Sindy’s thoughts drifted back to the contract she signed earlier that day. “I have a question,” she asked hesitantly. “Who owns the label? I saw your three names on the contract when I signed it.”
“We own BGW Records,” Mason answered. “Blade. Garcia. Wilder. BGW. That’s us. This is a joint venture. We each put up a third. We get help and guidance from our parents, but we’re learning as we go.”
“You mean, the three of you are responsible for my advance?”
They all nodded.
She lowered her eyes for a moment to hide the emotion that sprung into her face. These three people had done more for her in the short time she’d known them than anyone else had ever done for her. She looked at each of them and hoped they felt the sincerity emanating from her gaze. “Thank you. This money saved me.”
Lucas reached across the table and placed his hand over Sindy’s. “We don’t expect you to work for free.” He smiled and his eyes took on a teasing glint. “And if you think we’ve been working hard these last few weeks, just wait and see how hard Tessa pushes us now that we’ll be trying to get tracks recorded.”
“She cracks the whip,” Mason added, flashing a dazzling smile at Tessa.
“Stop it! I’m not that bad,” Tessa protested. “You boys are slackers, that’s all.”
Sindy loved how they teased each other and the familiarity they shared. These three people spent their entire lives together, and knew each other inside and out. There was so much history among them. “When did the three of you start playing music together?”
“I’m five years older than Lucas,” Mason explained. “I’ve been playing since I was at least four, maybe younger. And Lucas has been playing practically since he was born. I think he was about three the first time we played a full length song together from start to finish.”
Lucas raised his beer. “Here’s to Metallica.”
Sindy turned her head toward him in disbelief. She knew he was gifted, but never expected him to be so talented at such a young age. “You played a Metallica song from start to finish when you were three years old?”
“Shit yeah. My dad taught me to play as soon as I was strong enough to hold a guitar.”
“When we were kids and on tour with Immortal Angel,” Mason continued, “Lucas and Tessa always had a playroom in their suite where we’d set up our instruments. He’d drive me crazy, because all he ever wanted to play was Metallica. It was always Master of Puppets, Enter Sandman, or Nothing Else Matters.” Mason grunted. “I used to get so mad.” He reached over and pinched Lucas’ cheek. “But I couldn’t say no to that mug.”
Lucas laughed and shoved his friend away. “Do you know that my mom used to constantly complain that your drums were always in our suite?”
A hearty laugh flew from Mason’s mouth. It was long and happy and contagious. It made everyone at the table smile. He held his belly and wiped the corner of one eye. “My parents used to always say how happy they were that your parents had to put up with the noise and not them!” He let out another hardy laugh, and soon the four of them were laughing as hard as he was.
Sindy thought about this trio who were born stars, destined to form a band together, and imagined them as toddlers, and some of the photos that Tessa had displayed around her room. How she wished she would have known them back then. “What about Tessa? When did she start playing music with you two?”
“She always babbled along while we played.” Mason gave Tessa another one of his dazzling smiles. “You drove me nuts! I was trying to play and you’d always come in and interrupt us with this really loud babbling.”
“I thought you said I was cute?” Tessa pursed her lips and placed her hand on her hip.
“You were. And you still are.” Mason continued with his story, returning his eyes to Sindy. “By the time she was three or four, she could sing an entire song from start to finish. She remembered all the words. And I’m not just talking about those Disney movie songs that made me want to stuff cotton balls in my ears. We were playing Nothing Else Matters one time, and all of a sudden I hear this high-pitched little girl’s voice singing the lyrics and in walks Tessa with her plastic microphone. At first, I thought she was using an amp, but it was her voice projecting the lyrics. She missed a few words, made up a few words, but she sang the entire song. On key. In time. Loud. We were shocked. Then she learned the bass from Damien Diamond, Immortal Angel’s bass player.”
“I know exactly who Damien Diamond is,” Sindy quickly stated. There was no need for Mason to clarify who he was. Damien Diamond was a punk rock god known around the world.
