Lithium Tides: A Lithium Springs Novel

by Carmel Rhodes

  “Don’t mention it.” The two women linked arms and pushed through the doors of the shop. Cream, bone, ivory, and every other shade of white imaginable greeted them. A cluster of mannequins in the center of the room, each modeling a trend for the current season. The floors, the furniture, and even the employees were cloaked in black, making the dresses the focal point.

  Reagan led Kensie back to the dressing rooms. A curvy redhead greeted them as they approached. She eyed Kensie for a brief moment before a slow grin creeped across her face. “She’s perfect.”

  “I know, right?” Reagan said, pushing Kensie forward a little. “The dress shouldn’t need much, maybe just hemmed a bit. Oh, Kensie, this is Melissa. Melissa, this is Kensie.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Kensie said, extending her hand.

  “You don’t know how happy I am to see you,” Melissa said, pulling her in for a hug. “I almost had a nervous breakdown when Reagan called and told me about one of her girls dropping out. These dresses were handmade and it took months to finish them. There is no way that I could have remade, or even heavily altered, the dress in a week.”

  “I’m happy to help.”

  Melissa ushered Kensie behind the curtain and helped her into the gorgeous sequined gown hanging in front of her. The dress was stunning. The floor-length column number fit like a glove and sparkled with every move she made. The short cap sleeves and boat neck made the dress appear modest from the front, but the back told a different story. Turning to look in the full-length mirror, Kensie gasped. The loosely draped scoop dipped so low that it exposed the dimples on her lower back. Kensie smiled at her reflection. Images of Carter and his strong tattooed hands pressed against her soft, creamy skin as he helped her out of the dress danced in her mind.

  “Ready to show her?” Melissa asked, breaking her from her naughty thoughts.

  Kensie nodded. She could feel her cheeks heat as she followed her out of the dressing room to the couch where Reagan waited, sipping on a glass of champagne. “Holy crap!” Reagan croaked, nearly choking on the bubbles. “It’s perfect!”

  “Should we try it with shoes?” Melissa suggested.

  “Please.” Reagan nodded. Kensie told the woman her size before she disappeared back into the main gallery. “Trey is going to freak when he sees you.”

  “Actually, Reagan, Trey and I…we aren’t…we sort of broke up.”

  Guilt flashed in Reagan’s eyes. “We sort of thought so. Liam said Trey’s been moody and on edge and when you didn’t show up on the Fourth, well…” She trailed off.

  “I won’t flake on the wedding. I just thought you should know.”

  “Thank you, and you never know, a weekend away might do you two some good.” Reagan winked.

  “I don’t think—” Kensie started.

  “Here we are,” Melissa said, interrupting. She handed Kensie a pair of strappy heels that were the same color as the dress. Kensie sat and let the tailor help her into the shoes before standing again.

  “I think I’ll hem it just a bit, but other than that, it works.”

  Reagan smiled, reaching for her glass, watching as the woman quickly pinned the bottom of the dress.

  “Okay, that’s it,” Melissa said with a clap of her hands.

  “That’s it?” Kensie asked, relieved.

  “Yup.”

  Kensie changed back into her clothes then went to find Reagan. “Thank you again, you really saved the day.” She beamed and handed Kensie a glass of bubbles. “Susie was supposed to be one of my best friends. I didn’t think she was stupid enough to fall for Carter’s crap. I swear, he’s banged half of my friends. As soon as they find out he’s in a band, they lose their freaking minds. I think he’s slept with everyone in my bridal party that we aren’t related to. Well, except you, of course.” She giggled. “They all think they can change him,” Reagan scoffed. “Do you know how many friends I’ve lost because of it? They get mad at me when he doesn’t call them back. At me! Not themselves, not Carter, me. I can’t even be mad at him. He tells them up front and they still think he’ll miraculously change his ways. I can’t wait to meet the woman who finally gets him to settle down.”

