The Sterling Boys (19 page)

DANE

"It's been a month, Dane. You can't keep sitting around your house and moping," Maverick says through the phone.

"Take out the tables in sections A and C tonight. People will be doing more standing than sitting for the show," I tell Ember, motioning toward the tables.

She nods in agreement and Maverick huffs on the phone.

"I'm not moping at home. I'm at the club, preparing for a big band that's coming tonight. It's going to be a full house, so if you don't mind, I've got a lot of shit to do."

"Good thing you have people you pay to do that. You know what I mean by moping at home. You never go out with us, you always get drunk alone, and you rarely even talk to us anymore. Tomorrow we're hanging out and watching the game at Kode's house. You should come. Britt's going to be there."

The last thing I want to do is see my brother right now. I'm afraid that Rain will go to him now that I'm not holding her back.

"I've got stuff to do," I lie.

"We've lost both of you. Rain's even gone so far as to change her number. We can't get a hold of her at all, and you barely answer our calls anymore."

I have no idea why she's ignoring the guys. This is all so fucked up.

"S'not my fault Rain's being this way. All I fucking did was try to be good to her. Still haven't been able to figure out what the hell I did wrong. Or maybe I was too good to her. Fuck, I don't know."

Maverick sighs hard. "I don't want to talk bad about Rain, but for what it's worth, she's being stupid right now. I just wish she'd talk to one of us. Kode tried finding her when he was in New York, but he didn't have any luck. Her agent hasn't seen her, and the last she heard, she was still living in Sterling Shore."

"I'll just bet Kode went looking for her the second we broke up," I growl.

"Not like that, Dane. We're all worried. She's cut us all out of her life. She's never done this before. It has me worried that something else is going on."

I start to speak, but a new voice interrupts.

"Dane Sterling?" a guy asks.

I look up to see a familiar face, but I can't really place him.

"Yeah."

"James Holbrook. I came here—"

"James Holbrook the actor?" I interrupt, confused.

"Yes," he says, grinning.

"Dude, you have James Holbrook in your club?" Maverick asks, sounding as stunned as I am.

"Yeah. I'll call you later."

I hang up before he can argue, and I give my attention to the visitor that hasn't explained himself.

"Are you here to see the band? Because they won't be on for at least another three hours."

He laughs while taking a seat in front of the bar, and I stand on the other side, keeping a wary eye on him.

"No. I came to meet you before I'm cut out of the movie. Apparently I'm nothing like you, and I really need this role. It's going to be a huge part, and my career could use the boost."

Dude has seriously lost his mind.

"Sorry... I have no idea what you're talking about."

He gives me an incredulous look, as though I'm the one confusing him, and then he leans forward.

"You're Dean Easton."

Yep. He's crazy. I've heard a lot of actors are mixed in with drugs. I guess he fits the cliché.

"No. I'm Dane Sterling. You just asked me that like five minutes ago."

He laughs low and throaty while shaking his head. "No, I mean you're Dean Easton from the Easton Boys. Rain Noles's biggest new hit. They're filming, and I'm supposed to be Dean—you. Problem is, Rain has already had numerous other Deans cut, and it's looking like I'm next. So I'm here to find out how I'm supposed to be."

After opening and closing my mouth several times, I finally give up on speaking. Rain wrote a book I didn't know about?

"I've read all of Rain's books, but I've never heard of a Dean Easton. I think you're mistaken."

He laughs while grabbing the whiskey from just behind the bar and pouring himself a glass. I'd kick someone's ass for that normally, but I'm more curious than angered right now.

"That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Tell me more. You've read all of her books, except these, obviously. That means you're one of those guys that holds back, right? It's obvious you care about her, yet you're too scared to tell her or something? This is the depth part I need to keep Rain from kicking my ass off the set. And this will be a four-movie deal, so I really want to keep it."

"I'm... I don't... I didn't hold back from Rain. She left me. I told her I loved her, and even asked her to move in. What'd you say the name of those books were?"

He looks amused as he pulls out his phone and makes a note of what I've said.

"So she left you. Did you cheat on her or something? The books depicted you as having a constant fling with one girl or another. Is that what happened?"

Motherfucker. I'm going to strangle this douche.

"No. What'd you say the books were called?"

"It's the Easton Boys series. It's under a different pen name. So these—
hey
! Where are you going?" he yells as I rush away from him, weaving through the mess of people who are clearing out tables.

I'm in my car and on the road in less than a few seconds, and I head straight for the biggest bookstore in Sterling Shore. It doesn't take me long to get there, and people watch with intrigue as I dart across the parking lot.

"Dane," Cindy says as I walk in. "Do you have an order?"

I have a standing order for any book written by Rain Noles, but apparently she didn't even write it under her name this time.

"No, but I'm looking for something called the Easton Boys."

She grins huge as hearts form in her eyes. "Why can't all men read romances? You sure you can't date me?"

I force a smile. Normally I laugh, but not today. She pouts while pointing to a large center display.

"Finally branching out and reading more than just Rain Noles?" she asks as I make my way toward the sparse looking display.

"Something like that,” I mumble absently.

I start grabbing them, trying to make sure I have them all. James said four movies, so I assume there are four books.

It's then I see the title of the first book.
Meeting My Easton Boys
. Right under it, I see the name that makes my heart speed up.
R.S. Sterling.
Rain Sky Sterling.

Seeing my name on her... I only thought my heart couldn't hurt worse. Then I open the cover to read the dedication page while Cindy rattles on about things that don't interest me.

