I
had a simple life.
I
worked two jobs, made ends meet, and hung out with my mom and twin brother. The
other part of my life was about avoiding him, but when SWAT raided my boyfriend’s
home, that was the last straw. The boyfriend got tossed and to help me keep
busy, my brother talked me into joining their old band again, but I had to be
honest. It wasn’t a hard sell. Playing drums was in my blood. I used to be
addicted and that craving hadn’t been satisfied in three long years. The only
problem was their lead singer.
It
was him.
The
drums might not have been the only thing I was addicted to. I think I was still
addicted to him too.
Meet Bri &
Luke in Sustain!
Bri's POV
Luke
hit a jarring note on his guitar below, drawing me from the past and back to
reality. Seriously. I’d been ready to take on two thugs beside a dumpster for
my stupid-ass cousin, but this had ice filling my veins.
I
rolled my eyes upward. What was wrong with me?
The
melody was addictive. I felt it reach deep inside me and take root. My
breathing wavered as he kept playing. He moved down a chord, and the sound of
it seeped into me, smoothing out the haunted memories. Then he began singing.
His voice was soft and low, but I could hear it as if I were in the room. He
was
weaving
a spell. It was like he threw a spear that had a rope attached to it at me from
a hundred yards away, and it embedded deep into my stomach. Then he began
pulling on it. I couldn’t fight because it would yank out my insides, but damn,
I didn’t want to go with it. This whole thing with Luke was both painful and exhilarating
at the same time. I had two urges going through me at once. One was to crap my
pants, and the other was to start doing cartwheels.
I
was just messed up, which is why I started down the stairs. I still had no clue
what to say, but I had to do something.
He
was hunched over the guitar in his lap with a beer at his feet. His eyes were
closed, and his head hung over the guitar as he hit another chord, his thumb
beating out the base. Since he was only wearing jeans, I saw some of the scars
on his back. A storm of regret, shame, and longing all swirled inside me. I
wanted to go to him, run my hands over those scars, and make them disappear. I
couldn’t, though. We weren’t close anymore.
So many ghosts within you
So many haunts to pull you away
You look, I reach out and there’s nothing to do
They take you from me again, far away
I can’t, I can’t, I can’t take your hand
He
kept singing, and my heart felt like it was splitting into two, but then he
faltered. His eyes opened, and he looked up. He didn’t stop playing, but he
stopped singing.
I
felt like he was strumming me. I couldn’t look away from his gaze. His thumb
stopped hitting the bass, and his fingers slowed on the guitar. “What are you
doing here?”
Right.
I was pretty sure I was seeing lust in his eyes. With that thought, a fever
took over my blood, heating me up. “I,” my tongue wet my lips, “um, I’m here to
talk about you and me.”
His
gaze clouded over, and his eyelids lowered. He bent his head back over his
guitar, but he didn’t start strumming again. “There is no ‘you and me.’ You’re
in the band. That’s it.”
I
swallowed the lump in my throat. “Luke,” I started.
“No.”
He stood up abruptly, setting his guitar to the side. He advanced toward me,
his eyes were smoldering.
When
my back hit the wall, I realized I had nowhere else to go and could only watch
as he closed in on me. A part of me wanted him to keep getting closer; the
other part of me was still thinking about crapping my pants.
He
leaned a hand against the wall beside my head, keeping a few inches between us.
His eyes were hard as he said, “There is no you and me. That died long ago,
remember?”
Luke's POV
I’d
been tense from watching Bri on stage, and it hadn’t lessened as we ran through
the woods. If there was another remark about her, I was ready to swing. I
didn’t care how big they were.
Gunn
had been watching me. He moved close and said under his breath, “If it happens,
I’ll do it.”
“Why?”
“Because
we need your pretty face for the fans.”
I
looked up to see if he was serious. He was, but he relinquished, “Kidding. If
you have a busted face, I think Priss would piss her pants from excitement.”
Braden
had overheard him and laughed. “No, shit. That’d be leaked to the gossip shows
in two seconds flat. I swear, she has all the numbers for the gossip channels
on speed dial.”
The
football players had gone ahead, but stopped and waited for us. The third one
asked, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
I shoved past him. While seeing the road through the trees, I saw the
headlights for Braden’s car at the same time. When we cleared the trees and
headed up the ditch, all of us panned out and walked in one line for the car.
When
we got there, Bri opened her door and leaned against the car. Her hair was
whipping behind her face and one hand was resting on her hip. She tugged her
shirt and then adjusted it back, but it didn’t stick. It fell down, showing her
black bra. Bri was clueless, scowling at us. She was the picture of fierce and
alluring at the same time.
We
were greeted with, “What were you guys doing there?”
She
took in the whole line of guys before letting her eyes find mine, making me
feel seared. It was the same effect every time. My insides felt yanked out, but
I still wanted to touch her.
I
looked away instead.
“We
came to see you.” Braden motioned to the guys.
“Are
you insane? How was tonight supposed to go down any other way? You guys are
celebrities. You can’t be coming to house parties anymore.” There was a clipped
bark to her voice, but it faded on the last word, and I glanced over. She
sneaked a look at me.
“Yeah,
we didn’t think ahead.” Braden threw a hand to the football guys. “Got some
extra room?”
She
shook her head. “There is no way this little car can fit all of you hulks.”
The
guys laughed and one mentioned, “We can wait here. A bunch of our buddies are
coming. They can pick us up.”
I
should’ve thanked them for saving us from the chaos, and I heard Gunn and
Braden doing exactly that, but I looked back at her. Her hand was still on her
hip, but her shoulders were slumped forward. She was kicking at some gravel on
the road.
The
football guys headed farther down the road as Gunn and Braden got into the car.
We were alone now, but there was still an audience.
She
wouldn’t look at me anymore. I wanted to turn those dark eyes to me. I wanted
to say something, but I had no idea what. I ended with, “You’re still really
good.”
Her
head lifted, and I saw it. There was so much there. Fear, caution, excitement,
warmth, and another expression I couldn’t place. No, I did. She was still
haunted.
“Thank.”
She
was mine.
No.
She wasn’t.
She
had gone to him that night.
Ah,
fucking hell.
“We
should probably talk.”
Her
eyes opened at my tone, which was rough, and panic flared across her face for a
moment. “Oh. Okay.”
I
didn't begin writing until after undergraduate college. There'd been storylines
and characters in my head all my life, but it came to a boiling point one day
and I HAD to get them out of me. So the computer was booted up and I FINALLY
felt it click. Writing is what I needed to do. After that, I had to teach
myself how to write. I can't blame my teachers for not teaching me all those
years in school. It was my fault. I was one of the students that was wishing I
was anywhere but at school! So after that day, it took me lots of work until I
was able to put together something that resembled a novel. I'm hoping I got it
right since someone must be reading this profile! And I hope you keep enjoying
my future stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment