Chapter Seven
Drake
When we passed through the gates, I groaned. Her mother was pulling up the driveway toward the house. I hadn’t been gone for more than a minute and Chloe would already have to deal with her without me. I fell back into my seat, fuming, as Eric pulled out onto the main road. Jade and Adam caught me up on anything they thought I needed to know from the past two days, which wasn’t much.
There was a nervous energy around all of them, and I quickly caught it. Shows didn’t make me nervous, but the fact we would be traveling up to New York and a few other decent sized places did. There was chance, however small, that we might get enough attention that maybe someone important might notice us. We had recorded a demo a few weeks ago and sent it in to a few record labels, but so far nothing. Not that I expected them to call us or even listen to it right away.
Adam stood and went to the restroom in the back as my phone dinged with an incoming text. I smiled when I saw it was from Chloe.
Chloe: You alone?
Me: Yeah, why?
Chloe: I’m going to send you something, hold on.
Me: Ok…
I raised my eyebrows, wondering what on Earth my girl was thinking. I was starting to grow impatient after a few minutes of staring at my phone with no reply. Finally, my phone beeped and I unlocked it as fast as my fingers would let me. My mouth hung open as I looked at the picture Chloe had sent me.
“Holy f*ck!” Adam shouted from behind me.
I spun around in my seat to see him standing behind me, his eyes glued to the naked picture of Chloe on my screen. I threw my phone in the seat beside me and lunged for him.
“You tell her you saw that and I’ll f*cking kill you a*shole!” I shouted as I knocked him into the seat behind us.
“Jesus! I won’t say a word, but damn buddy. How the f*ck did you get so lucky? My dick’s going to be hard for hours after seeing her like that!”
“Did you really just say that about my girlfriend?”
He grinned. “Sorry, Chloe just puts off an innocent vibe. I never expected her to send something like that; it makes her ten times hotter.”
I groaned as I collapsed back into my seat. “Dude, stop talking. Now.”
Jade laughed as Adam and I bickered. “Chloe is going to kill you if she finds out he saw that.”
“Don’t tell her Jade, I mean it. She’ll never show her face around any of you again if she knew,” I said.
“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. But I have to admit, that was kind of funny,” she said.
I glared at both of them as my phone dinged again. I realized that in all the chaos of the last two minutes, I had never replied. She was probably freaking out.
“Shit.” I mumbled as I unlocked my phone to see another text.
Chloe: I’m sorry if you didn’t like it. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Me: I loved it baby. Sorry it took me so long to reply, I was speechless.
Chloe: Oh, ok. I thought you were mad or something.
Me: Never, you can send me as many of those as you want. It’ll keep me preoccupied when I’m on the road. ;)
Chloe: I’ll keep that in mind. I’m going to the beach with Jordan, I’ll talk to you later.
I hated the fact that I had left her alone with him, but I knew I could trust her even if I wasn’t completely sure about him. Still didn’t mean I wouldn’t get pissed off every time she mentioned him, not that I’d ever tell her that.
Me: Have fun, wear pants.
Chloe: Not a chance buddy. Think of that while you’re stuck on a bus with the guys. Love you.
I groaned as I pictured her almost naked on the beach without me around. This was going to be a very long couple of weeks.
Our first show was a couple of hours north of Ocean City in Caroline County. It was a small bar, much like Gold’s and I instantly relaxed at the familiarity of it. We still had a couple of hours to kill before we had to set our stuff up, so we walked a few blocks away to grab something to eat. We spent a couple of hours wasting time and annoying our waitress at a small diner before heading back to the bus to start dragging out our gear and setting everything up.
We had everything ready to go and were sitting at a table near the stage when the owner stepped on stage and introduced us. A few people clapped for us as we stood and took our places, but nothing to brag about. Apparently they weren’t into new bands showing up.
Jade started into the first song, quickly followed by Adam and Eric. The room grew quiet as they realized we might actually have real talent. I started singing a few seconds later and it was like the world exploded around us. I knew we were good, but their reaction completely blew me away; several people stood and made their way to the front of the stage, screaming up at us.
