Page 1 of Hard Rock Temptation
ONE
KAYLEE
Itwirled my drumsticks between my fingers, clockwise and then counterclockwise, back and forth in a repetitive rhythm. Anyone watching would have thought I was showing off, considering the grin on my face.
And I was showing off, a little. As a young woman in the rock music industry you had to show off, had to be loud, had to make some noise, if you wanted to be noticed and taken seriously.
“What’s got you so wound up?”
Finn, the bassist in our band, came up from behind and threw an arm around me, leaning heavily and throwing me off balance. The drumsticks fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Look what you made me do, you jerk,” I huffed with a laugh, punching him in the shoulder.
Finn bent down and scooped up the sticks. I went to snatch them back but stopped when I saw the look on his face.
Honest concern. For me.
“What’s up, Kaylee?” Finn asked. “You’re fidgeting more than normal.”
“Nothing’s up,” I said with a bright smile. “I’m just excited to get back to performing. It’s been a while.”
“Two months is not a while,” he said, amused.
It was longer than I would have liked. I loved performing. It didn’t matter whether it was in a stadium with thousands of rioting fans, or a small performance on late night shows, like today. I loved getting behind my drums and rocking out.
But that wasn’t the only reason I was so wound up. The buzz of an impending performance was enough to make me fidget, yes, but there was another reason this time.
I was planning on having a conversation that was months overdue.
I didn’t want Finn to know, though, so I simply held my hand out and madegimmemotions with my fingers. He handed me back my sticks.
“Do you know where the others are?” I asked, going back to twirling.
“Zain’s talking to the guitar tech,” he said. “Chris and Anya are already in the green room.”
I waited. He didn’t continue.
“And Micah?” I asked, aiming for a nonchalant tone, as if the answer didn’t matter to me in the slightest.
“Not here yet,” he shrugged. “I haven’t heard from him.”
Neither had I.
Keeping in touch had been so much easier when we’d all lived together, a handful of starving artists crammed into a two-bedroom apartment. Even after we had our big break and bought a mansion for us all to live in, it still essentially felt like the same thing, except with more space.
Then Micah had moved out. Zain and his girlfriend Grace got a place together. Finn was finally serious about someone and he spent so much time at Corinna’s place that he might as well have lived there.
It had been so much more fun when we’d been in each other’s back pockets. Daily jam sessions, pulling all-nighters writing songs, impromptu karaoke parties. Working together as a band had been so much easier back then.
And living together as a family had been priceless. Definitely better than living with the family I’d been born into.
I tried not to let out a dejected sigh. Micah wouldn’t have been able to avoid me for as long as he had if we still lived together.
Finn lifted his head from texting and eyed me. Ugh, was I that obvious?
“So, did you prepare for the interview?” I asked him in a sing-song voice, deflecting, since I knew the answer already.
“Nah,” he said with an easy shrug, confirming my assumption. “It’s just going to be the same old bullshit questions that have been approved ahead of time. They wouldn’t dare ask anything that could lead to bad PR or the label would eat them alive.”
