Page 9 of Love is a Lyric
She was right. It had been almost a year since their last meeting because they were all busy with tours and recording. Drew’s benefit concert was the reason they all needed to be in the same place at the same time. The place? Drew’s house in his home town. His turf.
Each person here had a rivalry with the others but not while they were in this room. Ben dropped into a leather recliner and regarded the men and women he’d grudgingly come to think of as friends. There was Drew Stone, all-American boy who’d chosen to pursue music instead of signing with the NHL team that drafted him.
Noah Clarke and Jo Jackson were a pair, one never performing without the other. They were known to hire other band members, but those came and went while the two of them remained.
Dax Nelson and his dedication to the music and only the music.
And Ben, the newest member to their group, though it had been five years now. At first, he hadn’t known where he fit. Their only connection was through Melanie, but that no longer mattered.
Melanie smiled at she crossed her arms. “Welcome back, boys—and girl. You’ve all had quite the year, and through it all, I’m glad you’re still here, still you.”
She always began the meeting with something cheesy.
Her smile widened. “Rockstars Anonymous lives.”
A collective groan wound through the room. Melanie had been calling their group Rockstars Anonymous for years, like they were some kind of addiction group. Ben guessed they were. Addicted to the lifestyle, to fame. She wanted to keep them grounded, to make sure they didn’t get too full of themselves. Ben hated to break it to her, but it was too late for some of them.
“Let’s talk about the past year. Tell us your triumphs and maybe your failures.”
“We really are in a self-help group,” Jo grumbled.
“Josephine Jackson, you have had a harder time of it than any of us lately, so you have to start.”
Jo shot her a scowl and shook her head, crossing one leather-clad leg over the other.
Melanie pursed her lips and turned her gaze on Noah.
He shrugged. “We had a pretty successful US tour.” His accent was the kind his fans dreamed about. Ben and Drew imitated it just to annoy him. “Failure… well, when I found out—” Jo cut him off with a scowl.
Ben didn’t know what was going on, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Dax leaned forward. “I had a good sales year.”
Ben laughed. “Just good?” Dax outsold all of them and then some. The mystery of who he was only spurred the excitement.
Dax spread his hands as if he didn’t know what to say.
“Oh.” Drew pointed to himself. “Pick me.”
“You can pick yourself, doofus.” Jo smirked.
“I think I found my replacement for Matt, and she’s perfect.” He sent a wink Ben’s way.
Ben’s chest tightened as foreboding filled him. What did Drew know that he didn’t? No… he couldn’t mean… Piper? Had she said yes? All eyes fell to him, but no words came when he opened his mouth.
“Oh, I know!” Melanie perked up. “Ben, does a certain rumor happen to be true?”
He knew which rumor she meant. One of the tabloids printed that he’d proposed to Quinn, a thought that made his heart race and not in a good way.
The guys perked up and started congratulating him.
“Better you than me.” Drew clapped him on the back.
Noah lifted a fist for Ben to bump. “Good job on that one, man. If I had to marry anyone, it would be a woman like Quinn Hayes.” His fist dropped when Ben didn’t respond.
Dax only studied him.
Jo was his savior. “I’m pregnant!”