“I learned from the best,” Tessa boasted. “When I learned to play bass, that’s when our band really came together. We have a big catalog of music. There’s so much to choose from. We got tracks, Sindy. We’re gonna pump out a single and then an album. We have photo shoots lined up. Interviews. A promotional tour. Then the national tour next year.”
So much was already planned, as if they were just waiting for her to join the band. It all felt so fated. They seemed to know the business intimately, while she was still learning and didn’t really know what to expect. Every time they talked about the future of the band, she learned something new was in store. “What’s the difference between a promotional tour and the tour next year?”
“A promotional tour is to get ourselves known,” Mason explained. “That means we’re going to be on a lot of radio stations and late night TV shows—”
“TV shows?” Sindy sat up straight, her heart surging. “We’re going to be on TV?”
“Yeah.” Mason nodded. “We’re known locally, but we need the world to see us.”
No wonder she needed a wardrobe, and now she was nervous about using up her advance faster than expected. “I need to get a wardrobe!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tessa reassured her. “You have some really cool clothes. You just need to have enough to bring on tour without wearing the same thing twice. My mom is already sketching designs for us. We’re gonna have awesome new outfits. Except these guys.” She motioned to Lucas and Mason with her beer bottle. “We need wardrobe, they need jeans and T-shirts. It’s so unfair. We need to wear a certain wardrobe to look like rock stars. They don’t need to dress the part.”
Lucas tugged on his T-shirt. “This is the part. Jeans. T-shirt. Boots. That’s a rock star.”
Tessa put her hand on her forehead and leaned into Sindy. “I need another beer. Do you see what I have to put up with? I’m so glad I have another female in the mix. I need an ally in the room.”
“Another round of beers coming right up!” Mason slipped out of the booth and headed to the bar. He didn’t get more than a few steps before he was surrounded by a group of people.
“He gets this everywhere we go,” Tessa said with annoyance.
Sindy noted that Tessa kept her eyes on Mason. Watchful, making sure no one was getting out of line. Tessa was fiercely protective of the people she cared about. After draining her beer, Tessa returned her gaze to Mason. “I better go rescue him before we never get our drinks.”
With Tessa and Mason gone, Sindy was alone in the booth with Lucas. She stared at him, and he stared back at her, the corners of his mouth curling just enough to taunt her.
Ironically, she didn’t know what to say to him, so she returned the same coy smile. Their gaze started out friendly enough, but after a few seconds it shifted. The playful twinkle in his eyes turned into a lusty hue. His lids closed halfway and his irises turned a deeper shade of blue. The dim light from above the booth accentuated the angles of his cheekbones and cast a golden glow around his flaxen hair, which fell in soft waves around his shoulders. Goosebumps rose on her flesh, and she sucked in a deep breath. She forced herself to look away before she leaned across the table and kissed him. The pool table across the room caught her attention and provided a much needed distraction. “How about a game of pool?”
A soft chuckle left his throat. “Are you challenging me?”
“I guess you could say it’s our thing.” He finished his beer and slipped out of the booth. “Lead the way.”
“How chivalrous.” She took his extended hand as she stood, and a tingle ran up her arm as their skin touched. Heat flushed her cheeks and her pulse raced. She glanced at him for a tiny second before lowering her eyes, and she withdrew her hand.
On their way to the pool table several people, mostly pretty girls, recognized Lucas and said hello to him or tried to steal his attention. He acknowledged them with a smile and a nod or a wave, but didn’t stop for side conversations, which Sindy appreciated. She expected his head to swell and his ego to lap up the notoriety, so the genuine humility surprised her.
She racked up the balls, spending too much time to make sure they were sufficiently shuffled inside the plastic triangle.
“It isn’t a mathematical equation,” Lucas commented.
“And this from a mathematician,” Sindy shot back. “Fine. Would you like to break?”
“Ladies first.”
