But now she was really trying his damned patience.
“You already know what I’m pissed about, Avery Nickolas McGuire!” she says coldly. “My boyfriend completely ignored all of my calls and all my texts. Then instead of being excited that I took a red-eye flight out of New York to be out here to surprise him, —no! He looks at me like I’ve grown three heads and asks what I’m doing here! Seriously? Then to ice the cake, I find out that he’s been hanging out with trashy looking models all day, and then takes them out for drinks afterwards!” Olivia shouts, slamming her fist down on the table, rattling not only her breakfast bowl, but the vase of flowers in the center, too.
“Calm down, Liv! Jeez, I already told you about yesterday. I overslept and then we went straight to the shoot, and then straight after that we went to the studio. I didn’t even have my phone on me until we went out to the bar. By then I knew you’d be asleep so I figured I’d just call you when you woke up. As for the models, you don’t need to insult anyone,” he replies, his voice growing momentarily soft.
“They are really nice girls, and besides, Jesse and Kennedy invited them out. I didn’t do anything wrong, so you just need to chill out,” he utters before running one hand up the back of his neck and through his messy bed head. He hadn’t slept well at all, but it had nothing to do with his girlfriend and her tantrum.
Chase.
It was her. Right there, in his lap, after all those years. Grown up, inked out, and more beautiful than he could have ever imagined—and he’d been imagining.
It hadn’t mattered that he had beautiful women lying in his lap all morning—until she turned out to be Chase Taylor—the one regret he carries with him every single day.
Olivia looks down at her hands for a moment, tapping her leg repeatedly until she sighs, “I guess you’re forgiven. You really can’t be held accountable for your band’s lack of taste.”
Avery throws his hands up in the air out of sheer annoyance.
“That’s completely uncalled for, Liv! Besides, if anyone sitting at this table has the right to be pissed about something it wouldn’t be you! My friends and my family are still angry about that article. I’ve never had Luke that upset with me before,” Avery spits out through clenched teeth.
His girlfriend rolls her eyes and tosses her cream-colored napkin onto the table as she stands up and walks over to his side, stopping to sit on the edge of the table next to him.
“Oh, come on, Avey. You know how they blow everything I say out of proportion. It’s not my fault! Besides, you should be used to the tabloid crap by now,” she speaks casually, picking at the bagel on Avery’s plate.
This time it’s his turn to roll his eyes.
“It was Esquire, not the Inquirer. Stop brushing it off as if it’s not a big deal. I’m not ready to get married, and you know that. Giving an interview like that only starts shit, and you started a ton of it. You can’t just say things like that when you have no idea who… when you don’t know who could read it and who could get hurt,” Avery finishes in a huff, burying his head in his hands briefly before glaring up at her through his dark gray eyes.
Poking out her lip, she reaches out and cups his slightly scruffy chin, “Aww, did it really upset you?” Then with a laugh, she drops her hand to her lap and rolls her eyes again.
“God, Avery! Me talking about my dream wedding to my boyfriend doesn’t hurt anyone! I should be allowed to talk about those things, you know. I’m fully aware that you’re not ready to propose, but you will be, and when you do, I’ll already have half the work done. Besides, your so called friends and family should know better than to buy into any cover story. They should know that when the time comes for something as big as our engagement that we will let them know before we tell some magazine,” she finishes by folding her arms across her chest and staring him down as though he’s a dog that just pissed on the floor.
After a long sigh, Avery just nods. It’s pointless to argue any further with her because it’s more than obvious she isn’t getting the point. Olivia Birsch does exactly what she wants, no matter what anyone else thinks. He had admired that fiery confidence when they first met, but since then it had blossomed into something ferocious.
“So, what are our plans for this weekend?” she asks, her tone shifting instantly as if the last conversation had never happened at all.
He closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head, “Ugh, we will probably be in the studio nonstop for the next couple days reworking one of our songs.”
“Ugh, seriously? I thought Daddy told me that he recommended that you guys just let them hire a writer to come in and help write a whole new record,” she replies while admiring and picking at her nails.