  “Yeah,” Kensie added weakly. Carter had a past. He was a bad boy drummer with abs that made women stupid. She was one of them, but she tried not to let his past affect their present. She really, really tried. She’d chosen to forgive the Susie thing, but she was only human, and spending a weekend surrounded by women, whom he’d known intimately, was going to be a challenge. Kensie chugged the champagne.

  This wedding was going to be a fucking disaster.

  “Jam, please. I’ll love you forever,” Kensie whined as she and Jamie rode the elevator up to the third floor of Glenn Sound Studios. They’d planned to crash the guys’ studio session and on the way over Kensie caught her bestie up to speed on the last few days.

  “You know weddings aren’t my thing, especially a wedding for people I don’t even know.”

  “But your boyfriend will be there, and me, your favorite person in the world.”

  “I see him every day, and I’ve lived with you since college. I could use a break,” she teased.

  “Okay, well then you’ve forced my hand.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jamie asked. The elevator doors swung open and Kensie stepped out into the hardwood floors of the studio lobby.

  The walls were covered in gold, silver, and platinum plaques from artists like the Smashing Pumpkins, the Kings of Leon, and the Dave Mathews Band. There was a seating area in the middle of the room, with a couch and two reclining chairs surrounding a coffee table. “Oh nothing,” Kensie sang, “I’ll just have to ask my boyfriend to talk to your boyfriend.”

  Jamie rolled her eyes and followed her friend down the hall. “I wear the pants in that relationship.”

  “You once told me that he could get you to agree to anything when you guys were having sex. I’m sure he won’t mind persuading you.”

  “You’re such a bitch.”

  “I love you too, Jam.”

  A thick haze of smoke covered the dimly lit studio. A brown leather couch was pushed up against the back wall, and a coffee table was nestled in front of it. Disposable cups, a bong, and a handle of Jack Daniel’s sat on the table. Javi and Ryder sat behind a board covered with hundreds of buttons and knobs and levers. Next to them was a man who looked to be in his late forties, with long white hair and a longer beard. Kensie assumed it was Creed, the guys’ LA manager.

  “Hey, Kitty Cat.” Ryder grinned as Jam slipped onto his lap. He gave her a long, almost sad look before briefly pressing his lips to hers.

  Kensie’s eyes found her friend. “Everything okay?” she mouthed.

  Jam nodded, flashing her a we’ll talk later look, before resting her forehead on her boyfriend’s. Kensie nodded, not quite satisfied, but dropped it for the time being.

  “Thanks for letting my boy off his leash long enough to come to work.” Javi grinned, pushing the empty chair next to him out for her to sit.

  “That doesn’t smell like a cigarette,” she teased, pointing to the skinny black metal pen dangling from his lips.

  “Because it’s not. Take a walk on the wild side, princess,” he said, handing it to her.

  “I don’t know why you guys think I’m this sheltered prude, I’ve gotten high before,” she huffed.

  “I know you’re not a prude. I share a wall with him,” he said, tipping his chin to the booth where CT sat behind a drum kit.

  “You’re such a perv,” she squealed, pushing his hand away.

  “Okay, CT, let’s do it one more time, then I think we can move on,” Creed said. Carter nodded, then banged his sticks together three quick times, before tapping the snare. Creed hit a few buttons on the board and the sounds of a piano filled the hazy room. Slow. Melodic. Hopeful. Kensie watched, mesmerized, as CT played along in time with the music. It was so different from anything she’d previously heard them play, operatic at times, b
eautiful. Tears welled in her eyes.

  “It’s good, right?” Javi whispered, attempting to pass her the vape again.

  “It’s amazing,” she breathed, pushing his hand away.

  “It’s about you.” Reluctantly, Kensie tore her gaze away from her boyfriend to look the bassist in the eyes. “He wrote and arranged the whole thing himself. Wait until you hear the lyrics. He’s got it bad,” Javi chuckled, “but he’s never been better. This album is going to be next fucking level. Perfect timing with the tour and everything.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, it’s official as of today. The Unburned tour manager called Creed the day after our show at Gas Works. We hit the road in September,” he explained, handing her the vape pen once more. This time, she took it and inhaled deeply. “I’m surprised he didn’t mention it.”

