Chapter 3
Alice
After a long afternoon of packing up drums and ducking anyone who even remotely looked like Noah, I pulled up to Lark’s house in Henderson. She was renting a small two bed, two bath house with a garage, and I was so jealous. Her tiny house was so much grander than my shithole apartment. And it had a garage that was the perfect practice space for our little group.
But Lark was awesome and deserved it. She’d been with the Tin Gods longer than me and had been the first to welcome me into the girl roadie life. Unlike a lot of the stuck-up snots on the road, Lark had been a genuine friend.
“Hey, Mom, I gotta go.” She opened her door with her phone at her ear after I’d knocked. Then she made a face as her mom obviously continued to talk. “Ma, the girls are here to practice. I gotta go. Yeah. Love you too. Bye.”
Lark sent me an eyeroll as she ended the call. “I love that woman, but she can talk like no one’s business. And I don’t know why, but she always wants to tell me what famous person has died. She’s crazy.”
The love Lark felt for her mom shined through her rant, and I felt a pang in my chest. I had no idea what a relationship like that was like. I wished…
Nope. It was best not to wander down that path.
I gave Lark a wonky smile. “Is Bailey here yet?”
Bailey was the third of our kooky trio. We’d met on the road when she joined the tour last year as a merch girl and had clicked immediately. Bailey Butler loved guitars, tequila, and men—not always in that order.
“Yup, she’s in the garage going over something she wrote last weekend. Come on.” Lark grabbed my hand and pulled me through her living room to the garage door off her tiny kitchen.
I’d never been a touchy-feely person, but it was a requirement with Lark. She never asked, and I kinda liked that about her.
When we entered her garage, we found Bailey hunched over her guitar muttering to herself. Her eyeliner was smudged, making me think it was from yesterday, and her blond hair was tousled like she hadn’t fixed it in a minute, but she was still so gorgeous it was impossible to look away. She constantly got hit on while working the merch line when we were on the road. Her tips on an average day were probably more than my weekly salary. Bailey had this confidence that, combined with her looks, made every man want to make her his.
Bailey looked up from her guitar with a grimace. “I can’t get this bridge. I just…it needs something. Alice, help me out. What is it missing?”
She played the chorus that led into her bridge, and it was like she had switched to a different song. The pulsing chords gave way to a lilting melody that, although beautiful, didn’t match the rest of it at all.
I picked up a guitar leaning against the wall. “Can you go back to the chorus? Play that bit again.”
We picked our way through the chorus and a few verses until we had a little bridge that she loved and went with the rest of the song. We laughed and sang and played like we always did. I moved from a guitar to the drum set I’d left at Lark’s house weeks ago.
But of course, when we were on a much needed water break, Lark had to bring it up again.
“Hey, did you know this one got admitted to Juilliard back in the day?” Lark tipped her head at me.
“Wow. You did?” Bailey beamed at me, and I might’ve been mesmerized by her sky-blue eyes for a beat. “What was it like?”
I shook my head and looked away. “Nah, I didn’t go. Couldn’t afford it.”
“Still. It’s so amazing.” Bailey grinned back at me then she tilted her head as a look of consideration swept over her face. “Wait, what did you get in for? Do they admit kickass drummers? I thought it was all classical stuff.”
I sighed. I really didn’t want to take this little jaunt down memory lane. “I was admitted for music composition. Writing, not playing. You guys ready to go again?”
I jumped up from my slouch and headed for my kit before either of them replied. No doubt they were exchanging looks behind my back.
“So…” Lark drawled as she settled behind her keyboard and a feeling of dread pooled in my stomach.
I really didn’t want to talk about it.
Any of it.
“We still haven’t settled on a name,” Lark finally drawled.
Relief left me a little light-headed. “That’s because you’re still pushing for something with goddess in it. Not a fan.”
I didn’t want any connection to the Tin Gods. We were our own band with our own sound and talent.
“Fine.” Lark pouted exaggeratedly. “What’s your suggestion then?”
“I don’t know. I just want something with meaning.” Groaning, I finger combed my hair in agitation. I put my heart and soul into my last band only to get screwed over at the eleventh hour. These girls weren’t anything like my last band of assholes, but I’d had a lifetime of betrayals even before my asshole ex.
It was hard to trust anyone.
But I was really trying with Lark and Bailey. For the first time in a long time, it felt like I’d finally found my place, and it was with these girls. Awesome women I’d literally do anything for. I had a shovel in my trunk and everything.
