Notes of the Past (Lightning Strikes Book 2)

by Jodie Larson

  Kade smiles. “Don’t listen to them. They’re idiots.” They flip him off, which only makes him laugh more.

  I clear my throat and force a smile. “Congratulations on your marriage. I saw some pics way back when. It looked beautiful.”

  He nods, pride showing all over his face. “It was. You’d love Adrienne. She’s here tonight, if you want to meet her?”

  This time, my smile is genuine. “I’d love to.”

  Kade brings me to the edge and points to two girls sitting at the end of the bar. “Adrienne’s the brunette. You should sit with them while we play.”

  I turn to face him and shove his shoulder. “I didn’t know you were playing tonight?”

  “It’s a surprise. We didn’t want to bring too much attention.” He waves a hand to the crowd, now doubled since I went on. “Looks like our secret’s out anyway. It’ll be fun.”

  We join Breck and Pax, who are discussing which songs to play tonight. Kade joins in and I stand idly back, watching them like I used to. So many memories of the guys discussing songs and what to play. Only one person is missing.

  I take a tentative step forward and clear my throat. Three pairs of eyes swing my way, all smiling and happy. “So, um, is Myles—”

  “Let’s get this over with,” a voice growls behind me. I’d know that voice anywhere. Only this voice is lower, more grown-up, and…angry. Like, really angry. I knew our reunion wouldn’t be all hearts and flowers, but I was hoping it’d at least be civil. Judging by the tone in his voice, it’s not even a possibility.

  Myles storms past me, not even acknowledging my existence. A chill runs through me from the icy vibe radiating off him.

  “That’s the attitude we need before a show.” Brecken rolls his eyes. “Lighten the fuck up, man.”

  Myles pins him with a stare and Brecken backs off, holding his hands up in defense. Grabbing his guitar from the stand, Myles actively avoids walking near me to reach the stage.

  Kade sighs, putting a hand on my shoulder before giving me a sympathetic look. “Wait for us after the show? I’d really like to talk to you. Catch up a bit.”

  “Sure,” I say, though I don’t really feel it.

  He smiles and grabs his guitar, slinging it over his shoulder. “Great. See you after.”

  The guys all take the stage next to Myles, whose tension rolls off him in waves. I can practically feel it from here. I wrap my arms around my waist, trying to warm up from the frosty greeting we had. Well, not so much a greeting as an attitude.

  It’s not my fault he and I are here tonight. At the same time. I didn’t know they’d be here. If I did, there’s no way in hell I would have come. It’s open mic night. My once a month treat to get my artistic craft out to the public, when I’m not having panic attacks from it. Being a waitress at a restaurant isn’t exactly getting my music heard. Only when I’m singing while wiping down tables. Then I have the drunks telling me to shut up. Gotta love working nights.

  I climb down the side stairs and debate staying or not. I know Kade wanted me to, but for my sanity’s sake, I should go. Myles doesn’t need my constant reminder, and I don’t want to hurt him any more than I already have. It’s not fair to him, not when he hasn’t deserved it.

  I’m almost out the door when a hand grabs my elbow. Turning, I smile at the thin brunette holding me back.

  “Tatum, right?”

  I nod. “That’s me.”

  She sticks her hand out and I shake it. “Adrienne Evans. I’m Kade’s wife.”

  I run my hands over my ponytail, a nervous gesture of mine. “I know. Kade pointed you out backstage. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Adrienne smiles warmly at me and I regret not going over to introduce myself like I said I was going to. “Come join us. We’ve got great seats and the guys are about to start.” She points to the blond practically standing on a stool, waving her arms in the air like she’s on fire.

  I laugh, unable to help myself. “Is she okay?”

  Adrienne laughs too as we walk toward the crazy person. “Quinn? As fine as she’s going to be. She’s a little…eccentric.”

  “Eccentric?” When we reach Quinn, her blue eyes sparkle as she pulls Adrienne back to her chair.

  “So you’re Tatum? Nice to meet you. I’m Quinn Olson.” I shake her offered hand before she thrusts me into the chair next to her. “They’re about to start.”

