Chapter 33
Adam
I hadn’t meant to drag River into the music world; she was already half-pulled into the entertainment industry because of her relationship with West. As far as I could see, he’d done an excellent job at protecting her against everything it was.
Chaotic.
Brutal.
Judgemental.
He kept her off the show and skirted around the subject pretty successfully, yet here I was dragging her into the mess the music industry was. I’d already slathered our relationship into it, writing songs about her and now she was on the album with me.
Everyone wanted to know who River was. They wanted to talk to the girl behind the viral YouTube hit that I’d now partnered with her on. They wanted to know about how we’d grown up together, and anything else they could dig up. I’d done a pretty good job at covering up our relationship, not mentioning anything other than our lifelong friendship and how the death of my brother had brought about the song and idea to team up. I wasn’t as concerned about the song as the questions. The EP had been laden with songs about River, my brother’s death and the darkness of my addiction to alcohol. I’d gotten used to skirting around the questions to the point that I was comfortable, but I wasn’t sure what would be asked or what things would be assumed.
I was never as good at protecting River as Bobby, and I feared I wasn’t as good as West either. Somehow, the label had managed to convince both Tara and me that River and I should do at least one radio or video interview. I chose the lesser evil with the radio and asked her to come. She’d reluctantly said yes.
“Just this once. Never again, Adam. I’m not kidding. And I’m not singing live.”
The shit had hit the fan as soon as we walked into the studio and they asked if we’d do a live acoustic song. River went green as I tried to play it off that I didn’t have a guitar with me and neither did River, but the station manager easily produced two for us to use. I wiped my sweating palms against my jeans.
“You look almost as good as I feel,” River said, leaning over to whisper to me. “I thought you were used to this sort of thing. Singing on stage and such.”
I swallowed hard. “Hmm.”
“So, we’ll have you two do the acoustic and then dive right into some questions. Sound good?” the radio host asked, looking between us.
River gave a spastic nod, and I swallowed again as my eyes flicked to where West sat next to Tara.
The radio host’s eyes widened at me, and I realized I hadn’t replied.
“Sure,” I said, my voice cracking.
He used his fingers to count down, pointing to the glass that separated us from the control room.
“Rick, coming at you from PanDemonium radio. We have Adam Beckerson, lead singer from Fade Burn with special guest River Ahlers from the hit single You and I off of the band’s first full-length album Finding Perfection. Welcome, guys!”
“Hi,” River and I echoed.
“The dynamic duo is going to serenade us with an acoustic version of the song, and then we’re going to dive right into the burning questions,” Rick said, wiggling his brows at us.
Burning was exactly what I felt like I was doing. I glanced over at River, and she inhaled through her nose before nodding for me to start. We strummed in time with one another, and I started off the song before she joined me in the chorus. She closed her eyes when she got to her solo, and I bit my lip as I watched her in her element. It was amazing to see her playing and singing at the same time. She’d become quite the guitarist over the past year. Her picking was terrific, cleaner than mine even after years of practice. We sang the chorus together and one more solo for her and myself. River closed the song, and I reached over and squeezed her knee. She smiled at me, and I felt a little bit better about the situation.
“So, we were taking bets,” the Rick said, looking between River and me as he rubbed his beard. My body went cold as my fingers laid over the guitar strings. I didn’t like the way he was looking at us. “We thought that that River here might just be the gal the first album was about.”
My gaze rushed to River. She’d put the guitar down on the stand next to her, and her jaw clenched as she looked down at her hands.
“So that is it.” He chuckled to himself, and my eyes met West’s. He looked like he wasn’t sure who he wanted to pummel first, the dickhead radio host or me. I was on the same page as him. “And now you’re dating West Brighton. You have a thing for famous dudes?”
River made a choking noise like she wanted to speak but no words would come out. Tara’s eyes darted around the room, a smile creeping onto her lips and my fingernails dug into my palms. Had she leaked it? Tara grabbed the microphone from Rick, and my jaw dropped as the air around me buzzed.
“Rick, right?” she asked, her eyes turning venomous. My heart hammered in my ears. I could feel River shaking next to me and reached over for her hand. She yanked it away before I could grasp it, though. “River dated Adam before he was famous. She fell for West before she knew he was famous. You want to be a dickhead towards anyone, put a target on my back.”
Rick cocked his head. “And who are you?”
“Band Manager. The chick dating her best friend’s ex-boyfriend. The boyfriend who’s her dead boyfriend’s brother.” Tara paused, looking at River. Her shoulders lifted. “Life’s messy, heartbreaking and beautiful. We mend it together the best we can. The fact we’re all in this room and not trying to kill each other is a miracle in itself. So let’s talk about something that matters, like the fact that song is amazing, just like the person who wrote it and the person it was written for.”
Rick’s mouth hung open as Tara pushed the microphone back towards him, and crossed her arms. She arched her brows, waiting for his response. She seemed to have shocked him into silence.
“So…err…you two know each other from childhood?” Rick asked, turning to face us, his voice showing his deflation as much as his face.
“Yeah, we grew up in the same neighborhood. People used to call us the three musketeers,” I replied, smiling over at River. She was still staring at Tara. Finally, she shook her head and glanced over at me.
“So what inspired the song?” Rick asked, looking down at his notebook and then closing it. It was apparent he’d wanted to start shit, but was now thinking better of it.
River licked her lips. “When Bobby died it was hard on all of us. I filled a lot of the time with playing music.”
“Seems like you have that in common with Adam,” Rick said, nodding towards me. I cringed. I’d also gotten loaded before I played. My chest rose up to my chin as I stared at my hands.
“I guess so,” River replied without missing a beat. “I think that’s what made it so easy for us to connect on singing the song together for the album.”
“So who’s idea was that? You’d written the song almost a year prior according to the YouTube video,” he asked.
“That was actually Tara’s idea,” I replied, nodding to her. She winked at River when her eyes widened.
“And Tara, you’re River’s best friend?” Rick asked, turning the microphone to her.
She locked eyes with River. “Was, and hopefully getting back to being. Grieving is a difficult process.”
River smiled at her and nodded.
“Will you go on any tour stops and perform?” Rick asked turning back to River.
She swallowed hard. “I don’t plan on it.”
Rick’s brow furrowed. “Not a fan of the stage?”
I chuckled. “That’s a light way of putting it.”
River punched me in the arm. “I sang the song originally as a tribute to Bobby. I sang it for the album and today for Adam. The Beckerson boys have a way about them.”
“Enough of a way to get you on stage?” I asked, teasing her with my eyebrows.
“Hell, no,” she replied. “Sorry Fade Burn fans, I will not be on tour. Besides, I have a busy schedule traveling the world with my famous tattoo-artist boyfriend.”
Rick blanched, and West covered his mouth with his hand as he laughed.
“That’s all we have time for guys. Rick from PanDemonium with Fade Burn’s Adam Beckerson and guest singer on their newest album, River Ahlers. Pick up Finding Perfection wherever music is sold.”
River turned to face me. “Don’t even think about asking me. It isn’t happening. Beck has way more of a way about him than you.”
“Bobby would approve,” I replied, standing and pulling her into a hug. “Thank you, Riv.”
“Almost anything for you,” she said.