Hard Rock Heat

by Athena Wright

  Hope nodded in understanding.

  "When you're ready, then," she said.

  "When I'm ready, I'd love to have dinner with all four of you," he promised.

  The smile that crossed his lips sent relief soaring through me.

  A nurse poked his head in. "I'm sorry, but we need to take your father to do some more tests. You can continue your visit later."

  The thee of us stared at each other, unsure how to proceed. I made the first move, taking a careful step toward Dad. He held his arm out. I stepped against the bed, leaning into his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist. Hope came up and put an arm around me, pulling me into a side hug, while taking Dad's hand and squeezing tight. I laid my head on my sister's shoulder and took my dad's other hand in mine, completing the circle.

  From now on things would be different. Things would be better.

  My sister and I might finally have our father back.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  After leaving the hospital, we made it back to the venue with just enough time for Damon and Ian to change into their rock star best. Cherry Lips was already on stage, but their set was going to be ending soon, and our guys were up next.

  "Can't you just go on like this?" I asked, gesturing to their jeans and t-shirts.

  Hope looked scandalized. "Have you ever even seen a Darkest Days concert?"

  "Um. That would be a no."

  "It's all about the leather pants and eyeliner," she said.

  I almost snorted. How cliché was that?

  But Hope was serious. She got out her cell phone and made a few calls. The moment we showed up behind the impromptu stage that had been constructed in the stadium, a flurry of assistants surrounded Damon and Ian, ushering them away quickly.

  I surveyed the stadium. The crowds seemed to be milling together peacefully. Hundreds of people had already arrived and set up their sleeping bags in nice, uniform rows on one side of the field. They were ringed by booths manned by the community groups, food and entertainment vendors and our various sponsors. The other side of the field was dedicated to the concert stage and pit, which was quickly filling with fans.

  I looked around for Katherine and saw her speaking with a group of tech guys.

  "Hey Kat, you doing okay?" I called out.

  She threw me a thumbs up and a nod. I returned it.

  No emergencies. No crises.

  I couldn't help the grin spreading from ear to ear. Somehow we'd actually managed to pull this off.

  "What's got you looking so happy?" Damon's voice said from behind me.

  I turned around and immediately stopped with a jerk. My mouth popped open.

  Damon was handsome enough when he was dressed casually, short sleeves shirts showing off his muscled arms, and green eyes sparkling with mischief. I hadn't thought he could get much more attractive.

  But Damon in leather pants, black mesh and eyeliner was almost more than I could take. The thin black smudges around his eyes turned them a brilliant, hypnotizing green. The leather molded to every thigh muscle. The black mesh allowed his chiseled abs to show through.

  I let out a small, embarrassing noise.

  Damon smirked. "Are you fangirling over me?" he said. "Has Faith Briars turned into a groupie?"

  I swallowed hard. He leaned in for a kiss. I parted my lips, wetting them. His eyes flicked over my shoulder. He pulled away abruptly and nodded behind me.

  "I think your boss is backstage," he said. "Pretty sure you don't want her to see us sucking face."

  He was giving up a make-out session because he knew I wouldn't want to look unprofessional in front of my boss. That was the kind of oddly thoughtful thing I'd become to associate with Damon.

  "You're on!" a voice called backstage.

  "Gotta go, sweetness." Damon threw me a wink. "Try to breathe. I don't want you passing out on me."

  "Uh-huh," I said dumbly.

  When I finally recovered from a Damon-induced stupor, I saw dozens of others standing backstage, just behind the curtain. They were waiting for the performance to start, mostly crew and event volunteers. Everyone seemed to be anticipating Darkest Days with bated breath. They certainly did have a reputation.

  "Can someone tell me why the guys aren't playing last?" I heard Jen ask. "Shouldn't Darkest Days be the headliners?"

  A blond with wavy hair flopping over his forehead bounced over. A man with long dark hair wearing a fashionable suit and skinny tie followed behind, throwing him an exasperated look.

