Don't Break My Heart (Straight from the Heart #3)

by Breigh Forstner

  I decided to wear some PINK sweatpants and a Detroit Tigers T-shirt since we were going to be cooped up in the studio all day and I wanted to be comfortable. I straightened my hair and twisted it into a sloppy braid, making a cup of coffee before we all headed to Detroit. A couple of minutes before seven, I heard a pounding on my apartment door. I knew it was the guys and rolled my eyes as they started to sing Freakshow way too loud for this time of morning.

  “All right, all right,” I said, letting them in. “I’m ready, so let’s go! You’re lucky no one else heard you out there!”

  “I’d be happy if they did,” Damon stuck his tongue out at me. “Who doesn’t like to hear a song in the morning?”

  “Not my neighbors, you ass.” I nudged him and the guys pulled me into a big bear hug. I let them continue to hug me for another minute then I said, “Okay, I love you guys, too, but shouldn’t we have left by now?”

  “Pushy, pushy.” Pauly slapped my ass, kissing me on the mouth before he went into my room to grab my bass. “You look beautiful this morning by the way.” A blush immediately formed on my cheeks and I grabbed my purse before we headed toward Mike’s van. We only used his oversized van when we had to take our equipment to the studio. It was a lot easier than taking the tour bus.

  “I call shot gun!” Alex shouted, instantly opening the passenger side door and slamming it shut.

  “You dick, I was going to sit next to my boy Mike.” Damon sounded sad, but the smile on his face indicated otherwise. “That’s okay; I’ll keep you two love birds entertained.” He gestured toward Pauly and me.

  “This is going to be a long drive,” Pauly groaned, tightening his grip around my waist. “We need to find him a girl,” he whispered in my ear.

  “Easier said than done,” I retorted, keeping my voice low so he wouldn’t hear us. “Damon settling down? Have we ever seen him have an actual relationship with a girl?” According to Damon, he’d dated a girl back in high school when he was in Mackinaw City, but she’d cheated on him before we started touring for the first time.

  “I heard that!” he said, coming around the van in our direction. “As much as I love you guys I’ll find my own girl without your help thank you very much. Never had the trouble before.”

  “Whatever you say, Charming.” I smiled at Damon, opening the van door so we could get into the middle row in front of the equipment. “Find a good girl, please. Maybe Emily can hook you up with someone she works with…”

  “For all I know, she works with dudes and old ladies.” Damon immediately shot down the idea. “No way in hell.” As Mike started up the car, I shot Emily a text.

  Me: Hey, you work with any young teachers?

  Emily: Do I even want to know why? Lol

  Me: Setting Damon up with someone.

  Emily: ABOUT DAMN TIME! One of my friends, Isabella, has a sister who’s secretly in love with him (Or so Bella told me)

  Me: What is she, like 17? Lol

  Emily: Don’t think so. Maybe 21?

  Me: Perfect! Let’s talk about the plan later; our subject is sitting right next to me.

  Emily: K sounds good.

  Operation find Damon Charming a girl was underway! (I’ll have to think of a better code name than that though.)

  We pulled up to the studio in Detroit where we would be recording for the next week and a half and unloaded all of our equipment so we could get to work. I was excited to work with our producer, Gates Noble. He produced the last Everlasting album and we’ve met him a couple of times; he’s a down to earth guy.

  “Good to see you again you, guys.” Gates was sitting at a stool as we walked into the studio. “Bright and early at that.”

  “How are you doing, man?” Pauly shook his hand.

  “Pretty awesome, can’t complain. I just got a new apartment in Rochester Hills, so I’ve been busy moving in and what not. But I can’t wait to get started on this shit. It’s going to rock.” Gates smiled at us.

  By the time day one was over with, we had recorded one full song and the guitar lines for a few others. We stayed in a rental apartment about fifteen minutes from the studio and got to chill out for a few hours before going to bed to be ready for the next early morning session.