Avery furrows his brow at the woman sitting on the edge of his breakfast table.
“Why is your father talking to you about our album?” he says slowly.
“Why are you worried about it? I already knew that they rejected the second attempt because you told me about it before you flew back out to LA. Why do you think I showed up here? You looked like someone ran over your dog. I could tell how upset you were and I wanted to be here for you.”
After staring at her for a long moment, “I know, Sweetie, and I appreciate you coming out, but it’s weird that your dad talks band business with you. Besides, you know that we would never put out an album that we didn’t create ourselves. We wrote that entire first album on our own and they loved it. I don’t know what the problem is this time around.”
Wiping her hands of the bagel crumbs, she slowly slides into his lap. Resting her hands on his shoulders, he leans back to look into her dark eyes,
“No, if I recall, you wrote most of that album, not the band. And I don’t understand why it matters that he talks to me about you guys. He’s a label executive of the record label you’re signed to, Avey, which is how we met, if you’ve forgotten. You didn’t exactly give me a lot of details when you left, so I called him up to find out what was going on. I don’t know why you have to be so prideful. The fans will love anything you guys put out, and it’s not like Daddy would set you up with a crappy lyricist.”
Avery adamantly shakes his head.
“No, Olivia, it just doesn’t feel right. We can’t put out an album knowing that it’s not our original music. I can’t really explain it to you, it’s just a feeling in the pit of my stomach that would eat away at me, and the guys all feel the same way. Besides, we got some amazing advice last night on how to fix up one of the songs, so that’s the plan for today. I can’t wait to hear how it comes out,” he replies with a sparkle in his eye.
Olivia sits back slightly with a raised eyebrow, “Amazing advice? From who?”
Avery pauses a moment too long and swallows uneasily, “Uh, one of the girls you met last night. She’s a musician. Jesse played the song for her and she gave us some great pointers. I think the son—”
Shifting back in his lap and sliding her hands and arms off his shoulders, she waves them in front of his face.
“Are you kidding me? Which one? You know what, I already know which one it is because she was staring at you with this look in her eyes that just irked me from the moment I saw her ridiculous purple hair. A girl like that is only using you guys to make her way into the business, Avery! Or into your pants!” she screeches.
“Olivia, you have no idea what you’re talking about. She’s nothing like that!” he catches himself as he begins to yell back, his blood starting to boil.
Crossing her arms again in the classic Liv fashion, she looks at Avery with an expectant face.
He sighs heavily, “Just trust me on this. She isn’t out to use us, besides,” he hesitates, “Jesse really seems to like her, so I’m guessing that we’ll be seeing more of her and I expect you to be nice.”
Her face flushes red as she turns her eyes from his and exhales another annoyed sigh.
“You can be so naïve sometimes. You’re going to need to keep an eye on that one, you know, to make sure Jess
e isn’t getting yanked around.”
Avery raises an eyebrow this time, “Since when do you care about Jesse? You guys can barely stand each other.”
“Since this directly affects you, Avery! If he keeps seeing her, she could get her purple, grubby hands into the band and screw things up for you guys. Plus, I’d hate to see this ‘amazing’ advice she gave you turn out to be a bust. You really should let Daddy hire a professional for that, Baby. If you insist on this ridiculousness, then we need to keep an eye on her.”
That wasn’t something that would be difficult for him; he’d barely been able to take his eyes off Chase since the moment he saw that tattoo.
He shifts Olivia off his lap to stand up so she couldn’t see the obvious change in his thoughts. He starts cleaning up their breakfast mess.
“That’ll be a little difficult when I don’t plan on babysitting him or her anytime soon,” he adds quickly and dryly.
“Well, I heard the blonde one inviting Kennedy over to their place for a party this weekend. You and I will most definitely be there,” she states as she tosses her robe onto a nearby couch, smoothing out her pink silk camisole.