  The crowd gathers around the stage, tables shoved to the side so everyone can be as close to the stage as possible. Kade grabs the mic stand, hanging on it like he used to when we played in the garage.

  “I know you guys weren’t expecting a concert tonight, but we figured we’d come back to where it all started.” Kade gives the crowd a wink and they lose their minds. Girls flock to the stage, stripping out of any unnecessary articles of clothing in the process. I look over at Adrienne, whose eyes are glued to the stage, primarily at Kade.

  Leaning over, I get her attention. “Doesn’t that bother you, them being so obvious about wanting your husband?”

  Adrienne shakes her head. “It used to, but I’m immune to it now. I know Kade. He may play it up on stage for them, but I know who he’s thinking about when he does it.” A slow smile crosses her face and I turn my gaze to the stage, catching Kade looking at us. I bounce my eyes between the two and can see the love and communication between them.

  Quinn leans over, acting like she’s whispering in my ear, but talking loud enough to be heard. “And your gag reflex will strengthen after a few times of watching them together. It’s disturbing on all sorts of levels.” Adrienne smacks Quinn on the shoulder and she rubs the abused spot while laughing. “See? Look at the shit I have to put up with.”

  “Like you’re any better. If Gabe wasn’t behind the bar, you’d be in his lap.”

  Quinn wiggles her eyebrows. “Damn right I would be. But I have no plans of getting knocked up right now, unlike you.”

  “You’re thinking of having kids?” I ask.

  A bright smile crosses Adrienne’s face. “You could say that.”

  “Thinking?” Quinn scrunches her face up. “Doing. Though I’m surprised it took her this long to get pregnant. I’ve seen rabbits screw less than those two.” Again, Quinn rubs her arm. “Bitch, knock that off.”

  Gabe, who I know from being here previously, places a hand over Quinn’s mouth from behind the bar. “You’ll have to excuse my wife. Her filter isn’t working tonight.”

  Adrienne laughs. “When does it ever work?”

  “Touché.”

  Quinn wiggles out of Gabe’s grasp and pouts. “Both of you can suck a dick.”

  The three of them laugh and I can feel a smile playing on my lips. I like these two. They’re right up my alley, personality-wise. Obviously been friends for a long time, fighting almost like siblings. But they do it with love. Something I used to do with the guys on the stage way back when. Back before I screwed everything up.

  The first song finishes, sending the crowd into a tizzy. More and more people push through the door. Their murmuring is almost louder than the guys on stage. We’re well past standing room only. It’s shoulder to shoulder in the dance area, with a few even sitting on shoulders. The temperature has increased a good ten degrees, if not twenty from all the additional bodies. Good thing Adrienne and Quinn got these seats before the pandemonium hit.

  Gabe runs over and tells the bouncers to stop letting people in. It’s packed, nothing but wall to wall people everywhere you look. Up on stage, Kade is in his element, playing the rock god I knew he was always meant to be. Hell, all of them for that matter. Even back then I knew they were destined for greatness. Of course, I assumed I would be with them. Things happen, life turns unexpectedly. Choices need to be made. Sacrifices needed to happen.

  They play another of their hits, one I recognize from their album. I play it religiously in my car, on my phone, basically anywhere I can. The lyrics are familiar in tone, like all the other lyrics I’ve heard him write in that stup
id green notebook of his. The one he kept under his bed and would wake in the middle of the night to write in. Myles has always been good with words, expressing his feelings with his music. It was one of the draws I had to him initially. That, and he was incredibly sexy to look at, when I started paying attention to that sort of thing.

  He hasn’t looked at me yet, not once in the half hour they’ve been on stage. All the other guys have looked our way. Kade, of course, has been eye-fucking his wife as much as possible. Quinn’s right. The gag reflex is working overtime. It’s envious though, the amount of love they have for each other. One day, I hope someone looks at me that way. Someone used to…

  “Tatum,” Quinn says, grabbing my attention.

  “Yeah?”

  “Tell us about yourself. How long have you known the guys?”

