Rory ran a hand over his beard. “They did seem to like the song last night.”
“Kid, they’re loving it. That’s why I’m here. Got an offer for you, but I’m gonna need your answer today. Like now.”
Again Rory’s eyes shifted between them. Charlotte was smiling so maybe it was a good offer. He looked back at Lou. “What’s that?”
“Have you heard of Axel Rod?”
“Sure, of course. Who hasn’t?”
“He OD’d the other night.”
“Shit. I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard. Is he okay?”
Lou waved the hand holding the cigar in the air. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, we had studio time in LA scheduled for him. Expensive studio time, and now he can’t use it. So, I was thinking, maybe we could slip you into his spot.”
“Me?”
Lou nodded. “Yep. You think you’re up for it?”
Rory pulled his head to the side. “What about Convicted Chrome?”
“This is just you, kid. No band.”
“You mean just drop out in the middle of Charlotte’s tour?” His eyes shifted to where she stood just over Lou’s shoulder. “But we’re the opening act.”
Lou twisted and looked at her. “You didn’t tell him?”
She shook her head slightly.
Lou let out a sigh. “Look, kid, we were going to dump Convicted Chrome after Houston anyway. The next leg of the tour we were replacing you with Zealot Chariots.”
“Really? Why is that?”
“It’s nothing personal. Zealot has a bigger following on the East Coast and their lead singer is twice the singer Hamish is.”
“I see.”
“But, that changes if we get you in the studio, get this song out on digital. Work up some more songs, get an album out, then forget Zealot.” He jabbed a finger toward Rory. “You open for Justice as a solo, and we sell a ton of your albums.”
Rory ran a hand down his beard. “I don’t know. I’ve been with those guys a long time.”
“They’re stifling you, Rory,” Charlotte said. “Look, I know it’s hard to cut ties, especially this suddenly, but you were going nowhere with that band. You’re a lead singer. You can’t let them hold you back.”
“It’s not that I don’t want success. I do. I just hate to fuck them over like this.”
“Rory.” Charlotte moved to him. “Opportunities like this are once in a lifetime. You have to strike while the iron is hot….or however that saying goes.” She grinned at him. “It’s your time; this is your shot. Take it.”
His eyes shifted to Lou.
“What’s it gonna be, kid? You in or out?”
Chapter Twelve
Rayne sat at a table inside the campground and RV Park. Prior to the women’s Moto-event, the park had been the site of a music festival, and they’d built a Burning Man-esque village that was now transformed with bohemian flare, the way only women can, complete with oriental carpets, couches, and gourmet food trucks.
Sasha sat down next to her with a plate of food. She bit into her sandwich. “Oh, my God. I’m in heaven! This is sooo good.”
“What did you get?”
“Some kind of grilled goat cheese, arugula and fig creation that is pure taste-bud bliss!”
Rayne smiled and felt her sunburned face tighten. They were under some sun sails, but they’d been in the sun a lot the past few days, and even 50block couldn’t keep up. She sipped on her water.
They’d gotten back about a half hour ago from a group ride that had taken them on some awesome twisty roads with plenty of stops to take amazing photos.
They’d rolled in last night and set up their small domed-shaped tents just as dusk was falling. Rayne had stared up in awe at the starry night sky that stretched on forever, and she’d whispered, “I did it Daniel, I made the trip. I’m here. And you were right—it’s been so worth it.”
Carmen walked up with her food, a limp in her gate.
“You okay, babe?” Rayne asked.
“Yeah. Just stiff. Barely slept last night. Forgot my damn sleeping mat.”
“That sucks.” Rayne was so glad she’d packed hers; the ground was indeed hard and rocky.
Jenna joined them, setting two plates of food down and pushing one in front of Rayne. “Here, I got you a sandwich.”
“That’s so sweet. I’m starved.”
“You can stand in line for dinner.”
“Deal.”
“That ride was amazing, huh, girls?” Sasha asked, standing behind their chairs and sipping on a bottle of ice-cold water.
