by Cari Quinn
She grinned and leaned up on her tiptoes to press her mouth to his. “As long as the storybook romance includes lots of fucking.”
“Oh, no doubt. No doubt at all.” She took the flowers from him, holding them tight to her chest so he could cup her face in his hands. “Michael had his baby. I mean, Chloe did. Hope. She’s beautiful. You have to come meet her.”
“Oh, God, is she okay? Are they both okay? Yes, yes, I want to go. I’m sorry I missed everything.”
“Yes, they’re fine. They’re all fine. I’m sorry too, but as much as I hated it, it was necessary for you to leave for me to get my head on straight. I’ve been so messed up for so long.” He hissed out a breath. “I didn’t even realize how much.”
“You’ve dealt with a lot.”
“So have you.” He stepped back and read the words on the window. “You can’t do this. You don’t want to live your life in a box. Me either. It might be weird to live on a bus. Hell, we might be weird, but we’re us.” He stared straight into her eyes and she saw so much more than she’d ever expected to see shining back at her.
Honesty.
Respect.
Love.
“I like us,” she murmured, not bothering to fight the dampness in her eyes. He deserved to see it. To know exactly how much this meant to her.
“Me too. In fact, I love us.” He moved back to her again and framed her face in his hands. “I love you, Lo. So much. Come back to me. Be with me on our crazy tour bus of love and sex and insanity. Probably forever, but I don’t want to scare you away if that sounds freaky and like way too much since, you know, it’s only been a few weeks.”
She laughed through her tears. “I love you too. And I’m not scared. We’ll figure it out. Nothing will be fixed overnight. I sure haven’t been. I’m still the same mess I ever was. But it’s different when someone loves you.”
“And I do. So much.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he stepped back to pull his leather cord over his head. Before she could speak, he dropped it over her head, carefully pulling out her hair. “You’re my true north now. The one who will always remind me when I’m about to go over the edge.”
She couldn’t hold back a sob as she clutched the compass charm, still warm from his body. “You do the same for me. Every time.”
He tugged on her hand. “We have to go. The bus is leaving for Vegas. Our big night. Say you’ll come.”
“Oh, God, I can’t. I want to, but Ethan—” She glanced back to see her best friend standing behind her with a grin.
“Uh uh. Ethan’s not standing in the way of true love anymore. Time for me to find some of my own, or its nearest statistical equivalent.” He waved the little paper in his hand that had to be the receptionist’s phone number. “Go on. Have fun.”
“Thank you. I’ll call.” She hurried to give him a quick hug then turned toward West and grinned. “I’m ready.”
“Don’t you need to pack or—ah, hell, forget it. We’ll go shopping on the road.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her after him as she struggled to hold on to her beautiful flowers, making her laugh. “Everyone is so excited to see you. We made you your own bunk.”
“Really? There was room?”
“Well, Ryan’s been gone more than he’s been around, and it’s just…there’s a story.” He smiled back at her though his eyes were troubled. “Always a story, Lo. But I was thinking we need a dog, you and me. The start of our own family.”
“Yeah?” God, her head was spinning.
“Oh, yeah.” He pulled out the photo in his pocket and gave it to her.
Bert. Oh, God. She couldn’t believe it.
She grinned. “You found him? Really?”
“He’s ours. Waiting for us at home.” West pulled her into his arms and gave her a tender kiss. “Well, our home. The bus.”
She let out a laugh. “The best home I could ever imagine.”
Thanks for reading DIRTY DUET. Ryan’s in too deep, unless it’s not too late for his best friend Denver to pull him back. One-click LOST LYRIC, Found in Oblivion Book 4.
He’s her good boy gone bad…
Rockstar Ryan Waters has always been the responsible one in his band, Warning Sign. The guy who kept an eye on business while chasing his musical dreams with his best friends. And his closest friend lately just happens to be their tour bus driver, Denver Casey.
Denver is on the run from her past, and she’s careful to stay within her boundaries. Until Ryan becomes her partner in crime and one by one, those boundaries start to crumble. He’s the exact opposite from the guy she’s tried so desperately to leave behind.
Then Ryan turns up missing. And her terror that he’s hurt—or worse—leads to something dark and intoxicating. They both love adrenaline, except this time, the addiction is each other.
Falling for her best friend means putting everything on the line, win or lose. But if her hidden past comes back to haunt them, she might also end up risking her life.
And Ryan’s.
One-click LOST LYRIC now!
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Lost Lyric
“I’m going to string him up by his balls and then I’m going to leave his ass.” Denver Casey knew it was an empty threat, but it made her feel better to say it out loud. Freaking back-alley waste dump of a street and she was searching out the bane of her existence.
Oh, and he was also her best friend.
