by Shari Copell
He hadn’t expected to miss Nicks so much—he was desperate to see her, really—but he had to respect her parents’ wishes that he stay away during the school week. The detentions she’d had to serve had set her behind a bit. Handling her parents’ decree with her usual grace and aplomb, she’d said, “I don’t like it either, Stone, but it won’t take me long to catch up. You’ll be the biggest distraction of all for me if you’re here.” He smiled as her lilting, slightly gravelly voice filled his head.
At least he got to talk to her on the phone every night. It did little to slake his Nicks craving, but it would have to do.
It didn’t take long, did it, Stones? That little vixen had him tangled up in knots so tight, he’d never get loose. Not that he was trying. Everything she did enchanted him, even the dirty looks she gave him sometimes. She was an intriguing mix of sweet and spicy, sugar with a shot of jalapeño.
She had less than seven and a half months of high school yet before she’d be free. He’d ask her to move in with him here, and she’d say yes...obviously.
He shook his head and threw an arm over his eyes. He was being presumptuous. She probably had her own dreams. Her parents almost certainly wanted her to go to college. Their vision for their daughter’s future probably didn’t include her shacking up with the son of grunge hippies.
Some part of him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and run off with her like a caveman. Another part of him understood that she and her talents belonged to the world. She wouldn’t want to quit playing; he would never ask her to. It would be like asking her not to breathe.
She was a smart woman. Funny. Strong. She deserves better than you. Stone wasn’t much into self-doubt, but what prospects did he really have? What could he offer her that she couldn’t go out and get for herself?
Certainly, at some point in this developing relationship, they’d find themselves standing at a crossroads, staring into the future. It made his gut ache. She felt something for him physically, that much was obvious from the few times they’d collided in sexual fireworks. But did she want his heart?
Something tugged at his peace. Was it all the unanswered questions about Asher Pratt? He sighed. Just tell her or stop thinking about it. Pick one.
He turned his thoughts to more pleasant subjects. It would be her birthday soon. She’d never been to his apartment. He’d have to cook up something special and invite her over. His place needed a serious cleaning, but he made a mean lasagna. Hopefully, they’d balance each other out.
Stone threw off the covers and rolled up to a sitting position, groaning when his bare feet hit the cold laminate floor. It was too damned early to be awake, but he had to pick up some band equipment at the airport at eight. Then he had to go by the studio and fix a broken turntable. Band practice tonight at six.
He’d planned on talking to the guys about allowing Nicks to play with them on Saturday, but he was sure they wouldn’t object. It wasn’t like she sucked on guitar.
He got to his feet, stood for a moment, and debated diving back into the warm bed. Maybe he’d have time for a nap later. He ran his hand through his rumpled hair, scratched his nuts, and headed toward the bathroom.
Dantre Shaw was waiting for Nicks in the parking lot when she got to school Thursday morning. He barely gave her time to throw the car in park before he had her door open.
Nicks grabbed her backpack and got out of the car. “What’re you all smiles about this morning?”
“You’ll never guess what I heard.” They got in step together and headed toward the stairs up to the school. Dantre was clucking like a hen about to lay an egg.
“What did you hear?”
“Marius took a leave of absence. Cleaned his office out a couple days ago and told Miss Powell he was goin’ away for a month or two. Didn’t even tell her ‘til the end of the day. I guess she watched him take boxes out all day, wonderin’ what the hell was goin’ on. Mrs. Dorvat is his replacement ‘til he comes back.”
Nicks stopped short and stared at Dantre. “Are you sure about that?”
“I got reliable sources, girl. It’s the truth.”
“That’s really odd though.” Marius gone for a couple of months was the best possible news. So why did it make her uneasy? “Don’t you think that’s a weird thing for him to do? Especially in front of Powell? She’s Igor to his Dr. Frankenstein.”