“It was. Last night was fabulous, too. All those stars in the sky—it was stunning.”
Rayne checked her phone for any texts or missed calls, thankful that the campground had free Wi-Fi and cell service.
Sasha glanced down, noticing. “Still haven’t heard from him?”
Rayne shook her head. “It’s no big deal.”
“Yeah, it is, honey. He was so into you. I can’t believe he hasn’t called or texted you yet,” Carmen said.
“It’s only been a few days. Cut the guy some slack,” Jenna said.
Sasha’s phone chimed with an incoming text, and she pulled it out of her back pocket, swiping it open.
“Who is it?” Jenna twisted to ask.
“Ellie.” Sasha continued reading, a frown forming on her face.
“Sasha, babe, you gonna eat? I’ll share my sandwich with you if you want,” Carmen offered.
“Hang on.” She stared down at her phone. “Oh, my God.”
“What is it?” Rayne glanced back.
“Yeah, you’re freaking us out. What’d Ellie say?” Carmen asked.
“She was at the Charlotte Justice concert in Denver and Charlotte brought this guy out on stage to perform a song. She thinks the song was about Rayne.”
“Me?” Rayne frowned. “That’s insane. How could it be about me?”
“She said it’s about a girl named Rayne with lavender hair and a dying brother named Daniel.”
“What?” Rayne’s brows shot up.
“Hang on, she says its on YouTube. She’s sending me the link.” Sasha pulled out a chair and sat between Rayne and Jenna. Carmen crowded in, and they all watched the video load.
Rayne sucked in a breath when she saw the man with the guitar. “Oh, my God. That’s Rory.” She watched as he leaned into the microphone and said it was called, A Song for Rayne.
The girls all looked at each other, then they focused in on the performance.
When it ended, Rayne stared in shock. “How could he do that? How could he take my life and put it in a song?”
“But it’s a sweet song, Rayne,” Carmen defended.
Tears blurred Rayne’s eyes as she looked at her and snapped, “He stole my life and made a song out of it! All my pain and fear… How is that sweet?” she shrieked.
“Did you talk to him about Daniel?” Sasha asked with a frown.
“I—yes, I guess so, that night, we talked about a lot of stuff. I never thought… Hell, I didn’t even know he was a singer. He said he was a tattoo artist.”
“Maybe he didn’t want you to like him because he was famous,” Carmen suggested.
“Yeah, these comments say he’s the guitarist for Convicted Chrome,” Jenna added.
Rayne sucked in a breath. “Oh, my God. That’s why those people recognized him! That night, in the bar, some guy approached us and asked if he was Rory from Convicted Chrome. When I asked him about it, he told me it was an auto body shop! What else did he lie about? God, I was such a fool. And now everyone is going to hear that song about my personal private life!”
Sasha put her hand on Rayne’s shoulder. “Okay. Calm down. It’s just an upload on that website. It’s not on the radio or anything.”
“How could he do this?” Rayne was beyond pissed, but then she let out a huff of laughter. “And I’d thought about stopping in Grand Junction on the way back. Ha! Now the last thing I want to do is look that asshole up. Fuck him!”
“Rayne…” Jenna said softly.
“No, I have a right to be pissed. He lied to me about who he was! He stole my life story and turned it into a song, like I’m some sad pity case!”
“But…I don’t think he meant it that way. I think it’s a sweet song,” Carmen said quietly.
“He had no right, Carmen. No right to steal my life’s story, a story I told him in private and put it in a goddamn song.”
“Okay. Forget about him. Cuss him all you want, but don’t let him fuck up our trip. Fuck men! Come on, Rayne. We’re here to have fun. This is your time.”
“You’re right. Fuck him. Let’s go riding, girls.” She stormed off.
Sasha and Jenna watched her retreating back.
“I still say it was sweet,” Carmen said.
Sasha shook her head. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. We head back tomorrow. Let’s make the best of it. Deal?”
