“Will Rascowicz, keyboards.”
“Adam Wilson, lead guitar.”
Goodness gracious, all four of them aren’t just rock gods, but they’re all freaking hot, too. And, I remind myself, they’re all married or engaged.
Dax takes the floor again. “We’re going to get started immediately. Each day, there will be at least one competition. Some will test your talent and skill on bass while others will show us your personality and versatility as a musician. If you come in last, you might be headed out the door. My best advice is to be yourself, show us what you can do, show us how you’ll fit with us, and be ready to fucking rock.”
We all yell out our excitement about that, while some of the guys throw up devil horns.
“So, grab your bass and meet us on the party bus out front,” Dax says. “We’re heading to your first competition in five minutes.”
There’s a rush for the stairs, and I lag a little behind even though I’m curious who I’m sharing a bedroom with. I figured I’d find out when I went up there tonight to go to bed. It’s only a place to sleep, so it doesn’t matter, and yet a little spark inside me hopes it’s Gage.
It isn’t.
He turns into the first room with a single, huge bed.
As much as two hours ago, I’d have killed to share that thing with him.
But now?
Not so much.
I’m not just angry over what he said. He damaged my reputation from the start, and that’s what hurts the most.
When I get to the room I chose, I finally see who my roommate is.
He glances up as he slings his case over his shoulder. His eyes meet mine, warm and chocolatey, and he raises a brow. “Well isn’t this a lucky coincidence?” Tyler asks, and I’m not sure whether it’s luck, fate, or something else entirely.
I smile at him. “Very lucky,” I agree, and then we walk together toward the party bus.
He isn’t putting any pressure on this—yet—but it’s still out there that I hooked up with Gage. The idea might’ve been planted that I’m that kind of girl. Maybe that’s what Tyler wants from me. Maybe that’s why he’s being so nice to me.
I hate that every relationship I form here will now be tainted by Gage’s big mouth.
I try to force that thought away, but it’s hard. Especially when my eyes meet his as I step onto the bus.
His burn at me, and I can’t tell if it’s in anger or in lust or somewhere in the middle of those two feelings, but I glance away first.
I have to.
The feeling his eyes light most in me at the moment is anger...followed closely by regret.
Flings aren’t really my thing, and this is why.
Okay maybe to say that is a little dramatic since this particular situation has never happened to me before.
The bus has bench seating along each side. In the back is a cabinet where we can hang our cases, and I choose a seat on the same bench as Gage so I don’t have to look at his stupid hot face. He’s sitting toward the middle, and I choose the end so I don’t have to be right next to him.
The MFB guys don’t ride with us, probably so they can discuss the contestants in the privacy of their own ride.
Tyler plops down between Gage and me, and I can almost feel the anger vibrating off Gage.
Good.
Let’s get him all riled up and angry right before a competition. Maybe he’ll be the first one out.
“So you’re from Nashville, right?” Tyler asks me.
I nod.
“And you don’t actually do make-up there?”
I laugh. “No. I’m in a band called Electric Red Summer. Well, I was in a band before I came out here for this.”
“What kind of music do you play?”
“Mostly country, but we cover some classic rock too.” I stare out the window across from me, just above Colt’s head. To be totally honest, I’m not actually looking out the window. I’m looking at Gage.
Our eyes meet in the glass, and I look away.
I think Colt thinks I’m looking at him, because when my eyes focus and I realize I actually am looking at him, he smiles. I force a smile back, but he seems a little...smarmy.
“And you’re the bassist?”
I nod. “And co-lead vocalist. What about you? Aren’t you in Capital Kingsmen?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ve been playing bass with them for six years.”
“Are you, like, some mole here who’s gonna report all the stuff in the house back to the MFB guys?” I glance over at him.
He laughs, and the way his eyes crinkle and a little dimple shows up in his cheek at the movement is incredibly hot. He’s a very attractive man. Sexy as hell.
But I also catch Gage’s profile in my periphery as I look at Tyler, and I have to look away.
I’ve never had a man fire up so many emotions before, and part of me wants to punch something while the other part of me wants to hop on his lap and continue what we started in his hotel room this weekend.
God, I hate him.
“No, nothing like that,” Tyler says. He seems to think through his next words, like he isn’t sure how much he should be confessing. And then he lays it all out on the table anyway. “I love playing with Capital Kingsmen. They’re my boys. They’re my brothers. But a chance to play with MFB? It’s once in a lifetime. Too good to pass up, and all the guys in my band fully support that.”
Gage seemed like he was listening in on our conversation, but at that he turns to the guy next to him. Tyler and I make small talk until we pull in front of a huge building.
This is it: our first competition.
Time to say goodbye, Motley Crue.
CHAPTER 23: GAGE
I draw in a deep breath, and then the lights hit in the practice facility owned by Ashmark.
Those lights are blinding, but I don’t look into them.
I’ve been on stage enough times to know better. The same can’t be said for everybody here, though.
As I’ve gotten to know my competition tonight, I’ve learned a few things.
We’ve got Tyler, the bassist for Capital Kingsmen and an incredibly talented guy, Kevin “Blaze” Blaise, who’s in three bands in LA and wants to settle down with a permanent gig, and Colt Stevens, who used to play for a musical act called Ruby Ray, someone who’s on her way to becoming a household name. Decker is used to playing the circuit in Vegas but doesn’t have a regular gig or band he plays with. Apparently Lexi was in a band in Nashville, and I played with Sin City Crue, and that rounds out the contestants who have come here with stage experience.
The others are mostly studio musicians—John Denton, who’s a friend of Vail’s bassist, James. Tim, a guy from LA who’s so quiet and shy it’s almost painful to talk to him. Marshall, who studied at Julliard and seems like he has next to no personality, and Eric, a former child prodigy turned studio actor and musician.
Apart from Eric, who was on stage a lot as a kid but not at all recently, none of those guys have a ton of experience taking the stage with a rock band, and I definitely think that gives me a leg up—at least over them. I haven’t heard most of the other guys play to know whether they’re viable competition.
We had an hour to practice a song, and now we’re all supposed to be performing it on stage at the same time. The drums and lead guitar will be pre-recorded, and we all have mics hooked up to our instruments so Dax, Brody, Adam, and Will can listen later to the technical skills each of us has when it comes to playing our instrument.