To the real Dean Easton, I've been in love with you since I was thirteen, and I always will be. Thank you for giving me all that you did. Even if we didn't get our own story.

And to my real Easton boys, you guys gave me family when I needed it the most. I love you all.

I take it back. This hurts the worst.

I start grabbing the other titles, all of them. Maybe there's an answer somewhere in these.
Always Better with the Eastons. Prom Night With the Eastons. In Love with an Easton.

"Here," I mutter, shoving all four books at Cindy. "Ring these up."

"Sure. You know, if you like R.S. Sterling, then you should try—"

"Ring these up now. I need to go," I snap, cringing at what a dick I sound like.

"Yes, sir. Sorry."

Good thing I read fast. I need answers now.

My heart has swelled and
broken at least thirty times while reading these. If Rain is describing how she felt for me all those years ago, she loved the hell out of me. It makes me hate myself for not telling her how I felt. But why'd she run away from me the first time if she loved me so much? And why the fuck did she leave me this time?

Everything in these books actually happened, and every detail is precise. Even down to our dialogue. It's astonishing, really. I always knew how much Rain meant to all of us, but I never realized how much we meant to her. I sure as hell never understood how much
I
meant to her.

I'm almost to the end of the fourth book, and while I appreciate having a recap of our night together in Cancun—especially since Rain loved every second of it, apparently—I don't have any answers. I've spent a full night and most of today locked up in my room. Damn long books. I even missed the big band that came to my club because I was busy reading. I barely slept—three hours at most. But I need answers more than anything else in the world right now.

My heart stills when I reach the time in our past that doesn't make sense. Something that never happened, when the rest of the book was exact.

I held my breath as I put the letter in Dean's car, locking the door the second I was done. He loved me for one night, but could he love me forever? I wanted to think so, but I was always better at speaking on paper than in person. And if he said no, I didn't want him seeing my heart break in front of his eyes.

But he had to say yes. A life without Dean Easton seemed unimaginable, and even though I didn't want to admit it, if he said no, I'd lose him forever. I was risking everything we had because I wanted more.

I emerged from the book because I had the first answer of the puzzle. A fucking letter? She gave me a letter? I would have known if... No. Fuck. No!

My bed gets its first reprieve in hours as I leap off of it and grab my keys. I don't even bother changing out of my wrinkled suit as I head out the door, ready to rip someone in two.

I break every speed limit on the road and take curves without tapping my brakes. My tires squeal when I screech to a halt in the driveway of the massive house on the beach. I don't bother knocking as I barge in, nearly knocking the door off its hinges.

"Whoa, Dane! What the hell?" Dale asks, seeing the murderous glint in my eyes as I close in on the son of a bitch behind him.

"I'll fucking kill you. How could you, you bastard!" I snap, lunging at Kode and taking the first swing.

My fist connects with his face, and something crunches. Kode falls backwards as blood spews.

"You stupid motherfucker!" he roars. "What the hell?"

I lunge again, but Maverick and Corbin come in from both sides to wrangle me backwards.

"The letter, you fucking prick! What did you do with it? What did it say? I know you fucking took it. You went to grab your sunglasses from my car. Why, Kode? Fucking why?"

The anger in me breaks as my world suffocates me, but the fury boils over in him as he yells, "Because I loved her, you stupid ass! You were too busy fucking anything that walked to notice her. But I loved her. I wasn't going to let you break her. I didn't have to read the letter to know what it said. I ripped it to shreds and buried the confetti in the sand."

My anger returns, and Maverick and Corbin aren't strong enough to hold me back. I sling them off, and Dale ducks as I charge Kode. I tackle him at the waist, and shit breaks all around us as we fall to the floor.

More than once my fist connects with his face or body, and he doesn't hold back either. One shot to my mouth stuns me long enough for him to knock me off him, but he backs up instead of coming after me for more.

"I loved her, you stupid motherfucker!" I bark, spitting out my blood while wiping my mouth.

Kode staggers, his face bruised and beaten. The only shot at my face he took was the one that split my lip. He doesn't speak, and I don't hold back.

"I loved her. I wasn't fucking anyone. Rain was the first—my first. When do you think I was fucking anyone? I was always with her unless I was at practice or in class. I rarely even slept at our fucking house because I was in Rain's bed. How could you think I was screwing around with anyone else?"

Everyone around me looks stunned, and Kode drops to the couch, shocked. Britt comes into view, and I grimace. Fuck. I forgot Maverick said she was going to be here.

"Fuck, Dane. I didn't know. I wouldn't have... Shit! I'm sorry. I just thought..."

He can't even finish as he grips his head, and the guys exchange a look of confusion.

"Dane... I really am sorry. Had I known—"

"Just shut up and tell me what you did this time. She took off without telling me why again. What did you fucking do?"

Kode's eyes go wide as he frowns. "I didn't do anything. You loved her this time... I didn't know you loved her last time or I wouldn't have done anything then. I'm not that much of an asshole. I just wanted her to be happy. This time she was. Or at least, I thought she was."

I scrub my face with my hands as I drop to a couch, close to sobbing like a baby. I could have had her six years ago. Kode... stupid, ignorant asshole.

"You listened to me when I told you how I felt. I fucking told you everything."

"Not until two years ago, Dane. You didn't say a word about it until then, and you were drunk when you finally told me that you loved her. I felt like a douche then, but what was I supposed to say?"