Now it was her turn to gloat. Rubbing chalk on the end of her pool stick, she tried to tone down her smile. She stalled by fiddling with the way the stick laid between her fingers, which caused the expected huff of impatience from Lucas. She deliberately held back when she struck the cue ball to create a modest spray of solids and stripes across the felt. “Stripes,” she announced, and took another shot. She sunk one ball, then purposely missed a shot so it was Lucas’ turn. She wanted to assess his skill of the game before she showed off.
Lucas sunk the two balls, then scratched – a rookie mistake. “Damn it.”
Sindy never expected the scowl on his face to look so adorable. Now that she knew his skill level she could unleash hers. She chalked the end of the stick again, purely for effect, as she slowly walked around the table. She even squatted down so she was eye level with the balls for a better view of the potential shots on the table. Another impatient huff from Lucas fed her ego. The first ball she sunk was a bank shot. It flew across the table, hit the bumper and careened back to fall into the pocket at her left.
Lucas’ head snapped in her direction. “Nice shot.” The surprise in his voice clearly meant, lucky shot.
Sindy was about the have her payback for the way he threw around his intelligence and higher knowledge of the technical aspects of music. And let’s not forget about that damn BA from NYU. She sunk the next ball in the side pocket, and then a two-in-one shot at the other end of the table. One by one she cleared the table, then sunk the eight ball. “Game,” she said proudly, holding the stick at her side.
Lucas stared with his mouth hanging open. “You fucking hustled me!”
“We didn’t bet any money.”
He slowly marched toward her, the stick dangling menacingly in his hand, but it was the provocative smile on his face that was responsible for the shiver racing up her spine. Or maybe it was the way he pinned her with his intense stare, as if she were a lamb and he were the wolf.
She needed to get away from him and pull herself together. “I . . . I need to use the restroom.”
She darted into the ladies’ room and patted her cheeks with a wet paper towel. Lucas Blade was not going to get to her, she promised herself. The man either made her so angry she wanted to smash her guitar, or filled her with so much desire that she wanted to put her mouth on every inch of his body. Neither were happening. Especially the latter. Ever. Again.
Tonight, they had fun together. There weren’t philosophies to explain or riffs to learn. Tonight they were friends, equals, celebrating their new career. They had fun and laughed together and drank a little too much. That’s all. With her resolve back in place, she exited the bathroom.
Lucas was waiting for her, his piercing gaze the only bright thing in the dark corridor. She stepped to the side to walk around him, and he planted his hand against the wall blocking her path. She watched his muscled bicep and swallowed as her heart pounded in her throat. She slowly met his eyes, and her skin prickled at their intensity. He backed her against the wall, and placed both palms against the sheetrock, trapping her between his strong arms. He stood close enough so she could smell the beer on his breath, mingling with her own. Her body temperature rose, making her breathe heavier. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you, either. But I don’t think you think about me in the same way I think about you.” She paused to reflect on her wordy sentence. She was so flustered she wasn’t even making sense anymore.
“You mean, picturing you naked and remembering how your body felt next to mine. How your body reacted to mine?”
“That’s the alcohol talking. Tomorrow, you’ll be shoving a music lesson down my throat and I’ll be cursing at you. Telling you that you’re wasting time when we should be rehearsing.”
“There’s that spunky attitude.” He lowered one arm so she could escape. “Go back to the table. If you want. I’m not stopping you.”
She didn’t move. Why didn’t she move? Something inside of her always reacted to him. Whether it was frustration, anger, annoyance, heat, want, lust, or a mixture of all of it. He drove her crazy on so many different levels. The night they’d spent together was incredible. How many times did she need to emphasize that she couldn’t mess up this opportunity. “Are you trying to sabotage my position in the band?”
“Sindy, I’ve been fighting for a rhythm guitarist for years. Tessa refused to give in. You think I’m stubborn? She makes me look complacent. But you changed her mind. She knew you were perfect for the band, which is why I knew you were perfect for the band before I even met you.” His eyes softened and his lids lowered so only slits of sky blue peeked through. “Which is why I know you’re perfect for me.”
