by Faith Starr
Risk Worth Taking
Music For The Heart - Book Three
Faith Starr
Music For the Heart 3: Risk Worth Taking
Copyright © 2017 by Faith Starr
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Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
E-Book ISBN: 978-1-948989-10-7
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-948989-11-4
Editors: Ann Curtis, Rebecca Fairfax, Faith Starr
Cover Artist: Kelly Martin
Published in the United States of America
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning
This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is intended for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.
DISCLAIMER: Please do not try any new sexual practice without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Faith Starr will not be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from use of the information contained in any of her titles.
There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.
Bryant H. McGill
Contents
1. Logan
2. Drew
3. Logan
4. Drew
5. Logan
6. Drew
7. Logan
8. Drew
9. Logan
10. Drew
11. Logan
12. Drew
13. Logan
14. Drew
15. Logan
16. Drew
17. Logan
18. Drew
19. Logan
20. Drew
21. Logan
22. Drew
23. Logan
24. Drew
25. Logan
26. Drew
27. Logan
28. Drew
29. Logan
30. Drew
31. Logan
32. Drew
33. Logan
34. Drew
35. Logan
36. Drew
37. Logan
38. Drew
39. Logan
40. Drew
41. Logan
42. Drew
43. Logan
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Acknowledgments
Risk Worth Taking Music Playlist
1
Logan
My heart pounded so hard vibrations sounded in my ears. I fucking loved it.
Stepping toward the edge of the stage, high on adrenaline, I flung my guitar pick into the sold-out crowd. They screamed and cheered because one lucky son of a bitch would now have a souvenir from the band to take home.
Trevor did the same with his drum sticks. Poor Joey, our keyboardist, had nothing to give. He blew air kisses. Pussy.
Joey, Trevor, and I made our final bows then headed off to the wing. Our roadies handed us towels to dry off.
“Fucking great show!” I fist bumped the air and jumped up and down, my thoughts and movements still on overdrive, the fuel igniting me burning me up inside—a mind-blowing feeling.
“Fantastic show.” Trevor clapped his hands, catching my vibe, shifting from foot to foot.
“Time for a well-deserved break.” Joey nodded.
A mini-vacation had been on Joey’s mind for quite a while. It had actually been on all our minds. This would be our last show for this leg of the tour. We now had a three-week break until we had to hit the road again, and I couldn’t wait to take full advantage of every second of our time off.
Our band, Steam, had become über popular over the past year. We steadily climbed the charts with several of our songs. Things were changing for the better, but with that came a lot more responsibility and a lot less privacy. I’m not going to lie, I took full advantage of the celebrity lifestyle with the abundance of women that came along with it, but I also missed the ability to do ordinary things. And that was why I had a vacation planned starting the following morning at the Addison Family Ranch located in the middle of nowhere in the California Mountains. Away from civilized life as I knew it. My family had taken me there every summer during my childhood years, so I continued the tradition as an adult, minus the folks.
The guys and I cruised over to the sitting area where Teva, Joey’s girlfriend, and Dani, Joey’s twin sister, cowriter for the band, and assistant, who also happened to be Trevor’s girlfriend, anxiously waited to celebrate with their men. I couldn’t wait to get out of Dodge. The guys had gone from groupies to double dates. I needed a breather from my lovesick bandmates.
“Before you all rush off and celebrate, I wanted to have a quick briefing, since I know you will be heading in different directions tomorrow. But trust me, that doesn’t mean you won’t be hearing from me.” Camilla, our feisty manager, smirked, and gestured for us to come together.
The guys, their girlfriends, and I gathered on the small sofas. We mashed together like sardines since the room was so small. And fuck sitting on the floor. By the looks of it, the carpet probably hadn’t been cleaned in years.
“First of all, don’t forget we have the video shoot in New York in two weeks. The shoot will get some airtime on a nightly entertainment show. While there, we’ll promote our next single on the alternative satellite radio station. I already have an interview lined up for you guys. We’ll also be doing a charity visit to a local hospital. You know me. I’m all about publicity, boys. I’ve also been contacted by a producer interested in your sound. He wants to speak with Joey and Dani about possibly writing something for a film project he’s working on. There’s lots of good stuff in the works. Let’s keep the train moving forward.”
Guess my break wouldn’t be much of one after all.
