by Lauren Rowe
“You’ve written more songs about Violet than that fireflies one you sang at the concert?” Louise asks.
“I’ve written a whole album about Violet,” Dax says. “In fact, we’re calling our next album The Violet Album. You know, like how The Beatles had The White Album?”
“Well, my goodness, you really are smitten, aren’t you, Daxy?” Louise says, a massive smile on her lovely face.
Dax returns his mother’s wide smile and doesn’t deny it.
“Who died at the funeral today?” Isabella asks.
My smile fades slightly.
“Honey, maybe Violet doesn’t want to talk about that,” Lydia, the girl’s mother, says.
“It’s okay.” I look at the little girl, Isabella. “My stepfather died. I hadn’t seen him in years, so I went to say goodbye to him today. I didn’t grow up with a father and my stepfather meant a lot to me, even if he didn’t realize it. For a short time, when he was married to my mother, he was like a father to me. The only one I’d ever had—and I really liked having a father.” I steal a look at Mr. Morgan and, yep, he’s looking at me with kind eyes. I glance away, feeling my cheeks rise with heat.
“Why didn’t you have a father?” Beatrice, Isabella’s younger sister, pipes in to say. “Did he die like mine? Our first daddy died, but now we’ve got our second daddy.” She points at Colby.
“Bea,” Lydia says. “Violet, I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for. If it’s okay with you all, I’d actually like to answer Bea’s question. I’d like to tell all of you a bit about my life, just so you can get to know me better.”
“We’d love that,” Louise says.
I take a deep breath, and proceed to tell the table my life story. I keep it fairly brief, of course. These poor, captive people don’t need to know every detail. I also keep my language coded when I talk about my father’s crimes and suicide, due to the kids at the table. But I’m sure the adults at the table can read between the lines, based on the way I’ve phrased things. I tell them about my stepfather and the divorce. And, of course, I tell them about my beloved baby brother, Jackson. “I really found myself in college,” I say. “I got some therapy there, which helped me a lot. I found my calling. My art. My life’s purpose. Two months ago, I graduated and moved to L.A.” I smile at Dax. “And now, in a shocking twist I never saw coming, I’m sitting here with Dax and all of you, feeling so happy, I could burst. I honestly can’t wait to see what comes next.”
“Amen to that,” Mr. Morgan says. He raises his beer. “To whatever comes next. You’re an inspiring, beautiful young woman and we’re happy to welcome you into our lives.”
Oh, my heart. It’s pounding like a steel drum. I swallow hard, trying to catch my breath. “Thank you, Mr. Morgan.”
“Thomas.”
“Thank you, Thomas.”
“Is your last name Rivers?” Ryan says.
“Rhodes. It’s my mother’s name.”
“What if we call you Yellow Brick Rhodes?” he says. “Because you’re like Dorothy, on a journey home.”
Everyone around me scoffs and rolls their eyes saying that’s stupid.
“Actually, Keane already beat you to the punch on that one,” Dax says. “When Violet and I were hanging out with him a couple times this past week, Keane called Violet that one, in addition to all the obvious ‘violet’ references. Plus, he threw out Fork in the Rhodes, Rhodes Scholar, Rhode to Terabithia, Violet Rain. Oh, and Viagra.”
Everyone laughs at that last one.
“I exercised my veto power on most of them,” Dax says. “Nobody’s calling my girlfriend Brick or Fork on my watch. And certainly not a medication for erectile dysfunction.”
“What’s erectile—?” Dax’s niece, Isabella, begins, but her mother, Lydia, quickly cuts her off.
“It’s something you don’t need to know about, honey,” Lydia says, eliciting laughter from the entire table.
“Sorry, Lydi-bug,” Dax says, but Lydia merely chuckles and shakes her head.
Ryan says, “By the way, there’s no such thing as veto power in this family, Rock Star.”
“Of course, there is.”
Kat says, “Ha! If there were such a thing as veto power on nicknames, I would have vetoed every single one of mine throughout my entire life, except for Kitty Kat.”
Dax says, “That’s not true and you know it. You secretly love each and every one of your nicknames, no matter how disgusting. In fact, the grosser the better, as far as you’re concerned.”
