FRAUD: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  “Want me to follow you?” Louis asks.

  Shaking my head, I give him a smile. “Laurie is going to take me home then I’m just going from my house to the store before I head over to Beaumont’s.”

  “Sure you want to go home alone?” he asks, so sweet and concerned that it makes my heart jump.

  I don’t know why he’s single, but he shouldn’t be. This man should have someone to take care of. I give him a smile, my eyes shifting over to Laurie who is cleaning the hair washing station and bowl. Then I decide she would chew him up and spit him out. Plus, she’s already slept with Ford and that would be weird.

  “I think I should be okay…”

  He shakes his head. “Let me take you home, at least.”

  Nodding my head, I give him my thanks then finish cleaning up the salon. Laurie starts to walk past me, but I reach out for her, wrapping my hand around her forearm to stop her.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  She shakes her head, then attempts to look confused, but it doesn’t work. She knows exactly what’s wrong. She’s been acting off all afternoon.

  “I-I hate that this happened. That this is happening to you, Hutt. But part of me also thinks that it’s just part of the territory and I don’t think you’re equipped to handle it. Maybe that makes me a bitch, but it’s how I feel.”

  I nod, glancing to my side where Louis is sitting and watching this unfold between us. “I’m probably not, but it doesn’t make me love Beaumont any less. He didn’t do any of this to me, Laurie.

  “I don’t think that he enjoys it either, which is why he even has a home here. This is his place to escape when that life becomes too much. And I’ve only been part of it for weeks, but I can see that it can become too much very quickly.”

  She shakes her head. “You can love him, but Hutton, I’m scared it’s all going to break you. What happens when the news finds out about your parents? What happens when you have to close your salon down that you’ve worked so hard for because he wants you to be at his side?”

  “That’s what this is about, my salon?” I guess.

  She shrugs one shoulder. “What happens to me when you run off with him?”

  Taking a step toward her, I wrap my arms around my best friend and pull her against my body. My best friend that I love with everything inside of me. This girl has been by my side through bad haircuts, terrible makeup and questionable fashion along with boys that caused broken hearts.

  “I’m not going anywhere, not ever. You’ll always be my best friend and no matter what, this is Beaumont’s home base, but even if it weren’t and I left, I still would come back here and often. I don’t plan on going anywhere though, this is my home, my life. This is where I belong,” I whisper just loud enough for only her to hear.

  “I’m just being a fucking pussy,” she sniffles.

  I laugh. “Yeah, well, I would be freaking out too if the tables were turned. I love you, Laurie.”

  “Okay,” she says, clearing her throat and taking a step back. I watch as she wipes her eyes and shifts her gaze from Louis to me. “Now that the emotional shit is over. I’m sure you need to get going. I need a fucking drink.”

  Louis chuckles as he stands to his feet and we all begrudgingly go our separate ways. Laurie takes off in her car and I slip into the passenger seat of Louis’ truck. He doesn’t say anything as we drive toward my house.

  I pack my bags, just a week’s worth of clothes and toiletries. Throwing everything into the trunk of my car, I slip into the driver’s side and follow Louis’ truck toward the grocery store.

  Walking into the grocery store with Louis at my side feels odd. With Beaumont, I’ve always been comfortable with him, even when he’s made me nervous, there’s always something about him that’s calming and comforting. Louis is nice, gentle and obviously protective but he’s just not Beaumont.

  I don’t buy much, I’m only going to be staying for a few days before I go to my grandfather’s, then I’ll just stop by the store on my way home from his place at the end of the weekend like I normally would.

  “Can we go to a different checkout?” Louis asks as soon as I roll my buggy into line.

  Looking from the checker to him, I look back to her again and frown. It’s Tulip, but I’m confused as to why he would want to go anywhere else, not that any other check stands are open, they’re not.

  “This is the only open one, Louis. What’s wrong? Do you not like Tulip?” I ask.

