The Recoil Rock Series Box Set

by K E Osborn

  “So, Effa came to me about doing a duet with the band.”

  Ryan nods taking a sip of his soda. “Well, honestly Danger, I think that could be a wise move. Her voice is amazing, and if we get the two bands to play together, it could benefit us both.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t even know what they sound like?”

  He nods and smiles. “I do, they’re pretty amazing, D, and to be honest, they are practically the pussy version of us. I think it will flow well and we should do it.”

  “What do you think, Lunar?” I ask.

  She smiles and her face lights up like she’s honored that I would include her in this. “Well, the way I see it there’s two options. You could join two of your preexisting songs together or, you and Effa could write a new song, one just for the two bands. I think option two would draw a better reception from the fans.”

  Nodding, I smile. “Okay then, I’ll listen to Effa’s tape. Get a feel for their sound, and talk to her about a new song.” Even though every part of me wants to stay away from Effa, she’s a huge reminder of Ella and everything that went so terribly wrong in my life.

  “Good idea, I think it’s the right call, D.” Ryan takes a massive bite out of his burger and we go about finishing our dinner.

  We head back to the hotel room, Lunar’s hand fits perfectly in mine as we walk the hall toward our room. The light’s sending a harmonious glow down the hall, lighting the sporadically placed artwork which makes me smile. I’m in a relatively good mood as we approach the door to our room. Swiping my card it clicks and we walk through. Lunar places her bag on the counter and I turn pulling her to me. She smiles wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body against mine making my cock strain in my jeans.

  “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

  She half smiles and leans in to kiss my lips, but just as her fruity deliciousness touches my mouth there’s a knock on the door. I groan pulling back and she giggles letting me go as I walk to the door in annoyance. As I open it I notice Effa standing there in a giraffe onesie. I furrow my brows looking at her, and she smiles wide like she isn’t wearing the world’s weirdest fucking outfit.

  “Effa, you really are strange, you know that right?” I ask.

  She smiles brightly, her pearly white teeth almost dazzling me with their brilliance as she steps forward making me stand to the side to let her pass.

  “Thank you, that’s so nice of you to say.” She walks past me into my room, like she owns the joint.

  I turn closing the door and look to see her onesie even has a fucking tail. Chuckling to myself as she strolls around and waves to Lunar, I shake my head rubbing the back of my neck wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into with this chick and her ridiculous hippy band. I glide past her and move over to the bed to sit down as she stands in front of the television. I want to keep my distance from her because even though she looks ridiculous, she still reminds me of Ella and any memories of her are just way too raw for me still.

  “Okay, so this song I’m going to play you, is all about how when you love someone it’s with your whole being. Not just with your heart, but your soul, your skin, your hair, your energy and your aura.” She takes a deep breath like the words are soothing to her, as she closes her eyes taking in the peace of the silence as I look to Lunar, who’s trying not to laugh. I furrow my brows and shake my head.

  She sounds like an idiot.

  How can your skin and hair love someone?

  She’s a fricking fruit cake!

  Effa jumps on the spot and smiles wide. “Okay, so when I play the song, I want you to envisage a cloud of white light enveloping you and entering every pore of your body. I need you to feel the connection to the words, to the lyrics, and to the harmony. Okay?”

  I take a steadying breath and nod. “Yep… okay,” I say just to placate her.

  She pulls out her cell opening an app, and I look to Lunar, who shrugs and then turns back to Effa. This chick has seriously smoked too much of the wacky-tobaccy in her time. She presses a button and takes a deep breath.

  “Okay close your eyes,” she instructs, then closes her eyes putting her hands out in front of her. One of her hands holds onto her cell while the other is palm out, facing me. “My aura reading says your eyes aren’t closed, Danger. Close them and imagine the white cloud of light,” she instructs as the beat kicks in.

  I glance at Lunar while shaking my head, she rolls her eyes but then closes them.

  I figure what the hell, it won’t hurt. So I close my eyes, but I certainly don’t envisage any ball of fucking light. My parents are hippies, I, am not.