“Your dad must’ve put the fear of God in him. ‘Bout time that miserable fuck got his ass handed to him. He was all righteous and militant with us kids. Bet Marius had a turd pokin’ out when your dad was readin’ him the riot act. Your old man is a big dude.”
“Coincidence. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my father.” Nicks reached for the handle of the door into the school.
Despite the denial, she couldn’t shake the feeling this was just another move in the screwed-up chess game Marius was playing with her.
Nicks jumped a foot off the island stool when the garage door into the kitchen exploded open. The Cosmo magazine she’d been reading sailed through the air and landed on the floor with a sharp crack.
“Nicks! I need help!”
She blew out a breath. T.J.
He’d been outside riding his bike in the driveway while their parents, Reese, Aimee, and Lindsay spent Thursday evening at the school for the conclusion of the science fair. Reese had won grand prize overall for his project “The Future of Wireless Technology”, and the local newspaper was taking pictures and conducting interviews. Neither Nicks nor T.J. had wanted to go.
The principal’s sudden leave of absence had been on her mind all day. She’d meant to mention it to her parents, but they’d been in a rush. It would have to wait until later, provided she remembered to tell them. Reese’s win had turned this house into a zoo.
Nicks ran to the door. Blood dripped from T.J.’s right elbow and a gash on his forehead. Even more ominous, his hands were cupped together in front of him. He fixed her with a look that suggested he didn’t know whether to cry or break out into laughter.
“What the hell did you do?” She pushed bloody hair away from the wound on his head.
“I wrecked my bike.”
“And obviously you weren’t wearing your helmet.” She gripped him by the upper arm, pulled him to the island, and boosted him up onto a chair.
“I hate my helmet. It feels like I have a bucket over my head.”
“What do you have in your hands? And don’t you dare lie to me either.”
A silly grin spread across T.J.’s face. “Get me a container with a lid, and I’ll show you.”
Shit. This wasn’t going to be good. “You need to tell me what it is before I get a container. If it’s a spider, you’re out of here.”
He frowned as he considered her request. “I have a toad.”
“Where did you find a toad this time of year?”
“He hopped across the driveway. That’s how I wrecked. I turned around too fast ‘cause I wanted to catch him.”
“Mission accomplished, goofball.” She examined his arm. He’d erased several layers of skin from his entire elbow.
“Hurry up! He’s peeing on me!”
“Jesus, T.J.!” Nicks whirled and opened the cupboard where her mother kept the spare whipped topping containers. She grabbed one from the shelf. “Put it in here. What are you going to do with a toad?”
He put both clasped hands inside the white container and gently let go. Nicks got a brief glimpse of tan bumps on a boney, sloped back before she slapped the lid down over it.
“Poke holes in the lid so he doesn’t die,” advised T.J. “I don’t want to keep him. I just want to look at him, then I’m going to let him go. Someday I’m going to win a science fair like Reese. I’m gonna to do a project about toads.”
“Okay.” Sounded reasonable to her. Her little brother was fearless when it came to bugs, toads, and worms. It was thunderstorms and Predators that freaked him out.
She poked holes in the lid as directed, taking care not to plu
nge the knife in too far. Setting it aside, she ran warm water over a clean washcloth and turned her attention to the boy. He tried to squirm away from her, but she caught him by the back of the neck and gently dabbed at his head as he winced.
“Mom is going to kill me when she sees you. You do something like this every time I watch you. I thought maybe after you damn near cut your finger off playing with Dad’s razors, you’d wise up.”
“I’m sorry.” T.J. slumped in the chair. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble again.”
She picked his arm up to inspect his elbow. She couldn’t stay mad at him when he gave her the puppy-dog eyes.
“Well, no bones broken anyway. At least I don’t have to call Mom and Dad and tell them to go to the emergency room.” She retrieved the triple antibiotic and a box of bandages from the powder room. “Reese would never forgive you for stealing his thunder.” She grinned as she smeared the ointment over the cut on his head.
