by Nikki Ashton
“Talking of which,” Freddie said with a groan. “They’re coming this way.”
Rocco and Ethan watched as Freddie’s parents went over to talk to their son and Eliza, when Freddie’s mum, Bets, pulled Eliza into a hug, Rocco scoffed.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Ethan asked as he nervously tapped his drumsticks against some scaffolding that was part of the stage construction.
“That,” Rocco muttered and nodded in Eliza’s direction. “All happy fucking families.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. Rocco was his best friend and had been from the minute Rocco could sit up and gurgle at two-year-old Ethan, but sometimes he was a dick.
“She’s happy, Roc, and you don’t want her. You’re only feeling this way because she’s stopped hanging around with us and stopped chasing after you.”
“She never chased after me.” Rocco sounded affronted but only because he knew Ethan was right, he’d missed an opportunity, right under his nose, to be with Eliza.
“Fuck off, you know I’m right and the fact that you never chose to act on it tells me you don’t really want her in that way. Your ego’s been bruised, that’s all.”
“Doesn’t matter because I actually want her now and I’m going to get her. Freddie Price is decent enough but he’s not as good as me. I’m better for her and Uncle Jake will be happy.”
Ethan almost choked on the burst of air from his laughter that went down the wrong pipe. “You’re joking. He’ll have a double heart attack if he thinks you’re her boyfriend.”
Rocco took a step back, surprised at Ethan’s words. “I never said anything about being her boyfriend.”
“Well, that’s what Freddie is, so if you want her, you’re going to have to step up your game, but like I said, I don’t think you should crack on with her – she’s happy with Freddie.”
Rocco jutted out his chin in defiance. “I’m going for it.” He glanced over to see Freddie leading his parents away and leaving Eliza alone. “And now is exactly the right time.”
“Oh no,” Ethan cried and pulled at Rocco’s arm. “You’re not doing it right before we go on stage, you selfish prick.”
Rocco shrugged and as he flipped Ethan the finger, strode over to Eliza, who was looking down at her phone. “Hey,” he said and rubbed her arm.
Eliza startled and looked up at him. “Oh hi. You okay, you think you’ll remember all the lyrics?”
“Yes Eliza,” Rocco said with a grin. “I’ll remember your amazing words, don’t worry.”
“So, what do you want then?”
Rocco felt a pain in his gut. It had always been the three of them and Eliza had never acted as though she didn’t want him around, but now she sounded less than happy to see him. “You’re nervous,” he stated to explain her tone with him.
“A little, but I know we’re good and we’ve rehearsed, so if people don’t like us it’s down to personal taste.”
She sounded a little aloof and when her phone pinged with a text message, she looked down at it, ignoring Rocco’s presence. Eliza smiled at a message and sent back a fairly lengthy reply, so when she looked up to see Rocco was still standing in front of her, she was a little surprised. “Oh, you’re still here.”
“Yeah.” He took a step closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
A few short weeks ago Eliza would have been fizzing with anticipation that Rocco was actually touching her, but now she felt nothing other than a friendly, maybe sisterly, affection for him.
“I know I’ve been a bit of dick in the past,” Rocco said as he closed the gap between them. “But I get it now. I understand what you’ve been feeling. I—”
“Hang on,” Eliza butted in as her phone pinged again.
Rocco took a deep breath and as Eliza typed away, he carried on.
“It takes some people longer than others to see what’s right in front of their eyes and I kind of wanted to have some fun and I didn’t think about you.”
He glanced over to see Ethan giving him a murderous look and dragging a finger across his throat to tell him to shut the fuck up, but Rocco knew what he wanted and that was Eliza. He looked back to see her slip her phone into her pocket and smile at him.
“Sorry,” she said. “What were you saying.”
Not taking a second to think about his actions, Rocco grabbed Eliza by the shoulders, pulled her to his chest and kissed her like he’d never kissed anyone before. As Freddie got to the top step, he saw it straight away—Rocco was kissing Eliza and Freddie felt sick to his stomach. Rocco’s fingers were threaded into her hair and his lips were on hers as her hands came up and rested on Rocco’s shoulders. Freddie had seen enough. He wanted to go over there and punch the little fuckers lights out, but there was nothing in him that could make him move in that direction. His feet were leaden, and the need to puke was strong. Muttering a curse, he turned and fled, desperate to be away from the sight that had crushed him.
Freddie ran past people, barging shoulders with them and knocking them out of his way, not totally sure of how to get out, but eventually after zig zagging around sound crew and roadies as well as pockets of VIP guests, he reached the security cordon. He took in a gasp of air and pushed toward the barrier, but when he took a step, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He tried to shrug it off but was turned around and came face to face with Jake.
“Come on Price, you’re up,” Jake said as he leaned in so close, Freddie could smell the peppermint of his chewing gum. “Eliza is looking for you. You need to get into position.”
Freddie opened his mouth to protest and to say there was no way he was getting on that stage with Rocco and Eliza, but despite the fact that she’d shredded his fucking heart he couldn’t let her down. This was what she’d wanted for a long time, to get her songs out there so everyone would know what a talented songwriter she was, and he still cared about her enough to help her do that.
“Come on then,” Jake urged and turned back toward the stage area.
Freddie paused and considered still leaving, but when Jake looked over his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile, Freddie followed close behind, still with the need to vomit and an ache in his chest.
Chapter 28
As Rocco threaded his fingers in Eliza’s curls, he wondered if it was because it was their first kiss that it didn’t really have much punch to it. Maybe it was the fact that he’d known her since they were kids that it hadn’t sent his heart racing or maybe…
“Ooof,” he let out a pained breath as a small fist punched him in the stomach.
“What the hell are you doing,” Eliza yelled at him as she took a step back.
Rocco bent over at the waist. She might only have small hands, but Eliza Hughes had evidently been taught to punch by her dad.
“What? I thought it was what you wanted.” Rocco looked up at her and watched her wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. “Well, that’s fucking rude.”
“No Rocco, what’s fucking rude is you kissing me when I already have a boyfriend and I never asked you to. You prick!”
“But I thought that—”
“I’ll tell you what you thought,” Eliza butted in. “You thought that you didn’t like the fact that I was with Freddie, and that it hurt your ego that I wasn’t trailing after you any longer, so you thought, like the selfish dick that you are, that you’d kiss me and ‘show me what I’m missing’.”
Rocco frowned. “I don’t sound like that.”
“Yes, you do, but that doesn’t matter what does matter is that I,” Eliza stabbed a finger at her chest. “Don’t want you like that. I really like Freddie and want to be with him.”
“But we could be together now,” Rocco protested, while at the back of his mind thinking they’d have to work on the kissing.
“Why because you’ve suddenly decided?”
Rocco nodded and Eliza’s eyes went wide. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and she raised her fist to punch him again, but realised it probably wasn’t a good id
ea just before they performed for the first time in front of thousands of people.
“You’re so selfish,” she huffed out with a shake of her head. “We’re just about to go on stage and you thought it was a good idea to kiss me, knowing my boyfriend is also in the band and what if he’d seen? Do you realise the trouble that could have caused?”
“Okay,” Rocco pouted. “I didn’t think, alright.”
“No Rocco, you didn’t, you never do, unless it’s about yourself. Seriously, you need to grow up.”
Eliza looked around to see if Freddie was anywhere around, hopeful that he hadn’t seen Rocco’s attempt to kiss her. He knew how she’d felt about Rocco and it would only make him feel worse if he ever thought Rocco was now reciprocating the feelings that she used to have for him – and that was exactly it, the feelings she used to have. Okay, so the kiss had taken her by surprise, but she’d felt nothing at all from it, except maybe ‘ugh’. It had been like kissing a cousin – it was just yuck.
“So, you and Freddie, you’re not just talking?”
Eliza frowned. “You really need to stop watching those shit reality dating shows Rocco. No, we’re not just talking, which in your world is code for hooking up and having sex. He’s my boyfriend and I’m his girlfriend; he makes me happy.”
