Straight from the Heart (15 page)

I managed to go back to sleep for what felt
like a couple of hours. My mind drifted to Damon. I wasn’t sure of
my feelings for him yet, but he knew how to make me feel good and
show me a good time. That would be enough for now. But did I know
that much about him? He’s never told me about his family, except
from what Lucy mentioned, or anything about what he likes to do off
tour.

To be honest, I knew nothing.

When next I woke, I glanced at the time on
my phone and it said past noon. Holy shit
I slept that long?
I thought to myself, stretching my arms over my head. I heard a
fake cough and immediately pulled the oversized shirt down.

“Sleep well?” Cale asked, playing the X-box
with the Vince, Raptor and Luke. They smiled and told me good
morning.

“I slept through that?” I replied, pointing
to the TV where they were playing one of the old Tony Hawk skater
games.

“Heck yea little sis, we’ve been at it for a
while. Whoever loses this skate off is buying us a dinner at the
place of our choice in Cali,” Vince joked.

I got up from the couch, trying not to
reveal too much skin as I hurried up to change into something
halfway decent. Even though we weren’t playing tonight, I hoped we
were going to stop somewhere and at least get some fresh air. I
couldn’t find anything clean in my bag besides a pair of Silver
jeans, so I buttoned them up over my waist. As I was searching for
a shirt to wear, I felt a mouth linger against my neck.

“Can I just say you looked hotter than words
in that shirt?” Cale breathed against my neck. I stood up straight,
stiffening up, trying not to feel so turned on by the fact that he
was literally breathing on me and could kiss me at any point. I
felt dirty and wrong because not even 24 hours before that I was
kissing on the lead singer of another band. “My shirt too. I need
to have more of them lying around. Shit, you had me hard as a rock,
B.” It never got old hearing him call me B. I tried to spin to face
him, but he positioned his hands so one fastened around my waist,
and the other around my chest. I instantly regretted not wearing a
bra to sleep or putting one on before that point because my nipples
hardened when I felt his fingertips ready to attack me.

 “You’re so wrong, you know that?” I
whispered, not wanting anyone to hear me. He held me still, swaying
me back and forth, arms sturdy and not moving for anything.

“Oh I’m so wrong that when I fucked that
girl last night I pictured your black hair and green eyes in my
head? The entire time. I gave into temptation, B. I wanted you so
bad, but I know I can’t have you, so I jumped onto the next girl
that blinked in my direction,” Cale whispered, the fingers that
were around my waist trailed down to the waistline of my jeans,
slipping inside. “This kills me. I’m trying to change. After my
last relationship I won’t lie, I had sex with a different girl
every night, Bryn. I don’t want to go back to that habit.” His
fingers dipped even lower, past the silky underwear I had just put
on, and down near my core.

I moaned. The way Cale was so gentle with
his hands, it wasn’t like Damon. Shit. Damon. I shouldn’t let Cale
do this to me. I couldn't. He was my "brother," but my insides were
spinning round and round, not giving me a chance to stop him.
“Please don’t.”

Me telling him no must’ve fueled him
further. “I know, I know.” One finger slipped abruptly inside of
me, plunging in as deep as possible. He removed his arm from my
chest and grabbed my hair. Now I wasn’t standing up so straight. I
felt like I could crumble, my knees already giving out on me. “This
is just me telling you what you’re missing out on. That finger
inside of you right now. I can feel your juices coming at me
already, Bryn. You like it and you know it.”

And I sure did. I unbuttoned my top button
and slid my pants down a little, giving him easier access. Once I
did, he put yet another finger in, continuing his assault. “I can’t
take it Cale, please stop,” I begged. My mouth slid out the words
as I gripped the stairs to my bunk to hold myself up. Cale took his
fingers out, spinning me around to face him. His face looked
devious, like he was enjoying every moment of my bare chest pressed
up to his.

“If only it was just us,” Cale began. He had
me right where he wanted me. Grabbing one of my breasts into his
hand, he fondled it slowly but carefully, his eyes never leaving
mine. “I’ve dreamt about this right here. Feeling how you soft you
are in my hand. You are so unbelievably fucking perfect.”