  “I just hate feeling like we’re being rushed,” Pauly said to me as we laid in bed after we’d each taken a long shower. “I mean, it sounds good so far , but they want to push this album out in less than two months?”

  “It’ll all work out,” I said reassuringly even though I was thinking the same thing. “I must say though, I like watching you play that guitar instead of playing beside you. It was pretty sexy.”

  Pauly wriggled his eyebrows at me. “Sexy, huh? Is that what you’re going to say after every show now?”

  I patted his chest. “We’ll see.” I kissed him on the cheek. “It’s those groupie girls I’m worried about. I’ll have to stake my claim so they know to stay away.” I have seen how they fight over Pauly, line up just so they can see him. There was a difference between those girls and the actual fans. Then there are the women that wear next to nothing to a rock show just so one of the band members would sleep with them.

  Not going to happen.

  “You have nothing to worry about, Luce.” Pauly gently squeezed my side. “The only girl I’ll be sleeping with is you.”

  “Shucks, that makes me feel a lot better,” I replied sarcastically. We fell asleep quickly, both of us tired from the long day that we’d had.

  “And Luce?”

  “Yeah?” I asked in a daze, almost asleep.

  Pauly looked at me with a warm expression in his warm honey eyes and said, “You’re beautiful when you’re lying next to me.”

  I lightly chuckled. “Thank you.”

  He gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead and whispered, “Good night, gorgeous.”

  “Good night, Pauly.”

  I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. Maybe it was because I had Pauly beside me. It was crazy to think that we had known each other almost our whole lives and now we were dating. We had always been flirty with each other, and Pauly would make comments here and there like it was no big deal, but I always had that ‘What if’ question in my head?

  How would we make it work? We obviously see each other on a daily basis and work together in the band, which was great. Pauly and I mesh perfectly music wise, and that is part of the reason the band has been so successful. Now we were going to be partners in a relationship. I loved him even though I haven’t told him yet. I’ve loved him for a long time. I knew that once we got back on the road and into promoting the album the girls would flock to him as they usually did, hoping they could get a piece of him.

  But Pauly and I would make things work.

  I won’t let my heart get broke by him again.

  Chapter 9: Behind it All

  Pauly

  The album was done.

  Recorded, mixed, all the behind the scenes shit done and taken care of.

  Now Behind It All was going to be released and I couldn’t be more stoked.

  I loved touring with my friends. This was what I lived for. Now, I had Lucy to live for, too. Nothing could be better.

  We were gearing up to play an album release show in Grand Rapids in a few days, the same day the album would be released. From radio interviews in Detroit, to magazine interviews, the band had been non-stop promoting our asses off, hoping it would pay off. I was feeling pretty confident this would be our best album to date. I just had a feeling in my gut.

  “So did Emily give those tickets to her friend yet?” I asked Alex as we were picking up the tour bus where it had stored since the last tour. We had let Alex and Mike in on the plan that we were going to set up Damon with one a friend of Emily’s. . Emily promised Alex she’d met this girl before and she wasn’t just some fan who wanted to date a rock star for the fame. That’s what sold us. And our mission began.

  “Yeah, said she did when they had some teacher’s meeting at
school. Isabella was pretty stoked and is totally down with our plan,” Alex replied, referring to Emily’s friend. “It’s about time Damon found a girl.”

  “Been a long time coming,” I said. “Or it could backfire and he’ll despise us for doing this.”

  Alex snorted. “So what? He’ll thank us later. Just wait and see…” Oh, we shall.

  Lucy stepped out from the warehouse where the bus has been and I took a sharp breath. She had cut her hair so that now it was just below her chin and she’d dyed the ends dark red. I had never seen her with short hair like that, but oh boy, I needed tell her how much I liked the results.

  It was still warm out, so she was wearing a snug tank top that clung to her fit frame and jean shorts that showed off her toned legs. Her light blue eyes met mine as she closed the gap between us. She squealed when I grabbed her in a huge hug, nearly squeezing her to death. “Ouch, you’re lucky I didn’t break!”

  “You ready, tommy girl?” I asked her.