  It seems impossible, she’s one of the nicest people in town. She’s kind and considerate, though her taste in men is questionable. She’s been living with, dating, breaking up, and getting back together, with the same guy since they were twelve years old.

  “Let’s just say, we know one another,” he grunts.

  “You can wait outside if you want,” I offer.

  Louis lets out a sigh as I move forward, but he doesn’t leave my side, instead he begins to unload my items onto the conveyor belt. The silence is uncomfortable as Tulip begins to ring up my items. I lift my gaze looking from Louis to her and then back again. They’re both staring at one another, Tulip only looks down every so often to rescan an item when it doesn’t catch the first time.

  “How are you doing, Tulip?” I ask.

  She jerks her body, then looks at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Oh, hey Hutton. Heard you and Beaumont got back together. Real happy for you,” she says softly.

  I smile, nodding my head. “Heard you got engaged. Where’s your ring? Let’s see it.”

  Louis growls behind me, and I pause, looking back over my shoulder to see his jaw set hard and a muscle jump in his cheek.

  I’ve never seen this man look angry, I didn’t know how he could be a heavyweight champion, because he always seems so calm and gentle, so relaxed.

  I see it now.

  He’s downright terrifying as he stares down Tulip. His anger burns so bright that I can practically taste it, but then again, so is his hurt. Once I’ve paid for my groceries and we’re outside. I turn to him. Opening my mouth, I start to ask him what happened in there when he shakes his head once.

  “Doesn’t matter, Hutton. She’s getting married.”

  Without another word, I watch him walk over to my car, set my things down in the backseat and then make his way toward his pickup truck.

  Hurrying, I slip into my car and I worry my lip the entire way toward Beaumont’s house. Tulip hurt Louis, but she didn’t look unaffected either. I wish I knew what happened, then I remember that Channing and Exeter have been around this group longer than I have.

  Maybe they know, maybe we can try to get them back together because Tulip does not belong with that jerk she’s engaged to. He doesn’t deserve her, not like I think that Louis might.

  Louis doesn’t get out of his truck when we arrive at Beaumont’s place. I’m sure it’s because he doesn’t want to have to answer any questions about Tulip and what that was in the grocery store between them.

  Giving him a wave, I slide my key into his front door lock and open the door. I’m surprised that the alarm isn’t on. I look directly at the panel and frown, noticing that it hasn’t been set. Leaving the door open, I hurry and grab my groceries, setting the bags down in the kitchen, then go and grab my luggage.

  Setting my bags down near the front door, I lock it behind me and go about putting my food away. I smile at the flour and sugar that I bought, because I’m going to make my PawPaw his favorite chocolate chip cookies to take to him.

  I don’t make him sweets often. They’re his downfall, he eats too many and he shouldn’t have all that sugar in his system, but since this weekend is the anniversary of my grandmother’s death, I figured he could use a little pick-me-up.

  Once my groceries are safely put away in the fridge and the pantry, I decide to head upstairs, tugging my bag behind me. Making my way toward the master bedroom, I can’t forget the last time that I was here. How Beaumont took me over and over. How we made love and fell asleep in
his studio.

  Everything about that night, the dinner he had brought in for me, a reminder of our past. Something that I was sure he’d all but forgotten, except he remembered everything, down to what we ate at the barbeque place.

  “Well, I didn’t expect you,” a female voice announces.

  Lifting my head from the floor where I was lost in thought, my eyes clash with a woman sitting on Beaumont’s bed. I blink at the sight of her. She’s gorgeous, her body rail thin, her breasts large and perfectly proportionate. Her legs spread and showing me her very bare center.

  “What… who…” My words escape me.

  She smirks as she throws her legs over the side of the bed. “Did you think that you were the only woman who had a key and his alarm code?” I watch as she reaches for a floral silk robe that’s on a chair in the corner.

  “What are you doing here? Who are you?” I ask, even though I’m certain that I know exactly who is standing in front of me.

