by another and another. The coughing fit grew worse and Amy stepped
forward to the door. She touched it but hesitated.

“Luke?” she asked.

Luke didn’t reply. He
coughed again and then came the sound of him coughing something up. Amy
couldn’t help herself as she opened the door to the bathroom. Luke was hunched
over the sink, his hands gripping the edges.

“Luke, are you okay?” she
asked.

Luke popped up and turned
around. He reached back and turned on the water. He smiled.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a
tickle in my throat. Ever get one that won’t go away?”

“Yeah…”

Amy stepped toward Luke.
She slowly reached for his face. With the tip of her finger she touched his
lip. In her mind she screamed
I’m touching the lips of the hot lead singer
for Fallen Tuesday!
but her heart stayed within the realms of reality.

Amy wiped a speck of
blood from Luke’s lip and showed it to him.

“Are you coughing up
blood?” she asked.

“It’s nothing,” Luke
said.

He grabbed a piece of
paper towel and wiped Amy’s finger.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine,” Luke said.
“When you sing for two hours like that, your body gets tired. Add months of
touring on top… let’s go get our ride to restaurant.”

Amy nodded and Luke put
his arm around her. He led the way, and while Amy felt protected, she felt just
as uneasy. She wasn’t sure what bothered her more… seeing Luke cough up blood
or the fact that she cared so much about him already.

(8)

Luke wanted to curse and
punch a wall. Of course he’d have a coughing fit in front of Amy like that. Of
course she’d find blood on his lip after he hurried to turn on the water and
wash the rest of the blood down the drain. Of course he didn’t get a chance to
inspect the blood to see if it was worse than before.

Either way, Luke had done
his best to play it off. This wasn’t Amy’s problem. With his arm around Amy, he
made sure to pull her tight. He was enjoying her body against his. He walked
her from the building to the waiting black car. When he let her go and watched
her climb into the car he couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking of the
night.

What did the night
actually mean?

Was it just some one
night stand in the works? Was it something more?

But how could it be more
than tonight?

The obvious questions
were sometimes the hardest to face. They were also the hardest to ignore, but
when Luke saw the happy yet nervous look on Amy’s face, everything slipped
away. He got into the car and sat next to her. There was a bag on the floor and
Luke looked at Amy and smiled.

“I have to get changed
real quick,” he said. “Just my shirt and clean myself up.”

“Uh… yeah…”

Luke laughed and grabbed
the bag. He pulled out a fresh shirt and a bottle of cologne. He could have
showered in the arena or on the tour bus but he wanted to spend all his time
with Amy. He tore his shirt off and balled it up, dropping it in his bag. He
looked at Amy, catching her staring at him.

“Do you always stare when
someone takes their shirt off?”

Amy gasped and turned her
head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Amy, I’m joking. Look at
me.”

Luke watched Amy
hesitate. He gently touched her shoulder and pulled. She turned and in the dim
light of the backseat he could see her cheeks were red.

“I didn’t mean…”

“You think that bothers
me?” Luke whispered. “A beautiful woman staring at me as I take off my shirt?”

“I don’t know.”

Luke stared at Amy. She
was trouble. The good kind of trouble, but potentially bad for the heart. She
was also the trouble worth risking stuff for. So that’s what Luke did. He
risked rejection as he leaned over and pressed his lips to Amy’s.

Maybe it wasn’t the
hottest kiss in the world. Maybe it wasn’t the best first kiss, sitting in the
backseat of a black car as it left the arena. For Luke though, it was delicious
and perfect. Amy’s lips were tender. He couldn’t have just one kiss. He needed
a second, and a third. His hands slowly worked their way to touching Amy’s
face. After the fifth kiss he couldn’t believe when he felt Amy’s hand touch
his chest. He thought for a second that she was going to push him away. And
that would be fine. He would back right away and apologize, but that didn’t
happen. Amy curled her fingers, her nails cutting at his chest. It was delicate
yet passionate.

Luke parted his lips so
he could taste Amy’s mouth. She did the same and they kissed for a little
while. Luke felt the urge to move his hands elsewhere. He wanted to touch Amy.
He wanted to caress her, hold her, explore her.

But not in the back of a
car.

She didn’t deserve that.
Luke didn’t want to be the typical rockstar. At least not with Amy. He broke
the kiss and put his forehead to hers. They both let out deep breaths and
stared at each other.

“I suddenly feel like
skipping the restaurant,” Luke said.

Amy smiled. “If you do
that, you’ll break my uncle’s heart. You don’t want to be on his bad side.”

Luke moved away from Amy.
He grabbed his fresh shirt and put it on. He smiled the entire time. Being with
Amy made his mind relax. He didn’t think about the show, his throat, the tour,
the upcoming album. They arrived at the restaurant a short time later.