“Teva and I are leaving town tomorrow for ten days,” Joey reminded her.
“I know. Have fun. Just be in New York when you’re supposed to be. All your flight-arrangement itineraries have been e-mailed to you. Please review the information prior to heading out so that there are no surprises. Most importantly, enjoy yourselves on your break. You’ve all worked extremely hard. But be ready to come back and kill the rest of the tour.”
Trevor nodded along with Dani. They had no plans of leaving town, deciding to stay local and chill.
“Excellent. I’ll also send you an e-mail summing up what we spoke about in case some of you weren’t listening. The next item on my agenda concerns one of Logan’s fans.”
All eyes went to me with Camilla’s carrying the most intensity. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, feeling as though I had done something wrong when I knew I hadn’t. At least I didn’t think I had.
Camilla had a passion for busting my balls. I immediately went on the d
efensive and crossed my arms, figuring the poor guys huddled under my dick were about to get crushed again.
“We’ve been receiving a lot of mail from the same fan. It usually doesn’t faze me when we get repeated letters, but this person is reaching out more frequently, saying she’s followed the band around to several cities and knows you personally on a first-name basis. She claims you mean a lot to her. I don’t know whether anything will come of it, if she’s a mere teenager with a celebrity crush, or if she’s the stalker type. But either way, I’m keeping abreast of the situation and will keep you up-to-date if anything changes. Right now, our media team isn’t responding to her. But we’ve made a file for her mail in case this turns into something bigger.”
I shrugged, blowing off her warning, relieved she hadn’t cornered me on something that actually held some weight. Not that I wouldn’t stand up to her, but my mind and body had shifted gears into vacation mode. I wanted up and out.
The girl was probably just another fan who wanted to get up close and personal to the band, me in particular. Interesting that the girl said she knew me, though. Then again, fans claimed to know us on a regular basis because we were pasted all over the Internet. Therefore, I brushed it off as nothing.
“Please don’t blow this off, Logan.”
Son of a bitch if Camilla didn’t constantly read my thoughts.
“I’m simply putting it out there so you’re aware of it.”
Fine, I’m aware of it. Now please move on.
Hurray! She shifted her attention toward the others. “I’m sure you’re all cognizant of the fact that not all fans have good intentions. I’m keeping a close eye on this situation for now, so you have nothing to worry about. But keep it in mind.”
Christ. And here I thought she had finished with me.
“That’s pretty much all I have for you, unless any of you have anything on your minds you want to bring up or discuss?”
She surveyed us, all of us silent, shaking our heads to her question.
“Oh yeah, one more thing. In case I didn’t mention it previously, enjoy your holiday, relax, and do whatever it is you want without getting into trouble or making headlines.” She flashed me a hard grin. “Although in this business, any press is good press.”
Why did she zero in on me specifically and not the others when she made that request? Sure, I took top honors as the manwhore of the bunch, but still, I took insult to her comment. Joey and Trevor didn’t do a good job of hiding their snickers either.
“Don’t look so disappointed, Logan. I only speak the truth.”
Again with the mind reading.
I hoped she could hear the big fuck you I currently said to her in my mind.
This time the girls chucked along with Joey and Trevor. They obviously knew the thoughts going on in my head.
2
Drew
The fluffy white clouds were an arm’s length distance away. I wanted to reach through the small oval window and touch them. Sure, I knew they were basically water vapor and ice crystals, but I allowed my imagination to run wild, especially when I had never been this close to them, other than when I had walked through fog, which didn’t count.
Crap! I grabbed my sister’s hand, squeezing the life out of it.
“Ouch,” she huffed, trying to shake me loose. She gaped at me.
“What was that?” My heart picked up speed. I tapped my foot nervously on the dirty carpet.
A ding in the aircraft caused me to peer up at the fasten seatbelt image, now brightly lit.
Focus on your breath.
Closing my eyes and placing my free hand over my chest helped me do just that. I didn’t want my panic to escalate to the point of hyperventilation. The worst part about being in this plane was that I had no means of escape. I was confined in a flying vehicle, riding ten-thousand feet above the ground for the next hour or two, thanks to my sister, Kate. Something I’d had no forethought into. It had kind of been thrust upon me.
So here I sat in the narrow confines of my seat on my very first plane ride, getting tossed up and down like we were on a carnival ride. Did I mention I detested rides with lots of movement? Now would be a good time to do so.
