I frown as I take the stairs to the ground floor the next morning and hear two voices in the kitchen. One is my sister's—soft, high, and excited. The other is masculine, lower…I rush down the remaining steps when I recognise Jared's voice. What the fuck is he doing in my kitchen so early in the morning?I come to a halt in the kitchen doorway and blink, not believing what I'm seeing. Daisy and Jared are sitting at the table, having breakfast together as if it's something they are used to.I rub my eyes and walk into the room. “What the fuck?”Daisy looks up, a wide grin on her face. “Morning, sleepyhead. Jared came by to see you but you were still getting your beauty sleep so I told him he could wait.”I shift my gaze to the guy sitting at the table beside her. Since when did Daisy become friendly with him? Just a few years ago she was the kind of kid who locked herself up in her room whenever I brought friends over. Is puberty obliterating her shyness? “You didn't have to come by s
I’m opening the garage door after Jared gets back with my truck in the evening when my phone rings. I check it as he drives through and see that it’s an unknown number. I receive it as Jared brings the truck to a stop. “Hello?”“Hello. Is this Isaac Henry?”I frown instantly in confusion. First, it’s a strange voice, and second, I can’t remember the last time anyone addressed me like that. “Yeah, that’s me. Who is this?”“It’s Steve. You sent me an email earlier about a job.”It’s the producer Ben asked me to email. I sent an email earlier today and all but forgot about it. I didn’t really think I had a chance of getting the job. “Oh, yeah. I wasn’t expecting a call back so soon.”“Yeah, well, actually, I already found the person I was looking for. But there is another spot that has opened up and I wanted to see if you’re okay with it.”“What kind of job?”“How available are you?”“Very.”“Are you okay with going on the road?”“Uh?”“We have this band that’s touring and one of our as
While I wait for Daisy to get back, I check the email I received from Steve. It contains a quick brief of when the tour will be happening and the locations. There’s a long list of my expected responsibilities. I’ll be working under the tour manager and will be assisting whenever I’m needed, and it all looks mostly like running errands and menial tasks, nothing complicated. I look at the tour stops, and basically, if I agree to take this job, I’ll be travelling across the country and into the next and the next…I’m already getting excited even before I see my pay. It’s a per-day wage and by the time I’m done with the calculation, I’m fighting the urge to just call Steve back right away and let him know I’m in. With what I can make on this gig in the first four months and what I’ll get on the truck, I’ll be able to cover at least three-quarters of Daisy’s surgery cost. The rest shouldn’t be so hard to make up. I’ll ask Mum if there’s a payment plan we can–My thoughts grind to a stop
I cannot remember the last time I was this excited and nervous at the same time. But then again, my life has been some kind of shit-show for the past several years. Not just that, but I haven’t felt this strongly about a guy since–well, since high school. It scares the living daylights out of me, but knowing that I’m not alone in this makes me feel that I’m not way over my head. I get off the taxi I took from the bus stop and walk into the hotel I’ll be spending the next two nights in. Tomorrow will be my first day at work, and it also happens to be the last day before the tour officially kicks off. The day after tomorrow will be the Sea City concert, and then we’ll be on the road. I go through check-in and then go up to my room, thoughts of Ben already filling my head–no surprise, really, since the guy has pretty much set up camp in my head. It’s just that at this moment, it’s really hitting home that I’m going to see him soon. Soon as in about an hour’s time. That’s when he’ll b
By the time it’s ten o’clock, the bar has lost its restaurant-y vibe and now looks more like the drinking hole it was meant to be. My companions have also adhered to the change of atmosphere, and all dishes have been cleared from the table to make way for more drinks. When I came along, I thought this was going to simply be a dinner with maybe a little more drinking than usual, but as everyone kept asking for more drinks, it’s slowly turned into a drinking party. Nobody seems to be in a hurry to leave, and I wonder whether this is how their dinners go normally.I usually don’t mind free drinks, but there’s one problem here.I was hoping to have Ben to myself by now. The longer I sat next to him during dinner, the higher my anticipation got. Having him close to me but not being able to touch him was a stimulation of its own kind. But once the drinks started pouring in steadily and the place got louder, that spell got broken. Maybe that’s also because for the past ten minutes, he has
“Are you sure you’re not the one who likes being manhandled in bed?” I question, remembering the accusation he made the other night.His nearly-black eyes twinkle in the light. “Not usually.” “No?”“I like how proper you are in public, but the moment we get behind closed doors, you have no problem turning the filthy on. It’s like being hit by a tornado…in my dick.”“You’re full of shit.”“Am I?” he asks, now running the back of his fingers along my hard ridge. “Keri was right, you know. You look…like a fucking angel. Angels don’t go around commanding people to suck their dicks. It’s part of your charm.”It’s my turn to arch an eyebrow. “Should I ask nicely? Is that more befitting of an angel?” “Next time,” he says. “I’m down with you pushing me around for tonight.”He hooks a thumb under my waistband and pulls my boxers down, finally setting my dick free. And free it does go, springing from its confines and stretching to its full length, hitting his face in the process. “Did I just
I can hear him. I can. But nothing he is saying makes sense. So I ask, “What?”Ben takes a step towards me, and I step back. He rakes a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know how to tell you…” He bites down on his lip. “I didn’t want to hurt you…I don’t want to hurt you–”“What the fuck is going on?” I demand, wanting him to tell me straight away. What didn’t he know how to tell me? Why the fuck did he run away?“I told you to wait six months.”I gulp. “So you don’t want me here.”“It’s not that I don’t want you–”“I asked you,” I remind him, jabbing a finger in his direction. “That night I called to tell you about the offer, I asked whether it was okay with you and you said yes.”He scrubs his hand over his face. “I wasn’t going to tell you to not take the job, Isaac. You need it.”“Wow.” I think it’s beginning to sink in. Ben doesn’t want me to go on tour with them. But I’m here anyway, because he said he didn’t mind. And now he is saying me being here changes nothing. “You have to
My ringing phone wakes me up at the crack of dawn. I left my curtains open last night–after standing at the window listlessly staring at the city lights outside for a long time, unable to sleep once I emerged from the bathroom and found Ben gone. The light coming in through the window tells me it couldn’t be later than six o’clock. I reach for my phone quickly, afraid that it’s a call from home and maybe something happened to Daisy. A call at this hour can’t be– I pause my thought when I see Teddy’s name on the screen. Steve gave me his number and told me that he would look for me. I clear my throat and sit up in bed. I receive the call and press the phone to my ear. “Hello?” “Are you at the lobby?” a masculine voice asks from the other side. My eyebrows draw together. “What?” Was I supposed to be at the lobby? “Didn’t I tell you that you should be at the lobby at thirty past five, ready for the run?” Run? What run? “No, you didn’t.” “I didn’t call you yesterday?” “No, you did