The longer we played, the more people showed up and the bar was soon at max capacity. I was grinning like an idiot by the time we finished the last song and people were shouting for more. If every show went like this, we’d be set. I told everyone goodnight as we packed up our instruments and Adam started helping Jade tear down her drum set.
I walked over to help when Adam glanced over my shoulder and frowned. “Oh shit.”
His words caught Jade’s attention and she let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor proud as she caught sight of whatever it was over my shoulder. I was about to turn and see for myself when a pair of female arms wrapped themselves around my waist.
“Drake baby, it’s been awhile.”
I mentally groaned as I turned to face my new visitor; I knew that voice anywhere. “Kadi, it’s been a while.”
“Not long enough,” Adam coughed out from behind me.
Kadi smirked at him before running her fingers across my chest. “Imagine my surprise when my cousin and I get a text about this awesome band down at the bar that we just have to check out and I walk in to see you.”
I removed her hand and took a step away from her. Kadi was who the band had nicknamed “Drake’s Stalker”. I met her not long after joining the band at one of my first shows with them. She was a gorgeous girl, with long blonde hair and green eyes, and a body to kill despite her barely reaching five feet tall. Her personality was what had drawn me to her at first though, she was a little spitfire, and I loved a girl with attitude.
I got a little more attitude than I bargained for with her though. I made the mistake of taking her to bed not only once, but multiple times, and she decided that was the equivalent of dating in her book. It had taken me weeks to get her to back off, but even then I’d catch her sitting outside my house when I came home in the middle of the night, or she’d come to my shows and try to get me to take her home.
She was a couple of years older than I was and had moved to Morgantown to attend W.V.U. I had practically thrown a party when she had to transfer from W.V.U. back to her home state of Maryland my senior year in high school.
“It’s good to see you Kadi,” I lied, “We were just leaving.”
She pouted as I wondered what I had ever seen in her besides her appearance. Sure she was pretty, but definitely not worth all the baggage that came along with her.
“Aww, come on Drake. Come have a few drinks with me for old times’ sake,” she said.
“Can’t, we’ve got a show tomorrow that I have to stay sober to get us to.”
She glanced at the band standing behind me. “Surely you could take an hour or two out of your schedule for me. We can go hang out in your bus I saw outside while the band stays in here.”
The meaning in her words was clear. After all the times I had told her to stay away from me and she still didn’t get it.
“Not gonna happen Kadi, might as well go find someone else to sink your claws into,” I said, getting truly irritated now.
“But I only want to sink my claws into you.”
Jade stepped around me to glare at her. “Listen, Drake just told you to get lost, so take the hint and leave. He’s not interested in you; he’s got someone a little more permanent now.”
I had to smile as I watched the two women face off. Jade usually kept out of everyone’s business, but she obviously liked Chloe enough to defend her, or maybe she just couldn’t stand Kadi. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain. Jade could punch her, where I was stuck with the dude card.
“If she’s so permanent, why isn’t she here by his side?” She made a grand gesture of looking around the club, “I don’t see any girl coming over to fight for him, so that makes him mine.”
“Hate to break it to you, but I have a say in that and I’ve already told you I’m not interested. Besides, Chloe would be here if she could,” I said.
She frowned. “What could be more important than being here to support you?”
I eyed her suspiciously, not wanting to give her any more information on Chloe than she needed. My luck was bad enough for her to start terrorizing Chloe.
“She’s staying with her cousin to help with her sick aunt in Ocean City,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “What a coincidence, I live in Ocean City when school isn’t going on. I’m just here visiting my cousin for the weekend. What’s her cousin’s name?”
This couldn’t go well at all. There was no way I was practically drawing her a map right to Chloe’s front door. I thought for a minute, trying to come up with some generic name. Of course, my mind froze and I couldn’t think of a single name besides Danny or Jordan. I decided to go with the lesser of the two evils.
“His name’s Jordan, but I’m sure you don’t know him. He’s younger than you are.”
“Jordan Daniels that hangs out with Danny? I love that guy, but I thought Danny’s mom was the sick one.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I was digging myself in a deeper hole every time I opened my mouth. “I’m not sure, only met the guy once.”
