Page 132 of Rock Out Together
“Good luck, man. Just in case you better kiss your balls because you may not have them much longer,” Russ joked.
STORM
I placed my phone on speaker and laid it on the bed between us.
“Storm!” my father bellowed through the phone. “What in the hell are you doing? You’re throwing your career away for some rock band who will probably fade in a couple of years. For some guy whose slept with half the girls on tour!” he barked.
“Daddy, that’s not true. Their band has been on the top of the charts for five weeks in a row. They have two gold and one platinum record. Rowdy alone has a gold record for his solo album. And as far as who he’s slept with before we got married is none of my business or yours for that matter.”
“It won’t last. Pack your things and come home. We’ll file for an annulment and forget this nightmare ever happened.”
“It’s not a nightmare, Daddy. I’m doing what I love. I’m playing keyboard for the band, and I love Rowdy very much. He believes in me.”
“Is that what he told you to get you into bed?” I gasped at his hurtful words and tears began to fill my eyes. “If your mother could see you now it would break her heart.”
“If Mother could see me now, she’d be proud for me. She always told me to reach for the stars, that I could be anything I wanted to with my life.” By the time I’d finished tears were streaming down my face.
“Are you going to end this nonsense?” my father asked in a stern voice.
I had to stand my ground. My mother’s words kept playing over in my head. I could be anything I wanted to be. “No. I’m happy, Daddy. Why can’t you be happy for me?”
With that the line went dead.
I collapsed face down on the bed and cried. I could feel Rowdy’s warm body against mine and the security of his tattooed arm across my waist. I knew what I wanted, and I took it. It made me happy. Rowdy made me feel wanted, which was something my father never did. He just wanted to parade me around like a prized farm animal at the fair. He wanted his name in the paper and the mention of his career. Not mine. Fuck him.
“Fuck him, baby,” Rowdy whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry that he can’t see what I see when I look at you. A beautifully talented woman that can do whatever she wants in life whether it’s in music or not,” Rowdy said, pulling me closer to him. I snuggled in. I was exhausted. It only took about five minutes, and I was out.
When I woke, Rowdy was out on the balcony sitting with his feet propped on the railing, drinking a beer. I grabbed a beer and stepped onto the patio. He held out his hand and motioned for me to sit in his lap. I dropped down and he placed a kiss on my temple.
“You feel any better since your nap?”
I lifted my shoulder and took a pull of my beer. “I don’t understand how he could write me off for doing what I love which is music. It may not be in an orchestra as he had hoped, but I’m doing what I love. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
I leaned in and kissed Rowdy. “I’m sorry for what he said about your band.” I lay my head on his chest. The thrum of his heartbeat was soothing.
“Don’t worry about that. Our music is not for everyone, especially not the older generation. Well, except for my nanna.” He laughed.
“Your nanna loves metal music? I think that’s so cool.”
“Oh yea. She loves it. She’s at every concert she can make when her health is good.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It is what it is. She’s eighty-eight years and has a muscle disease. Some days she’s weak and uses an electric wheelchair, and on good days, you’d never know there was anything wrong with her.”
“Wow.”
“The next time we’re in town remind me to send her a couple of tickets.”
“She’d love that.” I kissed his neck and along his jawline before reaching his lips.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“I thought you’d never ask.” We made our way to the shower, which led to sex on the counter and more sex in the shower. While I was doing my hair and makeup I heardRowdy’s phone ring. I was pulling on a pair of jeans when Rowdy stuck his head in the door.
“Russ invited us for dinner. Well, the whole band. You ladies can talk and do whatever it is you do, and the band is going to have a band meeting.”
I grabbed my bag and threw in my yellow one-piece bathing suit just in case they wanted to get some sun.