  “Of course I am. I can’t wait to get back onstage and near home at that.” Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “I wish my mom could make it, but she has to work that night.” Her mom recently got a job managing one of the local bar and grills in Muskegon during the night shift, so she and Lucy hadn’t had as much time to spend together.

  “Don’t lie; you’re just excited to play on stage with your boyfriend,” I remarked and Lucy couldn’t contain the smile on her face.

  “You know it.” Lucy kissed me on the lips, pushing me against the side of the tour bus, her body pressed up to mine. “You’ve always been hot when you’re sweaty after a show. I know that sounds completely disgusting, but it’s the truth!”

  “I never expect anything else from you,” I chucked, kissing her again, my tongue slipping into her mouth. Next thing I knew guitar picks were thrown at my head. “What the…” I muttered under my breath, separating myself from Lucy to turn around.

  “Alex, you dumbass, I’m going to hurt you for that shit,” I yelled in Alex’s direction. He had drumsticks in one hand and a cheesy grin on his face that I wanted to wipe off very quickly.

  He put his hands up in defense. “Well, I had to break up the PDA. It’s still kind of weird seeing you two kissing and all lovey-dovey. I couldn’t help myself.”

  We laughed, loading equipment onto the bus and the van the roadies would drive when we left. This first night was going to be difficult for me to say the least. Ever since Ignite the Flames had been touring, there had been girls throwing themselves at me left and right, ready to take off their clothes at the drop of a dime. That’s why we had a more of girls and their friends come to our shows than guys that gawked at Lucy.

  I liked it. Correction: I fucking loved the attention. I used to love being with a different girl every night. Sometimes they would follow us to a few other cities just for another round. Now, it was going to be a totally different ball game. I had Lucy. I had to resist the temptation of tits and pussy standing in front of me and remember I had a girl I wasn’t going to lose for anything.

  I had to have self-control.

  Our manager, Bobby, flew in from Cleveland the night before we left for Grand Rapids and had a meeting with us to go over all the promotional shit we were going to do when we got there. I tried hard to like Bobby, he was just doing his job: make sure Ignite the Flames played shows and made the record label money by selling records in the process. He was only in his early 30’s, with dark blond hair always slicked to the side like he thought he was some professional. Then there was the suit. He ALWAYS wore a damn suit, didn’t matter the time of day or the time of year. I have never seen him in jeans and a T-shirt like the rest of us wear. The guy knew his music and that’s all I cared about.

  “So if you guys make it to the Guitar Center by about 10, they want you to have a look around and play an acoustic set of about 3 or 4 songs for a small crowd,” Bobby explained to us in his monotone voice. “Then there will be a brief meet and greet afterward where the fans can also get copies of the new cd signed.”

  “I have a feeling we won’t have any breathing time by the time everything is said and done,” Lucy groaned, leaning back into her chair as we all sat at the local Applebee’s.

  “You know the drill, Lucy,” Bobby scolded her. “Release day is crucial. You have to get out there and promote the album and yourselves or else no one will know about you and the fans you have won’t even know you have new music.” Pausing to take a sip of his iced tea, he asked, “So please tell me you guys decided to include new music in the set?”

  Some of his questions made me feel like he didn’t trust us to do our own work. I wanted to say, ‘Of fucking course we put new music into the set, dumbass,’ but we were in public and I was on a high with the album release.

  “Of course, we did.” Damon read my mind, putting on his fake charm for Bobby just so he’d shut up. “We added the new single plus a bunch of the other songs so don’t worry about it.”

  “It’s my job to worry,” Bobby responded, before giving us the rest of the day’s itinerary, including a meet and greet after the show for the people that won front row tickets and special backstage passes. All that was on my mind was Lucy sitting between Bobby and Alex. I wanted her next to me, but at least I got a perfect view of her.

  I slipped my phone out while Bobby continued rambling on and texted Lucy from across the table.

  Pauly: Getting tired of him yet?

