She had been my biggest cheerleader all these years. I was blown away by her news. I could hardly believe they wanted to come out to a show like that.
“I can’t wait to see all of you and hang out, Mama.” I was over-the-moon happy. She’d embraced my bandmates years ago, and we spent tons of time over at my house. They loved her so much and adored her cooking. It made me chuckle fondly to think of us as one big happy family.
When I crawled into bed after the royal treatment from Ted and Marko, I was dead tired. My bones felt weary as I laid back on my pillow and marveled at my life. Who would have ever thought I’d see my dreams coming true at this young age? I had been paying my dues for years. I’d played the scum-filled bars. I'd handled the grabby drunks and sung the radio hits. I grew strong as I sang other people’s songs which, let’s be honest, wasn’t my thing.
It was time for the Turtledoves to find our own brand of famous.
We had been writing new songs every day. As we drove from city to city, we crafted new ideas with Marko beating on the dashboard with his drumsticks. We thought we had two great songs so far, but we kept plugging away. We were clear about what we wanted to say and how our sound was going to come through. I’d brought along the lyrics Ted gave me when we were at his house. All we needed was a catchy hook to finish it off. I thought it was going to be a huge hit. We had been goofing around with the hook, trying to get it just right. The song, ‘First Love,’ was a sweet ballad.
The Turtledoves had an album to record when we finally got home. We needed ten stone-cold[ES15] hits on our first recording. We needed to slam it out of the park with every single tune. Each song needed to be able to stand on its own. The first album was our one shot to make an impression. Once the record was out in the world, we would go on the road again, expand our territory, and become the stars I knew we were destined to become. I couldn’t wait until we had an international tour! That was gonna be sick.
We had all been getting along so well. We split up the driving and took catnaps along the way. By the end of this four months, I knew we were all going to be fried and would drag ourselves home, victorious for sure.
Marko and Ted were the best bandmates ever. They always took care of me, and I tried to return the favor. They liked Hunter, but they left staying in touch with him to me. They called their parents nightly just like I called mine. They were our touchstone, the thing that kept us grounded. I knew I was a bit more star-gazed than them. They had a well-centered view of everything and took one show at a time. Me? I always got ahead of myself, for some crazy reason. I needed to stay more in the now.
Ted always said, “Take it one day at a time, Callie.” But I couldn’t do that. My mind raced ahead. I thought of the future and dreamt of our enormous success. I couldn’t help myself, it kind of made me giggle.
We pulled up to our next gig at the Old Gang bar. It looked like a cool little place. When we walked in, I noticed it was much larger than it looked from the outside. I hoped we filled the seats tonight. My blood was pumping madly as we grabbed our instruments out the back of the van and loaded them in the club. My nerves were shot. We were going to set up early and then go to the hotel for some shut eye. We were all exhausted from the hours spent in the van.
Ted started unloading the drum kit, and the manager came out to greet us. He was, I guessed, in his forties with a bald head, and much taller than any of us. I looked up and up until my eyes finally reached his face. Dude must have been over 6’6”. I had never met someone as tall as him before. It made an impression, damn.
“Hey, I’ve got people to help you with that.” He offered us his hand. I thought, Wow! This was the first time we were provided with help to unload. “The show is sold out,” the manager said enthusiastically and added, “I called your manager, we want to add another date.”
Holy hell, really? This was already happening. I had to talk to Hunter and see what he thought about it. But how fucking cool was that?
“Yeah, you need to talk to him, he’s the one who decides,” I said feeling short as could be at 5’3”, I was at least a foot shorter than him. He made me feel so tiny.
“I called the office and talked to a Bella today? Who’s she?” He looked between the three of us with raised brows.
“She’s his new assistant. We haven’t met her yet, but I hear she’s really helping out. She’ll know what to do.” I reassured him and stood back, watching his crew roll our instruments inside. It was always hard on me to see someone touch my baby; my Gibson meant so much to me. I prayed it came out of the tour unscathed.
Once everything was set up, we could bounce. This was becoming a new normal life for us. We entered our rooms at the exact same time, and my phone pinged. I read the text.
Are you at the hotel yet?