Rocco rubbed a hand down his face and sighed, wondering how he’d got it so wrong. Ethan had told him to leave it, but no, his ego had whispered in his ear and told him to go and do something monumentally stupid like kiss his best friend who he evidently had zero chemistry with.
“Hey, you all set?”
Rocco and Eliza turned to see Jake rushing toward them with a huge smile on his face. Eliza gave Rocco a side glance and then plastered on a smile, desperate not to let her dad or the rest of their family down.
“Yeah, thanks Dad.” She glanced around wondering if Freddie was back from saying bye to his parents. “You haven’t seen Freddie, have you?”
“I just passed him going out toward backstage,” Jake replied. When Eliza nodded and took a step forward, he held up his hand. “You wait here, I’ll go and get him. We don’t want to lose two of you.” He grinned at Eliza with pride filling his chest. She was such a beautiful kid and now she was going to show everyone how fucking talented she was too. He adored both his kids and couldn’t explain what it meant for them both to perform on the same stage as him. Even if neither of them went into music full time, it didn’t matter, because he would have this one memory of the day they played and sang and supported him and his band of brothers.
Feeling a prickle of emotion at his throat, Jake coughed and reached for Eliza’s hand to give it a squeeze.
“I’ll go get the little douche, you two go and do your vocal warmups, like Luke showed you.”
Rocco’s gaze dropped to the floor as he thought about his papa and how he could quite easily have ruined today for him. He knew how important this charity gig was to raise huge amounts of money for the Dirty Riches Charity Foundation, but also there were thousands of people in the park watching and it was going to be televised on a music channel in a couple of days. He took a deep breath and looked up to see his Uncle Jake pushing through the roadies doing the last-minute checks to the equipment.
“I am sorry, Eliza,” he groaned. “I was a dick and shouldn’t have done it. I suppose I felt a bit jealous that you were with him all the time and not us. I think I miss my best friend.”
Eliza took a deep breath and then laid a hand on his shoulder. “Rocco, you and I haven’t been best friends for a long time, in fact, I’m not sure we ever were. I was the little girl who was forced on you and Ethan because our dads are best friends and we are practically family. I’d say we’re more like brother and sister than best friends.”
Rocco groaned and screwed his features with distaste. “I just kissed you, can we be more like cousins.”
Eliza laughed and nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. The point is Ethan is your best friend. I’m a good friend, but as much as it hurt, I have to accept that there are going to be times when you don’t want me around and if I was your best friend, that would never be the case.”
“Hey, you know that’s not true,” Rocco protested.
“When you’re hooking up with girls or buying them drinks so you maybe can hook up with them?” she asked with a roll of her eyes.
Rocco laughed. “Yeah, I guess you would kind of cramp my style.”
“Exactly. And I’m fine with that, I promise, because Freddie is my best friend.”
“You think maybe you love him?” Rocco asked with a smirk.
Eliza didn’t need to think about it, she knew. “Yeah, I do. I’ll be honest Rocco, and,” she said with a finger pointed at him, “you ever tell anyone this or bring it up again, I’ll chop your bollocks off while you’re asleep.”
Rocco held his hands up in surrender. “Shit, my lips are definitely sealed.”
“Well, I thought I loved you in a girl/boy kind of way, but I realise now I just idolised you and thought it was love. What I feel for Freddie is so much more than that. It’s intense and makes me feel sick in the stomach in a good way. I get excited just at the thought of him and just looking at him sometimes makes me want to cry and cling to him because I don’t know any other way to tell him how I feel.”
“Wow,” Rocco said with a wide-eyed stare. “They’re pretty powerful feelings you’ve got there.”
Eliza nodded. “I know and I think I need to tell him that too.”
“You haven’t told him yet?”
“No, too scared in case he doesn’t feel the same.”
Rocco shook his head and pulled Eliza in for a hug. “Tell him, because I’m pretty sure he feels the same way.”