“You’re both overthinking it.” Bailey laughed. “Do you seriously think the guys in 3 Doors Down gave it this much thought?”
I scowled. “I didn’t get any say in my last band’s name, and I’ll be damned if that horror show happens again.”
“Aw, come on.” Lark smirks. “Alien Attraction isn’t that bad.”
“It is when it’s your boyfriend who comes up with it!” I exclaimed. “Do you know the complex that gave me?”
“You gotta love the alliteration though,” Lark replied seriously before nodding. “But agreed. Your ex was a tool.”
“A teeny, tiny tool, who shouldn’t live rent free in your head for another second.” Bailey frowned at me. “You gotta let that shit go. Don’t let a boy be a reason you do anything. Or keeps you from doing something.”
“You don’t have to tell me.” I scoffed. “I learned that lesson the hard way. Juilliard? The real reason I didn’t go? I ran away with Mr. Tiny Tool. I threw away my future because of a boy. Never again.”
For a second it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. I was back in that damn foster home with Frank trying to break into my room and Parker standing bug-eyed on the other side of my window.
Then I took a breath, and I was back in Lark’s garage with the two of them staring at me.
I didn’t want to know the expression they’d make if I told them the whole story.
So I hitched a shoulder and raised my eyebrows at them.
Lark and Bailey did that thing where they had a whole conversation with each other using only their eyes.
I rolled mine and scoffed. “Can we get back to making music? We have plenty of time to settle on a name. It’s not like we’re turning away gigs.”
“We could be, you know?” Lark raised her eyebrows. “With all the amazing songs the two of you are writing, we should start getting our name out there.”
“And what name would that be?” I drawled. “Ice Queens? Wasn’t that your last brilliant suggestion?”
“Size Queens!” Bailey shouted. “We should let our audiences know what to expect with us. No small dicks need apply.”
Lark and I booed her. After a beat, she laughed. “I wasn’t serious . But I agree with Lark, we really do need a name.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “How about everyone comes to practice next week with their three favorite names? And we’ll talk more about it then. But everyone has to agree on the name. No bullshit majority rules vote. All our voices matter in this.”
“Of course.” Lark nodded.
Bailey sent me a beaming smile. “Absolutely.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Great. Can we get back to practicing now?”
“Such a slave driver,” Lark groaned. “You know I had practice with the guys today, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I was there. Remember?”
“Right.” Lark’s lips curled in like she was fighting a smile. “I seem to remember you and Noah going at it. After you stared at him like a stalker from the edge of the stage.”
“What?” Bailey squealed. “Seriously?”
Lark nodded. “Oh yeah. Noah had taken his shirt off maybe three songs before the encore and—”
“Dammit, I missed that? Take a picture for me next time. He’s so yummy.” Bailey mocked a huge shiver.
I rolled my eyes again.
Lark laughed. “Right? So he was all sweaty with those toned abs on display and it looked like he’s had ink done since the last time I saw him shirtless. Now he has huge rocker letters on his—”
“Seriously?” I groaned. “Can we have one session that doesn’t devolve into a Noah Hawker Fanclub meeting? Please?”
“Are you really going to pretend like you weren’t drooling over him at practice today?” Lark drawled.
I narrowed my eyes at her but kept my mouth shut. There was no talking my way out of that.
“Oh wow.” Bailey breathed in fascination. “I always miss the good stuff.”
“Unless the good stuff is Noah barking at me for packing up too slow, you didn’t miss anything. He might be pretty, but he’s still an ass.”
“Only to you.” Lark raised her eyebrows. “Did you ever notice that? He’s all goofy or charming with everyone else, but he saves the ire for you.”
“Right. I guess that’s what happens when you narc on your boss for trying to smuggle drugs into a foreign country.” I might’ve signed an NDA for the band, but so had Lark and Bailey.
“Or maybe it’s the whole schoolboy torment-the-girl-you-like thing?” Bailey smirked. “Maybe Noah has a crush on you, too.”
I stomped over to my drum kit. “I don’t have a crush on Noah Hawker. The man is an ass.”
“But what a fine ass the ass has.” Lark grinned at me.
I picked up my sticks. “I didn’t notice his ass.”
“Right.” Lark was still grinning as she sat behind her keyboard. “Because you were too busy looking at his abs.”
My scowl didn’t lessen her glee at all. “Let’s get going.” I slammed my sticks together. “One, two, three…”
And I might’ve been picturing Noah’s stupid face on my skins as I banged away.
His stupid, pretty face.
Dammit.