  The music wafts through the room. Ryan was right as I listen, the riffs and the beats are all similar to Recoil’s. Their sound is good, and a smile creeps up on my face as I sit up straighter on the bed. Then suddenly Effa’s voice filters through the cell and my chest tightens. It’s powerful, husky and strong. So completely hypnotic that I’m taken into a trance. It’s amazing and I know instantly her tone will work brilliantly in conjunction with my voice, and that this is the perfect move for both of us.

  My eyes pop open as the song reaches its crescendo, Effa’s eyes are still closed as she sways to her own music. She’s a true free spirit and I stand up striding over to her, grabbing the cell and stopping the song. She opens her eyes, her body jolts and falls slightly as if she’s been woken from a deep sleep. She furrows her brows looking at me and her lips turn downward.

  “You broke the white light… you don’t like the music?” she asks with a hurt look as Lunar opens her eyes wide in shock like she can’t possibly understand how I couldn’t like what I’d just heard.

  “No, you have me wrong. I’m shocked that such a powerful, enigmatic voice can come from something as tiny as you.”

  She smiles and nods. “Good vocal coaching… so what’s the verdict?”

  “I say we write a song. You and me. A hardcore love rock song. High emotion, something people won’t expect from us.”

  She raises up on her toes and claps her hands together looking up to the ceiling. “Praise Gaia, I’m so glad you’ve seen the light!”

  “Well, sometimes we all have to step out of our comfort zones. A really great person recently taught me that.” I look over to Lunar and think how brave she has been lately, she really is an inspiration.

  “Okay, so we have a few weeks of rehearsals before we start the tour. We should try to nail this song before then, right?” Effa asks.

  I nod. “Yes, we should have it ready for the tour. If we can release it to the radio the opening week of the tour that would be ideal.”

  “Right, so tomorrow… you, me, and a writing party we will go.”

  “Yes, for sure. Good thinking, Effa.”

  “Meh, I’m not just a pretty face.” She smiles tilting her stature to the side and Lunar and I laugh shaking our heads.

  “Okay, I’m leaving so you two can do whatever it is you two do. Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you. Thanks for this opportunity, Danger. I do appreciate it.”

  Nodding, I pat her shoulder and lead her to the door. “No, thank you. This will be great for both of us. Night Effa.”

  “Night Danger, bye Lunar,” she calls out as she walks through the door.

  “See ya,” Lunar calls down the room. I close the door and turn walking back toward Lunar with a bright smile.

  “I hope we can write something decent. My songs lately have all been a little… depressing.”

  Lunar walks up to me and wraps her arms around my neck like we were before Effa came along, and I slide my arms around her waist running my thumbs against her soft skin under her shirt.

  “Think of all the good things in your life, rather than the bad. Things are looking up now, Danger, concentrate on that.

  Nodding, I pull her into a tight hug and nuzzle my nose into her neck. Her fruity smell invades my senses sending my cock into a frenzy. “What would I do without you?”

  She embrac
es me holding me tightly. “Probably waste away on whiskey and hot women.”

  Laughing, I pull back from her slightly and look into her blue eyes. “True story. So you’ll be here tomorrow to be my muse for when we’re writing, right?” She stiffens in my arms and chews on her bottom lip. “Or, maybe you won’t?”

  “It’s just… I have a meeting with the organizers of the fundraiser tomorrow. They’re talking about having balls and galas and whatnot, where we can have special guest speakers… maybe have you guys play, you’re free. They’re saying they’ll get the who’s who of Oz celebrities to come along.”

  “Well, that’s great, Candy. I’m so proud of you,” I say honestly.

  “But if you need me to stay here and help you, I can talk to them via email?”

  Shaking my head adamantly, I hold her tighter. “No way! This is your job now. You left the Savages to stand on your own two feet. You go, be the strong woman you’re meant to be. I’ve written hundreds of songs. How hard can one more be, right?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lunar is off at her meeting. Effa and I are sitting in my room trying to nail down some lyrics for our collaboration but everything is coming out so dark, and I’m becoming more than a little frustrated. As I scribble down another useless set of lyrics, I throw down the pencil grabbing the piece of paper and scrunching it up into a tight ball, hurtling it with all my might across the room with a groan.