“Ow! Easy!” He grimaced. “I wish I could win something awesome like that. Reese likes computers. You play guitar. Aimee is smart, and Lindsay is a cheerleader. I’m not good at anything.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think you’re pretty good at being T.J. Sorenson.”
“You’re only saying that to make me feel better ‘cause you know it’s true.”
She peeled open a bandage and gently applied it to his head. T.J.’s feelings were real. She was wrong to discount them because he was young.
“Sometimes you don’t get good at something until you’re older.” She pushed against the sticky ends of the bandage to make sure it would hold. “Is there anything that interests you right now?”
“Well...,” he looked uncertain, “I like to watch you play guitar, but it seems hard. Your fingers go so fast, and both hands do something different. I don’t know...”
Nicks ripped open a wide bandage and turned her attention to his elbow. “How about bass guitar then? There are only four strings on a bass. The bass player has an important job in a band. They keep the beat along with the drummer and add some bottom to the song. You’ve met Charm before. That’s what she plays in Wild Angel.”
“Really?” A light came on in T.J.’s eyes.
“Really. Or you could play drums. I talked to Lindsay about that a couple of days ago.”
He thought about it for a moment then shook his head. “No, I like the bass guitar idea. Can you teach me?”
Finished with the bandaging, she pulled him off the chair, sat down, and then drew him up into her lap. “I’m afraid I’m not very good at playing bass, buddy. I’ll ask Stone if he knows someone who gives lessons. If Mom or Dad won’t take you, I will.”
He turned, put both hands on her cheeks, and planted a wet kiss on her lips. “You are the best big sister ever. I love you, Nicks.”
She closed her eyes and hugged him hard. “Love you too.”
Emotional moment over, at least for him, he jumped off her lap. “I’m going to go take a bath now.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm before he could dash away. “Take care of the toad first. I don’t want Mom to open this and freak out.” She retrieved the container from the countertop and handed it to him.
“I’ll take it back outside.”
Staring at the door after he’d closed it behind him, she found herself wishing she could somehow slow life down. T.J. was growing up too damned fast.
“So, Stoney. How’s it goin’ with your little guitar player? You gettin’ any yet?” asked Rob Walters, the drummer for Heavy Remedy. “She was awesome sweet, as I recall.”
“That’s none of your business,” growled Stone as he threw his guitar case onto Rob’s couch.
“Jesus, don’t ask him,” said Mike Dorton, their bass player. “He threatened to shove my guitar up my ass when I asked about her a couple of weeks ago.”
Stone flipped the snaps of the guitar case open and turned to Mike. “As I recall, you didn’t ask about her. You started talking about her body parts. Not cool.”
“So?” Gio Maroni said as he unraveled a long length of cord and plugged it into the back of his keyboards. “I’ll bet she has some nice parts. You seen ‘em yet? Suppose it’s too soon to ask if you touched ‘em. Women don’t usually like to give it up that fast.”
Stone rolled his eyes. Maybe talking to these guys wasn’t going to be so easy after all. “How about if all of you finish evolving at some point? There’s a whole lot more to a woman than that.”
Shocked, Rob looked up from behind his drum kit. “Since when?”
Hearty laughter from his other two bandmates filled the room. There was no point in trying to have a serious conversation about women with these assholes. Get to the point and get it over with. He turned and tried to adopt an attitude of authority.
“If you guys don’t mind, I’ve asked Nicks to play with us on Saturday. Just two songs. I thought it might be good PR.”
All three of them stopped what they were doing and stared at him, as though he’d asked them to give up their card to the Very Manly Men’s club.
“You did what?” asked Mike.
“I asked her if she’d do the two Hagar tunes with us. She can play lead. I’ll sing them and play rhythm.” When they continued to stare, Stone placed his hands on his hips. “Oh, c’mon. What’s the problem?”