Couldn’t forget that part. Stupid asshole had quickly become the best part of her job with Warning Sign. Being the babysitter-slash-driver of one of the fastest-rising stars of the rock scene had its perks. She actually got paid to figure out every damn road in the country—her personal passion.
She was weird, and maybe a little obsessive about it, but it hadn’t steered her wrong yet. At least not in five years, twenty-four days.
Her nose wrinkled at the stench of stagnant dog piss and a Dumpster that had been forgotten since before time began. Sweet fuck, it was foul. She panned her palm-sized flashlight over the muck. A shudder raced up her spine as things with far too many legs scattered and eyes glowed out of the dark.
She glanced over her shoulder at a sound at the opposite end of the alley.
“Ryan Waters, where the fuck are you?” Denver glanced down at her phone to verify the GPS locater app she’d installed on Ryan’s phone. It said he was right here.
Jerk actually thought he was being slick. She’d been tracking him for the last week. Not maliciously—no, she’d never go there on anyone. Ever.
But this was her job. Deposit all artists from point A to point B. Period, end of job description. At least on the official documentation. In reality, she was herding cats and dogs with a side of squirrel. Ryan definitely fell into the last category lately.
He’d always been her steady one, and now…well, not so much.
At first, she’d just monitored him on the app. No one else needed the same intense babysitting. In fact, she wished a certain caveman would stop holing up so much. Malachi Shawcross, who’d seemed like the ultimate flight-risk addition to the band, actually had to be ejected from the bus these days. He’d sort of taken over the whole thing. She’d secretly renamed it the Boink Bus thanks to his extracurriculars.
Not so much with her best friend. Lately he’d been gone more than he was around.
Each day that passed, she had to worry about Ryan more and more. In all the time she’d known him, he’d always been the steadiest one of the group. The most professional one out of all the crazies. He held her loyalty more than
any of them. And now he was officially the most scattered. He’d been cutting it closer with each departure time for the last ten days. And today, a complete no-show.
He would not mess with her schedule, or her job. She’d finally found something she loved, and that actually fell into the parameters of her skill set. Her skill set nowadays, anyway. She’d tried the truck-driver thing, but it hadn’t suited her at all. Too much time alone with her thoughts.
Not a good idea.
Driving for Warning Sign was the perfect blend of solitude and action. The band was never boring, and they always kept her on her toes. But Ryan’s behavior was getting ridiculous.
Didn’t he realize he was actually the dispensable one in this circus act? He played harmony and rhythm on all his instruments. He was amazing, but he didn’t have an actual slot in the roster of the band. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
Actually, that wasn’t quite right either. He’d mastered every instrument he’d ever picked up. And that was the problem. Once he knew how something worked, he got bored. He could play circles around Michael and Elle, their lead guitarists, when he actually gave a shit.
It seemed like he’d been floundering lately. He was so scattered now that he never settled on one instrument in a song. It made for some amazing performances onstage. He had this steamer trunk full of toys that he opened as if he were Carrot Top in Vegas. She didn’t even know the names for half of them, but he could play every single one.
She’d watched their shows at nearly every stop on the tour. The band was tightening up more and more, but then there was this little pinball named Ryan.
He bounced in between each of his bandmates like a bee drunk on pollen. A fiddle, a flute, a ukulele, a slide guitar, a banjo, an accordion—no hand-held instrument was off limits to him.
It made him amazing, but it also left everyone scratching their heads as to what his place was in the band. Was this a stopgap for him? Was it the perfect foil for his boredom? Was he simply going to disappear one day?
She blasted the flashlight beam onto a higher setting. No, she wouldn’t let that happen. He was the best thing to happen to her in too many years to count. The only guy she’d trusted in forever. She’d do everything and anything to make sure he kept his head screwed on straight.
“Ryan!”
Her phone beeped like a homing pigeon on meth and the little red dot that should be Ryan was right where she was standing. She panned her flashlight across the area. Something reflected from the corner that she didn’t want to think about. It was shiny and dark. She squinted. Liquid—no, that was a phone.
“Shit.”
Denver kicked at the pile of wet boxes next to a crooked Dumpster. Third one in this freaking alley, and this one smelled like death.
“Please, oh please.” Her teeth chattered and her stomach roiled. Memories, swift and scorching, burned behind her eyeballs. Another dark alley. A body more blood than skin. Thick-soled boots slamming—
No.
She shook her head.
Not like that night.
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Oblivion World Character Chart
Beware...spoilers aplenty in this character chart. Read at your own risk!