  Kensie exhaled. “Yeah, weird,” she said, pulling in another puff. Her chest felt like it was on fire, her lungs filled with smoke, and she couldn’t contain the coughing fit building in her chest.

  “Take it easy, lightweight,” Javi said, taking back the vaporizer.

  Kensie’s heart was pounding, but it had little to do with the weed and more to do with the million and one questions swirling around in her head.

  Why hadn’t he mentioned it?

  A tour? A different city every night, different women throwing themselves at him.

  Could their budding relationship survive the distance?

  Would he even want to try?

  “How long?” Kensie croaked, her voice still raspy from inhaling too much of the vapor.

  “Three months,” Javi said handing her back the device.

  “No, thank you,” she said waving it off. “I think the room is spinning. I’m going to go take a walk.”

  “You good?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied as she stood to make her escape.

  “I’ll go with you,” Jam said, eyeing her from Ryder’s lap. His face was in her neck and his arms wrapped tightly, possessively, around her midsection, and suddenly, Kensie understood the sad looks from earlier. “Baby,” she chuckled, prying her boyfriend’s arms off her body.

  Ryder kissed her, his lips lingered over Jam’s. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll be right outside the door.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I know.” Jam kissed him back. Kensie turned away, watching them made it real. If they were struggling with it, what hope did she and Carter have?

  It felt good to get out of the cramped studio, to breathe fresh air. Kensie wandered back down the hall and into the lobby. Jamie appeared a few minutes later, a sad smile on her lips.

  “They’re really going on tour?” Kensie blurted out.

  “Yeah.” Jam sighed, plopping down next to her. “He didn’t tell you?”

  “No, and neither did you.”

  “I assumed you knew, and then you launched into the family dinner from hell and Carter banging all the bridesmaids—it kind of slipped my mind.”

  “Ugh,” Kensie groaned, resting her head on Jamie’s shoulder. “What am I going to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He isn’t going to want a girlfriend while he’s on tour. It’s probably why he didn’t tell me and he’s trying to figure out a way to break up with me.”

  “You’re overreacting.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. Ryder adores you. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked you to go with them.”

  “He has.” Jamie laughed. “Like a million times.”

  Kensie shot up. “You can’t leave me too. Jam, please.”

  “Ken, relax. I have a job that I actually love. I can’t leave for three months. And Carter isn’t going to break up with you, he’s obsessed with you. It’s borderline creepy. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Ugh,” she groaned again. Jamie wrapped her arm around Kensie and they sat still, listening to the faint sound of music drifting from each studio. Jamie’s words helped ease a bit of Kensie’s anxiety, but her mother’s words from a few days ago haunted her. “You lose yourself in these boys.” Was that what this was? Was Carter just another mistake?

  “I can hear you overthinking,” Jamie teased.

  “Was my mom right?”

  “I don’t know,” Jamie answered honestly. “I mean, it doesn’t feel like it did with Stephan or with Trey, but I just want you to be as happy outside of a relationship as you are when you’re in one.”

  “Ouch, Jam.” She was right, of course, and so was her mother, but that didn’t lessen the sting of their words.

  “There’s my little stoner.” CT grinned, appearing in front of them. He wore all black. His tattoos glowed in contrast. God, she loved him.

  “Hey,” Kensie whispered.

  “That’s my cue,” Jam said, jumping up from the couch. She whispered something to Carter on her way back to the studio. Whatever it was, he dropped his head, and nodded.

  “What was that about?” Kensie asked.

  “She told me to fix it.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Carter shrugged, then fell onto the couch next to her. “It wasn’t official until yesterday. I was going to tell you this morning, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.” He lifted her leg across his lap and pulled her on top of him, slipping his finger in the tear just below her butt. “I know you still don’t trust me completely—”

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you.”