  "That's because Kell insisted on playing last," the dark haired man said.

  The blond threw his arms around the man's shoulders. "And I always get what I want," he said with a cheeky grin.

  Skinny Tie laughed at him and pushed him off with a shove.

  "You insisted?" I asked with a frown. I thought I recognized the two men as members of the other band, Feral Silence. "I'm surprised Damon's ego allowed that."

  The blond lifted his chin with a smug look and puffed his chest out. "No one out-egos Kell Pierce," he declared loudly.

  "You better get ready, Mr. Ego," the man with dark hair said. "Because their set is almost done. We're on soon."

  "Oh shit." Kell's face dropped. "I haven't done my vocal exercises yet." He bounced off in the opposite direction, an erratic bundle of energy.

  "And I thought dealing with Damon was tiring," I said. "I can't imagine being around that man for more than a few minutes without wanting to smack him."

  Skinny Tie shook his head ruefully. "It's a daily struggle." He examined me with dark eyes. "You're Faith Briars? The one who planned this event?"

  I nodded.

  His eyes lit up. "I'm Ren. Bassist of Feral Silence. I wanted to thank you. My background is similar to Damon's, so this cause really hits close to home."

  I felt a pang of sympathy. "I'm just glad that so many people have agreed to help out," I said. "The response from the community has been absolutely wonderful."

  "We're more than happy to play for this cause. Well," he laughed. "Kell's more than happy to play for any audience for any reason."

  After thanking me one last time, Ren left to get ready himself. I was going to go watch Darkest Days perform myself when I heard my boss call my name.

  "Faith! There you are." She appeared through a side door. "Kat told me you had some sort of emergency?"

  "Yes, a family emergency," I said, trying to sound remorseful. "I'm sorry I had to leave."

  "Don't worry at all," Martha said. "I understand. Besides, with all the planning and forethought you put into this, everything's running smoothly on its own."

  "Kat did a great job stepping up in my place," I added, making sure to give her credit.

  "You've both done a great job," she said. "I'm going to talk with the Director about those promotions."

  My insides did a flip and my toes wiggled in my heels.

  "It's about time we made you Events Manager, don't you think?" Martha said with a smile.

  "That would be amazing," I said, trying not to sound breathless. "Thank you."

  "You deserve it," Martha said.

  "Can we also talk about Kat?" I made sure to interject. "She's been a wonderful help. I really couldn't have done this without her. Most of it was her idea, to be honest."

  "I agree, she's definitely proven herself," Martha said. "She'd be a great fit for that coordinator position we've got coming up. Let's all have a meeting sometime early next week, yes?"

  After agreeing on a time, Martha left. I hugged my arms to my chest, grinning madly. I allowed myself a minute to sway back and forth in a little happy dance, before taking a deep breath and calming myself. It didn't stop the ear to ear grin on my face, though.

  I wanted to tell Katherine the good news in person, so I wandered around a bit. When I found her, I saw she was speaking with the band Cherry Lips. I was glad to see she was checking up with the bands after their sets, making sure everything was okay.

  But Katherine didn't seem to be the one spe
aking. Her back was pressed against the wall. Nathan had playfully tangled one finger in her long hair. She was looking up at him, lips parted, cheeks flushed.

  "It was bad enough when Damon did it, but does every rock star have to flirt with my intern?" I said loudly.

  Katherine jumped. The man turned his head a fraction of an inch, giving me a lazy smile before turning his attention back to her.

  "Thank about it, kitten," he said. With one last tug of her hair, he sauntered off with an easy stride. Katherine gazed after him, flushed, with stars in her eyes.

  "I guess Cherry Lips is your favorite now?" I said with an arched brow.

  She flushed even hotter and stammered.

  "It's fine," I said. "Soon I won't have to worry about anything flirting with my intern anymore."

  She looked alarmed, no doubt imaging the worst case scenario.