“Cale, it's your turn!” Raptor shouted from
the front. We both stepped away from each other, laughing our asses
off.

“I should get dressed,” I let out, finding
my bra that was hidden, and Cale reached for another one of his
t-shirts.

“Here, this shouldn’t be so big on you.” He
handed the shirt to me and I pulled it over my head. “I’ll always
be here for you, Bryn. Whenever Charming decides to go back to his
old ways, I’ll be right there waiting,” Cale whispered, kissing me
square on the lips, leading the way back towards the guys.

What the Hell just happened?

Hal pulled the bus into Omaha after stopping
to get us something to eat. I texted Damon to wish him a ‘Good
afternoon’ and tell him that I couldn’t wait to see him that night.
I promised myself I wouldn’t let Cale get in the way. Despite my
feelings toward him, I needed to make an effort with Damon and get
to know him.

We decided to stay at a hotel where the
other bands were staying. I was just thankful that there was a
Laundromat a block from the hotel so I could get the skanky sheets
off of my bed and have some clean clothes again. I met up with Lucy
and we did our laundry together. It was nice to have another girl
on the tour, have normal "girl" conversations.

“How bad was it last night?” I asked Lucy,
as she put her last load of laundry into the coin operated
washer.

She ran a hand through her blank and now
pink hair, frowning. “Interesting. I thought I was going to kick
some asses. Some girl tried to climb into Pauly’s bed and when he
told her to get lost she started to flirt with Damon.”

My skin felt numb.
Shake it off Bryn,
it’s going to happen and you knew it
. “He didn’t kiss her or
anything, right?”

Lucy shook her head. “Don’t think so. I
can’t speak for him, hun. How were your guys?”

“Drunk as hell. Cale was fucking a girl in
my bed of all places.”

Lucy looked at me surprised. “Seriously?
That dick head. I’ll break his goddamn neck. Of all places…is he
trying to make you jealous?”

“Pretty sure of it,” I admitted. “He said he
was just drunk and couldn’t remember where his bed was.”

“Ohhh that excuse,” Lucy chuckled. “Some
people never change.”

“Like who?” Voices interrupted our
conversation. Cale and Damon walked in with smug looks on their
faces.

“None of your damn business. Bryn and I were
having girl talk, weren’t we?”

“That’s exactly what we’re doing. You wanted
to visit or something?” I asked sarcastically, putting my hands on
my hips.

Damon licked his lips and brought what
looked like another basket to the empty washer beside us.
“Obviously. But seriously, everyone on the tour wanted to get
together for dinner at this place nearby called 7M Grill if you
girls were all done with your ‘girl talk,’” he air-quoted, causing
Lucy to roll her eyes. Cale stayed put, trying to look everywhere
but me.

“Well, we still have this laundry to get
done with, and yeah that sounds fun.” I told them, and Damon draped
an arm around me. “And you doing that isn’t helping me!” I giggled.
Damon shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re no fun. Come on bud, we’ll leave
this shit for the people that work here to do it. That’s what
they’re here for right?” Damon high-fived Cale and I glared at
Damon for being so rude towards the employees that were in the back
of the Laundromat. They had offered to take care of Lucy and I’s
clothes , but I insisted I’d do my own. I spent my whole life never
having to lift a finger to do laundry or cook and clean, so I was a
tad anxious to do something for myself.

“See you ladies later.” Cale winked and
followed behind Damon outside.

Dinner was an absolutely amazing. I sat
between Vince and Luke, as they were telling me old stories about
how they almost didn’t graduate high school. It was pretty humorous
to hear Luke of all people would teepee the principal’s car and
spray paint it neon orange ‘Go Huskies,’ which was the mascot at
Walker High School. They also introduced me to some of the other
people on the tour that I hadn't met. On top of the best food I’d
tasted in months, they had karaoke night when we were all
there.

I watched Raptor sing ‘Like a Virgin’ by
Madonna, laughing my ass off as he ran his hand through his spiky
Mohawk. He even crawled on the ground to portray Madonna. Lucy
convinced me to get up and sing a song so we did ‘Misery Business’
by Paramore. I let loose, shaking from side to side, both of us
treating it more like a regular performance. I caught Cale’s eye
once and his eyes were raking my body up and down as we jumped up
and down like Hayley Williams. Damon was on his cell phone not
paying any attention to us, but at that point I couldn't have cared
less.

