X

Nine days had gone by since I last saw Alys. NOLA’s Junk had gone to New York for five of those days to record “Louisiana Baby” for Rattlesnake Records, which pissed off Phil like nothing else. But he was also delirious with happiness, and that was an odd combo.

What was really awesome though was that he was becoming the man he’d once been. Lighthearted, quick to smile and joke around. It helped the rest of us relax—except Tim. Tim made his ass scarce, unable to deal with Phil’s black looks, blaming our manager for taking him away from his Baby Girl.

I thought I was starting to understand a little of what Phil had gone through though. I was becoming obsessed with Alys. The woman occupied my head more than anything else, and I couldn’t wait to see her again.

We’d talked a little at the after-party, and Flipper and I had offended them all with our uncouth mouths, describing Sheri’s and Jason’s sex life. I’d seen the disgust on Alys’s face and attempted to smooth shit over.

I’d tried to get her attention. I’d been dying to just touch her, to breathe in the scent of her, anything. I’d needed her to look at me, to recognize that I was the man who was going to give her all the happiness in the world.

I might as well not exist for all the consideration she’d paid me.

And I’d spent the last nine days in a weird sense of agony. It was urgent that she stopped pretending I didn’t exist. I didn’t have a whole hell of a lot of time to give her everything. I had to make every second count.

I had to make her see me.

And, this afternoon, I would have the chance to do just that.

But, for fuck’s sake, I hadn’t counted on being forced to drag my baby sister, Erika, and her obnoxious best friend, Becca, along with me to Phil’s dad’s barbeque. My mother had nagged the ever-loving shit out of me until I relented, and now, I was stuck with them in my Jeep, silently cursing Becca, hoping she’d get a sudden case of laryngitis.

“Seriously, we’re going to meet Phil Deveraux?” Becca bleated for the umpteenth fuckin’ time. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it!”

Maybe she’ll pass out when she finally meets him, and I can have some peace and quiet.

I glanced over at my sister in the passenger seat and rolled my eyes. Erika blushed but smirked all the same. She was used to having her brother in a famous rock band. She’d met all the guys when she was a kid, so they were real people to her. Normal people.

Well, normal might be pushin’ it.

“He’s just a guy,” I told Becca. “And he’s got a really awesome girlfriend, so you might want to tone it down there.”

She let out a vicious gasp from the backseat. “He’s dating someone? You didn’t tell me that, Erika!”

“I didn’t know,” Erika replied.

“Is she pretty? How old is she?”

“She’s beautiful, inside and out,” I said. “And she just turned twenty-four. They are very much in love with each other.”

I heard a jealous, angry snort and had to bite my tongue to restrain the verbal vomit. This girl was really something else. Erika had told me that Becca was on the warpath to make Phil notice her. I guessed that him having a girlfriend wouldn’t stop her.

When I pulled up into the Deverauxes’, my hands and pits started sweating. Alys’s SUV was parked off to the side, at the opposite end of the horseshoe driveway.

She’s here.

“You okay?” Erika asked.

I’d thrown the Jeep into park and made no move to get out.

“Yeah, man. I’m just gassy. I was being polite and letting you guys out before ripping a fart.”

Erika snorted while Becca made a sound of revulsion and exited the vehicle. It was a sound my brain made every time I looked at Becca’s face, so I supposed it was only fair.

“I’m happy you’re home,” said Erika. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“Although, now that you are, I don’t get presents mailed to me all the time.”

I grinned. Every time NOLA’s Junk had stopped somewhere, I’d sent Erika a care package. Postcards, keychains, toys, pictures of me and the guys at famous monuments—just random shit from all the places I’d been. I wanted her to remember me, to know that I loved her so much.

Those trinkets would one day be all that she had left of the brother who adored her.

Alys was trying hard as fuck to ignore me, but I was shadowing her like a damn creeper. She had to know I was interested.