  "You're not my intern," I explained. "We're promoting you to coordinator."

  "Oh my god!" She pressed her hands to her chest, as if forcing herself to breathe. "Thank you so, so much, Faith!"

  "You're the one who did the work," I reminded her.

  "You and Damon helped me a ton," she said. "He was so patient when I had no idea what I was doing. I'll have to thank him."

  "He's around here somewhere," I said. "I'll go look around to find him for you."

  And also to have that make-out session he promised.

  I couldn't find him backstage, and no one else had seen him since coming off stage. He didn't respond when I texted him. Stymied, I wandered around the stadium, keeping an eye out for a tall, gorgeous man with tattoos on his arms.

  At an event with dozens of rock stars, that was a difficult feat.

  When I finally found Damon, he wasn't out on the stadium field. He was inside the building, near the offices I'd been working in. I was on second floor, too far away to catch his eye. I started down the stairs, meaning to call out to him.

  I saw Gareth Drake standing in front of him.

  Damon's fists clenched. His jaw set firmly. His muscles bunched. He looked second away from launching himself at his father. Heart in my throat, I ran down the stairs, taking two at a time.

  I didn't know why his father had shown up again, but I had the worst feeling that, this time, Damon was going to snap.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I stumbled on the last stair in my haste, but quickly righted myself. I rushed down the hallway, ready to throw myself between Damon and his dad.

  "You're in no position to make threats," I heard Gareth say.

  "Damon, stop!" I yelled, coming to a stop in front of him.

  Damon's eyes went wide in surprise, not expecting to see me.

  "Faith, you don't need to be here," he said.

  "I'm not going to let you do something you'll regret," I pressed.

  He stared at me, before chuckling. "Don't worry." Damon held out his cell phone and tapped the screen.

  You couldn't continue blackmailing me, so you tried it with August? Damon's voice rang out from the tinny speakers. Are you stupid or something?

  That idiot tried to threaten me, too, their father's voice responded. I could hear the taunting in his voice. It's almost like you don't know what blackmail is. You give me what I want and I go away. You don't, and I make your life a living hell.

  "I have you admitting to blackmail," Damon said confidently.

  "And what makes you think I'm going to let you leave with that phone?" his dad scoffed.

  Damon jerked his head to the side. "Because of them."

  As if peeling themselves out of the woodwork, two security guards appeared beside Gareth. His eyes bugged out as they each took one of his arms and pulled them behind his back.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he screeched.

  "Taking you to the police," Damon said calmly.

  Gareth twisted back and forth, struggling to get out of the security guard's holds, but they held on tight, with stern expressions.

  "You better let them take you away quietly," Damon said. "I'm pretty sure security guards carry tasers."

  Gareth's eyes went murderous. "You goddamn—" He lurched forward, trying to lunge at Damon, but the guards simply yanked him back.

  "I've got you on tape admitting to blackmail," Damon said. "I don't care how many buddies you have down at the police station. Extortion is a serious crime. Once a jury hears this, you're going away."

  Damon looked smug, almost as satisfied with himself as he was after giving me multiple orgasms.

  I suppressed a relieved laugh and turned to his dad.

  "Have fun in jail," I said with a cheery wave.

  Gareth sneered. "You little bitch."

  "Call my girlfriend a bitch again and I will end you." Damon's eyes turned dark and deadly serious, his voice was firm, unwavering.

  Gareth glared. He spit on the ground in front of us, rage on his face.

  "We're done here," Damon said. With a nod of his head, the security guards ushered his father away.

  We ignored his swearing and screeching as he was dragged down the hall.

  The tight grip of anxiety around my chest finally eased.

  Damon hadn't been threatening to beat his father up. He'd come up with a different plan. A smarter plan.

  I clung to one of Damon's arms. He flashed me a grin, relieved and not a bit shaky.