The second they got out
of the car, someone recognized Luke. An eager fan charged up to him and hugged
him. He signed an autograph and then allowed Amy to escort him into the
restaurant. The rest of the band was already there and a tall man came running
toward Luke with his hand out.

“This is my uncle Tom,”
Amy said.

“Tom,” Luke said.
“Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for letting us eat here.”

“Of course,” Tom said.

He looked at Amy, then to
Luke. There was some confusion as to why a rockstar was in his restaurant.

“Amy told me this was the
best restaurant in town.”

“It is,” Tom said. “She’s
the best chef in town. In the state. In the world!”

“Okay, let’s all calm
down,” Amy said and laughed.

“Are you cooking
tonight?” Luke asked Amy.

Amy looked up at him. “I,
uh, well…”

“I’m kidding,” Luke said.

“Everything is already
made,” Tom said. “Come. Sit. Have something to drink. The food is coming out.”

“The food’s ready?” Luke
whispered.

“I made sure it would
be,” Amy said. “We are closed at this hour, but I had the kitchen stay open.”

“No,” Luke said. “You
didn’t.”

“Yes,” Amy said. “It’s
not everyday we get rockstars here.”

“Don’t think of me as a
rockstar,” Luke said. “I don’t like that.”

“What if I do?”

Luke smiled. He never met
someone like Amy before. She was so shy one second and then so open the next.
It was obvious that she felt comfortable in the restaurant, which made Luke
happy, because he wanted Amy to relax and enjoy their meal together.

They all sat at a long
table.

It was the band, Amy, and
Frank. Frank sat at the far end, looking down on his phone, working. There was
one open spot. When Tom came to the table, Luke stood and pointed to the chair.

“Join us,” he offered.
“Have something to eat.”

“I couldn’t,” Tom said.

“Yes,” Amy said. “Eat.”

Tom looked around the
table. “I should be serving and helping.”

“You’ve done enough,” Amy
said. “I wasn’t here today either. Take a break.”

“Okay,” Tom said. He
looked uncomfortable sitting down.

Luke leaned to Amy and
whispered, “Promise me… you’ll cook me something someday.”

Amy looked at Luke. She
nodded. “Okay, I will.”

As sad as it sounded,
that was the biggest commitment Luke had made to a woman in a long time. A
commitment to see her again and to be alone.

Everyone ate and drank
and laughed. Amy watched as the band drank drink after drink after drink. They
certainly lived up to the expectations of rockstars. They were all drunk by the
time they were done eating but nobody got rowdy or caused a problem.

Luke had a few drinks
just to loosen up. Amy had two glasses of wine and when she looked at Luke he
could see that she wasn’t used to drinking big glasses of wine.

Tom excused himself from
the table to start cleaning up.

Luke saw his opportunity
to be bold again.

“I have to say
something,” Luke said. “Come to the hotel with me.”

“What?” Amy asked.

“You heard me. Right now.
Let’s leave.”

“I… what about the band?”

“They’ll leave on the
bus,” Luke said. “I’ll catch up tomorrow. We’re going across New York to the
city, that’s all. A few more shows, then we’re done. I’m not worried about
that.”

“No,” Amy said. “You guys
travel together.”

“Are you being nice or
nervous right now?” Luke asked.

“Both?” Amy gave half a
smile.

“I have the hotel room to
myself. We can relax, have wine, talk. I’m not looking to…” Luke wasn’t sure
how to say what he wanted to say.

“We have to get moving
here,” a voice said.

Luke knew it was Frank.
The mood killer. He turned and saw Frank standing.

“Is that so?” Luke asked.

“We have some press stuff
tomorrow afternoon,” Frank said. “We have to get on the road.”

“Go ahead,” Luke said.

“The bus is right around
the corner,” Mack added.

“I’ll catch a ride
tomorrow.”

All eyes went wide. Frank
sighed.

“Don’t give me shit,”
Luke said.

“He’s right,” Gray said.
“Luke’s a big boy. He’s fine.”

Frank stared at Luke. “We
have obligations tomorrow afternoon.”

“I would never hurt the
fans,” Luke said. “Get out of here and I’ll catch up with everyone tomorrow
morning sometime.”

“Tomorrow morning,” Mack winked.

They all started
laughing. They were drunk, but thankfully they didn’t say or do anything
stupid. When they cleared out, Luke looked at Amy.

“Hope that wasn’t too
uncomfortable,” Luke said.

“You kind of implied that
I said I would come with you tonight,” Amy said.

“I could sit in the hotel
room alone,” Luke frowned.

“That doesn’t sound fun.”

“Not at all. So join me.”