  She shakes her hair out of the back of her robe as she ties it, leaving it open enough that I can see her cleavage. Propping one hip out, I watch as she places her hand there and stands just like she’s on the red carpet having her pictures taken.

  “Andi Anderson, but you already knew that, didn’t you, Hutton Baker?”

  My mouth has gone completely dry. “What are you doing here?” I whisper.

  I will my tears to stay locked inside of me, but they don’t, instead they fill my eyes. My only hope now is that they won’t stream down my cheeks in front of this woman. I watch as she tilts her head to the side, then pouts.

  “Brian told me you were different. He warned me that you have lasting power. We can’t let that happen now, can we?” she asks.

  “Brian?” I gasp, surprised that he would have anything to do with whatever this is.

  Her lips turn up into a wicked smile, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Oh, Brian is a bad boy, Hutton. He’s one of the worst because unlike most, he strikes from behind without warning. It’s why we get along so well. I’m the same.”

  “Just tell me what all of this is,” I demand.

  “This is me staying the queen and you continuing to be a peasant. It’s time for frumpy hometown fat girls to go home. Isn’t there some lonely overweight guy sitting at the bar in town that’s more your speed? You are way out of your league with Beaumont.”

  Shaking my head, I tighten my grip on my suitcase handle. Her name calling is ridiculous, but I won’t lie that it’s hit a chord. I’ve always felt that I don’t match Beaumont, even when we were ten years younger.

  He’s always been so out of this world handsome, talented, and completely out of my league, it’s not as if I haven’t known this. Except, he wants me. He always has, even when he left, it wasn’t because of me, it was because of him, of his past, and the uncertain future. We wouldn’t have made it if we had stayed together, I’m sure of that. But right now, this time, we will.

  “You may think you’re a queen, but you are not Beaumont’s and you never really were, were you?” I ask.

  She narrows her gaze on me, taking a step forward before she pauses. “I have the alarm code, I have his key and all I would have to do is show up in Oregon and I would have his dick too.”

  “You are not his. You never were,” I repeat.

  “This is the big girls pool and you, little girl, are going to drown.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I tilt my head to the side and take her in completely. She’s nothing like I’d imagined. She’s insecure, scared, and completely fake from the inside out.

  “I know how to swim, Andi. Besides, I don’t fight other women over men. Beaumont knows what he wants, who he wants. If he wanted you, you would be his. It’s as simple as that,” I state. “Us arguing amongst one another, it’s doing nothing.”

  Turning around, I decide to leave. Now that I am certain she’s the one who made the posters and put them at my front door and then again on the windows of my shop, I’m no longer scared.

  She’s not worth my time, worth my fear. Pausing, I turn around, deciding that I do need answers about Brian. Beaumont thinks he’s his closest bandmate, but it’s clear that he’s not, not if he’s sent this woman here to mess with me, with us.

  “What does Brian have to gain from you being back in Beaumont’s life?” I ask.

  “Now, if I told you, that would ruin all the fun,” she purrs.

  Refusing to engage a moment longer, I hurry away from her, from this house. Without even thinking, I throw my luggage back in my trunk and speed off down Beaumont’s long paved driveway. Then, I do what I always do when I feel out of control and lost, I drive straight toward my PawPaw.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  BEAUMONT

  I call Hutton again, and once again it goes straight to voicemail. Frowning, I decide to call Louis as soon as the show is over. I just wanted to make sure that she made it to my place and settled in okay, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of her and I’m a bit worried.

  “Ready?” Brian asks.

  Glancing over at him, my frown deepens. He’s hiding something from me, but I don’t know what. I haven’t been able to figure it out. I do know that he’s lied to me at least once, which means he’s probably done it even more and I don’t realize it.

  “Yeah.” I nod.

  Grabbing the neck of my guitar, I walk out onto the stage. We’re at a dive in the middle of nowhere, Oregon. The people cheer, it’s chest to ass in here and I grin at the sight of the fans that are crammed in here.

