“First of all, not cool,” Zane says, pushing himself off the couch and walking over to snag his spare drumsticks from his bag. “Carol’s is a good fucking bar.”
“Don't look at me,” Axl says, throwing the strap of his bass over his shoulder before walking over to wait at my side. “I’m not interested in local pussy. Been there, done that, and I have the scars beneath the tattoos on my back to prove it,” he adds, shooting Travis a wink.
“You’re all gonna kill me.” Travis scrubs a hand down his face before he and Axl get into another PR debate.
I have no interest in fucking anyone in this town, either. As Axl said, we’ve been there, done that, and left the wreckage behind when we got the fuck out of here six years ago. Groupies are a dime a dozen, no matter what city we’re in, but if I’m being honest, we’re not interested in them either. They all want their five minutes of fame and are more enamored with the rockstar than the man behind the mask. They don’tunderstand the three of us. Not our relationship, or the connection we share. We all breathe the same air, feeling everything without saying so much as a word to each other.
People tried to define it. Pull it to pieces until they were satisfied that the three of us werefinished.Joke’s on them because nothing can tear my brother and me away from Zane.
In the past, whenever we let someone in, they either got jealous or tried to cut the other out after a while. Over my dead body was that ever going to happen. Besides, there is only one woman who has ever seen us for who we are, who had our attention from the very first moment we laid eyes on her. Someone who, deep beneath the surface, carried the same recipe of darkness we did, effortlessly drawing us in without even knowing she was doing it. She looked at us like she knew who we were beneath it all. As if she could see straight through the noise and into the parts we were too afraid to show back then.
Shiloh Fox.
Our muse.
Our obsession.
My sister’s best friend.
The biggest regret we have is keeping our distance. Pretending we could ignore the pull, the magnetic current that had always drawn us to her. Shiloh was far too quiet and innocent for our brand of poison, and to hurt her would have been the greatest tragedy. Plus, herfolks were always strict as fuck, and we weren’t in the business of pissing off the Fox family by corrupting their only daughter.
It’s funny how time and distance don’t mean a damn thing when up against something that feels like it was written beneath your skin. I mean…fuck.She’s in every shaky breath I take before the first line of every song I sing. Every note that scrapes the edges of all the words left in me, and I might as well be cursed, because she’s never going away.
Guitar strap slung over my shoulder, I toss Zane and Axl a nod before sliding my mask down over my face. At first, the masks were a joke. Years ago, when we first left Blue River, we were itching to prove to our town that we were more than what they made us feel. We wanted to get so big that one day we could look them in the eyes and show them that the band they worshipped was the very same delinquent kids they used to despise. The faceless rockstars blasting on the radio when they drove to work each morning? That was us. The kids they judged for being different, for loving differently, went on to become one of the biggest rock bands in the world. And now that they know who we are, courtesy of our mother’s proud bragging, they’ve done a complete one-eighty, supporting us at every turn.
We hide in anonymity, and we come alive every time we hit the stage. Believe it or not, Blue River has kept our identities secret, which is why coming back here and performing for them is an unexpected honor.
I step through the curtain and out onto the darkened, black lit stage. The place is fucking packed, which is awesome for Carol’s. The local businesses around here always take a hit when the snowy season sets in, and my sister Jovi figured this was a way to slip a little money into their pockets, just enough to tide them over until spring.
All thoughts fade to the back of my mind as I stand before the mic. The crowd hasn’t even seen us yet, but the adrenaline is already burning through my veins. I stretch my neck and roll my shoulders back, tense with the weight of my guitar biting into my skin through my leather jacket.
I close my eyes, surrendering myself to the electricity humming through my veins. There are so many artists that we know and look up to who still get nervous before they perform, but not me. I mean, the mask helps, but the world around me fades whenever I’m on stage, and the only thing that matters to any of us is the music.
In my mind, there’s only one woman out there listening, and if I close my eyes, eventually the crowd fades, the noise dies, and all I see is her. I only wish that when I open them, she wouldn’t fade too.
CHAPTER 3
SHILOH
JOY TO THE WORLD, MY PANTIES ARE RUINED
The roarof the crowd has my blood vessels straining as the tall silhouettes move across the stage and into their positions behind their microphones. I’m so close that I could probably smell their sweat, but I wasn’t clinging to the walls for no fucking body.
Neon red and pink lights illuminate their large frames, flashing in sync with each strum of the lead singer’s guitar, and goosebumps immediately crawl across my skin when he starts to speak.
“It’s been a long time coming, Blue River.” The deep rasp of his voice sends chills all over my body, and the excitement I feel is unlike anything I have ever imagined. Light flickers across his mask, a black and silver skull, and God, I wish that Jovi were here to see this.
The crowd’s frantic screams and whistles are insanely loud! This venue is far too small for these guys, but as gross as it sounds, the body heat is a huge plus.
A guy came out earlier and announced that Stone Cold only has time for four songs due to the severe weather warnings, and I was the only one here who was disappointed by that. I don’t give a fuck about the snow. Let me freeze to death. I could be stuck in this bar forever for all I care if it meant that Stone Cold was playing. I'm a little bummed that there's no time for me to meet them after the show, but I'm just going to soak in every second of them before I go back to my real life.
“You know, we haven’t been back here in what feels like a lifetime. So much has changed, yet… one thing always stays the same, Blue River.” The bass player starts to play along, and everyone goes nuts.
“Play me like you play your bass!” a woman screams from behind me, which garners a slight nod from the masked, rather unamused bassist.
“And that’s you, and your love for our music.” His head lifts, as if he’s looking out at the crowded room, but my stomach knots when his mask faces in the direction of where I'm standing. His playing comes to an abrupt halt, but he doesn't look away.
Okay, Shiloh. Act cool.