  I shrug. “Long time. We sort of grew up together, went to the same schools. Our parents were friends, so it was only fitting that all of us would be together at some point. High school was the turning point though. That’s when things got serious.”

  “You mean with Myles,” she says, mischief playing in her eyes.

  I can feel the heat crawling up my face. “You could say that.”

  Quinn rubs her hands together viciously. “Oh, do tell. I want to hear all about how much of an asshole he was back then.”

  I shake my head. “He wasn’t when I knew him. Actually, he was very sweet. Fun. Playful.”

  “Wait, are we talking about the same guy here?” Adrienne leans over with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Maybe?” Guess I really don’t know how this Myles differs from the one in my memories. If his greeting in the back is any indication of the new Myles, I’m not sure I want to know.

  Quinn opens her mouth, but the roaring crowd catches her attention first. The guys have finished their show. Every person on the floor is losing their minds. Bet they were thankful they came out tonight. Can’t say the same for me.

  Not yet anyway.

  Kade, Pax, and Breck walk our way, shaking hands and signing autographs along the way. Several girls grab them for selfies and I can’t help but laugh. Seeing the joy on their faces makes my heart happy.

  Pax wraps me up in a huge hug and the smile on my face widens. “Great set tonight.”

  “Thanks.” He mock knocks my chin before pinching my nose like he used to when we were kids.

  Breck wraps an arm around me as Pax leaves to talk with some fans next to us. “When did you move back here?”

  “About a year ago. Had some things I needed to take care of.” I take a sip of the drink I’ve been nursing since I sat down.

  “Must have been right after we left. You know, I’d be hurt if you were in town and didn’t stop over to say hi.”

  Avoiding his stare, I catch a glimpse of Myles in the crowd. A young blond hangs off his arm, throwing her head back as she laughs, drawing attention and making a show. Something turns in my stomach. Or is it my chest? A burning sensation penetrates every inch of my body, turning it to ashes. I told myself I could handle seeing him again. Maybe we’d even be civil to each other. I mean, nine years is a long time to hold a grudge. Then he reaches around and grabs her ass. Guess I was wrong.

  Turning back to Breck, I weakly smile. All the fight leaves as my insides continue to burn. “Of course I would have said hi. But it wasn’t meant to be.” I glance back at Myles. “Nothing ever is.”

  As if he knew I was looking at him, Myles turns our way. An evil grin crosses his normally handsome face as he walks toward us, the blond bimbo hanging on his arm still. Brecken notices and grabs my hand, giving it a light squeeze.

  “Tay…” I know Brecken’s trying to shield me, but it’s too late.

  “Hey, asshole,” Myles says, standing in front of us. Brecken moves closer, taking a protective stance next to me. He doesn’t need to, though. There’s nothing Myles can do that I haven’t already done to myself.

  “What’s up, man? Coming out with us later?”

  Myles looks straight at me, the corners of his lips curling into a sneer. “Sorry, gotta pass. Tracy invited me over to her place for a private encore.” She curls her hand around his bicep, bright red lips pressing against his cheek.

  “Come on, baby. Let’s get out of here.” Tracy glances over at me, scrunching her nose as she looks me up and down. “You told me you were going to show me how to strum your guitar.”

  He grins and it all happens in slow motion, almost like I’m watching it from outside of my body. Myles slides his hand into her hair, pulling her head back before latching his mouth onto hers. You can see their tongues twirl, hear the loud sucking as they devour each other in front of us. Brecken moves closer to me, but I barely notice. In fact, I barely notice anything other than Myles and his tramp. The walls turn black, closing in on me at an alarming rate. My head spins from how fast my body shuts down. I falter on the stool, grabbing onto Brecken for stability.

  When Myles looks over again, the look he gives me sends the final nail in my coffin for the night. He says something to Brecken, but I can’t hear above the ringing in my ears. My chest cracks even more as I watch him walk away, his hand on her ass, whispering into her ear as they disappear into the crowd.

  Well, there’s my answer. I always wondered what it’d feel like to see him again. Maybe it’d be like time hadn’t passed. He’d listen to my reasons and we’d fall back into our relationship. But this wasn’t on my radar. No, this pain, this coldness, this vindictiveness is completely out of character for him, and isn’t what I was expecting.