Her breath hitched.
“You match wills with me. You’re as passionate about playing the guitar as I am. We’re equals when it comes to making music.”
Lucas Blade thought she equaled his talent on the guitar? And he verbalized it out loud? Clearly, he had too much to drink. Maybe they both did, because his compliment outweighed any she’d ever received, and she melted into the wall.
“We’re gonna duel axes on stage. I never thought I’d have that with anyone. I never thought Tessa would allow an outsider into our little clique, but you won her over. And that’s the biggest turn on for me. That you have that kind of power.”
“I have no power. It’s my music that has all the power.”
“Oh my God.” He put his hand over his chest and swooned a little. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
He lowered his other arm, so now there was room for her to leave easily if she wanted to, but the way his gaze smoldered at her pinned her against the wall. “What are you doing?” she asked, suddenly out of breath.
“You’re going to kiss me, of your own free will.” He held his hands up. “I’m not touching you. It’s all on you.”
“I’m not doing any such thing.”
“Then go back to the table.”
She couldn’t. She was frozen in place. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to kiss him, because he made her feel alive. She took his face in her hands, leaned in and pressed her lips to his, inhaling deeply. His hair tickled her cheek as his tongue tickled her mouth. A small moan escaped her as a tingle raced through her body.
He pulled back. “See? I knew you wanted to kiss me.”
He made her crazy. He had some kind of hypnotic effect on her that rendered her powerless. “I can’t believe what you do to me.”
He put his lips to her ear. “Come to my room tonight.”
The idea of sneaking out of bed and meeting him in his room, like a prowler in the night, ignited a small fire inside of her. But she knew she could never go through with it. She needed to get ahold of her senses and rein in her wild side. She shook the haze from her head. “No. I ca
n’t.”
“You can. And I know you will. Deny it all you want, but I know you’ll be there.”
She couldn’t stop thinking about the excitement of slinking around the huge mansion in the middle of the night. Tiptoeing through the hallway, her bare feet on the cool marble floor. Slipping into Lucas’ bed . . .
He kissed her again, harder than before, and all the breath left her lungs. She sank into the wall as he pressed his body against hers. Her fingers found their way into his silken hair while one of his hands traveled down the length of her torso, over her hip and stopping on her thigh. She wondered if he was going to move it between her legs, and, if he did, if she’d stop him.
“Get a room,” a guy said as he walked by.
It broke the spell that Lucas cast over Sindy, and she finally came to her senses and pulled away. “I can’t do this, Lucas. Please. Just let me go back to the table.”
He stepped back and gave her room so she was free to go. So why was she still standing there, unable to look away? What kind of magic did this beautiful man possess? She couldn’t move, as if her feet were glued to the floor, and she couldn’t break his gaze.
He displayed a lecherous grin. He knew the power he had over her, the cocky bastard.
With a surge of defiance, she darted away and rejoined Tessa and Mason, never looking back as she fled. A few minutes later, Lucas slipped into the booth across from her. While Tessa went on about her vision for cover art for the CD, Lucas stared at Sindy. She ignored him by pretending to be riveted to what Tessa was saying, but in reality not paying attention at all.
Something nudged her foot, so she pulled her leg back a little further and out of the way. She felt it again, then it curled around the back of her calf. She looked up and met Lucas’ gaze. No smile. No emotion. Just a blank stare. But the look in his eyes made her suck in a breath. They were trained on hers like two blue searchlights. They looked into her soul, not searching for an answer but delivering a message. Telling her what he wanted – her.
Sindy’s temperature rose. It was suddenly sweltering in the bar, so she took a long drink of her beer. It was ice cold, and she ended up finishing it too fast. The alcohol made her lightheaded, or maybe it was the arrogant, gorgeous blond-haired guitar god across the table that made her dizzy.
LUCAS BLADE: Radical Rock Stars: Next Generation Duet Book 1 Page 13