Hard Rock Tease: A Rock Star Romance (Darkest Days Book 1)

by Athena Wright

  “Sorry, I have to respond to this.” He typed furiously as I suppressed a sigh. And people said I was addicted to my phone.

  After a few moments, he looked up and gave me an apologetic smile. “So, where we were?”

  “We were trying to decide when to check out that new movie. It’s probably only showing in big cities. We’ll have to wait at least until next week. We’re scheduled for smaller shows for the next five or six days.”

  “I might be able to get a preview copy from one of my friends. We could watch it together on my laptop by ourselves cuddled up on my hotel room bed.”

  “Sounds romantic.” I smiled.

  His phone pinged again and he groaned as he checked it.

  “I’m so sorry. Things are blowing up back at the concert hall. Do you mind if we cut this short?”

  My shoulders slumped in disappointment. Was this how it was going to be? Always fighting to make time to see each other and being interrupted in the few small pockets of time when we did? I eyed Neil. He looked disappointed, too, but not enough to stay and finish the date.

  “Neil…” I started, trailing off.

  “Yeah?”

  “Look, it’s fine if you can’t make time for me. Your work is important. You just need to come out and tell me and not string me along.”

  “Ailey, that’s not—”

  I looked down at my glass. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t have any distractions.”

  Neil froze. “What are you saying?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just saying that maybe things were better when we were just flirting over messages.”

  “…Do you want to break up?”

  I gave him a sad smile. “You can’t break up with someone if you weren’t together in the first place.”

  Neil looked pained.

  “We tried, Neil, but maybe it’s for the best. We’re both busy people. We’re here to work, after all. Maybe a relationship is just too much to ask for.”

  “When I first asked you out, before we even met in person, I meant it. I really did. I’m sorry if it seems like I don’t want this.”

  “Neil, it’s okay. We never made any promises. We just wanted to see if there was any chemistry between us, remember?”

  “Are you telling me there’s no chemistry?” He took my hand and slowly stroked my palm, running his fingers up and down the skin of my wrist, sending shivers through my spine. I pulled my hand away.

  “Sometimes chemistry isn’t enough.”

  Neil opened his mouth as if he wanted to protest, but no words came out. He looked frustrated, like he was looking for the perfect words to make me stay.

  I stood up and gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s fine, Neil. We can still be friends. I guess we just weren’t meant to be anything more.”

  He looked up at me as I laid down a bill to pay for my drink. I thought he wanted to stand up and tell me not to go, but he knew the words I’d spoken were true.

  “See you around, Neil.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  It had been hard enough working with Jayce when things were awkward between us, but now I had to see Neil every day, too. What a ridiculous soap opera situation I had found myself in.

  I thought everything would come to a head when Neil announced he needed to work with Jayce one-on-one without the other band members.

  “We need to take solo shots of you on stage. It’s hard to get the right angles during a real concert. Just pretend you’re performing.”

  “Do I have to pretend? Can’t I just play?”

  “Yeah, sure, if that makes it easier for you.”

  I held my breath, but that seemed to be the end of the conversation. There was no posturing or glaring or growling. It was a relief.

  Various members of the film crew told Jayce to pose this way and that, turning his body toward and away from the camera depending on what type of shot they were going for. Neil wasn’t directing the action, but he did have a large hand in blocking out what scenes he wanted to see. Every so often he would call out a request to Jayce, who would nod and do his best to give them the look they wanted.

  The afternoon went smoothly considering the tension that had been simmering between the two of them. As long as they were both working, it seemed like they got along quite well on a professional level. They were both dedicated to their jobs. I wondered, if things were different, would Jayce and Neil have become at least friendly acquaintances, if not actual friends?

  “Ailey, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”

  Deena appeared at my side, ever-present headset over her ears and clipboard in her hands. Deena rarely needed to speak to me alone. I was mostly left to my own devices. I began to feel nervous. Had I done something wrong? I thought back, but couldn’t think of anything I’d posted recently that would have caused trouble.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Let’s go speak somewhere privately.”

  I followed behind her, feeling more worried with every step. Maybe it wasn’t about my job. Maybe it was about my personal life. Had she found out about me and Jayce? Did she disapprove? Even worse, did she think I was also screwing around with Neil on the side? Everyone had seen that kiss. I felt sick to my stomach—was I going to lose this internship? Was this the end of my career in the music industry?

  Deena led me to a private office backstage and sat me down. She perched her hip on the corner of a desk.

  “What are your plans for the future?”

  I was taken aback, not expecting that kind of question. “Uh. Well. After this internship is over, I’m going back to college to finish my last year. Of course, I’m going to continue being active online, reviewing music.”

  Deena nodded, encouraging me to continue.

  “After I finish my business degree, I want to try getting into the music industry for real. I’d love to do music promotion. The same kind of thing I’m doing now, I guess.”

