by Desiree Holt, Lisabet Sarai, Lily Harlem, Elizabeth Coldwell, Wendi Zwaduk, Imari Jade
He’s right. How could she choose between him and the twenty-five-year-old golden-haired Axil, who’d been her best friend and confidant since they were ten? “I’ll tell you what. The two of you fight it out and the winner gets me,” Bryanna said, hopping from the stage and heading up the aisle.
“Come back here, Bryanna,” their tenor and lead guitarist Axil shouted into the microphone for everyone in the auditorium to hear. “You can’t just leave like this.”
Of course she could. She, being a liberated female, could do anything she wanted to…except break up a friendship and one of the hottest bands in America.
“Okay, don’t decide,” he told her.
Bryanna stopped in her tracks.
“What are you saying, dude?” Collin replied from his side of the stage. “Of course she needs to decide.”
“No, she doesn’t.” Axil’s tone was defeated. “Put yourself in her shoes. Could you make this choice?”
Bryanna turned to face them and waited for Collin’s answer.
“No!” He stomped away from his keyboard and went backstage to sulk.
“You’re killing us, Bry,” Axil said. He strummed his guitar and began playing a haunting tune. He used music to cope with his problems. He’d been this way even as a child, disappearing into his attic studio whenever things got tough. During those times his music had lulled her to sleep at night as the sound spilled over to her house next door.
Bryanna sat down in one of the seats to listen to the sweet sounds of the strings as the music permeated everything around them. Axil was unreachable when he was like this, turned on and tuned out to the rest of the world. He could make a guitar sing when he put his mind to it. He’d wanted to be a rocker for as long as she could remember. Now he was the hottest guitarist in Northern America. How could she decide between him and the dark-haired, dark-spirited Collin, who with just one look had stolen her breath away?
Collin returned from his sulk and took his position behind the keyboard again. He tickled the ivories and began playing along with Axil.
Bryanna gazed up at them. Where Axil represented everything bright and sunny, Collin represented the darkness—twinkling stars, moonlit nights and secrets. His jet black bangs bounced against his forehead as he played. Bryanna shivered. Such sorrow and despair. Had she caused this? They continued to fill the air with their deep, soulful song. Bryanna shook her head. Maybe she should just leave and put both of them out of their misery.
The doors opened and the rest of the band members filed in. Axil and Collin kept playing, each refusing to give up.
Kurt Vanderbrom, their drummer, sat down and placed his hand on top of hers. “I could hear them battling all the way from the parking lot, Bry. You know this is wrong.”
Bryanna turned and faced him. “What would you do if you were me?”
“Screw them both,” Kurt replied seriously.
Bryanna blushed. Those were the last words she expected to come out of his mouth. “How did you get so smart?”
Kurt chuckled. “Years of practice watching the three of you do some pretty dumb things.”
“Thanks, but what you’re suggesting is not only improbable, but I’m pretty sure it’s immoral too.”
“Maybe so,” Kurt replied. “But the three of you are a trio—two sides and middle…a treble. Without one, the other two cease to exist.”
Bryanna leaned her head against his shoulder. “Maybe I should just choose you.”
Kurt chuckled. “Please don’t do me any favours, Bry. You’re too high maintenance.”
The music battle finally ended and she glanced up to find both men staring down at her resting her head on Kurt’s shoulder. The look in their eyes told her Kurt would be in serious trouble if she didn’t cease and desist. Yes, it would have been so easy to just choose Kurt as a lover. She sighed. But unfortunately he was into boys. What a waste.
“Let’s get this rehearsal started,” Axil growled.
“I think he means us,” Kurt reasoned since Jimmy Jones and Damon Brown were already in place on stage.
“Probably.” Bryanna rose and stretched out the kinks in her neck and shoulder blades. Collin watched her every move from where he stood.
“I’ve pissed both of them off already.”
Kurt rose and took her hand then led her to the stage stairs…and then relinquished her to the wolves. Both Collin’s and Axil’s eyes closed in on her as she took the mic and began swaying to the music. She chose to ignore them but the testosterone in the air seared the back of her head. If they wanted to continue to make music together, the two of them had better learn to share.
The first lyrics came out of Collin’s mouth soft and kind of sexy. He had the sweetest voice she’d ever heard, reminding her of a member of an all-boys choir she’d heard as a child. He made it through the first verse and the rest of the guys joined in to help with the chorus. And then it happened. Collin hit the high note, shattering a glass in the auditorium and causing the maintenance people and the security to run into the hall to find out what had happened.
“Sorry,” Collin apologised. “I got carried away.”
Bryanna approached the stage. “Maybe you’d better bring it down a notch when you practice. But you can let go for the concert since you’re going to be entertaining outside, away from glass.”
He nodded, not taking that deep blue gaze from her face.
Just that look make her wet between the legs.
Axil cleared his throat. “I think we need to get back to work.”
Party pooper. His words had spoiled the moment.
Bryanna moved her eyes in his direction, catching that cherubic smirk. He knew how she felt about Collin—about both of them—and he went out of his way to make her miserable every chance he got. One of these days she was going to show him. She wasn’t a young girl anymore and she needed a little human contact. Bryanna went back to her seat just as the last maintenance guy walked to the back with his broom and a dustpan full of broken glass.