Avery turns around to plead with her, but stops himself from even starting. He most definitely didn’t want to bombard Chase again, but he also didn’t want to fight with Olivia anymore.
Besides, seeing Chase again…
“So, do you have time for a shower?” Olivia asks coyly as she toys with the drawstring on her silk shorts.
Lost in thoughts of a rooftop night years ago, Avery never even hears her as he makes his way into his room to get dressed and head to the studio, leaving behind one very annoyed girlfriend once again.
“You have to stay!” Victoria whines while putting out a bunch of red plastic cups next to the insane amount of alcohol and juices that line the counter.
Still carrying around a massive headache from the other night, I gaze out of our 15th story living room window at the city lights and sigh, “Sorry, Vic, but I cannot handle another meeting with him just yet. You enjoy your party and I’ll be back later on tonight after I pick up this early shift at the station. I’m lucky that I haven’t been fired for calling out sick those two nights,” I sigh as I grab my keys and head toward the door. She waves her hand, annoyed with me, but I blow her a kiss anyway and head out. Hopefully an evening of submerging myself in music will help me clear my head a little bit more, because nothing else seems to be helping this moving on thing.
I stand outside of our apartment door listening to laughter and voices and I want to run away screaming. On the other hand, I’m a glutton for punishment it seems, and so my feet are still firmly planted right outside the door. It’s almost eleven at night and they are all still here? They’ve been here for over five hours now… how much longer do they need to hang out? Maybe Avery didn’t even come. In fact, he better not have! After the night before last, he would be an even bigger idiot than I am if he came tonight.
Plus, it’s my apartment! I have every right to be here. I’m tired, I worked, I want to get into my jammies and crawl into bed!
I purse my lips, square my shoulders, and head on inside.
Immediately, my eyes fall on the group sitting in my living room and I almost get a case of Tourette’s right there. Not only is Mr. Idiot himself sitting on my damn couch, but also he brought his troll of a girlfriend into my home!
Motherfu—
“Melanie!” Jesse shouts from the couch, setting his beer down and rushing over to me. This whole going by my middle name thing is just weird…
His grin is slightly contagious and as I flop my bag on the stool at our counter, I give him a slight sideways grin back. He all but tackles me into a bear hug.
“I was beginning to think you’d never show up! You’re just in time for the next game! Come on!” he takes my hand and pulls me toward the couches.
Everyone chimes in with hellos, as I hesitantly say hello back and, I can’t help it, my eyes wander to his six plus foot frame. Of course, his beautiful eyes are looking right back at me. He gives me a small smile and mouths, “Hi,” and I immediately turn my attention back to the rest of the group.
“There she is! My beautiful, awesome, sweet, bestest friend! I missed you! These guys are kicking my butt and I know if anyone can beat them, it’s your b-e-a-utiful self!” Vic says bubbly, but it is obvious she’s had a few drinks. I laugh softly as I take a spot on the couch beside Jesse and Vic, and beside Victoria is Kennedy, who is quietly smiling and nursing a beer. On the other couch are Avery, Olivia, and Adam.
“Good luck with that! I don’t think anyone can beat my Avey!” Olivia says, turning to look at him with a smirk. Avery looks down at her with a smile and kisses the top of her head.
UGH… Avey?
I grab Jesse’s beer and pull it, slamming the empty bottle back down on the coffee table, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Everyone laughs except for she who shall not be named, and I hear Adam pipe up, “Now that’s my kind of girl!”
Jesse gets up and heads to the kitchen, quickly returning with a beer for me, and another for him. I smile sheepishly and lean in to him, taking mine as he sits back down.
“Sorry about that,” I whisper softly close to his ear. He chuckles and leans in to me as I take a sip of my drink.
Blech, I don’t even like beer!
“Don’t be. I have to have a few of these to deal with her myself,” he whispers and I choke on my drink as I start to laugh. He and I set our bottles down as we continue to laugh even harder while everyone eyes us suspiciously.
“All right, let’s get to playing, guys! I’m ready to kick some ass!” Adam says, smacking the table.