Kat makes a face that concedes Dax is right.
“There’s no veto power with respect to people born into our family,” Dax says. “I’ll grant you that. But we have to be gentler and kinder with the latecomers, because they have a choice, unlike us, whether they want to be a part of this crazy family or not. They can choose to run away, screaming, if we scare them too much.”
I’ve got no choice, I think. No matter what you guys call me, I’m staying put.
Lydia swats Colby’s broad shoulder. “You mean to tell me you’ve had veto power all along, and yet, I’ve been letting Keane call me Flip Yer Lyd all this time?”
Everyone laughs.
Ryan says, “Only Keane calls you that one, Lydia. You’re nothing but Lydi-Bug to the rest of us.”
Mr. Morgan says, “I’d say we could call Violet ‘Take the High Rhodes,’ but since she’s decided to stay clean and sober along with Dax, I don’t think that one will work.”
Everyone groans and chuckles at the stupid dad joke. But I wink at Mr. Morgan to tell him I loved it.
“How about ‘Let’s Get This Show on the Rhodes’?” Kat says. “We can shorten it to ‘Showtime’?”
Everyone agrees that’s a fairly good one. And I’m feeling pretty confident that’s going to be it, until, out of nowhere, Louise says, “No. If you guys insist on giving Violet one of your silly nicknames, then at least give her one that pays tribute to what a strong and powerful flower she truly is. She’s Rocky Rhodes. Her road in life, no doubt, has been a rocky one, at times. But like Rocky, the legendary fighter, she just keeps on getting up, and dreaming big, no matter how much life tries to knock her down.”
There’s a momentary pause as everyone processes.
And then Kat raises her wine glass. “To Rocky!”
Everyone lifts their glasses and echoes Kat. And, stupidly, tears well in my eyes.
“Cheers, sweet little flower,” Louise says. “I won’t be calling you Rocky. I never partake in the kids’ ridiculous nicknames. But whatever they call you, please know we all thank you for sharing yourself with us tonight. You’re always welcome here.”
Dax leans into me. “Don’t get too attached to Rocky, baby. They’re never gonna call you that, just so you know. I can already tell you’re gonna be Viagra till the end of time.”
Chapter 52
Dax
A guttural sound escapes my throat as I eat Violet. I’m so turned on, I’m dripping. All I want to do is get inside her, feel the way the pieces of our jigsaw puzzle fit together. But I keep going, swirling her tip in my mouth while stroking her wetness firmly with my fingers. Because if there’s one thing I crave more than my own release, it’s hearing the glorious sound Violet Rhodes makes when she comes.
Finally, when Violet arches her back and grits out my name, when the muscles gripping my fingers begin clenching and releasing rhythmically, I crawl up to her face and kiss her passionately and sink my cock deep inside her. And the moment I’m nestled all the way in, I feel like I’m home.
A jolt of electricity flashes through my body that sends goose bumps erupting on my arms and neck and back. As I move inside her, I kiss her and whisper to her. I say the words I’ve never said to a woman before, not since I was fourteen and didn’t know what the words meant. Or, if I’ve said them before and I’m simply not remembering, then I’m positive I’ve never said them to a woman while making love to her, the way I’m doing to Violet now.
I need
to go deeper. I need more of her. I grab her thighs and yank them up around my torso, and she moans at the depth of my strokes. With each thrust of my body, I’m telling her what words can’t say. Something even my songs can’t tell her. I’m all yours. No turning back.
But she’s not gonna come like this. Not in this position. So, I rearrange us, seating myself onto the edge of the bed and positioning her on top of my cock. She wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. And, with her lips locked with mine, she begins fucking me hard.
I grip her hips and guide the grinding movement of her pelvis and feel myself spiraling into full-blown ecstasy. I reach down and touch her clit and she hurtles into an intense climax in my arms.
A couple more thrusts and I come like a rocket inside her, so hard I’m seeing little yellow stars.
After we’ve both stopped shuddering, I kiss and nip at her neck and jawline. I lay her down on the bed and suck on her nipples, not wanting whatever that was—that supernatural energy between us—to be over just yet. When my lips meet Violet’s again, we kiss so passionately, it feels like my heart is physically banging against hers. Knocking for permission to please be let in.