  For the next hour and a half, I play. I let the worries of earlier melt away, the stress and pressure of everything from this tour just fades as soon as the music starts. When my mouth opens to sing, it’s as if my mind goes completely blank.

  When we finish, I’m covered in sweat, feeling full of adrenaline and completely charged and ready, for what I don’t know, but fuck I’m ready. Leaving the stage, I head back to the bus to change into a dry t-shirt.

  By the time I make it back inside, Brian is bellied up to the bar, a pretty blonde thing next to him. I frown at the sight. He usually doesn’t hang around the after-parties, choosing to call his wife and hit the hay.

  Making my way up to them, I wrap my fingers around his shoulder and give him a gentle shake. He turns his head, his eyes widen slightly in surprise. “What’s happening here?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

  “Just going to have some fun, Beau.” He shrugs.

  Frowning, I shake my head once. “Brian, that isn’t you. What’s up?” I ask.

  He clears his throat, and I watch as he brings his bottle of beer to his lips, taking a long pull. “It wasn’t for a long time, but it is.”

  “Why, now?” I demand.

  “I left the needling bitch, if you must know. I’m tired of her shit. Tired of her constantly calling me, questioning me. I want to have some fun. I want to live, man. You all have been living this whole time and you’re ready to settle down, but I never did,” he explains.

  “What about your daughter?”

  He lets out a loud guffaw. “They get half of everything that I own. She’ll be fine.”

  “What about seeing her? Being there for her?” I shake my head, totally disgusted by what he’s saying. “What is wrong with you?”

  Something ugly takes over his face. His eyes turn almost black and his lips snarl as he stares me down. He’s angry, but I’m not sure why, with who, or at what.

  Releasing his shoulder, I take a step back, then wait for him to answer me. He looks unhinged, but I want to know just what in the fuck has happened between a couple weeks ago and now.

  “Better off without me, Beau. They both are. I’m ready to have some freedom and I’m going to hold on to it with two hands. I’ve had a taste and I can’t handle scraps anymore, I want the whole fucking meal.” He grins, shaking off his anger almost immediately.

  “How can you say that? You need to get some sleep, really think about all of this. You’ve always been the
steady one, Brian. Out of all of us, you’re the logical one, the calm head.”

  “I don’t have to be that anymore.”

  He turns his head from me, refusing to say or listen to anything else. I could try to shake him, force him to look at me, but he wouldn’t hear a thing that I say. Turning my head, I see Austin watching us. He lifts his chin and I make my way toward him.

  “What do you know?” I ask.

  “Not much. I do know that he’s been using, a hell of a lot.”

  “What’s he been dabbling in?” I ask.

  Brian did a lot of drugs as a teenager and in his early twenties. I don’t know that side of him, because by the time our group formed, he was clean and as far as I knew, he’s been clean this entire time.

  Now, I’m wondering. I’m questioning everything.

  “Heard through a rumor tree,” Austin says, jerking his chin toward Daniel who is already cozied up to some woman in the corner. “That he and Andi ran into one another a few months ago while you were in rehab. They had a fling, then it became regular and you know how Andi likes her dope.”

  “Fuck,” I hiss.

  “Daniel wants her around, not only because the publicity of the two of you is amazing, but because Brian was filling him full of shit about you and Hutton. Telling him that you were going to retire completely and marry the girl. That you were going to drop out of the spotlight all together, which means no paycheck for Daniel and he can’t have that now, can he.”

  “And you?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “I thought the same at first, that between sobriety and this girl, it was going to be the end of your career, but it isn’t.”

  “Yeah, that why you were so pissed?”

  He chuckles with a nod. “I think you’re going to come out on the winning side of all of this, Beau. With or without a band behind you, this life is yours. Music is inside of you, more than anyone I’ve ever seen. You’re like a fucking prodigy.”