  "I honestly didn't know if the security guards would get here in time," he confessed. "I had a feeling our dad might show his face again, especially at such a high profile event. I figured I needed a plan."

  I threw my arms around Damon's neck, pressing myself against him.

  "I'm proud of you," I said, voice muffled into his chest.

  Damon buried his face in my hair. "Because I used my head and not my fists?" he teased.

  "That you didn't just go off half-cocked. That you thought things through."

  "Well, I did still threaten to end him for insulting my girlfriend." Damon pulled back, staring at me intently. "I meant what I said."

  My heart pounded rapidly, as I stared into his eyes, sincere, but also oddly abashed. Damon blew out a breath and ran a hand over his face.

  "I told you before," he said, "but I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing."

  I took his hands in mine, warm, large palms engulfing me.

  "You're doing great so far," I said, repeating my previous words to him.

  "Because I love Ian," he continued, "and I love the guys like they're my brothers, but I've never been in love before."

  All the air left my lungs. Damon always did have that effect on me, but this time was different. This time…

  "It scares the shit out of me," he admitted. "But there it is." He brought our hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. "I'm in love with you."

  My entire body felt light, like my toes were leaving the floor and I was floating into the air. The only thing keeping me grounded was Damon lips against my skin.

  "Now it's your turn to say it," he said playfully.

  I choked out a relieved laugh. "I already said it."

  "You might have changed your mind," he said. "After all, I've been kind of a handful."

  I shook my head. "I'll never change my mind. You're infuriating and immature and a pain in the ass. But despite all that, somehow I fell in love with you, too."

  Damon wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing his warm chest to mine. He nuzzled the hair behind my ear. "I'm glad you were here," he whispered into my hair. "I'm glad you've been with me through this."

  "I wouldn't be anywhere else," I said.

  He pulled back, putting his hands on my hips. He examined me closely, gaze darting from eye to eye. Whatever he found must have satisfied him, because he gave me a soft smile. I sank into his chest, snuggling against him.

  "Hey perverts!" a voice yelled out. "No making out at an event full of kids!"

  We jumped and turned to find Jessie grinning at us from the top of the stairs.

  "Damon, yo
ur band's looking for you," she yelled down. "Darkest Days is doing a surprise encore. Better run."

  Damon's face lit up. He took my hand. "You want to watch me rock my face off?"

  I looked down at our clasped hands. I squeezed.

  "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

  He pressed his lips to my forehead.

  "Think we have time for a quickie?" he asked.

  I laughed out loud.

  Damon was infuriating and immature and a pain in the ass.

  He was also the man I loved and I wouldn't give him up for the world.

  Epilogue

  I stared, transfixed, as Darkest Days took their places on stage.

  August Summers sat at the drums near the back and to the side. His platinum blond hair lit up like a halo in the stage spotlights. His eyes, like chips of ice, were intense and focused. He twirled the drumsticks between his fingers in complicated patterns. It didn't seem like his injury was bothering him at all.

  Damon and Ian Drake situated themselves in the middle of the stage. They shared the same mischievous grins with equally glimmering green eyes. With their guitars slung over their shoulders, they ran their hands up in down the fret boards in identical motions, feeling the strings, getting ready.

  Cameron Thorne had his bass slung slow around his hips. His bright red hair seemed to sparkle, as if he'd tossed a handful of glitter over the strands, and his blue eyes were rimmed with thick kohl. He was already playing to the audience, winking, strutting and slapping hands as they reached out from the pit, a wicked smirk on his face.

  Noah Hart stood front and center, his dark eyes narrowed and heated. He caressed the microphone stand up and down in a sensual motion, imitating the motion of his fingers trailing along a woman's soft skin. He didn't speak, just stared out at the audience, scanning the crowd slowly, as if making eye with each and every fan.

  August hit the drums. Damon and Ian let loose on their respective guitars, leaning back to back as they played. Cameron thumbed the bass, sending reverberation through my chest. Noah let out a long, low wail.