“It’s my turn, and I believe Victoria’s. So put them in the middle!” Avery says, taking out an iPod from his pocket and setting it in the middle of our coffee table. There are already two sets of mini portable speakers laying there and he plugs one in while Vic hoots for a minute before running into her room to snag hers.
I wrinkle my forehead, “What are we playing?”
“Music roulette!” Jesse says excitedly. I raise an eyebrow as Vic runs back in with her iPod and sets it up on the table, too.
“Never heard of it,” I say, wondering what in the heck I’m still doing sitting here. I wanted to go to bed.
“We take turns on different iPods, putting them on shuffle and everyone gets a turn. The song plays and you have to sing a lyric or you’re out. Last one standing wins. Just a warning, no one ever beats Avery or Jesse,” Kennedy says as he puts his hand on Vic’s knee. She blushes and smiles, but keeps her attention on everyone else.
“Me first!” Olivia yells, pressing the play button on Avery’s iPod and waiting for her song choice to come on…
After the first round, we are all still standing. A little Heart, Boys 2 Men, Dixie Chicks, Hinder, and Motley Crue are just a few of the artists to pop up. It comes back around to Olivia, who presses play on Vic’s iPod, and a Ke$ha song starts to play. Instinctively my eyes find Avery’s and he and I both look at one another and share a small smirk. He remembers…
“OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!” Olivia shouts and then starts howling out the next line of the song.
I bite my bottom lip and look down, trying to hide my laughter. When I feel an elbow in my side, I peer over at the owner and I catch Jesse trying not to laugh, too.
Adam takes his turn and gets a song by Avenged Sevenfold, and of course, he knows every single word—and drum beat.
Jesse reaches out and presses play on Vic’s, and Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” starts to play. Everyone around us groans; I’m sure he will get this one.
Sure enough, he doesn’t even wait for the song to play, he just sings from the start, and when he hits the chorus, I swear my jaw nearly comes unhinged. He’s hot, but he’s sexy when he’s singing.
“Yeah, yeah, we get it, dude. All right, your turn, Melanie,” Avery says, reaching over and hitting the skip button.
&nbs
p; “Every Time We Touch” starts up and just like Jesse, I don’t wait for the first verse to play, I just start singing.
The lyrics hit me like a hard, but I can’t stop myself from singing. My eyes flutter shut, searching for the willpower not to look across from me or let the words affect me any more than I’ve already let them, and I just keep singing.
I stop and open my eyes, and as if gravity pulls my eyes there against my will, I’m looking right at him. He’s chewing on his bottom lip and staring right back at me. His eyes are blazing. I find myself wanting to be closer to him. On cue, Olivia shifts in her seat and lays her head on his shoulder, rattling on about something that I don’t even bother hearing. I grab my beer and take a long drink. I’ll be ok if I don’t get any more songs like that. Bed is starting to sound better and better with every passing minute.
“MY TURN!” Vic shouts, pressing stop on her iPod and play on Avery’s. “Rock You Like A Hurricane” starts to play. She frowns.
“UGH! Yeahmmmm hmmmm laaaalaaaaa yeahhh ummmmhummm blahhh blahhhh something something yeah ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!” she sings with a laugh. We all join her as Adam throws his thumb over his shoulder.
“Sorry, babe, you’re out!”
Vic pouts, but sits back as Kennedy steals her turn and sings a lyric perfectly with his soft tenor voice. I swear I see stars in my friend’s eyes. I smile and shake my head.
Avery takes his turn and it doesn’t matter what song he gets, it’s like I’m hypnotized as soon as his lips start to move. I don’t even care if his girlfriend sees me staring—he’s everything I remember.
Of course, he nails every single lyric.
“My turn!” Olivia interrupts with a cheesy grin as she presses play on his iPod. “Free Fallin’” begins to play and instinctively, my eyes fly to his arm, remembering his tattoo. He catches me looking and flashes me a grin. I raise my eyebrows and turn my face away, taking another long pull of my beer.
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