THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (13 page)

Tessa sighed.
“
You talked to your sister?
”

“
Our
sister
,
”
Anna
corrected.
“
Yes. We talked.
We always talk. She asks me for advice, which I can
’
t give. She knows she needs to call you but is
afraid to.
”

“
Afraid
of what? Is she in more trouble?
”
Tessa reached across the table for Anna
’
s
hand.
“
Anna, you have to
tell me. She can get mad all she wants
…”

“
See?
”
Anna asked.
“
That
’
s why, Tessa.
”

“
Why
what?
”

“
You
…”
Anna swallowed hard. She
looked away.

“
What
is it? You can tell me anything.
”

Anna looked at Tessa.
“
You never talk to us like
sisters. Okay? You
’
re
always worried, in our face, talking, judging
…”

“
I
don
’
t judge,
”
Tessa said.
“
I try
…”

“
You
judge with your love,
”
Anna
said.
“
That
’
s all. You
’
re
…”

“
Anna,
don
’
t hold back.
”

“
You
’
re like our mother.
”

That comment hurt. Bad.

Tessa would
’
ve loved to have a normal relationship with her
sisters. She would
’
ve loved
to have been there, side by side, instead of always in front and shielding
them. But that option was taken off the table a long time ago.

“
What
choice have I had?
”
Tessa
asked.
“
You just float,
Anna. I can
’
t help but fear
that you
’
re going to get
hurt.
”

“
So
what?
”
Anna said.
“
If I get hurt, I move on.
”

“
And
your sister? Wendy was behind on rent. She had a notice on her door to leave.
She gets tied up with these asshole guys and
…”

Anna put a hand on top of Tessa
’
s.
“
That
’
s
not your problem. She knows she can call you and you
’
ll give her stuff.
”

“
So
I let her get kicked out?
”

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
Anna said.
“
You
’
re the big sister.
”
She smirked.

“
I
hate you both,
”
Tessa
whispered.
“
But I love you
so much.
”

“
And
we love you,
”
Anna said.
“
So have a cup of coffee with me
and then go sell some drugs.
”

Tessa laughed.
“
Thanks.
”

It weighed on Tessa though. That
line between being a sister and acting like a mother. It wasn
’
t fair. Hell, nothing was fair.
She had been with Colby just a few days ago. There was a sense of freedom and
enjoyment with him.

She pictured him jumping into the
ocean water to fetch her cheap heels. Not to mention the sight of his bare
body. Wet. Muscular. Damn
…
any woman could forget about their life with a man like Colby. That fantasy
come to life thing was well played. So much so that just thinking about Colby
made Tessa feel uncomfortable in all the right spots. It was even more
uncomfortable that Tessa sat across from her little sister as she thought about
Colby
…
standing behind
me
…
holding my waist
…
his hand reaching around, sliding
down, touching my
…

“
Are
you alive?
”

Tessa blinked.
“
I
’
m
here. I
’
m fine.
”

“
Sure.
What are you thinking about? Worried about me? About Wendy?
”

Tessa opened her mouth and almost
exploded with everything that had happened with Colby.

But she held it back.

“
Look,
”
Tessa said.
“
I
’
m
proud of you. And I can
’
t
help but worry. That burden was left to me. I
’
m
never going to stop worrying, or calling, or caring. I want you and Wendy to be
able to call me no matter what. Sorry I
’
m
not the super cool big sister. But I take care of you both, right?
”

“
Yeah,
you do. You give us the chance to take risks and fuck up.
”

“
Don
’
t curse,
”
Tessa said.
“
It
’
s weird.
”

“
How?
”

“
I
don
’
t know. I still see you
as a little girl playing with dolls.
”

“
Well,
big sister, I
’
m all grown
the fuck up,
”
Anna said.

Tessa wanted to get angry but she
just laughed.

She had to laugh.

Her mind, heart, body
…
it was all spinning.

She wanted to see Colby again.

If only she could find him
…
bump into him
…
let fate figure something about
…

She
’
s
already ran into him twice, so why not a third time?

(13)

The private jet seemed a little
much. But Portis was paying for it, so why the hell not? The sexy, half naked
women on the plane serving cold beer and cold mixed drinks made it even
crazier. Not to mention Portis had a few guitars and a small drumkit on the
plane, too.