Nick Crandall: Oblivion lead guitarist
Twin brother to Elle/Ricki, married to Lila Shawcross, daughters Charlie and Avery, co-founder of Oblivion
Simon Kagan: Oblivion lead singer
Brother to Ian Kagan, married to Margo Reece, co-founder of Oblivion
Deacon McCoy: Oblivion’s bass guitarist
Married to Harper Pruitt, daughter Alexa Grace, co-founder of Oblivion
William ‘Snake’ Scotsman*: Oblivion ex-drummer
Son Axl with Chloe Adams, co-founder of Oblivion
Jazz Edwards: Oblivion drummer
Sister Molly McIntire, married to Gray Duffy, son Dylan Edward and daughter Briana
Gray Duffy: Oblivion rhythm guitarist
Married to Jazz Edwards, son Dylan Edward and daughter Briana
Margo Reece: Oblivion violinist
Sister Juliet Reece, married to Simon Kagan
Lila Shawcross: Ripper Records executive and Oblivion’s manager
Married to Nick Crandall, daughters Charlie and Avery, stepmother to Michael and Malachi Shawcross
Donovan Lewis: Ripper Records CEO
Chloe Adams: Waitress
Married to Michael Shawcross, son Axl (Bio-father Snake Scotsman) and daughter Hope
Michael Shawcross: Warning Sign guitarist
Brother Malachi Shawcross, married to Chloe Adams, daughter Hope
Juliet Reece: Warning Sign bass guitarist
Sister Margo Reece, in a relationship with Randy Pruitt* and Tristan Eves, son Joshua Randall
Randy Pruitt*: Warning Sign roadie/lighting tech
Sister Harper Pruitt, in a relationship with Juliet Reece and Tristan Eves, son Joshua Randall
Tristan Eves: Head chef at The Hollow
In a relationship with Juliet Reece & Randy Pruitt*, son Joshua Randal, best friends with Hunter Jordan from Hammered
West Reynolds: Warning Sign keyboardist
In a relationship with Lauren Bryant, daughter Chloe (isn’t in her life)
Lauren ‘Lo’ Bryant: Author
In a relationship with West Reynolds, best friends with Ethan Haywood
Denver Casey (nee: Casey Lewis): Tour bus driver for Rebel Rage and Warning Sign
Donovan Lewis’s niece, married to Ryan Waters
Ryan Waters: Warning Sign jack-of-all-trades
Married to Denver Casey
Ethan Haywood: Professor at UCLA
In a relationship with Molly McIntire & Luc Moreau, best friends with Lauren Bryant
Luc Moreau: Warning Sign co-lead singer
In a relationship with Molly McIntire & Ethan Haywood, former lead singer for The Grunge
Molly McIntire: Warning Sign lead singer
Sister Jazz Edwards, in a relationship with Ethan Haywood & Luc Moreau
Malachi Shawcross: Warning Sign drummer
Brother Michael Shawcross, engaged to Elle ‘Ricki’ Crandall
Ricki ‘Elle’ Crandall: Warning Sign guitarist
Twin sister to Nick Crandall, engaged to Malachi Shawcross
Hunter Jordan: Hammered lead singer
Brother Noah Jordan, married to Kennedy McManus
Kennedy McManus: Publicist for Hammered
Married to Hunter Jordan
Reed ‘Bats’ Mason: Hammered lead guitarist
Zachary Kane: Hammered rhythm guitarist
Indiana West: Hammered band manager
Victoria Sheer: Actress/Model
involved with Reed Mason, ex-girlfriend Hunter Jordan
Faith ‘Keys’ Keystone: Hammered keyboardist
Married to Quinn Alexander
Quinn Alexander: Roth Defense specialist, former Navy Seal
Married to Faith Keystone, best friends with Noah Jordan
Callie Templeton: Photographer
Sister Ava Templeton, married to Owen Blackwell, daughter Lily
Owen Blackwell: Hammered bass guitarist
Married to Callie Templeton, daughter Lily
Hudson Wyatt: Hammered drummer, former Formula 1 race car driver
In a relationship with Piper Lockwood
Piper Lockwood: Owns Rosie & Hank’s Pussy Palace Café
In a relationship with Hudson Wyatt
Dex Munroe: Ripper Records Executive, manager for Hammered and Warning Sign
Ava Templeton: Blogger, runs Hammered website and blog, writing book on Hammered
Sister Callie Templeton
Ian Kagan: Solo artist
Brother Simon Kagan, involved with Zoe Manning
Zoe Manning: Artist/photographer
Cousin Lila Shawcross Crandall, involved with Ian Kagan
Bent: security for J Town, JoEllen Foundation
Lindsey York: B
rooklyn Dawn lead singer
Jamison DuCaine: Brooklyn Dawn lead guitarist
Teagan Daly: Brooklyn Dawn keyboards/sax
High school friends with Ricki ‘Elle’ Crandall
Cooper Dallas: Brooklyn Dawn drummer
Zane Landry: Brooklyn Dawn rhythm guitarist
Oz Taylor: Brooklyn Dawn bass guitarist
Alexander Nash: Record producer
Friends with Logan King
Roman: Clothing Designer