  Lucy looked surprised, giving Bobby an apologetic smile as she looked away from him and down at her phone, a grin forming on her lips as she typed away.

  Lucy: I didn’t miss him at all. Can this just be done so we can go home?

  Pauly: I don’t think so, love. Sounds like he has the rest of the day to plan

  We glanced up from our phone conversation and Bobby was still outlining everything we had to do up until the show, telling us every nitty gritty detail. I kept rolling my eyes, focusing on my food wishing he would shut his damn mouth.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, he actually loosened up and congratulated us on a job well done on the album. This hadn’t happened since he’d started managing us. His compliments would go as far as, ‘Great job on being platinum,’ and that was about it. “This was easily the best played album you guys have made. I think, despite what the team thought, the little trip you guys made paid off in the end.”

  Coming from Bobby that was the biggest compliment we’d get. Ever.

  After dinner and after Bobby paid the bill, I drove Lucy back to my house, a few miles away from Lucy’s apartment. With one hand on the wheel, the other reached for hers, our fingers linking together as we hummed along to the music on the radio.

  I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to play you a song tonight,” I blurted out of nowhere as we pulled into my driveway.

  Lucy bit her lip and gave me a questionable look. “Like on the radio or on the TV?”

  I chuckled. Neither of which were what I had in mind.

  “No, tommy girl.” I shook my head, giving her a wide grin. “You’re going to sit down in the living room by my fire place and I’m going to sit next to you on that furry black rug you got me last year and I’m going to play you something special on my acoustic.” That was only part of my plan to have sex with Lucy on that rug. Ever since we’d gotten together that’s all I’ve thought about when I saw that rug. And I didn’t even care that it’s the end of summer. I was turning the damn fireplace on and living out my fantasy.

  “I’ve never seen be so romantic like this before,” Lucy said to me, leaning over to kiss me before getting out of the car.

  “Oh trust me; I can be quite the romantic when I choose to be,” I warned her, both of us getting out at the same time. “I just never had a reason to be until now.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen the way you treated those other girls.” Lucy turned to me and scowled, walking ahead of me toward the house. I couldn’t blame her for acting that way. Before her, when I was with a
different girl all the time, I wasn’t romantic in the slightest bit. No holding hands, no cuddling after sex, no stolen kisses, anything. It was safe to say I used girls so I could get myself off and fill some kind of void in my life.

  “But you have nothing to worry about,” I assured her, catching up to her and snatching her by the waist. Putting my lips to her ear, I whispered. “I’m saving all of my best romantic ideas for you.”

  We got into the house and I flipped on the light in living room. Mmost of the downstairs portion of the house was decorated in various shades of red and black furniture. The chandelier hanging from the high ceiling lit up and Lucy stood beside me for a moment, looking up at it as if she hasn’t seen it before. In reality, she’d seen it hundreds of times.

  “First, can I go to the bathroom?” Lucy asked, pointing toward the hallway.

  “Go ahead, that will give me time to get things ready,” I winked, my fingers rubbing up and down her arm gently. Just that gesture alone made me want to forget the romantic shit I planned for us and just take her upstairs, but I tried to fry that idea out of my brain. Lucy deserved a romantic night in before we started on the “Crazy Madness” tour tomorrow night.

  She giggled and ran as quickly as she could down the hall, while I went to grab my acoustic Alvarez Dreadnaught perched in the corner of the living room. I grabbed a couple of candles that I’d bought the other day while buying dinner one night, setting them over by the rug in front of the fireplace. They were Vanilla Bean scent, Lucy’s favorite. The only reason I knew that was because she’d stopped at her favorite fragrance store numerous times on tour just to pick up a bottle of that shit. I could never understand women and their need to wear perfume.

  After lighting up the candles and placing them on the corners of the rug, I quickly tuned up the guitar and sat down on the rug, anxiously awaiting my girl.

  “Wow, loving the set up here,” Lucy exclaimed, slowly walking toward me. My heart started racing a mile a minute as she sat down next to me and nestled her head into my shoulder. “Sure you haven’t done this before?”