  “This isn’t working!” I breathe out and Effa sighs.

  She stands up reaching down grabbing my arms pulling me up with her and faces me, forcing me look down at her. For a little thing she’s quite strong.

  “Hey, writing isn’t easy. It has to come from the heart, and right now your heart is full of anger and hurt. You need to let that go before you can move on.”

  Furrowing my brows, I tilt my head. “Are you talking about the song or in life?”

  “Both! Harboring resentment and anger only makes you feel bad. It does nothing to the person you’re resentful toward besides letting them win.”

  “She didn’t want to hurt me, she did care, she just loved Chad more. I can’t blame her for that. But I can’t stop the way I feel… the betrayal, the hurt, the not feeling good enough.” My eyes open slightly in shock that I blurted all that out to basically a complete stranger. I haven’t even told this stuff to Lunar, and here I am telling Effa that I feel like a failure because of Ella fucking Slade.

  Effa steps closer to me, pressing her open palms to my chest. It calms me instantly in some weird kind of way. She looks into my eyes, her kind orbs staring back into mine and she smiles.

  “You are good enough, Danger. Don’t ever think you’re not. Just because one girl didn’t see the wonder in you doesn’t mean a better woman won’t. You just have to see what’s right in front of you, the people that surround you. You are loved, Danger, and it’s in that strength you must live. Not in the pain of the past.”

  Raising my eyebrows, I smirk. “Wow! For a little pixie, you really are quite insightful.” It makes me think of Lunar and how much I really care about her. I care about her too much, I think that’s why my brain is so fucked right now. As much as this started out as Lunar just being someone to fuck for me, now I want her more than I should. But ghosts of relationships past are haunting me, and fucking with my head.

  Plus, the fact of the matter is Lunar is an Aussie, I am American, and this is an issue. But I can’t change the fact I feel something for her. I care about her more than I want to. This is so fucked!

  “I also have positive healing energy flowing through my hands into your chest right now.” She smiles at me as I look at her palms splayed out on my chest like an idiot and I smile.

  “Well, thanks… I think.”

  She nods and leans down to pick up her guitar. “Now sing from your heart.” She sits back down and starts to strum.

  LUNAR

  I’ve been so busy all day in meetings for the foundation. The discussions with my advisors didn’t go as planned. They told me the donations for the charities aren’t coming in as fast as we had envisioned. So we need a boost. We’re thinking one of the galas will need to be brought forward and made into a charity auction to raise the funds for the school project we had in mind. I’m stressed, and I haven’t heard from Danger all day, which I guess is good, because it means he’s been busy creating lyrical magic with Effa.

  As I open the door to the hotel room the air is filled with a strange scent. It smells kind of like juniper or jasmine, something I’m not sure of. Maybe incense? Furrowing my brows at the soothing sounds of the ocean as I slowly walk into the room, this is not what I expected to be hearing—at all. I make my way into the main room to see Effa and Danger both sitting in the middle of the floor, cross-legged facing each other. Their eyes are closed and palm to palm in a kind of meditation pose thing. I don’t say anything, instead just stare at them in silence as a wave crashes on the shore over the sound system and seagulls bark faintly making me purse my lips in confusion.

  Glancing around the room, it’s littered with screwed up paper shells and empty cans of energy drinks are sprawled sporadically across the floor.

  What the hell is going on in here, and what the hell have they been doing all day?

  I sit on the edge of the bed trying not to interrupt the zen flow of their… whatever the fuck is going on right now.

  “Welcome, Lunar. Would you like to join us? Make a serenity circle?” Effa asks out of nowhere.

  I clear my throat and shake my head even though they both have their eyes still closed. “Nope, you two are good.”