Mic still in hand, I yelled down to Cale,
who was slumped down in his chair looking pretty wasted. "Cale
Pelton, you get your ass up here and sing!” Lucy got off the stage
and dragged him by the arm up to where we stood and he gave us both
a bad look.

Lucy whispered something in his ear, I’m
assuming to tell him to snap out of his drunken funk, and he
snatched the other microphone from her. He bent down to study our
song choices, telling the DJ which one he wanted.

“You better stay up here and sing with me.
You’ll like this one.” Cale smiled flirtatiously. I smiled back
weakly. Now as I surveyed our tour crew, Damon was nowhere to be
found. I was still going to have fun anyways. ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by
Led Zeppelin came on.

I pursed my lips at him.  He didn’t
know that I loved classic rock above everything else. It was time
to show Cale what I had.

He opened his mouth to sing the opening
verse, but I sang first. I got right in his face as I finished the
first verse. His expression softened, getting into the song as the
chorus approached and I let him take the reins. Cale got in my face
with equal amount of force, pressing his forehead to me with every
scream he let out.

By the time we were all done with the song,
everyone was up screaming, wanting an encore. Shaking my head no, I
set the microphone down, sitting back by the guys to have water.
While I sat talking to the guys who were telling me good job,
Cale’s cell phone started ringing. He stood up to answer it, and I
strained to listen.

“Wow, that’s amazing sir. Yeah, yeah that’s
not a problem. That sounds great, thank you so much. I’ll let the
group know. Okay, you have a goodnight too,” he said before hanging
up. I tried to pull him aside to see what the good news, but from
the prized look on his face, I had a feeling I knew.

“What happened?” I asked him. Cale didn’t
answer me at first, gesturing for Vince, Luke and Raptor to come
over to where we were.

“Was that the call?” Luke questioned.

Cale nodded. “Looks like we’ve got a record
deal, guys! RockOut records baby!” Cale exclaimed. “That was one of
the owners of the label Walker. He wants to meet us first thing out
in California at the L.A. show.”

I felt chills run through my bones.
Was
this for real?
Everlasting was going to be signed to a big-time
label! This was the moment when I wanted to call my parents and
tell them that I was making a name for myself…but then again they
had no idea where I was. The guys pulled me into a big group hug
and I couldn’t stop crying.

“This calls for a round of fucking drinks.”
Vince shouted. “I don’t care if you’re only 18, Bryn. You’re
getting trashed tonight; this is a reason to celebrate!” He kissed
me on the cheek and went straight up to the bar. Raptor and Luke
followed Vince, slapping hands with everyone in sight.

Cale drew his voice to a low whisper. “Can
you believe this? We’ve worked so hard for this, Bryn. Damn, I
can’t believe it.” He drew me into another deep bear hug, pulling
me close. I embraced him, feeling his body heat as my arms circled
around him.

“I know,” I whispered against his chest. “I
should be thanking you guys you know. For everything up to now. You
guys have been so amazing and you’ll always be my best
friends.”

I could feel Cale’s heart beat faster as he
chuckled. “Aww don’t get all sappy, B. We should thank you. If it
wasn’t for you and that guitar stunt, I don’t think we would’ve
gotten that call.” His hand was rubbing circles on my back, putting
me at ease. “Let’s just make it in one piece through the next
couple of shows until L.A. and after that that’s when the hard work
will be starting.”

“I thought we already are working hard.”

Cale moved his hand from my back to my neck.
“It’s only begun. You see with Ignite the Flames all of the
interviews and photo shoots that they do. We’re going to be on a
big label. They’ll expect us to put out an album in a certain
amount of time, music videos, promoting the album. It’s a lot of
extra stuff, but in the long run more exposure.”

He could call it work, but to me it was
going to be something crazy and fun.

Wait until the girls hear this one
, I
thought.

“I can’t wait,” I sighed, drifting away from
Cale and back over to my seat where we spent the rest of the night
drinking and celebrating with everyone. Only a few short days and
we’d be in Cali.