She looked cute as hell, too, in a pair of dark bootcut jeans and a plain red T-shirt with a deep-V neckline, showing off her awesome tits. Alys was…classy. They all were—at least, compared to the chicks we’d been hanging around the last few years.

While we played a list of Led Zeppelin songs for everyone, I watched Alys dance the whole fuckin’ time. Her hips and boobs snagged my attention, and there was nothing that could make me stop looking at her.

After the jam session, Phil went straight up to Kenna and swept her up into his arms. From somewhere behind me, I heard a grunt of outrage, no doubt from the mouth of Becca. Ignoring the twerp, I walked up to Alys and Lili.

“What’d y’all think? We’re thinking of doin’ this shit professionally, so honest feedback is appreciated.”

Alys snorted and clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Eh, you guys are all right. Decent,” Lili quipped.

“Guess we need to practice more.”

“We’ll be happy to watch you guys practice anytime you need criticism,” said Alys, attempting to keep a straight face.

Her eyes were the prettiest hazel, and when she smiled, the way they crinkled scrunched up her nose. She was just so fuckin’ adorable; I could hardly stand it.

“So, Zeppelin’s one of your favorites, I take it?” I asked because I had no idea what else to say that would keep her talking to me.

“Definitely,” she replied. “I’m also partial to Black Sabbath. I love Ozzy’s voice.”

“He’s got a unique set of pipes; that’s for sure.”

From the left of our small group, Phil said, “I adore you, Baby Girl.”

The three of us looked over at Phil holding Kenna off the ground.

“I adore you, too,” Kenna huffed. She sounded irritated but was in no way trying to get out of her situation.

Before the lovebirds made us gag from an excess of mutual adoration, I cleared my throat, hoping that’d get their attention.

Thank fucking God, I thought as Phil set her back on her feet.

“Hungry?” he asked her.

“I could eat,” Kenna replied.

“Go find us a place to sit. I’ll get us some grub,” he told her before heading off to the buffet.

I turned to Alys, seizing my chance to be attentive. “Can I get you some grub, too?”

She gave me a shy smile, blushing. “Sure.”

I hurried off, looking back to see her watching me go. That made me smile. She was finally showing some sort of interest.

I got in line behind Erika, who rolled her eyes at me, and then pointedly looked over at Becca, who was harassing poor Phil, putting her hand on his massive arm and squeezing.

“You’re so huge,” I could hear Becca tell him. “Like, all over.”

Behind me, Lili busted out into laughter, and I couldn’t help but join in. We caught Phil throwing us a harassed look and lost it even more. Even Erika snickered.

Becca glared at Erika. Then, she turned her back on us and ignored us.

“What do you do to stay in such good shape?” Becca asked Phil.

Lili wheezed for breath.

“I fuck my Baby Girl a lot,” replied Phil, hurrying down the line.

Becca froze, stunned by the answer she’d gotten.

Lili howled, which made me howl, which made Erika lose her shit, too. By the time we’d made it to the end of the line, Lili had skipped in front of me and was booking it back to the table, sliding in next to Phil just as Becca was trying to sit next to him.

I plopped my ass down next to Alys, handing her a plate piled high with food. My thigh pressed against hers, and she didn’t try to scoot away, so that was a bonus. Dinner was a lot of fun, just all of us telling the girls about growing up and shit.

I regaled everyone with the time I’d lost my virginity to Crissy Lasserman in Phil’s tree house. Poor Erika nearly died of embarrassment.

“Where did you lose your virginity, Phil?” asked Becca.

I thought Kenna was going to lose her damn shit. She covered her mouth with her hand and scrunched up her eyes, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as no sound came out of her. Phil glared at the side of her head, and I could only surmise he’d told her of that fiasco.

“Hush, Baby Girl.”

Kenna cracked up.

With the entertainment fizzling out, the fuller we got, the guys and I decided to get our gear packed up and put away before we were too lazy to move. It was a quick breakdown, and once we got everything but the bass drum and cymbals into the garage, Phil went into the house to look for some old, clean sheets to cover the amps and speakers with. The ones that had been on them when we took them out were covered in grime and oil.