  “Deep cleansing breath in,” Effa says, and they both take a deep breath making me chew on my bottom lip to stop myself from smirking. “And out…” They breathe out. “Well done, Danger. I’m proud of the progress you made today.”

  Looking around the room, I can’t see much progress apart from definite paper wastage. So I’m not sure what planet Effa’s on right now.

  “Thanks Effa, you helped to clear my head… a lot.”

  She places her hand on his chest and nods. “And your heart.”

  He smiles. “Yes, that too.”

  Jolting my head back, I chew on the inside of my cheek as a wave of jealousy washes over me watching Effa touch Danger that way. Sure, it’s not intimate, but it’s not exactly friend zone either and it’s put me offside.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Remember—”

  “Be the good you want in yourself,” they both say in unison.

  I feel like I’ve walked into a self-help clinic. This is certainly not the Danger I know.

  Effa stands up turning off the ocean sounds emanating from her cell, grabs her guitar and walks toward the door. While I sit here trying to hold my tongue, Danger stands up gathering the crumpled mess of paper balls.

  A stale silence filters through the air as the door closes leaving me with this new Danger and I can’t help myself. “So… you’re a hippy now?” I jab.

  He turns his head to face me and frowns. “I am nothing like them.”

  “Like who?”

  “Like my parents!”

  Tilting my head, I raise an eyebrow. “Okay, so why are we having spiritual circles and shit?”

  “I knew you wouldn’t understand,” he states.

  Standing up, I step closer to him. “Hey, I’m trying to. Talk to me.”

  Running his hand through his hair, he exhales. “Effa gets it.”

  “Gets what?”

  “My black heart.”

  Scoffing, I jolt back. “You don’t have a black heart!”

  “I do! It’s dark and damaged, bruised and pained, and I don’t know how to fix it. It’s ruining my writing.”

  “Then let me help you mend. I know how Ella broke you, but let me help fix you—”

  “But that’s just it, Lunar, I’m not sure you can?”

  I scoff. “But Effa can?”

  “With her words and unique way of looking at things… yeah, m
aybe.”

  Sinking back onto the edge of the bed, I shake my head. “Right! Well, if that’s how you see it then I guess there’s nothing more to say, right?”

  He furrows his brows and steps up to me grabbing my hands. “Don’t be upset, I still need you, you’re my go-to girl. I couldn’t be on tour without you, Lunar.”

  “I’m just not the one to mend your broken heart! Gee thanks… God, you’re a prick sometimes.”

  He frowns. “What? Why?”

  “You can talk to Effa about your broken heart, but not me? You can’t see how that’s an issue?”

  He stands taller and furrows his brows. “It’s not an issue. I don’t want to talk to you about Ella. I don’t want you to see the mess she makes me.”

  “But why is it okay for Effa to see that and not me? I don’t understand?”

  “Because I have no chemistry with Effa, no connection. With her, it’s just friends talking. With you we’re more than friends, and I don’t want to hurt you by telling you about how fucked up I really am.”

  I stand up and stare him down. “You’re supposed to trust me, Danger. If you like me, then show me by trusting me with your bad as well as your good.”

  He rubs the back of his neck. “I can’t show you my bad, Lunar.”

  “Why!”

  “Because I can’t hurt you!”

  “You won’t hurt me. I’m strong, I can handle it!”

  “You can’t. You’re so beautiful and perfect, and I don’t want to fuck with your head—”

  “What do you think you’re doing to me right now?”

  Turning away from me, he paces the floor, his chest heaving with the tension of the moment. “Fine, I’m a mess. I can’t write a love song because all my love is for fucking Ella Slade. No matter what I do I can’t remove her from my mind. There, you happy?”

  I slump my shoulders and sigh. “Happy? No. I knew you still loved her, I just didn’t know how much. I guess there really is no hope for us?”

  He exhales and shakes his head. “See, this is what I didn’t want. Nate, he’s messing with our heads making it look like us is an impossibility, but if there’s one thing that’s clear in my mind right now, Lunar, it’s that you’re the one I want to wake up to every day, and that scares the living fuck out of me.”