Page 14 of The Fire and the Roar

“That’s all right. I want to hear. You owe me a Valentine’s.”

“True. True. I certainly do.” I got up and got my guitar and sat at the edge of the bed. I strummed the opening chords.

“I want to stop time.

Make it mine

Make the sun turn around

Make it hide, pull it down”

I hummedthe rest of the riff Eric had worked out with me.

“Stop time, make it mine,” he repeated. “That so?”

“Hmm. So I can have you.”

“You got me, baby. Always.” He planted a kiss on my thigh, and we gave each other weak smiles. Oh, we both knew what I meant, but we weren’t going to go there. Not now.

Wreck stretched out, twisting his body. “I like it. Keep at it.”

“I will.”

His warm hand clasped my leg. “You sound worried. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

“We’re headed up to Michigan in March for this music festival, and we’re trying to get new material ready. There are going to be big names there—other bands and industry people, and of course hardcore fans of good music. We were invited to be there, and this could really lead to something. It’s important. So I’m a little anxious about us having solid material and being ready. And I want to contribute some of my songs too.”

“You should, baby. You’ve been ready for this since the day I first saw you sing at Dead Ringers back in ’75, and you blew me away.”

“That’s the thing, though. Now, that dream is happening. It’s all real. And it’s up to us to be ready. To bring our best to the table. But what if after all this, it—”

“Isidora Dillon, are you shitting me? You’ve never been one to shy away from tough work or a challenge.”

“I feel like I’m at the edge of a cliff and I’m—”

“You chose the cliff. You rolled up in your Harley to this particular cliff all on your own.”

I blinked. My throat burned.

He sat up, his hands cradling my face. “You got this, baby.”

“But you’re sacrificing so much,” I whispered.

“What? What am I sacrificing?”

“Come on, Wreck. Not having your old lady with you at your side and having to play this we’re-broken-up charade with everybody. Being in the middle of this whole Leo mess. Putting up with me on the road with all the guys. Being worried about my safety, coordinating your brothers to watch out for me when they’re able. Then, tonight, if you hadn’t shown up—”

“Boy, you really feel guilty about this whole Valentine’s Day gift thing, huh?” He chuckled, running a hand through his unruly hair.

He was such a generous, good person. My greatest blessing. And I didn’t want to fail, I couldn’t fail for him. I took in a deep breath.

He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “Isi?”

“This song? The words aren’t coming like they usually do. So when Eric offered to work on it with me today, I thought, hell yes, yes, help me please.”

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