Jenna nodded. “Deal.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rory walked onto the band’s tour bus, and Tommy glanced up from his guitar.
“Well, look who’s back. How’d your date go?”
“It wasn’t a date.” Rory paused at the front of the bus and stared down at him.
“Then what was it?”
Rory studied Hamish and Gary sitting on the other couch. Then Lou walked on the bus behind him and stopped halfway up the stairs. “Guys.”
“Mr. Crawford,” Hamish stood. “We weren’t expecting you.”
Lou looked him up and down. “We’ve got another act lined up for the rest of the tour, boys. Nothing personal. You’ll all be paid on Monday. There’s a car waiting to take you to the airport. We’ll pay for your tickets home.”
“What the fuck?” Tommy growled.
“Well, that’s mighty nice of you. Surprised you’re not leaving us stranded,” Hamish snapped.
Lou shoved his lit cigar in his mouth, took a few puffs and blew them in Hamish’s face. “Get off my goddamn bus.”
Rory watched Lou stalk off the bus and back to the waiting car—the one he knew Lou would be waiting for him in. They had paperwork to sign.
“Asshole!” Hamish yelled, then kicked a hole in a drawer in the kitchen and ripped a cabinet door off the hinges, throwing it.
“Hey, man! Knock it off! I’m not paying for all your fucking damages!” Tommy yelled, shoving Hamish.
Rory turned and walked to his bunk, stuffing his shit in his duffle bag. He wanted off this bus before a fight broke out and hopefully without having to answer anymore questions. He grabbed his guitar and strode toward the front.
Tommy and Hamish were shoving each other, until Tommy’s eyes followed Rory. “Hey, where are you goin’?”
Rory stopped on the steps and looked back. “Home. I’m goin’ home.” Then he walked off the bus and walked to the waiting car. Thankfully it was parked behind the bus, so they couldn’t see it. As he opened the door and climbed in, he was relieved to see Tommy hadn’t followed after him.
Rory ran a hand over his jaw. Maybe he was being a chicken-shit, not coming clean to them about the offer he’d just been given, but he didn’t see any point in rubbing it in their faces. They’d find out soon enough.
The driver pulled away, and Rory turned his head from the tour bus to face whatever the future would bring.
***
Quarter past 11:00pm the next night, Rory parked his bike at the curb in front of Brothers Ink, unstrapped his guitar and duffle bag, and strode in the door. After he’d signed the necessary contracts with Lou, he’d caught the first flight to Denver, retrieved his bike at Jameson’s condominium, and driven straight home to Grand Junction.
Liam peered over from re-stocking the merchandise cabinet in the lobby. “What the hell are you doing here, bro?”
The shop had closed fifteen minutes ago. Rory glanced around, but saw only Max at his station, cleaning. “I’ve got big news. Is Jameson here?”
“He’s up in his office with Ava going over numbers.” Liam stood. “What’s the big news? You get kicked off the tour?”
“No. Come on.” He walked in and tapped Max on the shoulder. Max turned and pulled the ear buds out, startled.
“Hey, man. What are you doing here?”
Liam waggled his brows. “He has news.”
Max smiled. “Oooo, mysterious.”
They walked upstairs.
Jameson was studying his computer with Ava looking over his shoulder. He glanced up. “Rory? What the hell? You’re supposed to be on tour.”
“He has news,” Liam informed, plopping down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Rory took the other, and Max leaned against a bookcase, his arms folded.
Ava straightened. “Is everything okay, Rory?”
“Yeah, great actually. Did any of you see the YouTube video?”
They all exchanged glances. Jameson spoke. “No, what video?”
“May I?” Rory reached for the laptop open on the desk in front of Jameson.
“Sure.” Jameson spun it toward him.
Rory’s fingers moved over the keys until he had the site and video pulled up. “This.”
They all leaned in as he hit play.
“Oh, my gosh, Rory! Look at that crowd.”
“Where was this?” Jameson asked.