I’ve never had sex like that before. All the same parts were involved. The same motions. But I’ve never in my life felt like that while doing it. I wasn’t just fucking Violet, I was fusing my soul with hers. Giving her my heart. I was telling her, with my body, the whole truth: she’s got me completely. My heart is in her hands now, with nothing to shield or protect it. I’m laid bare.
She kisses my shiner gently. “Does it hurt?”
“No. When I’m with you, I’m invincible.”
She sighs happily. “I feel invincible, too. No matter what happens, it won’t matter, because I’ve got you.”
I take her face in my hands, feeling my love for her coursing in my bloodstream. “You do have me. Every inch of me. I was yours the minute I saw you at that party. You’re a flower, a road, my destiny.”
She’s bites her lip. “You’ve got me, too.” But something flashes across her face. Something she’s not saying. She twists her mouth. Her brow furrows.
“What?”
She pauses. “There’s just so much at stake now. Now that I’ve fallen in love with not just you, but your whole family...”
I stroke her face. “Just trust me, okay? Let down that last little bit of your guard and trust me completely. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can promise you this: I’ll never betray you. I’ll always be honest and true. Violet, I swear, I’m ready to love you with everything I’ve got.”
Part III
The Happily Ever After
Chapter 53
Violet
“Maddy and I want to thank everyone for traveling here to celebrate with us this week!” Keane says into his microphone, his free arm wrapped around his soon-to-be-wife. “Huge thanks to Josh and Kat for the gift of this amazing week for all of us!”
Keane raises his glass to Josh and Kat, who are seated at a table with their daughter, Gracie, across the balmy restaurant, and everyone joins him in raising their glasses.
It’s the first night of Keane and Maddy’s destination wedding in the Bahamas, a weeklong shindig that will, of course, culminate in Kaddy’s exchange of vows. Before that blessed event, however, all sixty of Keane and Maddy’s wedding guests will spend this coming week relaxing on white sand beaches, partaking in every watersport known to man, and eating and drinking ourselves into oblivion... and all of it with the people we love the most.
It’s been nine months since I exchanged “I love yous” with Dax in Seattle. Three months ago, The Violet Album was released to staggering success. Indeed, as successful as 22 Goats’ debut album was, the success of their second album has dwarfed the first by every standard of measurement—from downloads to streams to charting to tour revenue. There’s simply no denying The Violet Album has propelled 22 Goats to rock royalty status. They’re the hottest band on the planet at the moment. In their genre, at least, nobody else has even come close to their success this year.
And thank God that’s the way everything landed for Dax and the goats. Because for a minute there, I was anxious things weren’t going to end up quite so well. When Caleb had his little tantrum on Twitter and the internet quickly figured things out, the entire world decided, predictably, I must have cheated on Caleb with Dax. Obviously, that wasn’t even close to true, but the internet liked that version of the story a whole lot, and so it was. And since Dax and I didn’t say a word, the false story hardened into fact. Overnight, The Love Triangle of Dax, Violet, and Caleb became a pop culture juggernaut. The most talked about love triangle since Twilight. Of course, a vocal faction of the Twitterverse went ballistic in defense of Caleb. Another faction ferociously defended Dax. The only thing everyone could agree on unanimously was that I was trash. Disloyal and disgusting. Certainly not worthy of the golden god, Dax Morgan. For God’s sake, I wasn’t even famous! Not even a model! And certainly not pretty enough. Kind of fat, actually. And, oh, yes, a gold digger, seeing as how I’d also slithered my way into Reed River’s life, too.
It was lovely. Or so I hear. I’ve tried very hard to tune it all out. Indeed, Dax and I both ignored the haters, just like we’d agreed to do from the start. But I must admit, I worried about the goats’ forthcoming album and what all the bad publicity would do to its chances for success.