My purse had multiple pockets in it. I dug through all of them in search of the travel-sickness medication I had brought with me ‘just in case.’ The turbulence wreaked havoc on my equilibrium.
“You’ll be fine, Drew. You need to chill out. You’re stressing me out, and I have enough on my mind. I can’t worry about you as well.”
Why did I agree to come on this trip with her?
“Gee, thanks for the love.” My sarcasm couldn’t have been any more obvious.
“Don’t mention the word love to me. I just got my heart stomped on, and here you are, thinking about yourself.” She reached for a tissue inside her pocketbook.
Oh man, here we go again.
And for the record, I was thinking about myself right now, mostly about how I’d be able to tolerate an entire week with my crabby sister.
“Give it some time. It’s still an open wound. Be in the mindset that this trip will provide you with a breather to relax and come to terms with what happened.”
She gawked. “Open wound? More like a heart ripped in two. Do you have a needle and thread?”
Blankly, I stared at her.
“I didn’t think so. If you did, I’d ask you to sew it back together for me.”
What a drama queen.
“Kate, I get it. But if it was going to happen, isn’t a small part of you glad it happened before the wedding rather than after? I mean, if Joe was so uncertain, at least he didn’t go through with it, which would’ve hurt a hell of a lot worse.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t think you get it at all. You’ve never been in love. You’ve never had someone dote all over you.”
Excuse me? Maybe she didn’t consider the long-term relationship I’d had back in high school love, but I had. My heart never got over it, either. Probably because I caught the jerk cheating on me. You want to talk about devastation? He had been my first everything, including my best friend and confidant. All of it lost in a heartbeat.
Crock.
Of.
Shit.
All these years later I was still on the mend, completely closed off to other men as a result. So in this instance—come to think of it, most every instance—I disagreed with my sister. I got the hurting part firsthand, and it angered me that she negated my feelings and my one and only experience in the love department, pretending my relationship had little to no significance.
“It is what it is. It’s horrible what he did to you, but you can’t change it.” Did my annoyance slip through in my tone? Eh, I didn’t care. She had put me on edge.
“Don’t you think I know that?”
She needed a shrink to tag along with her on this honeymoon, not me.
Yeah, her honeymoon. Her fiancé, Joe, should have been sitting in my seat. The jerk walked down the aisle at their wedding and decided he couldn’t go through with it. What a good time had by all. I say that with a scowl on my face and sarcasm in my tone.
The best part was she had planned her honeymoon at the very same ranch my ex used to visit year after year with his family.
“Hello?” She nudged my arm.
Lord help me.
“Yes, Kate. I know that.”
“Then please be a little sympathetic about my situation.”
“Am I not on your honeymoon with you?”
I’d tried talking her out of leaving town, informing her that running away wouldn’t solve anything, but she wanted no part of my logical thinking. She claimed she needed out, the sooner the better, so she wouldn’t have to face the humiliation and questioning from friends and family in her heartbroken state.
“I couldn’t very well let the trip go to waste, and I sure as shit wasn’t letting Joe go. Let him stay home and explain his horrific behavior to our family and friends. Besides, you know we pa
id for the trip in advance and the ranch has a no-refund policy.”
“Which is why I’m here with you, right?”
That was me, forever the good daughter who stepped up to the plate when necessary. Unlike my sister who only thought about herself and gave both of my parents plenty of heartache with her wild ways.
“Thank you, Drew.” She dried her damp cheeks.
The plane bumped up and down. I clenched my muscles.
Screw this. I popped the pill out of the silver sleeve and swallowed the medicine whole without a drink, only to realize afterward it was a chewable. Oh well. Hopefully swallowing it wouldn’t minimize its effectiveness. And with any luck it would kick in soon. The dizziness from the motion was getting worse by the minute. I also hoped the pill would put me to sleep. The box stated drowsiness may occur. I prayed I’d get that side effect. Anything but to have to endure this bumpy flight and Kate’s constant replay of her wedding ceremony that had gone to hell in a handbag.
3
Logan
The flight flew by at record speed. Not literally. A funny thought, though. Perhaps it felt as such because I’d slept during most of it. I also couldn’t wait to reach my destination, counting the minutes until I would be in the great outdoors instead of cooped up in a tour bus for hours on end, weeks upon weeks, months upon months.