Jason’s buzzing ass had left Flipper and me to haul the drum kit into the garage on our own.

Douche.

As Flipper organized it all in a corner, I went in search of the douche to give him a verbal smackdown.

As I turned the corner of the house into the backyard, I got a fantastic view of Alys delivering a spectacular uppercut to Jason’s gonads. Jason dropped to the ground, and Alys stood over him, her face a mask of fury, like an avenging angel.

“And that, ladies, is how you take a douche bag down a peg or three!”

“Holy shit!” I yelled, sprinting toward them. “What happened?”

I was ready to plant my foot in his broken nut sac myself.

Crouching down, I grabbed the front of his shirt and hefted him half off the ground. “What did you do?” I demanded.

Motherfucker couldn’t even breathe. His handsome face looked like a cartoon as he gasped like a fuckin’ fish out of water.

The buzzing of whispers as the girls pulled ranks around themselves told me nothing, and before I knew it, they were hurrying through the sliding glass door and hauling ass through the house.

Sheri was a goddamn mess.

“What happened?” I asked her.

“He to-told them,” she stuttered. “About what happened after th-that ni-night at Bougainvillea.”

“What—oh.”

This is bad. Very, very bad. No one was supposed to know about that night. No one was supposed to talk about it. Phil had made all of us swear we’d never mention it.

“You done fucked up, asshole,” I said, shoving Jason’s curled up frame back to the ground.

I got to my feet as we all heard the mad bellow from the front of the house.

“KENNA!”

As fast as I could, I tore around the side of the house just as Phil reached Alys’s SUV, slapping his hand on the passenger window as it sped out into the street.

My thighs were burning as I pushed my legs as fast as I ever had to reach him and tackle his ass down. Flipper jumped on my back. Sheri, in hysterics, danced in front of us, flapping her arms like a demented chicken, apologizing and overall just flipping the fuck out.

“What the fuck?” screamed Phil. “Why the fuck did she leave?”

“Jason told her!” Sheri wailed.

“Can it, Sheri!” I shouted.

“I tried to stop him, I swear!”

“TOLD HER WHAT?” Phil struggled and got his arms beneath himself, and with a simple push-up, he knocked Flipper and me off him.

“About what happened after Bougainvillea,” I said in the calmest voice I could manage. “I don’t know specifics—”

And it looked like I wouldn’t for the moment because Phil was now charging up the front steps and through the house. Louis’s voice boomed out, and then Phil’s equally booming voice retaliated along with the sound of something smashing.

“Fuck me running, he’s gonna kill our guitarist,” muttered Flipper.

He backhanded my chest to get me to follow him around the side of the house and out back. It worked. We jogged and made it just in time to watch Phil bust out the back door, his long, furious strides taking him straight to Jason.

Phil grabbed Jason’s shirt, hauled him off the ground, drew back his right arm, and socked the fucker straight in his face, which fucking exploded in a spray of blood.

Behind me, Sheri screamed like an extra in a horror film of B quality.

“Shit, X,” groaned Flipper. “Oh my God, Jason’s dead, ain’t he?”

For a few minutes there, yeah, I thought he was.

Everyone was as quiet as death as we pulled up in front of Kenna’s house. Erika and Becca hadn’t uttered a single fucking peep the whole drive here.

“Phil, don’t—” I started to say.

But Phil wasn’t listening. He hopped out of the Jeep and stalked up to the front of the house.

“KENNA!” he bellowed, pounding his fist on the front door.

“Phil, you gotta chill the fuck out!” I hissed, running up behind him.

He reached for the doorknob and rattled it, finding it unlocked.

“Seriously!” I said, grabbing his arm.

He shook me off and headed inside the dark house.

I wasn’t chancing it, leaving the women alone with that madman. His demons were off the fucking hook right now, and he needed someone to keep his ass in check. He was going to terrify them.