And then the album released at number freaking one—it released as the number one album in the country!—and I learned first-hand there’s no such thing as bad publicity. At least, not in the music industry. After all the gossip and innuendo and paparazzi shots of Dax and me, and the horrendous memes, and all the horrible things said about me, the world was ravenous to hear every song on The Violet Album by the time it came out. And if curiosity initially drew them in to listen, the amazing music kept them glued to the songs on a running loop.
This time around, Reed dispensed with meting out singles and, instead, opted to push the entire album out for radio play, all at once. And, I’ll be damned, seven songs off the album hit Top 100, all at once. And in the months that followed, several songs—four in total, so far—have climbed all the way to that coveted number one spot, and the album isn’t even close to being done racking up accomplishments yet.
One of the biggest hits off the album so far has been a song called “Judas”—a tune Dax slipped onto the album at the very last minute. Holy fuck, did people love parsing the hell out of those lyrics! In the song, Dax basically admits he was a Judas, a horrible friend who deserves every lashing he took, every punch to his cheek... but, at the end of the song, he basically says the girl was worth it and he’d do it all again, no regrets... except for one—the only thing he’d undo if he could: the balcony. But then, in his next breath, he says, if changing a single thing would mean he wouldn’t be “the guy sniffing that sweet bouquet of violets every night,” then he wouldn’t change a thing and he’d choose to be a Judas again.
So, yeah, in the end, “Judas” was very much a “sorry, not sorry” sort of “flip off the haters” song. And the world ate it up. My theory on the staggering success of “Judas” is as follows. One, it’s an amazing song. A catchy-as-hell, head-banging anthem people can sing along with at top volume while mentally flipping off their ex or boss or anyone who’s ever done them wrong. Two, music fans really love it when their favorite rock stars have a bad-boy streak. They like their rock stars to be bad boys with hearts of gold. And “Judas” solidified Dax’s reputation as one of rock’s best examples of the trope, even though anyone who knows Dax Morgan knows he’s not the least bit bad. Only golden. A momma’s boy who loves his family and friends and only wants to do right by everyone he loves the most. And, three, people are willing to forgive just about any sin, as long as it’s committed in the name of love, which anyone can plainly see is the case here. Nine months after “the love triangle” hit the internet, Dax and I are still going strong. Better than ever. And everyone can
see it. We’re deeply, totally, thoroughly in love and won’t ever apologize for that. Fuck the haters.
It’s not all good news, of course. Nine months in, and Caleb still hates Dax’s guts. But like I told Daxy, we just have to let it go. We can’t change what happened, or Caleb’s feelings about it. In the beginning, Caleb texted and left me voicemails several times, but I ignored him. My loyalty is with Dax now. If Caleb hates Dax, that’s the same thing as hating me, as far as I’m concerned. And the last thing I’m going to do is try to convince Caleb of anything. He’s a big boy. He’s on his own to figure this out.
Dax, being Dax, reached out to apologize to Caleb about a month ago, thinking maybe time had healed the wound. But Caleb said, “You’re dead to me, you piece of shit” and hung up the phone. So, all righty, then. That was that. Onward.
A few days after Caleb hung up on Dax, Dean and the other RCR guys unexpectedly called Dax. They said they weren’t personally pissed at Dax. That, as far as they were concerned, Caleb had treated me like shit during our relationship and this was karma. They assured Dax they’d never badmouth him or 22 Goats—and especially not me, because, they said, they’ll never forget it was me who hooked them up with Reed in the first place and changed their lives forever.
Dean, in particular, said, “If Violet’s happy with you, and we can easily see she is, then we’re happy for her. For you both. We love you both.” But he further told Dax that, in the interest of keeping his band intact, the guys wouldn’t cross the picket line publicly, meaning RCR wouldn’t ever play a festival or awards show if 22 Goats was playing there, too. Dean admitted it pained him not to get to write a song with Dax, but he just didn’t see how it would be possible. At least not for the foreseeable future.
Dax told Dean he understood the guys’ position and wished him and the other guys and the band well. He told Dean he’ll always love and admire him, and hoped that one day, the pair would be able to create music together because, Dax admitted, that remains his biggest musical dream. To get to create music with his idol, Dean Masterson. In reply, Dean said, “Yeah, hopefully, someday, man. I’d love that.”