It was Hunter, so I swiped, and he picked up before the first ring.
“Hey, how’s it going? I’m about to get on the plane. I’ll be there in a few hours.” I could hardly wait! I felt myself blush rosy, pink spreading over my cheeks. Hunter had been so supportive, and I couldn’t wait to hug him. I sure hoped I could keep my hands to myself. It would be bad to attack him, right? Bad girl, Callie, bad thought, and then I laughed under my breath. I might be a silly girl, but I knew what I wanted.
“Can’t wait!” I said, and we hung up. By this time, I was ready to fall out. I pulled off my clothes and slid a t-shirt over my head. I slipped between the cold, crisp sheets and snuggled down in the comfy bed. Hunter was going to be here late tonight, and I was so excited that my body vibrated. I wanted nothing more than to sleep. Boy did I want to sleep. I tried to focus on relaxing, but, just as I was about to drift off, the image of Hunter appeared in my mind, and I was fully awake again.
I wondered about this Bella, too. She’d better be working hard for him and not touching him like I wanted to. I felt the jealousy skip over my skin, and I groaned.[SO16] I didn’t need to think of her and the infinite possibilities. Ugh. I pushed that thought out of my head.
I finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming of Hunter wrapped around me. Oh, but I wished it could come true. I’d love to snuggle up behind him and hold onto him while I dreamt of sugar plums and happy fairies. Tonight, dreams were coming true, and I wondered if this one last dream could materialize. My heart stuttered in my chest.
Could Hunter be mine?
Chapter 16
Hunter
I boarded the plane and took my seat by the window. This flight was only a couple of hours, but I’d splurged and flew first class. I’d been slamming the work lately, and I was completely drained. All the contracts had been examined by my attorney, and the Turtledoves were nailed down tight. The record label was committed to money and tour support. They wanted to send a producer for the studio work. Fuck! Fuck me. Way to dash my hopes.
I wanted to produce them, and I was a little pissed off. I’d find a way to make it happen for sure. I wanted my name on their record. I found them, didn’t I? I was going to get my 15% of any sales, the industry called it 1 ½ points. The hundred and fifty thousand advance was banked in my escrow account, and I couldn’t wait to get into the studio with the band. No way was I letting the label dictate who would produce them. The real money was in producing original tunes. The Doves would make bank off residuals.
While we talked last night, Callie sang me one of their new songs. Damn, I thought they had hit number two on their hands with ‘First Love.’ It was incredible. These kids wrote like maniacs, and I could hear the growth in their music. This love song was lyrically so beautiful, and the music was enchanting. The hook grabbed you, and the song wouldn’t let go. It would definitely stand the test of time.
We needed eight more songs, and we would be out for a little over three more months, plenty of time to pen the rest. I heard Callie’s parents were coming to see their daughter at our halfway point. We had a three-night run in Arizona, so it was perfect timing really. I had to be careful now that I was meeting up with the band. Noone could suspect the
little crush I had going on.
Callie was an adult now, and I didn’t feel guilty about fantasizing about her anymore. To me, she was an enchantress. She was so sexy with those perfect curves. Her blue eyes sparkled when she laughed, and her giggles spoke to me. I wanted to hold onto her and kiss her madly, darkly, deeply.
As I got off the plane late that night, I kept telling myself no. I just couldn’t go there with her. Everything was going so well. The club owners and managers had nothing but stellar things to say about the Doves, and I didn’t want to fuck this up. We had everything going for us. If we fell to our lesser, base selves, it could screw everything up. I was determined to be manager of the year, not her boyfriend, goddamnit!
By the time I got to the hotel, I was beat to shit. I rolled my suitcase inside and stripped right there by the bed. I fell onto the dark, flowered comforter. I didn’t even pull it back before I was dead asleep, my head hitting the pillow with a little bounce.
Next morning, I heard my phone ring. Callie was calling, just like I asked. “Hey Hunter! Welcome to Montana!”
Her exuberance made me chuckle. Who was excited about being here in the middle of nowhere? The scenery was absolutely beautiful, but none of us had time to explore the countryside. “Hey kid, I’ve got to take a shower. I’ll be by your room when I’m ready, in about a half an hour. Tell the boys,” I said, anxious to see her.