  “What if you don’t have to wait until you’re done with college?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ailey, your work here has been outstanding. You have an excellent understanding of online fandom, and you seem to know exactly the kind of content to post to make fans swoon. Online chatter has been through the roof and all of our concerts have been completely packed. To be honest, when I first thought about hiring an intern, I just needed someone who knew how to work the camera on their phone and post pictures online. You’ve exceeded all my expectations.”

  “Th-thank you!” I stuttered. “I’ve just been trying to do the best I can.” Having Deena’s approval meant everything to me. I’d never had such praise heaped upon me before. Sure, a lot of people followed me online, but that never really meant anything to me. Half a million people followed some cat that got famous online for looking grouchy.

  “I’ve been thinking that if this is the kind of work you can do while working out of a tour bus with only a phone and tablet, I can’t imagine what you’d be able to do with proper support.” She gave me a considering look. “How would you like to stay on with us after the tour is over and work at Dark Sound Studios?”

  I let loose a strangled sound and gaped, mouth wide open.

  “Is that a yes?” Deena smiled.

  I was still speechless for a few more moments but tried to gather myself.

  “I would love to! Oh my god, that would be a dream come true.”

  “Glad to hear it. I wanted to get your thoughts before moving forward.”

  “Thank you, Deena!” Then I paused, thinking. “I don’t know if I want to just drop out. Getting an education is important to me.”

  “Don’t worry about it. A business degree would only make you more useful to us. We’ll work around your schedule. Our work is never nine-to-five anyway.” Deena got up from leaning on the desk and smoothed her shirt.

  “We’ll talk more about this later. For now, just keep up the good work.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  “And keep the conversat
ion just between the two of us, all right? We need to work out the details first.”

  As soon as Deena walked out, I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle the bout of hysterical laughter that threatened to bubble up. My chest hurt with the effort, and my cheeks ached from grinning so widely.

  I’d never imagined my big break in the music industry would come so soon! I pulled out my phone to message Neil the good news.

  A pang of sadness washed through me. That was right. Things were over between Neil and I. He was the first person I thought of when I wanted to share my good news, but that was over now.

  And Jayce. I’d be working at his record label, but he wouldn’t consider that good news. It would just make things more awkward between us. There would be no clean break after summer was over. I’d be seeing him all the time.

  I slumped back into my chair and frowned. Things couldn’t go on like this. I needed to fix things between us.

  Between all three of us.

  ***

  BEFORE THE INTERNSHIP started, I never would have imagined I’d be torn over two different men. Even more unbelievable was that, despite mutual attraction, I was unable to be with either one of them.

  It didn’t help matters that things were back to being tense between Jayce and Neil. It was fine while they were both working, but things always got awkward during down time. They tried to hide it and act professionally, but whenever the two of them were within yards of each other, their hackles came up, like two wolves fighting over a tasty hunk of dead deer.

  I didn’t know whether to be amused or exasperated. They were both jealous of the other when neither one of them had me. It was stupid.

  The tense atmosphere must have been apparent to more than just me, because Kell took me aside one day and asked me if I knew what was going on with Jayce.

  “He’s a lot more subdued than usual,” Kell said, a worried frown on his face. “But then every so often he’ll get tense and irritable.” Kell turned his gaze to me and stared me down with a keen eye. “It only seems to happen when he’s around you and that producer.”

  Either the situation was patently obvious to everyone around us or Kell was a lot more perceptive than he let on.

  “Has everyone noticed?”

  “No. I don’t think anyone’s noticed except for me. But if things don’t simmer down, I’m worried those two might end up in a fist fight sometime soon.”

  I debated whether or not to come clean. I didn’t want Kell to think I was just some groupie going after anyone who would take me. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about all this, though. My thoughts kept going around in circles. I was unsure of what to do to make things less awkward for everyone.

  “Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone else?”

  “Of course.” Kell looked at me thoughtfully. “Come on, let’s go somewhere private.”

  He took me back to the tour bus and sat me down on the sofa next to him.

  “So, what’s going on with Jayce?”

  “We… sort of had a… thing,” I confessed, slowly dragging out each word.

  Kell raised an eyebrow.

  “A thing?”

  “We kissed. And some other stuff.” I tried not to blush. Kell’s lips twitched at the corner as if he couldn’t help himself from smirking. “What?” I asked. “What is it?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just glad to see my plan worked.”

  “Plan?”

  Kell shook his head, laughing. “I knew there was only one girl who could tear his attention away from his guitar.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Didn’t you think it was too much of a coincidence that Jayce’s internet crush got a job at his music label?”

  I frowned. “Are you telling me it wasn’t?”

  “How did you hear about this internship?”

  “One of my followers messaged me.”

  Kell grinned, silent and waiting. It clicked.

  “That was you?”

  “That was me.” He nodded triumphantly. “Jayce only mentioned your name a couple times because we kept on ragging on him for being a creepy stalker. We told him the girl behind the keyboard was probably a fifty-year-old man in grungy sweatpants.”