They hugged for a few seconds and then Eliza pulled away and patted Rocco’s chest. “Now go and do your vocal warm up, because we have a show to do.”
And it was then that Rocco got his second punch of the day, this time from Freddie, right on the nose.
Chapter 29
Snake Bandit were almost at the end of their set, and Freddie hadn’t looked at Eliza once. She’d tried to talk to him after he’d punched Rocco, but he’d snapped about them needing to get on stage and then strode off and sat himself behind his keyboard. With that Eliza had given Rocco another punch to the stomach and told him he deserved it for being a dick. Luckily for Rocco, Freddie hadn’t made his nose bleed, but he was pretty sure he looked a lot like Rudolph, and should Santa need him, he’d be more than eligible for the job. As Ethan passed him, he knocked Rocco around the back of the head, so by the time he stood behind his mic’, in between Hendrix and Eliza, he was feeling pretty beaten up. Apart from the animosity floating around the stage, no one in the crowd would even think that there was an issue with the band. They were tight and professional and sounded amazing.
“They’re fucking good,” Luke said to Tom as they watched from the side. “Although I’d quite like to know why Freddie felt the need to punch my son.”
Tom sighed. “No idea, but sorry, Luke. I’m pretty sure he deserved it as Eliza and Ethan had a go as well.”
Luke rubbed a hand down his face. “No fucking doubt, my friend, no fucking doubt.” His attention was then pulled back to the stage as Rocco spoke into the mic’.
“Okay, so this next song is going to be sung by the lovely Eliza Hughes, here.” Rocco held a hand toward Eliza and grinned at the crowd who had lapped him up. He had his father’s charisma and ability to sing and had already garnered thousands of new female admirers in the audience.
“Thanks,” Eliza replied tentatively as she glanced over at Freddie who was looking perplexed.
Hendrix sidled over to Freddie and turned his back on the crowd. “She added it in just before we came on,” he said with a shrug. “It’s just her on guitar.”
“Oh.” Freddie looked over at Eliza who was making herself comfy on a stool that a roadie had brought on.
His stomach churned as his eyes then went to Rocco, expecting him to b
e gazing at her, but he was taking the opportunity to slug back some water. Freddie had concentrated his efforts on his keyboard for the whole time they’d been on stage as he hadn’t wanted to see any furtive or flirty glances between them. He couldn’t wait for their set to finish so he could get away, find his mum and dad and get them to take him back to their hotel. He just couldn’t be around for Eliza to tell him it was over. He’d rather get it via text than have to watch her beautiful lips say the words.
“Okay,” Eliza said and looked up to the crowd. “This song is called ‘Beautiful Boy’ and it’s for someone special.”
As Eliza strummed the first chord, Freddie thought he was going to puke. He got a watery feeling in his mouth and a prickling at the back of his throat. He couldn’t stand it and stood up to leave, but Hendrix’s hand came down on his shoulder.
“No. Stay. Don’t spoil this for not only us but them too.” Hendrix nodded his head toward the side of the stage where all of Dirty Riches were standing in exactly the same pose—legs apart, tattooed arms crossed over broad chests and huge grins on their faces.
Freddie let out a sigh, nodded and plonked back onto his stool to listen to the soundtrack of his breaking heart.
My beautiful boy who gave me the sun
My beautiful boy who helped me to breathe
My beautiful boy who it’s so easy to love
Life’s so much better with my beautiful boy
Eliza’s voice, while not as rich as Rocco’s, was perfect for the haunting melody of the song and everyone hung onto every word and every note. The lyrics were tender and loving and matched the softness of her expression as she closed her eyes against the crowd.
Freddie was enraptured and heartbroken all at the same time as he watched her, unable to take his eyes off the beautiful blonde angel who was stealing everyone’s heart with her song. When she finished to loud cheers and clapping – none louder than that of her parents and brother – Freddie couldn’t help but join in, even though he would never want to listen to the song again for the rest of his life, because he’d fallen in love with her from the greatest height possible and the idea that she wasn’t his would haunt him for years, if not forever.