“Charlotte’s concert in Denver Saturday night. She heard a song I’d just written and liked it, and that night she pulled me out on stage to preform it.”
“No shit,” Jameson said. “That’s awesome!”
“Shh,” Ava shushed them. “I’m trying to listen.”
They were quiet while the song played. When it ended, Ava looked at him. “Who’s this girl you wrote the song about?”
“When I left here I ended up having to stop near Vail due to the weather.”
“I told you, you brat,” Max didn’t hesitate to rub in the fact that he’d been right about the storm.
“Yeah, yeah, okay, you were right. Happy?”
“Yep.”
“Anyway, I got a room and walked into this nearby brewery to get something to eat and that’s where I met her. We actually sang karaoke together.”
“Seriously?”
“So, she knows about this song you wrote?” Ava nodded to the video.
“Well, no. I wrote it when I hit Denver.”
“But you’ve talked to her, right?”
He shook his head. “No. I lost her number.”
“Rory, this song… It’s so personal. Is it a true story, I mean about her brother?”
“Yes.”
“What do you know about her other than what you put in the song?”
“She lives in Denver. Her brother had a motorcycle shop and now it’s hers.”
“What’s it called?”
“I don’t know, but I need to find it.”
His brothers exchanged looks.
“Her and her girlfriends were on their way out to California for a couple weeks—a bike trip.”
“Wait a minute. How many girls?” Max asked.
“Four of them.”
“And they were on bikes, and she has lavender hair like the song said?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Some girls came in the shop last Friday. They were on motorcycles. I saw ‘em pull out. One of them had long hair that color.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, man. I did some ink on her.”
Rory surged to his feet. “Are you shitting me? Did she pay with a card?”
“Mmm. I can’t remember. But I did take a shot of her ink.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the photos. “Here.”
Rory grabbed the phone from him and looked at the shot. It was Rayne all right. She was faced away from the camera, but her face was reflected in the mirror. “It’s her. I need to find her, even if I have to call every bike shop in the Denver area.”
“There are probably a lot,” Max said.
Rory nodded. “Yeah.”
“Hell,
look at all those views!” Liam exclaimed, pointing to the YouTube page.
Rory nodded, grinning big. “It went viral.”
“That’s fantastic, brother.” Max patted his back.
“That’s not the best part,” Rory said, grinning. “Charlotte’s manager wants to manage me. He’s got recording time scheduled in an LA studio next week and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jameson slowed him down, putting his hand up. “What about Convicted Chrome?”
“We were being replaced on the tour, then Lou heard me perform and saw the crowd’s reaction, and then it going viral—that was enough for him. Aren’t you happy for me?”
“Of course, Rory. It’s just happening so fast. So, this guy… He’s Charlotte Justice’s manager?”
“Yes, he’s an industry legend.”
“And he wants to spend time with a green rookie like you?”
“Truthfully, I don’t think he would waste his time except for the fact he happened to be there that night and saw it happen first hand.”
“So you’re going out to LA? When do you leave?”
“Well, I need to see if I can come up with three more songs of my own, otherwise Lou’s going to pick some from some other songwriters for me. I’d rather record my own.” Rory ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve got a week before I need to be out there. I thought maybe I’d hole up somewhere and try to write.”
Ava came around and gave him a hug. “I’m so happy for you, Rory. You’ve worked hard on your music. Are you going to include that other song I liked so much?”
“Yeah, definitely. Oh, and I forgot to mention. When I get back from LA I’ll be opening for Charlotte as a solo act.”
“What? Holy shit. Are you ready for that?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, I mean it’ll be a short set. I’ll have to work up a playlist, and Lou said he could get me some musicians to back me up. He’s got it all worked out.”
Jameson stood and came around the desk, pulling Rory in for a backslapping hug. “Happy for you, little brother.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
“You coming out to the farm tonight?” Max asked.
Rory gestured to the couch in Jameson’s office. “I was wondering if I could crash here. That way I could get some writing done with the place empty.”
Rory Page 7