Page 66 of Hard Rock Desires
Oddly enough, my first thought after the initial shock ofwhat the hellwas, who cleaned this place? It was hard enough keeping up with the dusting and sweeping in my own small apartment. They must have brought in cleaning staff. I couldn’t imagine any of the band members I’d met — Zain, Kaylee or Finn — pulling a mop out of a closet and cleaning the floors every week.
I’d known Zain and I were different; I knew that we’d experienced different lives. But looking up at this mansion brought home just how wide of a gap there was between the two of us.
Of course, it hadn’t always been like that. Zain had once been a poor starving artist, hadn’t he? His old life had been worse than my current one.
I refused to let myself get intimidated. I turned on my heel and made my way down a path along the side of the house, taking the route Kaylee had texted me about. I found the side door and knocked on it. It was a normal screen door, the kind that you would have found on any porch on any normal house. It was nothing like the grandiose double oak doors that guarded the front entrance of the mansion.
I didn’t have to wait long before the door swung open. Kaylee’s cheery face peeped out through the crack. Her red hair was tied in a messy bun on the top of her head, and she was fresh-faced. With no hint of the makeup she’d worn at that event, she looked even younger than before, wearing cut-off shorts and a baggy band t-shirt tied in a knot at her waist.
“Good, it’s you,” she said, opening the door wider.
“Is there anyone else it would have been?” I asked.
“Sometimes we get fans at the back door,” she explained.
“Are you serious?” I asked. “Do people really know you live here?”
“It’s only happened a couple of times,” she said. “Luckily we were able to impress upon them the importance of keeping this address quiet. All we had to do was sign a couple of posters, and threatened them with a lawsuit, and they were more than happy to keep their mouths shut.”
Lawsuits. Stalker fans. I supposed that was the kind of thing you had to deal with when you were rich and famous.
It just went to show how different Zain and I were. These were the kinds of things he had to put up with. His problems were entirely different from the kind of problems I had.
But I didn't want to think about that. I was here for a different reason.
I was going to put my worries behind me. I agreed with Lisa. I couldn't let the things that happened in my past control me.
That was why I’d texted Kaylee. That was why I had asked her if I could come over.
“Do you need help with that?” Kaylee nodded to the grocery bags in my arms.
“They’re not too heavy,” I replied.
She opened the door wider and gestured for me to come in.
This side entrance led to a kitchen with shiny chrome and steel appliances. There was an island counter with a marble countertop and three barstools lined up in front of it. The stove looked like it had never been touched. There was a coffeemaker, a toaster, and not much else.
“I don’t suppose you get up to much cooking, do you?” I asked.
“This is probably the first time anyone’s ever planned on doing more than make toast in this kitchen,” Kaylee said.
I started to unload the groceries. The fridge was tall and wide, with double doors and a freezer drawer at the bottom. It was also almost completely empty of food. There were a few condiments, a jar of pickles and some leftover takeout containers. I didn’t want to know how long they’d been in there.
“Did you tell Zain I was coming?” I asked Kaylee, nervous butterflies taking wing in my stomach.
“I didn’t tell him a thing,” she said brightly. “This is going to be a total surprise.”
“Do you think he’ll be upset that I just showed up like this?” I asked.
“Too bad if he does.” Kaylee shrugged. “He doesn’t know what’s good for him. If it was up to him, he would just mope around all day.”
“You guys sure like to meddle in his affairs.”
Kaylee tilted her head at me.
“Who else has been meddling?” she asked.
I winced internally. I hadn’t wanted to get into the whole Finn thing with anyone, especially not Zain’s other bandmates.