  “I did wear sweatpants while writing my reviews a lot of the time,” I joked weakly.

  “I remembered, though. When Deena told me she was looking to hire a social media person, I couldn’t think of anyone better.”

  I was dismayed. “So I only got the job because of you?”

  “No! Not at all. You got the job on your own merits, I just made you aware of the opportunity. Deena made the final call. She had no idea about my evil scheme.”

  I couldn’t believe Kell had gone through all that trouble just to play matchmaker.

  “So Jayce knows now, huh? How long did it take him to figure it out?”

  “Not long, I guess.”

  “So, I have to ask. If you and Jayce had a thing—” he raised his fingers in air quotes, “then what’s with you and that producer guy?”

  “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that at all. First of all, he kissed me. Second, Jayce and I both decided we couldn’t be together. There would just be too much trouble if people found out.”

  Kell frowned, but nodded for me to go on.

  “I’ve actually been talking to that producer online for almost a year. I know him by his online name, Neil. We’d never met in person and didn’t know who the other was when we first starting working together. Actually,” I said ruefully, “I kind of thought he was an ass at first.”

  “He is.”

  “Apparently he’s working on it.” I rolled my eyes. “I had posted something online and he realized who I was. Then he just came up to me and kissed me out of the blue.”

  “People saw you on a date with him. You went out for drinks.”

  “Yeah.” I looked down at my hands, fidgeting. I felt like I was just making excuse after excuse. “After Jayce and I decided nothing could happen between us, Neil and I decided to give it a go. Neil asked about Jayce, but I told him it was over. We went on that one date, but never managed to get together again. He was always too busy, could never make time for me. I decided to just end it with him before it got too serious. Both of us are here for work, anyway. He’s so dedicated to his job, he’s got a one-track mind. It would have been nice if we could have made it work, but—” I shrugged. “That’s the situation.”

  “So you’re with neither of them?”

  “I’m one hundred percent single. Why, you want to ask me out next?”

  “Do the both of them know that?”

  “Huh?”

  “Each of them probably thinks you’re with the other.”

  I blinked at him, taken aback.

  “I just assumed they both knew I wasn’t with anyone. That explains the tension.”

  “I think you need to sit down with both of them and explain the situation. They don’t need to be competing for your affections like this is some sort of historical romance novel.”

  “Good thing I’m not stuck in a historical romance. Kissing two different guys? I’d be branded with a scarlet letter.”

  “Hey, it’s the twenty-first century. You’re free to kiss whomever you desire. In fact,” Kell wiggled his eyebrows at me in a cartoonish come-hither stare, “feel free to kiss me whenever you want.”

  I huffed out a laugh. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, thanks.”

  I moved to sit up, but Kell tugged on my arm.

  “Hey, listen.”

  I sat back down. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking.

  “Jayce… he has this weird complex about being famous.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know what everyone says about him. He’s a sex god. He melts the panties off girls.”

  “No argument there.”

  “That’s the thing. Jayce doesn’t want to be a sex god. He’s a musician.
An artist. He lives for the music.”

  Understanding dawned on me. “But all anyone talks about is how hot he is…”

  “Right. On stage, he loves the spotlight. I mean, he is a rock star.” Kell grinned, but it soon faded. “But off stage? He hates the media. He hates how it created this shallow image of him.”

  “And Jayce is worried that’s all anyone will ever see,” I said softly.

  “If he could, I think he’d prefer to avoid all that attention entirely. And I think…” Kell leaned back against the sofa and propped his head up on his hand, looking weary and sad. I wondered whether or not Jayce had confided in him, or if it was just Kell being perceptive. He was much more insightful than people gave him credit for. “…Jayce probably assumes the same of everyone else. He doesn’t get why I crave media attention.”

  “Because you’re a vain glory hog.”

  Kell just grinned.

  I thought for a moment. “Jayce said we couldn’t be together because the fans would get mad.”

  “That’s stupid. I mean, I guess a few of them would, but it’s not like we care. Is that what he told you?” Kell shook his head, exasperated.

  “You think he lied about why he didn’t want to be with me?”

  “Oh, he definitely wants to be with you. He’s been following you online forever, and then you show up on tour with us? It’s too good to be true. As for why he’d lie to you—” Kell was brought up short, looking stumped. “I guess you’ll have to ask him that.”

  I was silent for a moment, processing everything Kell had told me. I needed to diffuse the tension between Jayce and Neil before things exploded between them, but first I needed to get some answers from Jayce.

  If he wanted to be with me, why had he lied?

  Chapter Seventeen

  I waited a few days until I could corner Jayce right after a concert. I almost felt bad trying to catch him off guard, but I needed to confront him when he was at his most vulnerable. I didn’t want him to just blow me off or try to change to subject. I needed him out of his depth if we were going to have the kind of conversation I needed to have with him.