* * * *
Bryanna didn’t normally join the band out on the town, but tonight she was in a festive mood and felt like unwinding. The tavern where they met served great food, featured a house band and served the best mixed drinks in Cambridge. They always ended up there whenever they came to Massachusetts because of the atmosphere and the friendly people, and they didn’t have to worry too much about fans stalking the band.
Combel’s catered to a more collegiate bunch, mainly students from the local universities, young professors and people who appreciated rhythm, blues, jazz and soul music.
“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night’s concert,” Kurt said to her.
He stood six foot one, with sandy blond hair and deep chocolate eyes. He needed a haircut. His hair hung down in his face, around his muscular shoulders and ran down his back. But there was no way he could be mistaken for a chick. There was just too much of him.
Bryanna took out her laptop. “Kurt needs a haircut,” she read aloud as she typed.
Kurt snarled at her.
“You don’t frighten me,” she told him. “The stylist can fit you in at nine.”
“My hair is my thing.”
“No, drumming is your thing. The ends need trimming and it would be nice to see your face every once in a while.”
Kurt continued to frown. “What’s in it for me?”
Bryanna winked at him. “I’ll make sure Jonathan spells your name correctly on your paycheque.”
“Money is not the answer to everything.”
“I’ll bake you some brownies…”
Kurt stopped frowning. “The kind with pecans?”
Bryanna nodded. She spoilt them rotten.
“Okay, just a trim.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” Bryanna pressed a button and finalised the appointment with the stylist. “The rest of you could use a sprucing-up, too,” she informed the other band members as she made appointments for them. “Axil’s bangs are longer than m
ine, and…” She paused, gazing over at Collin, trying and failing to find an imperfection. “You can just go to show moral support.”
Collin sneered at her.
Jimmy Jones, the group’s percussionist, elbowed bass guitarist Damon Brown in the side. “Told you she liked Collin better.” Damon and Jimmy were best friends, recruited in Harlem. Jimmy wore his hair in short twists, while his friend sported long dreadlocks.
Bryanna rolled her eyes at the African-American pair. “It’s not a matter of liking him better. I’ve never seen him with a hair out of place.”
Collin continued to stare at her, aloof.
Bryanna tore her eyes away before she blushed and made a fool of herself.
Axil nudged her thigh beneath the table. “Would you care for another beer?”
“No, I’m straight.” Bryanna put her laptop away. “One beer is my limit.” More than one sent her running for the ladies’ room. “I need some room for dinner.”
The waitress had already taken their orders and had been gone about fifteen minutes. Combel’s only served one type of food—fattening. Most of them had ordered the same thing—Buffalo wings and fries—except for Collin, who had ordered a grilled chicken salad because he was a bit of a health nut. He nursed a glass of beer and watched the house band as they performed a medley of songs from the seventies and eighties.
The barstools were packed with people watching a college basketball game, and every now and then they cheered whenever one of the teams scored. The rest of the place was taken up with people around their age who had just stopped in to eat and to listen to the music. There were even a couple of brave souls on the dance floor, rocking it out to an ancient Chicago tune.
The food arrived and the waitress flirted shamelessly with the guys, stroking their already large egos and giggling as they responded to her. Bryanna watched it all with mock interest. Neither Axil nor Collin seemed comfortable with the situation. In her haste, the waitress accidently gave her Collin’s meal, which Bryanna quickly swapped before Collin could complain.
Bryanna lifted a fry and bit off an end. The heat seared her tongue. She blew on the fry to cool it and then bit into it again. She sighed blissfully.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Axil trying to sneak a fry from her plate. She reached out and slapped his hand.
“Ouch, what did you do that for?” he asked as he popped the fry into his mouth.
“Because you have your own.”
“But I’m a growing boy.”
Bryanna rolled her eyes. He and Collin were both six feet tall. “I already feel like a shrimp around you guys.”
He reached over and pinched her cheek. “But you’re a cute shrimp.”
Kurt agreed, “The cutest. If I had a baby sister, I’d want her to be cute like you.”
Bryanna wrinkled up her nose at them. Cute was nice but she’d prefer to be considered sexy. She ignored them and went back to her meal. Bryanna bit into a wing. “Oh my God, this is so delicious.”
“And messy,” Axil added as he reached over to wipe sauce from her face with a napkin. That’s just the type of person he was…helpful and brotherly to a fault.
“You missed a spot,” Collin replied, leaning over and licking the sauce from her cheek.
Bryanna trembled at the touch. That’s the kind of person he was…dangerous and wicked. He went back to his meal as if nothing had happened.
The other guys attacked their food after they stopped watching them. Out of the blue, Collin reached over to brush a lock of her hair away from her face and tuck it behind her ear with no explanation. He then turned his attention back to his meal, leaving her to wonder what was up with him this evening. Sometimes he barely acknowledged her existence, and tonight he was being his version of charming. She sighed. Men were such oddities.
* * * *
The basketball game ended. Most of those people left and a new crop entered. Collin knew a few of the band members on stage, and they persuaded him to join them for couple of numbers, leaving her to entertain the overprotective blond at her left.
