Rock Star: The Song (Book 1 of a Bad Boy Romance) (14 page)

I
was waiting
for my turn to sing when I got my first glimpse at the crowd.

Standing there behind the curtain in the narrow aisle of the huge stage, I froze, gawking out at the faces of people I knew from the town of Lakeside. But it wasn’t just residents. People had come from every city and state to see
The Next Country Star
live.

There had to have been over a thousand people crammed into a venue that was being held down at Marlin Park. The park was originally built by the town in hopes that it would attract live bands and draw in more people to the town. Instead it failed miserably, and people began using it for a place to walk their dogs.

The Next Country Star
had been going for three seasons. What initially started as a way to give unknowns a foot in the door, had morphed into a huge TV show that ran every week. They occasionally brought in popular artists who would co-write songs for each contestant to sing. Sometimes they performed duets. Viewers lapped it up. In the first two seasons if you wanted to be one of the ten lucky contestants who reached the finals, you had to show up and audition in one of various cities across the United States. They would then hold the finals in either Los Angeles or New York.

By all accounts, I should have been in New York but Chase had convinced his friend, Thomas Parker, the show’s coordinator, that it would boost ratings if they held it in an unknown, small town.

Looking out at the crowd, I figured he was right as the place was packed.

Seated just beyond the main stage were the judges. Amber Rose, a well-known country artist who had made a name for herself almost overnight. Brad Urban, who was more rock than country. But then again a lot of country had become that way. The new wave of country balanced between hard rock riffs and country twang. Radio stations ate it up, and those who usually wouldn’t have touched country with a ten-foot pole, soon became fans.

Seated beside him was Chase Bryan, all hot and sexy.

I had barely seen him since we kissed outside the Steamy Beans Coffee House. I had berated myself for several days after that. Allowing myself to be suckered back into his world with a kiss. Allowing him to wiggle his way back into my heart when I had tried so hard to push him out of it.

This is insane,
I thought. What am I doing here?

Leann Turner came up behind me and nudged her hip against mine, almost knocking me out onto the main stage.

“When I’ve won this, I’m going to love being on tour with Chase Bryan.”

Oh, that was the prize. Little had I known that whoever won the contest, not only landed themselves a record deal, and would be featured on national TV, but they would end up on tour with Chase Bryan. There wasn’t anything bigger than that. It was like going from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds. All the time singers were having to put in going from bar to bar around Nashville, you got to skip that. It was like going to the front of the line and not having to pay for your golden ticket. Who wouldn’t have wanted that?

I certainly didn’t want tight-ass Leann winning it. Over the past few weeks I had got to know my competition. Guys and girls. I had to admit, they were really good. Leann was the bitch. If it wasn’t for her voice, she would have been booted out a long time ago, as the attitude she threw around was larger than her mouth. And damn she had a mouth on her. She didn’t know when to keep it closed. Always yakking about how she had been singing since she was a fetus in her mother’s womb.

“Do you mind?” I said.

She laughed at me while standing in my spot and flicking her hair over her shoulder. She was the kind of girl you hated because everything was in place. Gorgeous blond hair with curls you would die to have, a tight body that looked as if it hadn’t seen a cheeseburger since the day she was born. Perfect features. Not a single eyelash out of place. The girl could have been a model if she wanted. But the worst part was, she knew it, and she flaunted it every chance she got.

I wanted to slap her silly.

What didn’t help was Chase had noticed her, and had definitely taken a liking to her. I could see his eyes wandering over her body.

But for all the things she had going for her, her attitude wasn’t one. It was the one thing that had kept me from jumping her and knocking a few of her well-proportioned features out of place.

An announcement came over the speaker. “And that was Teddy Lexington. Give him a round of applause.”

Teddy was a nice guy. A country kid at heart. Only a couple of years younger than me. You could tell he lived and breathed music. It was in his blood and his voice which was larger than life. If there was going to be one person who I would be glad to lose to, it would be him.

He ran backstage, and slipped passed us. Teddy was a short kid, full of muscle and extensively easy on the eyes. Though when I spoke to him, it always felt as if I was speaking to a brother.

“Ladies?” he nodded and flashed his pearly whites which would have made any girl weak in the knees.

“Teddy, nice performance. Pity it won’t stand up to mine,” Leann said.

“Maybe next time I will show more of my chest. Seems to be working for you.” He winked at me, and I stifled a laugh.

Yeah, just another reason why I liked him. He could also see what a total cow Leann was. Truth was, Leann had been flaunting her tits like they were going out of fashion. Blogs and video websites were abuzz over them. One group defended her, saying she had a good voice and that was why she was still in the contest. Another called them out and said that if it wasn’t for all the skin she’d been showing, she would have been gone in the first round.

Maisey Conrad slapped me on the ass and dashed past me with a smile on her face. Short dark hair, jeans, cowboy boots and a heart full of confidence, she was a great girl. A California sweetheart through and through, she always wore a smile. I knew that if she didn’t win this contest, she would still get a record deal. There was no way on God’s green earth that anyone could deny her talent. She was the total package. She had the look, she wrote her own songs and could play guitar and piano. Despite Leann’s blatant dislike of Maisey, I hadn’t heard her ever say once, that she couldn’t sing. No one could say that. The girl was on fire when she picked up that mic.