Amy looked around the
restaurant. She was nervous. She was hesitant. Luke made a fist and knew he had
to say something.

“Look, Amy, I’m not
telling you to come to my hotel room so I can take you to bed and ditch you in
the morning, if that’s what you’re worried about, okay?”

“Thanks for being
honest,” Amy said.

“I hate to sound like
that. I just… I don’t know, I just want to spend more time with you right now.”

“Then you’ll leave
tomorrow. Then what?”

“Does that matter?”

“I want to say it does,”
Amy said, “but I kind of want to ignore that.”

“Then ignore it.”

“Let’s go.”

Just like that, plans
were made. Luke stood and took Amy’s hand. Amy said goodbye to her uncle. Luke
shook his hand and thanked him for the food. He checked and made sure Frank
paid for the meal, which he did. Then he and Amy were off to the hotel for the
night.

It was always a cool
feeling when someone saw the luxuries of being a rockstar. The hotel room
wasn’t a normal hotel room.

“This is an apartment,”
Amy said as she stood right inside the room looking around.

“It’s the only way to
live,” Luke said. “Plus, when you’re on the tour bus for days at a time, it’s
nice to have something that resembles a home.”

“This is beautiful.”

“See? Aren’t you glad you
came?”

Amy turned and looked up
at Luke. There was a moment of silence as Luke stared at Amy. His heart began
to race and his mind warned him not to do anything… but before he could finish
the thought, Amy jumped at him, kissing him.

He didn’t fully intend on
coming to the hotel room to have it be like this, but with Amy kissing him,
wrapping her legs around him, forcing Luke to lift her, what was he supposed to
do? In that moment he let his body guide the way. He took Amy straight to the
bedroom. He placed her on the bed, kissing her, his hands finally able to
freely travel. He touched her sides, following the curve of her hips to her
legs. Around to her ass, he cupped and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He
placed himself between her legs and with a gentle thrust, he made sure she
could feel what she had done to him.

Amy let out a long
whimpering sigh as Luke began to kiss her neck. Her arms were then tight around
his neck. She slowly started to kick back, climbing the bed to the pillows. She
sat up and stared at Luke. Luke walked to the side of the bed and met Amy. She
sat, he stood. She touched the bottom of his shirt. There was no need for
words. Her hands slipped under his shirt, moving up his body. Amy lifted Luke’s
shirt as far as she could. Luke then finished, taking his shirt off. Before it
could hit the floor, Amy kissed his stomach. Luke groaned and reached down to
Amy’s shirt. He pulled with a passionate aggression, wanting her naked. It was
the only thing his mind could think of. Amy moved from Luke’s body and lifted
her arms. Her shirt was then off and Luke went for her hands.

He spread his fingers and
held Amy’s hands. He pulled at her, forcing her to stand. He let her hands go
and reached around to the small of her back. She was against him, their bare
stomachs touching. It was enough to drive a sane man mad. Luke kissed Amy,
parting her lips with the tip of his tongue. As they kissed Luke used the tips
of his fingers to slide up Amy’s back to her bra. He unsnapped her bra and
continued up to her shoulders. He tugged at the straps and Amy leaned back to
let the bra come off her body. The sight of her breasts made Luke feel
ravenous. His mind, heart, and body couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first.

Luke reached down for the
bed sheets and threw them back. He wanted Amy in bed, right now. His hands
spread across her back and he pulled her closer than ever to him. The feel of
her body against his, her bare body, was perfection. He slowly pushed at Amy,
forcing her against the bed until she had to get on it. Their faces were close
together, but they didn’t kiss. Luke loved the sexual tension between them. He
never had that feeling before. When it came to physical activity like this the
sole purpose had been to start and then finish. That was it. Most of the time
it was about him too. With, he didn’t care about himself at all. He cared about
her body. Her wants. Her needs.

Once on the bed and under
the sheets, Luke touched Amy’s face. His hand remained there momentarily before
he touched her shoulder and then slowly caressed down to her chest. His hand
cupped over her breast as though they were meant to be together. He squeezed and
Amy moaned in his mouth. Their lips were just so close… yet they still didn’t
kiss. Their eyes were wide open, devouring each other in other ways. Luke
opened his hand and moved down, allowing his fingertips to gently graze Amy’s
hard nipple. Each time a finger moved along, she would gasp or softly whimper.

Luke then cupped her
breast again, this time with more force. Amy opened her mouth and Luke couldn’t
handle it any longer. He put his mouth to hers and they began to kiss. He moved
Amy to her back and started to climb on top of her. He planted his left hand to
the bed and lifted himself a little. He moved over Amy and then their kiss
broke. Luke was rock hard. Amy had her legs open. Their clothing separating the
obvious connection they wanted.