I stood in the living room, hearing voices upstairs. A door opened, and Alys stormed down. Then, a few seconds later, Lili followed.

“The fucking nerve of that motherfu—” Lili started ranting but quickly shut her mouth when she saw me.

“Hey, ladies.”

Alys scowled at me, like the whole evening was my fault.

“He won’t hurt her, I promise.”

Alys cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Well, not physically. Her feelings? That’s something else.”

Phil’s voice roared through the walls and down the stairs.

“Why don’t you come with me? I gotta take my sister and her best troll home.”

Lili cracked up, and Alys fought and lost the urge to grin.

“And I’ll buy you ladies some pie on the way back. We missed out on Mr. D’s peach cobbler and ice cream, but I know this diner that serves some great pie.”

The screaming match upstairs continued.

“We all know how this ends. Phil will win her over after she makes him lose his shit, and they will live happily ever after until the next time shit hits the fan.”

“I like pie,” said Alys.

Phil’s voice roared through the house again.

“Pie’s good. I could use some pie,” said Lili. The tiny woman grabbed her bag and headed out the front door.

I held out my arm for Alys to take. “Your chariot awaits, milady.”

“So, Kenna doesn’t strike me as the type to flip out,” I said.

We were seated in a booth at Flo’s Diner, Alys and Lili sitting across from me. I’d wanted to sit next to Alys, but the Pygmy had scooted in before I could make my move.

Lili shrugged.

“She’s not,” replied Alys.

“I guess the news hit her pretty hard then.”

Lili was resolutely mute. I had a feeling I should change the subject before she turned mean.

“It shocked all of us to be honest,” said Alys.

Lili scowled.

“So, how did you guys all meet? You’ve been friends for a long time,” I asked.

“Oh, um…” Alys blushed. “Kenna and I grew up together outside of Pensacola—”

“On a hippie commune,” supplied Lili.

“Thanks,” Alys snapped scathingly. “Then, our families moved to La Place the summer before middle school. That’s when we met this vicious little dwarf—”

“I can’t help my damn height!”

“You mean, lack thereof.”

“God, you two remind me of me and Flipper. Does she chuck things at your head?” I asked Alys.

“No, but I might start,” Lili replied.

“Anyway, we all met in middle school and have been best friends ever since,” said Alys.

“That’s cool, man. Phil and I met in elementary school, and then we found Jason when we were freshmen. He was a year ahead of us—”

“What happened after we left the barbeque?” asked Lili.

“Um…Jace is in the ER right now. Sheri promised to call me with updates.”

“What?” they both gasped.

“Phil punched him in the face. Knocked out some teeth and everythin’.”

“Holy shit,” Alys breathed. “Is he going to be okay?”

“For Phil’s sake, I hope so. Right now, I’d like a round with Jason myself. What he did…he betrayed Phil, talkin’ about what had happened that night.”

“That was fucked up,” said Lili, bristling. “Kenna went a long fucking time without anyone because of that night.”

“So? That’s her issue, not anyone else’s. If she chose to remain celibate, hopin’ he was gonna return like some gallant knight—”

“She didn’t think anything of the sort,” snapped Alys. “But that night meant the world to her. She didn’t need to know it meant fuck all to Phil.”

“It meant everythin’ to him, too,” I said, rising to his defense. “I’m not sayin’ he didn’t fuck up that night. It was just that he was so fucked up over losin’ her, and he tried to numb the pain of it. That was the first time I’d ever seen him lose his shit.”

“So, that was when you guys met Sheri?” asked Lili, a mild look of disgust on her face.

“Yeah. Look, I know you guys had a rocky start with Sher-Bear, but she’s really a very sweet person.”

“We know,” said Alys. “I felt so bad for her tonight, the way Jason was talking about her.”

Alys had true empathy for people. She gave people second chances and forgave them easily.