“Break a leg.”

“Thanks, hon.”

“Yes. Break a leg, please do,” Leann said while scowling.

Maisey shot her the middle finger.

The fourth contestant reminded me of Chase, in more ways than one. Luke Claybourne was the same age as me. He hailed from Kentucky. A farm kid. He had muscles in all the right places, and a lean figure to boot. It wasn’t his devastatingly good looks, dark wavy hair that hung down by his face or his uncanny knack for saying the most inappropriate things at the wrong times. It was his ocean blue eyes and husky voice, and humor that was utterly captivating.

Then, of course, there was the fact that Leann had been flirting with him since he’d arrived and yet he’d been showing me more attention. That pissed her off to no end and made me laugh.

He laid back. And took everything in his stride. He had said on more than one occasion, he couldn’t care less if he won the competition. It was all overrated to him. If he didn’t get it, he would return to the farm.

“Hey Leann.”

She turned around, batting her eyelids.

“You have a hole in your ass.”

Her face went a deep shade of red, and she rushed off to check her jeans. He began laughing. Everyone else caught the joke, but she was so wrapped up in how she looked, I think she believed the hole was in her jeans.

“You are bad,” I said.

“Ah, Meghan Sullivan, when are you going to let me take you out? Show me around this pretty town of yours?”

I snorted, and tried to remember the words to the song that I was about to sing. I was up next. I looked out and saw Chase had diverted his gaze from Maisey to me, he flashed me that winning smile of his, in an instant I forgot what Luke had asked.

Yep, a lot had changed since the first time I had met Chase.

Now, here I was with Leann, Teddy, Maisey and Luke in the final rounds. Two more songs for each of us, and one of us would have more than a record deal. We would skyrocket from being unknown to famous overnight.

Maisey finished up, skipped past me. I took a deep breath and walked out into the spotlight.

S
tanding
in the crowd of twenty-four contestants each morning was overwhelming.

Even though Chase had reassured the show’s producers that I had written the song, and could sing it as good as, if not better than the girl who everyone had heard on the radio, they still had required that I attend a private audition.

Long before the other contestants arrived, I had gone to the White Hart Hotel, entering a room that usually catered to businesses. Standing there, feeling like a complete ass hat, and suffering from a bit of a cold, I sang my heart out. It had been quite a while since I had sung the song. The one that Chase and I wrote together up at Rita’s Cabins.

However, this time Chase wasn’t there.

Thomas Parker and a few of the producers, along with an unknown in the music business, had gathered together in the hopes of hearing what Chase had said was a new voice. What he meant by that was anyone’s guess. Nervous, shaking slightly, I downed a glass of water they had on a side table before I sang it.

After, they didn’t sit there speechless, or groaning. They whispered among themselves and told me they would be in touch. I didn’t know what that meant. If it was the old “let me blow you off” routine. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

A few days later Chase phoned with the good news. I was in. They had loved it and were eager to see what I would come up with. One of the prerequisites this season was that you had to write your own songs. Previous to that, they had always selected a number of songs that everyone had to sing. It was a way of being able to assess your ability based on basic to advanced songs that they were familiar with.

This time however, it was a different kettle of fish. They wanted singers who could write and sing. Being able to play an instrument wasn’t essential but if you could do that, it would only help boost your chances.

In the beginning there would be twenty-five contestants. Over the span of four weeks the judges and the general public would vote to dwindle it down to just five. Out of those five, one would win the grand prize of a record deal. The winner would record an album in the studio and go on tour with Chase Bryan. There would be two runner-up prizes, which had yet to be announced.

Now as I stood among the twenty-five in a large room at the White Hart Hotel, I felt a sense of excitement and dread. It was hard to describe. I felt like throwing up. I wasn’t used to this many people. Our town had literally been invaded. Every cabin, hotel and inn within a fifty-mile radius had been filled up with friends and family of contestants as well as those hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite judges.

It was a circus. Media clogged up the roads, which I hadn’t seen since the drama with Chase. The upswing to it all was business was booming. I had now hired Spike full-time to help Sophie at the coffeehouse. I couldn’t be there all the time because every night I would be singing.

Spike still hadn’t forgiven me for allowing Chase to come back into my life. Sophie had got used to the fact that she and Spike weren’t going to be together. Though I had to wonder if she would have got over it as quickly as she did, if I hadn’t introduced her to Teddy. I saw her eyes light up the moment she saw him.

As for Spike, well, he was still Spike. Putting his foot his mouth and confessing his love for me, and hate for Chase Bryan.

Mornings were spent with the other contestants. Warm-ups, co-writing sessions and getting to know each other. Once people knew that I had written the song that had catapulted Chase Bryan back into the number one slot on iTunes, you could see the look on their faces change. I didn’t know if it was fear, surprise or jealousy.

I’d even overheard some saying that they didn’t think it was right that I should be in a contest when clearly I had been in a relationship with Chase. Surely that would skew the votes. I had told Chase about this and he had made it clear that no preference would be shown by him. However, what he said, and what the general public thought were two different things entirely.

The media windstorm that had blown through the town had kicked back up once they learned that I was now in the contest. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I saw a live debate on YouTube about whether I should have been allowed to be in the contest.

Some said yes, others said no.

* * *

G
et Rock Star
: The Contest Book 2 - Available Now!