  To add to my misery, Myles looks over his shoulder before he walks out the door, giving me a wink because he knew I’d be looking.

  I walk into Don’s office the next morning, the drums in my head pounding a punishing beat. Tracy was less than thrilled when I didn’t stay for pancakes this morning. Or when I turned down her offer to put her number in my phone. The slap across my cheek was a nice parting gift. Nicer than some I’ve received recently.

  Every head in the room turns in my direction when the door opens, most sporting annoyed glares. Kade looks extra annoyed. What the…? We haven’t even started this meeting yet.

  Or have we?

  Head count: Don, Kade, Brecken, Paxton, and Linda, our rep at the label.

  Shit, I am late.

  Don stands, leaning his hands against the table. “Now that we’re all here,” he says, looking pointedly at me. I take the available seat next to Breck, but he moves his chair to the side as soon as I sit down. What’s up his ass? “Like I said last night, Melissa’s off the tour for a couple months, so we need to find a replacement.” He sits back down and nods to Linda, who’s sitting closest to the door. “After last night, I talked with Kade and I think we’ve come up with the perfect solution. We’ve decided that grabbing a local talent would be better than trying to negotiate with a bigger star at the last minute.”

  Fuck, was there anyone good last night worth bringing on tour? My brain is still groggy from lack of sleep and even more alcohol back at Tracy’s. I suppose there had to have been one, maybe two bands we could bring with us. There’s no way a solo artist would survive.

  Kade clears his throat while tapping a beat on the table. “It’s a good PR selling point. Since we were local when we started getting big, it’d be our way of paying it forward. Helping another artist get attention, maybe even getting them noticed by agencies.”

  “And if they’re good enough,” Linda starts, “we’re willing to look into signing them permanently to the tour, not just for the two months left on this leg.”

  “But what about Melissa?” Pax asks. “I mean, I don’t want to kick her off the tour just because she got hurt. It’s not her fault. She’s going to have bills to pay and if we kick her off…”

  “It’s all taken care of,” Linda says. “If the person we select to finish this leg turns out to be a better fit, we’re moving Melissa to a different tour. We think we’ve found one that she’ll easily meld into.
It seems to be a better fit genre-wise. We’ve talked it over with her and she’s aware of what’s going on. Trust me, we’re not looking to get rid of her. Give her a year and she’ll be looking for her own opening acts.”

  Happy murmuring sounds around me. I’m glad to hear Melissa will still have a job when she’s healthy again. She’s one of a few women who’ve actually resisted my advances. Mostly because Kade threatened to chop my balls off if I even attempted it. Even before that, she told me to fuck off. Very few women have said that to my face before I slept with them. That earned my respect.

  “So who were you thinking about?” Breck asks, still sitting as far away from me as possible.

  What in the fuck is his problem? Everything seemed cool last night when I left The Warehouse. I mean, outside of him hanging all over Tatum, acting like they’re best friends and giving her looks that no one should give her. When I saw them together at the bar, they seemed awfully cozy; his arms all around her and her laughing at something he said. I can’t explain what happened next. Something long dormant inside started coming back to life. Like a jumpstart to a dead battery. It was hard to get the red out of my vision. That’s when Tracy came up and started hanging on me like a lost puppy. Seeing Tatum again, knowing for sure it was her this time, was not what I expected. Old memories I thought I had gotten rid of surfaced. I could still feel her arms around me, her breath against my neck as she tried to hide her embarrassment, her lips on mine as if they were made to be there. And Brecken was there, sitting next to her, taking her laughs, her smiles like he owned them. Or had any right to them.

  Sure, showing Tracy off like that probably wasn’t the best idea. And there may have been a part of me that wanted to hurt her. Okay, more than a part of me. The majority is still bitter about what happened. How she could say that she loves me one day and the next just disappear from my life without a note or reason why.

  I shake my head, ridding any and all thoughts of Tatum from it. She’s here now, apparently. And K.C. is a big enough town that I doubt we’ll run into each other when I am home.