Lili was something else entirely. She was hard to read and hid behind a waspish attitude, which wasn’t a bad thing. She didn’t attack unless provoked, and I respected that. I liked her a lot.

I adored Alys even more.

Our server came over. We each ordered coffee as he handed us the extensive dessert menu.

“I’m bummed we missed out on homemade peach cobbler,” grumped Lili.

“The one here is pretty fuckin’ tasty,” I told her.

She ended up getting it while Alys ordered a peanut butter cup cream pie slice, and I got key lime topped with meringue.

We kept the rest of the conversation light and didn’t stay long. I knew they were concerned that Kenna might be heartbroken and in need of her friends, but I knew better. Phil would lie down and die before letting Kenna go. He had it in him to be nasty, and the mood he had been in when we left pretty much guaranteed it, but that was his Baby Girl. Even if she dumped his ass, he’d find a way to get her back.

I paid on the way out, making Lili put away her wallet.

“Thanks,” she said.

“It was my pleasure.”

I busted Alys watching me and blushing. That had to be a good sign.

I’m totally getting under her skin.

When we came back, the house was silent. Alys and I sat on the couch in the living room while Lili snatched up a bong that was nearly as tall as she was and went to fill it with ice and water. Alys flipped on the TV, the channel showing the Food Network.

“You think they’re still here?” I whispered.

Lili returned with the bong and packed a bowl from a sack of weed that had been tucked inside a small drawer in the coffee table.

“Yeah,” Alys replied, not bothering to whisper. “I feel Phil talking.”

I gave her a surprised look. “You can feel it?”

She looked equally surprised at me. “You can’t? It’s such a deep voice; the air vibrates.”

I leaned forward to look at Lili, silently asking her if she felt it, too. She nodded and sparked the bowl. We each got a bong rip before Phil and Kenna came downstairs.

After a quick powwow, they let us know everything was fine between them, and Phil and Kenna headed out the front door, leaving me with Alys and Lili. Well, Lili was making a hasty retreat up the stairs.

“Alys?” I said.

“Yeah?”

For the first time in a long time, I was nervous. I hadn’t asked someone out since high school—Crissy Lasserman in fact. And I hadn’t liked Crissy half as much as I did Alys.

“So”—I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to locate my balls—“I was wondering if maybe I could take you out.”

“Out, as in…on a date?”

“Well, yeah.”

It was so fuckin’ cute—how her neck and face turned bright red.

“Oh. Um…I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. There’s enough drama with Phil and Kenna as it is.”

I busted out laughing. “Girl, you ain’t seen nothing. Drama follows Phil around like a bitch in heat. But, seriously…give me your number. I’ll woo a yes out of you with my spectacular phone skills.”

She arched an eyebrow, but her nostrils flared, letting me know she found me amusing at least.

“All right.”

“Sweet.”

She held out her hand, and I fished out my phone from my pocket, handing it over. When her fingers brushed mine, I felt a frisson of excitement. Her eyes looked up into mine, and I got a bit of a chub. They were big and beautiful. I could easily imagine—hell, I was imagining—them looking up at me while her lips were wrapped around me.

After punching in her digits, she handed me back my phone.

“I’ll call you later,” I said.

“Sure.”

I went ahead and took the liberty of leaning down and kissing her on her soft cheek. She smelled like the ocean and something gentle, like baby powder but not quite, just clean and fresh and new.

She wasn’t like any chick I had known before. None of them—Alys, Kenna, or Lili—were. But that was what made them so special. These women didn’t look at us and see rock stars. We were just a bunch of dudes to them.

After traveling the world, playing to sold-out arenas, seeing our videos on TV, I didn’t think there was anything more awesome than being normal. We’d achieved notoriety and success beyond our wildest fuckin’ dreams, but it was coming home and being basic humans that felt so amazing.

Alys smiled as I pulled back, and it was as though all the joy in my world blew up in a great wave of warm sunshine.

“See ya, babe.”