“Let’s dance,” Axil said, pulling her to her feet without giving her a chance to answer. Axil wrapped his arms around her shoulders and her arms automatically went around his waist. She didn’t miss the way Collin stared at them as Axil slow-danced her around the floor.
“Collin is positively steaming,” Axil whispered to her, as one slow song blended into another one and he still hadn’t released his arms from around her neck.
“Why?” Bryanna asked.
“Because I’m dancing with you.”
“Yeah, right.” Bryanna closed her eyes and let Collin’s rich, sexy voice entertain her ears.
Axil’s cock hardened and pushed against her stomach. She had danced with him before and hadn’t caused this type of reaction in him. Why now? The song ended and Axil led her back to the table. He excused himself and walked towards the men’s room.
Collin left the bandstand to a healthy round of applause and headed in the same direction.
“Maybe I should go check on those two,” Kurt suggested.
“Don’t you dare,” Jimmy told him. “Let them settle it.”
“Settle what?” Bryanna asked.
“It’s a man thing,” Kurt said picking up his beer. “You, being a girl, wouldn’t understand. It has something to do with breaking a guy rule.”
“A guy rule?” Bryanna asked, looking back towards the restroom.
Damon nodded, sending his hair in front of his eyes. “It’s like friends never let friends drive drunk or the proverbial bros before hos.”
“Huh?” Bryanna asked. Men were so complicated.
* * * *
Bryanna should have been flattered that two drop-dead gorgeous men were vying for the chance to drive her home from the bar, but both of them were drunk and there was no way she was getting into a car with either of them…plus they had arrived by limousine. “Come on, guys,” she said to Kurt and the other two, who were less inebriated than Axil and Collin. “Help me get these two into the limo.”
“I’m not drunk,” Axil said as he leaned over her.
If he threw up on her, she was going to kill him.
“You certainly are drunk,” Collin said. He, too, hovered over her. Of the two, he surprised her the most because she’d never seen him drink more than one or two beers since she’d known him.
“Move off of me. You two are horrible.”
Axil and Collin got into the limo. Axil pulled her inside and put her next to him while Collin sat across from them. Kurt, Damon and Jimmy entered next. The car moved from the kerb, entered the traffic and headed towards their hotel.
“Why do you put up with us?” Axil asked her after several minutes of silence.
“Because I’m your friend,” Bryanna told him. “Who else would put up with you?”
Axil reached over and ruffled her hair. “Is that the only reason?”
Bryanna nodded. “Yes, big boy. And because someone needs to look after you. What were the two of you thinking by drinking so much? You do have a concert to perform tomorrow night.”
“We’ll be sober by then,” Axil assured her. “We were just celebrating being back in Massachusetts.”
“Well, you’re going to feel like hell in the morning,” she reminded him. She looked over at Collin who had his head back like he was asleep. “Look at him,” she said to Axil, pointing at Collin. “That’s just disgraceful for someone who hardly ever drinks.”
“Bite me,” Collin told her.
“I would if I weren’t afraid you’d bite me back. What’s your problem?”
Collin sat up and glared at her. “You,” he said bluntly without explaining any further.
What had she done except dance with Axil? She would have danced with him had he asked.
Axil was now snoring peacefully at her side.
“What do you see in him?” Collin asked. “It’s not natural for a man and a woman to be best friends.”
/> She wondered how long this had been on Collin’s mind. “Why are you so curious about us? Axil and I have been friends since elementary school. And what’s wrong with it? We look out for each other.”
“He’s a big boy. He doesn’t need anyone to look after him. You, on the other hand, need to be out dating.”
Bryanna chuckled. Collin had picked a fine time to become talkative. “Dating is so overrated. I have to put on makeup and pretend to be interested. Then I get all disgusted when they get clingy or never call again.”
“You could go out with me,” Jimmy teased.
Collin rolled his eyes at the young man. “I’m not talking about her dating you. She needs to go out and meet other people. When was the last time you went out on a date?”
Bryanna thought about it. It had been a long time. “I can’t remember. Anyway it doesn’t matter. I’m very busy with making sure you guys show up for concerts. I’ll have plenty of time for dating when we retire.”
Collin shook his head. “You need to get a life,” he said, lying back against the seat again. “Think about yourself sometimes. We’ll survive if you decide to have a little fun.”
Bryanna pouted and looked towards the other three for help. Kurt shrugged, obviously not wanting to get involved. The three of them were closer to Collin than she was, and if they had no idea what his problem was, she sure didn’t have a clue. Collin didn’t say another word the rest of the way to the hotel, which totally pissed her off.
Axil had sobered up some by the time they reached the hotel, and he got out of the limo without assistance. His stubbornness kept him from embarrassing himself in front of hotel employees and possible fans. All six of them walked into the hotel and boarded the elevator.
Kurt said goodbye and got off the elevator on his floor. Then Jimmy and Damon got off on their floor, leaving her with the twin behemoths. They stared angrily at each other for some reason unknown to her. Unfortunately, she had the honour of occupying the room between theirs. Collin entered his room first without saying goodnight, leaving her alone with Axil.