  “It’s okay, babe. I fucked up, I know that, but there won’t be any more blowjob-gates. I swear.” Kensie nodded, biting her lip. “It’s you and me, Friend, forever. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Okay,” she breathed.

  “Good. Oh, I got you something.”

  Kensie ran her fingers through his curly brown hair, unsure of what to expect. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “It’s not much,” he explained, lifting them up so he could pull a small bag from his pocket. “I know the cornball probably bought you all sorts of flashy shit, but I saw this and had to buy it. I don’t know, this just seemed like you, seemed like us.” In the bag were two silver necklaces, each with half of a heart-shaped pendant. Held together, they read Best Fucking Friends Forever.

  “It’s perfect. Put it on me, please,” she breathed, shuffling off his lap.

  “I don’t know. It seems silly now. Maybe I can have you one made with platinum and diamonds or whatever.”

  “Carter, it’s perfect,” she repeated, reaching for the other necklace and clasping it around his neck. She pressed a small kiss on the pendant sitting on his collarbone before snuggling into his side. “I don’t need that stuff.”

  “I can give you everything he could and more. My trust is just as big as his.”

  “I can buy my own damn jewelry. I wasn’t with him for money and I’m not with you to rebel. I’m with you because I feel most like myself when you’re around.”

  “Promise me you’ll tell me if that ever changes, okay?”

  “Promise.”

  “C,” Javi called, coming from down the hall.

  “What’s up, man?”

  “Creed needs an hour to mix the track, then he wants you to lay down the reference.”

  Carter nodded. “So, what do you want to do for an hour?” He grinned, grabbing hold of Kensie’s backside.

  “Oh no, you two aren’t ditching me, too, no fucking way,” Javi pouted, sitting next to them on the sofa.

  “Where’d they go?”

  “I don’t know, off to some empty studio probably. I think his plan is to fuck her until she can’t walk.”

  “Hey,” Kensie said, slapping Javi on the back of the head.

  “What?”

  “You guys are pigs,” she giggled.

  “What are we going to do for an hour?”

  “Wanna get high?” Javi grinned, holding up a bag of gummy bears.

  “Edibles?” Kensie asked.

  “What do you know about
edibles?” CT asked incredulously.

  “Dude, this isn’t the first time she’s gotten high,” Javi clarified, handing Kensie one pink and one blue gummy.

  “Just take it easy, babe, this isn’t like smoking. It takes a little longer to kick in but it’s way more potent,” Carter cautioned, before grabbing a few for himself.

  45 minutes later…

  “What’s a reference track?” Kensie giggled.

  “I sing the song how it’s supposed to be so Ry can hear the cadence, then he records the final version.”

  “Oh. You can sing?” She giggled again. She wasn’t sure what was so funny, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “I’m in a band, baby.”

  “What about you?” she snickered, pointing to Javi.

  “I’m in the same band, baby,” he mocked, ducking a swing from CT.

  “You guys are silly. Sing something.” She clapped. “Please sing. I’ve never heard you sing.” Kensie smiled. She was as high as a kite.

  “What do you want to hear?”

  “My song?” she offered.

  “No, not until it’s finished.”

  “Know any Beyoncé?”

  Javi and Carter exchanged glances. “We might know the words to Bootylicious,” Javi confessed.

  “Yes,” Kensie squealed, “do that.”

  “It’ll cost you.” Javi grinned.

  “What?”

  “Show us your boobs,” he said, straight-faced.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you,” Carter growled, lunging at his friend as Kensie burst into a fit of laughter.

  She was happy.

  She was in love.

  “We should have just gotten on the fucking jet,” Jamie huffed, falling back onto the plush king-size bed.

  Kensie rolled her eyes at her friend. She wouldn’t be saying that if it were her ex-boyfriend, Jared, on a private jet surrounded by a gaggle of Ryder’s groupies. Granted, they had to wake up at five to catch a 7 a.m. flight from SeaTac to SFO, and then drive the hour into wine country, but really, it wasn’t so bad. Not as bad as being trapped in a tin box with women who had been up close and personal with Carter’s devil dick.