“Sure, just wanted to make sure you got in safe and sound. See you then.” She hung up quickly. I rubbed my face with my hand and tried like hell to snap wide awake. I could roll over and sleep all morning, but I couldn’t allow that. I had so much to do.
I got up and jumped in the shower. I scrubbed off my travels and tried like hell not to think of my girl. But Callie’s image scrolled through my mind, and my hand was reaching down to grab a hold of my hard cock. My hand circled the base of my dick, and I rubbed up and over. In my mind’s eye, Callie was rubbing me, and I found myself spurting the hot cum all over the shower wall. I groaned during my release and whispered, “Callie.”
I decided I was going to say something today. I planned to pull her aside and talk to her about our mutual attraction. It wasn’t new, this thing. The act and manager falling for each other. It was an old cliché, so many had fallen prey to an attraction, and of course they had so much in common. I thought the Doves wouldn’t appreciate what could happen either. It had to stop.
I slid my white cotton button-up shirt over my shoulders and started attacking all those buttons. I was trying to stay focused on business. I pulled my jeans up over my ass as I thought about the show tonight. I buttoned up my Levis, and tucked in my shirt, slipped my belt through the loops, and buckled up. Time to buck up, I told myself as I walked out the hotel door. My room was like every other hotel room. One large king sat in the middle, bookended with side tables and lamps. There was a dresser with a large mirror hung over it.
When I looked in the mirror, an exhausted man looked back at me. I ran a comb through my thick, black hair and went to make some coffee. Hotel coffee wasn’t the best tasting, but I had to get some caffeine in me. After I drank the whole pot, I felt a little better. I decided not to shave today. Some scruff on my face was kind of the style. I didn’t want to put in the effort, anyway. My heart picked up a beat, pounding against my ribcage. My palms got sweaty, and I took a deep, cleansing breath.
Show time!
I grabbed my shit and stuffed my wallet in my butt pocket. I took one last look in the mirror and said to my reflection, You can do it, buddy. You can do it!
If I failed, we all failed. Stay focused, man.
Chapter 17
Callie
Hunter was finally here, and I felt swoony, and my heartrate ticked up. I was so damn excited about seeing him, I could hardly wait. I jumped out of bed and into the shower as fast as I could move. While I was under the pounding hot water, I scrubbed my hair. I wanted to look pretty today and started planning what I had to wear that would catch his eye.
When I dried off, I ran to my backpack and started rummaging through everything I’d brought with me. I decided on a little cotton sundress. It hit me just above the knees, and the pale yellow looked great with my white-blonde hair. I dried and braided it over one shoulder. Then, as I swiped some lip gloss across my mouth, I heard my stomach grumble. It made me giggle. I needed food and was grateful I was about to sit down to eat.
I stood back, checking myself out in the mirror. The dress was a bit crumpled, but I thought I looked cute, and I was ready to go. There was a knock at my door, and when I opened it, Ted and Marko were standing there smiling. They hugged me as they came inside.
“Hey Callie, what’s up?” Ted said as he turned towards me.
“Hunter called and he’ll be by any minute to grab us for breakfast. Yay! I’m so glad he’s here. There’s so much we need to go over with him, you know? And I want him to hear our new stuff.” Excitement bubbled up inside. I couldn’t wait for him to hear the new songs. I wondered what he’d think about the new direction we’d taken our music. I loved the smoldering guitar licks in ‘Girl Wild.’
“Cool, dude,” Marko whispered.
“Hey, which songs do you want to play for him?” Ted asked, looking down at me from his six-foot height. We’d already gone over this last night, but maybe he was having second thoughts.
“All of them. I love them all. I think ‘Love Lost’[ES17] is an awesome song. I wonder what he’ll think about ‘Girl Wild’? That one is damn good. Whatever he decides is good with me, right?” I looked between the brothers, and they both nodded. We smiled broadly at each other, because we could hardly wait to get Hunter’s feedback on our new tunes.
