“She was walking her dog on the beach earlier. I came outta the surf with my board and ran into her. I recognized her, she recognized me, and boom, next thing I know, she’s accepting my offer of dinner at my place.”
“And you think she’ll let you use a diamond-encrusted butt plug on her on the first date?” Jonny drawled.
“Not banking on it,” Sam admitted. “But it’d be good to be prepared just in case.”
“I think you’re livin’ in goddamned Narnia,” Boomer muttered. “You better go looking for an old wardrobe, dude, ‘cause you’ve got as much chance of ass fucking Jolie Fontaine on the first date as you have of meeting a talking lion.”
“Speak for yourself, asshole,” Sam responded, leaning forward until his elbows hit his knees. “She’sseen my abs. There’s no stopping me.” He straightened and lifted his Metallica tee, showing off his washboard stomach. “Once the ladies get sight of all this, they can’t help themselves.”
“Spoken like a true narcissist,” Jonny muttered, his lips twitching. “Your dad probably bought them for ya like he did everything else.”
Sam raised a hand to his mouth and coughed out the words, “Broke ass.”
Boomer looked at me and rolled his eyes.
I smiled back at him and shrugged.
The boys’ banter was usually the highlight of my day. I’d never had any of this growing up. The house I grew up in wasn’t filled with family jokes and laughter. My dad was a pastor and my mom his assistant, and they laid down the law, especially when it came to my friends.
I was only allowed to go to school, church, and home. There was no dating or movies, or hanging out at the diner. There was only bible study, prayer, and services. It was no wonder I escaped the day I turned eighteen, and apart from a few phone calls home to my mom, I had nothing to do with the church or my dad.
It wasn’t that I hated him; I didn’t. My dad never treated me badly or beat me. He was just overstrict. He disowned me the first time he saw me singing with the band on TV. It seemed having a rock singer for a daughter didn’t fit in with his religious aesthetic.
Talia swiped her cell phone from the table and began to scroll through it. When she found her target, she clicked and put it to her ear. After a few seconds, she said, “Noah? It’s Talia Fields. I’m trying to hire personal security for Saint’s Rapture. Do you think SDSS would be interested? The contract will be for a few months until Proximity Security frees up some guys.” She nodded. “Cool. Can you ping that over to me?” Another pause, then, “We’re just being cautious.Saint’s got a fan who’s getting a bit too close for comfort, and we want to cover our bases.” She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “Yeah. One minute, I’ll put her on.” She handed the cell to me and gave me big eyes.
Taking the cell, I held it to my ear. “Hey, stranger.”
“You okay, babe?” Noah asked gently.
I smiled at the concern in his tone.
Noah Hart used to be a biker. Maybe he still was. Who knew? He was also the frontman of a band called Dischordium, who’d recently broken out onto the scene. Their first album had done really well, and like us, they were working on their second. Me and Boomer had seen them play at a bar over in Wyoming years before and had asked them to support us on a ten-gig tour we were putting together. They started gathering a following, and the rest was history.
“I’m good, thanks, honey,” I murmured. “Like Tally said, it’s just an over-zealous fan sending shit to my house. But it’s made us realize we need to step up security.”
“Honestly, babe. Surprised it took you this long to get it,” he rumbled. “You’re talented, and you’re fine as hell. It was only a matter of time.”
“It’s come from left field. I stay out the spotlight unless I’m out with Hunter, and even then, it’s usually industry shit, so it’s security controlled.”
“You still with that guy?” he asked.
“On and off,” I admitted, “You know how it is.”
Noah laughed. “Yeah. I do.” He paused before declaring. “Tell Tally to hold off calling Hendrix. I’ll do it now and get him to call her. I’ll ask him for a special favor. I’ll get you sorted, Saint. Don’t worry.”
My heart melted at Noah’s kindness. “You’re a good friend.”
“Only payin’ it forward, sweetheart. You guys have done a lot for us. Feels good that I can help you out fora change. Tell Talia I’ll speak to Drix now and to look out for his call. In the meantime, you watch your back and call me if you need me, okay?”
“’Kay,” I breathed. “Thanks again, Noah.”
The line clicked, and I handed the cell back to Talia. “Noah said to hang fire. He’ll call Hendrix and ask him to contact you.”
Her head tipped to one side, “Thanks, babe. He always did have a soft spot for you.”
“For all of us,” I corrected. “We got Dischordium the supporting gig, remember?”
A slight smirk curved her lips. “Oh, my sweet summer child. Noah Hart wants to fuck you into next Wednesday. Make no mistake about it.”
