Chapter 6
six
. . .
Kate
I read through the message for the hundredth time that I’d received from Luke, making sure I’d come to the right place.
The house loomed large in front of me, causing me to crane my neck to peer up at the top of it.
I sighed, wondering not for the first time why they would want my help.
They must know a whole host of better female singers by now and after the other night with Luke, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I’d pushed him away, I realised that, and yet he’d bargained his way back into my life all the same.
I’d spent the last few days agonising over whether I should tell him the truth about the scar and what it meant for me, or if it would be better to keep quiet like I’d originally decided on.
Still uncertain of the outcome of all this, I rang the doorbell and squared my shoulders.
I could do this. It was only for the one song and then when their summer was up, they would be gone and I’d be on my own again.
Except now Luke had confessed he loved me and the way he’d held my hand in Sweet Dreams when negotiating for me to help them had made me question everything.
The door swung open and Joel greeted me with a shout, followed by a bear hug that left my feet swinging in the air.
Laughing, I made him put me down as Benny came over to say hi with a wave of his hand.
I didn’t see Luke but knew he wouldn’t be far away.
The two men led the way into the enormous living room that seemed to have its’ own music room at the far side however, instead of stopping there, we crossed the living room until we came to the glass doors on the opposite side.
Sliding them open, Benny and Joel stepped outside so I followed them, curious as to why they were taking me outside.
As I took in the scene before me, I let out a small gasp.
There were two garden sofas on either side of a fire pit, and fairy lights twinkled as they hung from various vegetation around the garden.
I stepped onto the concrete patio where the furniture and fire pit were, noticing the bucket of ice filled with beers inside.
I rolled my eyes at that. Nothing had changed.
I took a small comfort in that. Benny and Joel flopped down onto one of the sofas, gesturing for me to sit down too.
I was about to make my way to the opposite sofa when I heard the glass door behind me sliding open so I turned to see if it was Luke.
Smack! I collided with a solid wall. Arms grabbed my shoulders and caused me to stumble backwards a step, although the owner of the arms didn’t let go.
“Are you alright?”
I looked up at Luke, surprised, my hand placed on his chest in a futile attempt to steady myself. I felt the hard muscles under his shirt, the toned outline of his pecs and let out a soft sigh, even as my mind raced to catch up with me.
“I’m fine,” I spluttered, taking another step backwards. “Let’s just get on shall we?”
I stalked over to the sofa and sat down promptly, wishing I could forget how good he’d felt in that brief moment.
I watched him make his way over to sit next to me, his mouth twisted into a frown.
He was probably wondering what was the matter with me.
I was thinking the same myself. Noticing Benny and Joel chuckling out of the corner of my vision, my cheeks flamed and I wanted the ground to swallow me up. Of course, it didn’t.
“So, shall we get on?” I repeated when nobody spoke.
“Yes! Let’s get going!” Joel cried out, taking a swig from his beer and hopping up from his seat.
He fetched his bass guitar from inside the house, reappearing within minutes and handing Luke his acoustic guitar.
Benny pulled his drumsticks from his back pocket, twirled them in the air before beginning to tap them on the edge of the blazing fire pit.
As I studied the instruments, I realised I recognised them.
“Are you still using the instruments you were years ago?” I asked, unable to believe they were the same ones.
All three of the men nodded their heads at me.
“Wow.” I was stunned. With all of the money at their disposal and they still had the same, worn instruments from when I’d known them.
I recognised the groove in Luke’s guitar from when he’d dropped it during one of our practice sessions .
“We only use them for writing songs now though,” Luke muttered, offering up the information when he realised I was still staring. I nodded, leaning towards him as Benny and Joel messed around.
“What exactly do you need me for?” I asked.
“We need your input in a few songs and it’d be great if you could add some female vocals to them as well, so that if we ever want a female in the band again, there’s a place for her in it,” he replied, his implication not lost on me as his gaze bore into mine.
Did they want me back in the band? I shook my head.
“You know I can’t do that and I have a life here. I’m just helping you out. That’s it,” I told him.
“Sure. Let’s get to work,” he agreed, not convincing me at all that he was going to drop it but it was better to move on.
They began to play some of the songs that they were creating for their new album and I had to admit, they were really good.
These guys had morphed into incredible musicians in the past few years, even more so than they had been before.
Talent was always inside of them. I was just glad to witness their transformation into something spectacular.
I offered a few ideas to interject in a few places and sang a few vocalisations for them to see if it worked with a female voice.
I knew what Luke was trying to do and it was an experience I knew I’d never forget, but it wasn’t my reality anymore.
Singing with them was the most fun thing I’d done in a long time and it made me crave that feeling of being my old self once more.
I threw myself into it, laughing along with them when they cracked jokes, making a few of my own along the way.
I found Luke stayed by my side almost the entire evening, only leaving once or twice to the toilet or to fetch notes he’d forgotten to bring with him.
The song we finished on was a particularly tough one to figure out decent female vocals for as the men had not envisioned it being sung with a female.
I tried a few different ways to add to it, when suddenly, an idea popped into my head.
I explained it to them before trying it out.
By changing the timing slightly and doing a kind of relay with my vocals and the others, it worked beautifully.
I squealed with delight at the outcome, flinging my arms around Luke’s neck and pulling him in for an embrace. As I pulled back, he stopped me and before I knew it, his lips were on mine, claiming me.
“Woooooo!” Joel shouted, reminding me he was there. I pushed Luke away. Why would he do that? Here? Now?
“We’re not here for that. I think we’re done for the night,” I informed him, needing to put space between us.
Luke’s face dropped but he didn’t say anything.
He nodded his head as I said my goodbyes to Benny and Joel.
They all trailed after me in silence as I headed back inside and made my way to the front door.
I glanced back at them, knowing I had ruined the night with my reaction but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t allow Luke to draw me back in again, just to leave me behind.