“Are we going to get a chance to practice with her? I’m thinking the answer is no, since this is Thursday,” said Gio. He turned to the other two. “How can we be sure she knows the songs? Do you guys want to go onstage with someone you’ve never met?”
“I don’t,” said Rob. When he folded his arms across his chest, Stone knew he’d have a fight on his hands.
“We’ve had other musicians play with us without practicing first. Plenty of times. I don’t understand your objections.”
“Yeah, and those were musicians we knew and trusted. Guys we’d played with before. We don’t know nothin’ about this girl except she’s got a great ass,” said Mike.
The son-of-a-bitch looked at the other guys for support. They gave it with nods and grins.
“That’s not true. None of us knew Kevin McManus, and we let him play guitar with us at The Ale House.”
“That was different,” said Gio.
“How was it different?”
Gio shrugged. “It just...was.”
Stone felt as though he’d slammed into a brick wall at ninety miles-an-hour. It was all starting to make sense. If this was a small taste of what Nicks went through in the music world, no wonder she’d been spitting mad when he insulted her. These idiots were closing the door on a great opportunity just because she was a woman.
“You’ve heard her play! She’s as good as I am, for God’s sake, maybe better. I don’t understand what your collective problem is.“
Nothing but blank stares from the three of them. “I don’t believe this. You don’t want to do it because she’s a woman. It doesn’t matter how good she is, it doesn’t make up for the fact that she’s female. Un-fucking-believable.”
The three of them at least had the decency to look ashamed.
Stone pointed a finger at them. “Tell you what. I’ll take my guitar over to her house and work with her on the two songs tomorrow night. I’ll make sure she knows how we play them. I’ll tell her what to watch and listen for. Will that make you happy?”
He paused, knowing he couldn’t unsay what he was about to say. She wasn’t here to stick up for herself though. He had to draw a line in the sand on her behalf.
“Because if it doesn’t, you sexist assholes are going to be playing the job on Saturday without me.”
Later that night, as she readied for bed, Nicks heard her cell phone buzz with a text message. It was Stone.
Hey, beautiful. Ready for Saturday?
Her fingers flew across the phone’s keypad. Yep. Okay on your end?
Yep. This tune is how I feel about Saturday right now.
She gave a chirp of laughter. He’d sent her a YouTube l
ink to a song called Just Can’t Wait by J. Geils.
Same here! See you tomorrow? Have something I want to ask you about T.J.
Yep. Bringing my guitar over. Would like to go over some things for Saturday.
For some reason that struck her as odd. Pissed her off a little. She wasn’t some child he had to drill for a performance. She knew what she was doing when it came to music.
Don’t trust me?
It seemed to take a long time for him to answer.
Trust you with my life. See you tomorrow.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Yeah. I’ve heard that before. The words may vary, but the meaning is always crystal clear.” Nicks crossed her arms and glared at Stone. “It means none of them is willing to take me seriously. I’m not doing it. I won’t play with you tomorrow.”
She could almost hear the soft hiss of the lit fuse trailing from her temper. Obviously, there were still a few Neanderthals living in Pittsburgh.
Stone lifted his hands, trying to maintain peace. “I know, and I’m sorry about that. I knew it would piss you off, but I wanted to be honest. I told them I’d go over the songs with you. That seemed to set their minds at ease.”
“So they’re okay with it as long as you make sure the stupid girl knows the music? No. Absolutely not.” This was as bad as the things Stone had said about her a year ago. “I’m not some newbie in her second year of lessons, Stone. I’m a professional. I’m as good as anyone out there. I’m as good as you. The only problem is that I’m female. Well, fuck them very much. I’ve got better things to do than let a bunch of misogynistic assholes set me up for failure.”
She’d struggled to bring her amps and guitars into the sunroom so they could practice the two Hagar songs, never dreaming why he’d made the request. How freaking humiliating was that? “I think you should go.”
She wasn’t really pissed at him. She was just...mad. And getting madder. She wanted to be alone when she let go of the storm that was building strength inside her.