Just then, there was a knock at the door and I swung it wide open. Hunter looked so hot he about melted my brain. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me to give him a soft squeeze. I’d really missed him. All this time away from him had only made me grow fonder of him. I thought he looked hotter than ever as I melted into his embrace.
“Hey, look who the cat dragged in.” I giggled, feeling playful this morning.
“Ted, Marko, how’s it hanging?” Hunter broke out of our embrace and bro-hugged the brothers.
“Let’s hit it. I found a cool little place just down the street. Who’s hungry?” We all cheered and headed out to the parking lot to Hunter’s rental. He opened up the door, and Ted and Marko hopped in the back seat. Then he came around to my side and closed the car door for me.
Hunter headed down the street and stopped in front of a place with a huge sign in the yard. “MA’s Breakfast.” it proudly read, and my stomach rumbled. I think Hunter heard it too, because he looked sideways at me and laughed. That made me fall to pieces giggling at myself.
“Breakfast is on me.” Hunter said as we sat down.
We all settled into a booth and, I pulled a menu towards me. Then I looked around and saw these beautiful, yummy looking croissants on each table. “We got to get some of those.” I pointed to the crispy pastry.
“Hell yeah!” Hunter grinned. We were all starving. When the waitress swung by, we were ready to give her our orders. She poured coffee into all our cups and said, “Okay, I’ll go put your orders in.” She wore her own clothes, a cute little dress, but had an apron tied around her waist. ‘Ma’s Breakfast’ was stitched across the front.
I looked at Hunter with a broad smile, “The gigs have been so much fun.” He gave me a nod. Then Ted spoke up.
“Yeah, it’s been going great. Last night we sold out. It was amazing.” Marko nodded in agreement.
The food was dropped off, and I couldn’t hold back. I grabbed a croissant, and it almost melted in my hands. The[SO18] buttery goodness was crisp and light. I took a huge bite, and it crunched inside my head. We all dug in, with the smell of coffee wafting in the air. My eggs were perfectly scrambled. “This is the best breakfast I have ever had.” I claimed, forcing potatoes onto my fork. Maybe it was my hunger talking, but maybe the food was just that goo
d.
“So, kids, I’ve heard great things about your shows, and you all look happy. Are you staying in touch with your families?” I nodded as he looked between the three of us. He had drummed it into our heads before we left. “Call your family,” he told us many times.
“I call our parents almost every night,” Ted said with his mouth full of strawberries. The juice had dripped down his chin. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who was hungry. It made us all laugh as he swiped it with his napkin.
“I call Mama every night.” I said and then added, “I can’t believe how fast Gaby is growing.”
“Hey dude, I brought my tape player, you want to hear one of our new songs?” Ted was busy eating, but he stopped to pull out the tape. When he saw Hunter nodding, he laid the player on the table and hit play, ‘Run Around,’ was an upbeat dance tune we wrote last week.
“What do you think?” I asked, praying he loved it like I did.
Hunter put his fork down and said, “Damn, that’s hot! I’ll have to listen to it a ton more, but if it holds up like I think it will, you’ve got a solid hit on your hands. You all write such amazing songs. Stand-out music, for a standout band.” He smiled a wide, bold smile that touched me deep down.
“We write in the van. It’s been so cool, helps pass the time,” Ted said with a smile as he forked some eggs into his mouth.
“Marko, play me another tune.” Hunter looked over at Marko as he pushed the button down on the player. The next song was ‘Love Lost,’ and I couldn’t wait to hear what Hunter thought. This was my favorite new song so far. It had a great bass line, and I thought the lyrics were sick. And ‘Girl Wild’....well, I’m in love with that tune. It’s like we wrote a song about me!
When Marco stopped the tape, we all waited with anticipation. “Damn, that’s amazing! Who wrote it?” We all raised our hands and then fell to the side laughing.
“Hunter, we write all our songs together. None of us writes alone,” I said as I pushed more of the potatoes onto my fork. These were delicious, with onion and green peppers running through the potatoes. I didn’t think I had ever had hash browns like this before. I greedily snagged more on my fork and the flavors danced on my tongue. I had eaten more fast food on this trip than I had in my entire life, but this was real food, and I was going to luxuriate in the goodness, the deliciousness.
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