She smiled in a way that made me want to run home and grab Chloe. “I’m sure that’s who you’re talking about. Anyway, since your girlfriend is so far away, she’ll never have to know if you want to go to your bus with me.”
I grabbed my guitar case off the floor and started walking to the door. “Not a chance Kadi, so just back off. You’re definitely not worth ruining what I have with her. I’m out, later.”
There was no way I was hanging around to help the guys pack up Jade’s drum set if Kadi was anywhere around. I made sure to lock the bus door as I shut it behind me and threw my guitar on the table. The band would understand why they had to knock, if not, they’d get over it. No way was I letting Kadi in here with me when no one else was around.
I sat down at the table and pulled out my phone to check my phone for any new messages from Chloe. She had sent me one about an hour earlier telling me she and Jordan had made it back to the house and wishing me luck at my first show. I smiled as I texted her back and let her know everything had gone well, but I made sure to leave out the part where Kadi showed up.
We had never really talked about all the girls at the shows, but I knew they bothered her. There was no way I would ever cheat on her and I think she knew that down deep inside, but her insecurities often got in the way of rational thought. Mentioning Kadi showing up would only send her into hyper drive and she would start freaking out.
I felt my temper flare as I realized just how much her mother had screwed her up over the years. She was a beautiful girl with a heart of gold, but her mother had literally beat it into her head that she was garbage and a waste of time.
I was pulled away from my thoughts as a knock came at the door. I walked to the door and peeked out cautiously, making sure that it wasn’t Kadi trying to get in. Adam stood there, looking impatient as he waited for me to open the door. I unlocked it and stepped back as he and Jade stepped onto the bus.
“That was f*cking awesome!” He shouted as he crashed into one of the seats.
Jade rolled her eyes as she grabbed clean clothes from her bunk and went into the bathroom to change.
“Where’s Eric?” I asked.
“Collecting our cut. I wanted to hang around for a while and see if I could get lucky but Eric threatened bodily harm since that crazy bitch is in there. He wanted to leave as soon as possible so she doesn’t try to follow us. You really know how to pick them, don’t you?”
I threw the pick I had just pulled out of my pocket at him. “Shut up a*shole. That was a long time ago, I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
He laughed as he caught the pick and slipped it into his own pocket. “Damn straight. Chloe is way hotter than that thing in there. I can vouch for that after seeing that picture earlier.”
I punched him in the shoulder. “Quit bringing up the fact you’ve seen her naked or you’re going to have to learn to play your guitar with your toes.”
He laughed as Eric entered the bus looking frazzled.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.
“Being the only band member left in a bar full of women is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. I seriously almost got mauled. Jesus,” he said as he shook his head.
“Lucky bastard,” Adam grumbled as Jade exited the bathroom and took the seat next to me.
Eric grabbed a wad of money out of his pocket and divided it into four separate piles for each of us. There wasn’t much there, but it would pay for gas and food for a couple of days.
“You guys ready to head to our next stop? I talked to the manager earlier; he said it was cool to crash in his parking lot,” Eric said as he took the driver’s seat.
“Sound’s good to me, I’m going to call Chloe and then crash for the night,” I said as I made my way back to the bunks.
The bunks weren’t much, especially considering I’d just spent the last two nights sleeping on a King sized bed next to Chloe. It had been weeks since I’d had to sleep without her next to me and I missed her already. God, I sounded like a chick sometimes. I stripped down to my boxers and folded my body into the too small bunk. After several minutes of shifting to get comfortable, I gave up, knowing there was no position that could help me.
I dialed Chloe’s number and waited as it rang, but her voicemail picked up.
“Hey! You’ve reached Chloe, I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave me your number I’ll call you back. Eventually. If I remember.”
I smiled at her stupid message as the phone beeped. “Hey baby, just got finished with my show. I guess you’re already asleep, so just call me in the morning. Love you.”
I was disappointed that I couldn’t talk to her before I went to sleep, but I knew she had probably stayed up as late as she could, waiting on me. She was worn out and needed to rest so she could deal with her mom.
I unlocked my phone and took one last look at the picture she sent me earlier before closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep with a smile on my face.