It was official
…
Portis was wooing Willow Son.
But at the same time, the band was wooing Portis. He wanted to sign the band,
but with rules. It seemed he wanted to indulge in every possible thing each
member had done with the hopes of making sure it never happened again.

Colby looked out the window,
staring at the clouds.

It would never happen again.

It shouldn
’
t have happened in the first place. They were all
rockstars. They were all young once, and really dumb. Filthy rich for their age
and doing whatever they wanted. Of all the mistakes, Colby took the lead. Yet
…
the mistake was in the
deception of truth. Something he never spoke about because it wasn
’
t worth the time right now.

Yet Portis wanted reassurance
nothing bad would happen. By that, he wanted to offer the band songwriters, equipment,
and everything possible to keep his hands involved with the band and their
creative process.

That was a big deal for Willow Son.
They wrote the songs. They played the songs. It was their music and nothing
else mattered. Sharing the music meant sharing ideas, copyright, and royalties.
It was way too much like a business for Colby to stomach.

Which meant Willow Son had to sell
themselves to Portis
…
the
same as he was trying to sell himself to them. He was the only person truly
interested in Willow Son.

“
Bro,
why are you looking at clouds? We have women here
…”

Jett offered Colby a beer.

“
It
’
s all great,
”
Colby said.
“
What would it take for us to
start our own label and everything?
”

“
That
’
s where you
’
re at?
”
Jett asked.

Ryker and Van joined, women hanging
off their arms. With a whispering command, they shooed the women away. Brantley
came next, twirling drumsticks.

They were high in the air, flying
to a private studio Portis wanted them to record the two new songs in. They had
a weekend to do it. Without trouble. To prove they could do it. Then they
’
d talk about what would happen
next.

“
What
’
s the serious talk?
”
Brantley asked.

“
Colby
wants to start a label,
”
Jett said.

Ryker scoffed.
“
Every rockstar does. Come on,
man. Let
’
s just ride with
Portis
…”

“
He
’
s an asshole,
”
Colby snapped.

“
He
’
s a smart asshole,
”
Van said.
“
He knows his shit. He knows how
to sell music. We do these songs and the show he wants
…
we
’
re
back on the road. We fly back and forth from the studio, finish up a demo, and
start selling.
”

Colby knew Van was right.

It just left him uneasy. He
pictured getting signed and just doing what he wanted. Portis challenged him
…
as much as Tessa did.

Freaking Tessa.

The woman shouldn
’
t have been on his mind. It had
been
…

“
The
new songs are good,
”
Ryker
said.
“
That
’
s all that matters. The fans are
still there. Our site has been blowing up. Harry said it
’
s been amazing how many fans are writing in, wanting
music, wanting shows. We
’
re
alive and well.
”

“
And
we
’
re on a private jet,
”
Brantley said.
“
With instruments and women.
”

“
This
is a rockstar
’
s playground,
”
Jett said.

“
Let
’
s finish up that slow song,
”
Colby said.

The band got together and started
strumming guitars. Thousands of feet up in the air. Flying to Sacramento to
record new songs. From there, Colby had no clue where they were going. He
really wanted some time to head into the mountains to his cabin. But going
there alone would only fuel the make believe fire in his heart about Tessa.

Thinking of Tessa helped the song
come together. A final verse about time and miles seeming greater in the mind.
Looking for an answer when there wasn
’
t
even a question asked.

Colby ended the song with a
falsetto riff with his voice, the notes rising and falling with the chord
change. After just doing it twice, the rest of the band came in, quickly making
it something the band could easily play in front of tens of thousands and have
them all sing back.

Even the pretty women on the jet
were getting into it.

Colby refused to call the women
groupies. He wasn't going to sleep with them. They weren
’
t going to do a thing together. The rest of the
band
…
have fun.

They finished and Ryker stood,
spinning the guitar in his hand and putting it down.
“
That
’
s
a wrap. That
’
s really good.
Shit, Colby, that was deep. You haven
’
t
had something that deep
…”

Colby eyed Ryker.
Don
’
t say it.

“
It
’
s good,
”
Van said. He nudged Colby.
“
It
’
s
really good.
”

“
I
think the offset of the hard song and the slow one is really smart,
”
Jett added.
“
Portis is going to love both.
And the fans
…”

“
You
have our vote,
”
one of the
women said.

Brantley stood up and dropped his
drumsticks.
“
Let
’
s see which one of you gets our
vote. We
’
re going to play a
game now. It
’
s called
…
everyone gets topless. Now.
”

The band laughed.

Colby shook his head.

Brantley had such a moronic freedom
to himself. He spoke without thinking and the crazy part was, most of the time,
his antics worked.

In a matter of a few seconds, all five
women on the plane were topless. Shirts, off. Bras, off. Standing there, elbow
to elbow, hands on their hips, topless.

Colby looked and shook his head
again.

“
I
’
m going to finish something up,
”
he said.

He snuck back to his seat and took
out his notebook. The words were there. The lyrics were real and they were damn
good. Colby just messed around
…
why?

Why am I messing around? The
lyrics are fine. They won
’
t
really matter until we get them recorded and we can listen.

“
Hey,
Colby?
”

He snapped out of his trance and
turned his head.

A topless woman stood there,
reaching for his shoulder. She inched closer. Colby just stared.

“
You
seem a little lost,
”
she
whispered.

“
My
mind
…”

“
Let
me ease your mind then,
”
she said.

Before Colby could say a word, she was
on his lap. She took one of his hands and placed it to one of her breasts. She
smelled of something fruity and had a wild look in her eyes. This was her
dream, right now at least. To fool around with the lead singer of Willow Son.

Colby
’
s
other hand slid around the woman
’
s
body, touching her back. She was quick to rock her hips at him, grinding
herself, reminding Colby
’
s
body that he was alive. Everything worked.

Yet it somehow felt wrong.

Which was stupid.

He knew
…
chances were
…
he
’
d never see Tessa again.

“
Hey,
Colby!
”
Jett boomed.

Colby looked and Jett took a
picture with his cell.

“
This
’
ll piss Portis off,
”
Jett said.

“
He
set this up,
”
Ryker said.
“
What did he think would happen?
”

The voices started to fade.

Colby looked up at the woman.

She was on fire.

The temptation of being a rockstar
lingered in the private jet
…

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
the woman said.
“
I
know how this works. Once and done.
”

Colby nodded.
“
Once and done, sweetie.
”

Once and done
…
except Tessa. He wanted more.
Fuck, he needed more.

**

The band exited the private jet to
some actual fanfare. There was a group of fans there, all screaming for Willow
Son. Ryker, Jett, and Van all had a guitar case in one hand, a woman hanging
off their other arm. Colby tried to play it cool, charging down the steps from
the private jet with nothing but a bag slung over his shoulder.

But that
’
s when the woman from the jet chased him down and
lunged at him, hugging him, laughing as she did so. Pictures were being
frantically taken and Colby knew this woman wanted her five minutes in the
spotlight. Hell, she couldn
’
t
get her five minutes on the jet so she wanted this badly.

It did bother Colby a little that
nothing crazier happened on the jet, but he just didn
’
t want it. The shit with Portis weighed on him heavily.
Being thrown into a studio to record new material. Thrust into the wheel of
bullshit trying to save face for a record deal.

It was all crazy.

And so was this scene.

“
Hey,
that
’
s enough,
”
Colby barked at the woman.

He shook her away and walked toward
the waiting limo. When he spotted a few of the younger fans standing there in
Willow Son shirts, it struck a chord. He dropped his bag and walked over. For
the next thirty minutes, the band signed everything presented to them. They
took pictures. Shared stories.

When it was time to go, the band
piled into the limo. The women offered to come but Colby refused. This was
about music, not temptation. That
’
s
why they were here, right? Now the band needed distance from the women
…
just like Colby had been forced
to have distance between him and Tessa.

You could text her. Call her.
Find out her schedule. Meet up with her.

Yeah, they were all options. But
that implied way too much commitment for just fooling around, didn
’
t it?

“
Fate,
”
Colby whispered as the limo started
moving.

“
What
was that?
”
Jett asked.

Colby looked at the guitarist.
“
Fuck. I said fuck. This is just
…”

“
Fuck,
”
Jett said.

Colby turned his head and looked
out the window. The fans were still there. Still cheering. A smile flickered to
Colby
’
s face.

It was about them.

The fans.

The music.

Nothing else mattered.

Except fate
…