Under the Lights (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) (13 page)

(13)

Tanner rolled to his left and stretched
his arm out. He found covers and nothing more. Generally, that was a good thing
because it meant that whoever was in his bed had followed the rules. Tanner
would smile and fall back asleep for a little while longer.

But this time was different.

Tanner took a handful of the covers
and opened his eyes. He popped up and looked around the room, eyes still half
shut.

“
Jules?
”
he asked.

Her spot was empty. He grabbed the
pillow and pulled it to his face. There was still a trace of her perfume on it.

“
What
the hell am I doing?
”
he
growled.

He threw the pillow across the room
and stood up. The bed was also empty.

“
What
the hell?
”

They both left. Obviously he was
glad that the stranger was gone, but he didn't understand why Jules would sneak
out.

His mouth was bone dry. All of
Jules' clothing was gone. He spotted the second beer bottle on the floor. It
was unopened. He grabbed it and twisted the cap off. The breakfast of champions
and rockstars. The beer was warm but it was something to drink. Tanner had
every intention of waking up and going for another round with Jules. He wanted
to prove to her that he was throwing his rules out the window. All because of
how she made him feel so different.

When he heard a woman's voice, that
wasn't Jules' sweet voice, he clenched his fist.

“
Shit.
”

He downed half the bottle and put
it on his nightstand. He got dressed in the clothes from the night before and
went to his door. When he opened it, he was prepared to unleash hell. Damn her
for staying. Damn her for drinking his whiskey. Damn her for taking his bed.
And damn her if she was the reason Jules was gone.

Tanner heard a second voice, and it
wasn't a woman.

“
Hell
no,
”
he whispered. He
didn't need any boyfriend drama in his apartment.

Tanner charged down the hall and
put on the brakes when he saw who was sitting at his table.

“
Richie?
”
he asked.

“
Hey
there,
”
Richie said.
“
Good morning.
”
Richie looked at his watch.
“
Well, good afternoon. How
’
d you sleep?
”

“
You
want some coffee?
”

Tanner turned his head and saw the
woman in his kitchen. She was in a long t-shirt and probably nothing else.

“
Wait
a second,
”
Tanner said.
“
What the hell are you both doing
here?
”

“
We
have a meeting,
”
Richie
said.
“
Right, sweetheart?
”
He winked at the woman.

The woman gushed and giggled.
“
I
’
m
just leaving. Richie got me a ride.
”

“
Thanks
for understanding,
”
Richie
said.
“
Need to speak with
Tanner privately.
”

“
What
the hell
…”

The woman walked up to Tanner and
kissed him on the cheek.
“
Call
me later. Please, Tanner.
”

“
No,
”
Tanner said.
“
I
’
m
not calling you. You were supposed to be gone yesterday.
”

“
I
’
m leaving now,
”
she said. She walked by Richie
and he grabbed her wrist.
“
Hey,
you have my card, right?
”

“
Yes.
I
’
ll call you. You think
you can get me in a studio?
”

“
Definitely.
”

Tanner was taken so far back he
shut his eyes knowing he had to be dreaming. This was completely unreal. He was
going to open his eyes and be back in his room, on the floor. This time he
’
d find Jules next to him, still
naked. Sleeping peacefully. Waiting for Tanner
’
s
touch.

But when he opened his eyes, he was
still looking at Richie.

Richie smirked and then sipped his
coffee that he was drinking from one of Tanner's mugs. His face looked
disgusted and he quickly spit it back into the mug.

“
This
stuff is shit,
”
Richie
laughed.
“
Groupies, right?
They
’
re better in bed than
in the kitchen.
”

Tanner shook his head. He walked to
the kitchen and poured some of the coffee. One sip proved that Richie was right.
Possibly. He couldn't remember how the woman was in bed. Maybe her coffee was
better.

“
Tastes
like shit, right?
”
Richie
asked.

“
No
comment.
”
Tanner placed the
mug in the sink. He turned and crossed his arms.
“
What
the hell do you want?
”

“
Just
checking in. I read a great article about Ryan and how he struggled through his
mother
’
s death and found
peace in music. How he became a rockstar to save himself and now he
’
s out there, making a ton of
money and relishing in the fact that he's the face of a huge band.
”

“
The
face?
”

Richie reached into his pocket and
pulled out a piece of paper.
“
Read
it.
”

“
What
is that? From some blog? Please, man, get out of here before I call security.
”

“
Call
security. Sure. Then explain to your buddies why there was a record executive
in your apartment.
”

Tanner glanced at the article. He
tried his best not to get mad over the wording. It was all fluff and nonsense. Just
some blogger trying to get in on the action caused by Ryan
’
s father.

“
I
don
’
t want Gone by Autumn
to go away,
”
Richie said.
“
That
’
s not my intention.  The band is viable. It
’
s a money maker. The five of you
have an image right now. But only right now. I
’
m
trying to help you get ready for the next step in your career. You go solo
…
hell
…
maybe even grab a couple guys
…”

“
Grab
a couple of the guys... to form a new band?
”

“
Why
not?
”
Richie asked.
“
Drummers and bassists
…
they
’
re everywhere. There's nothing special about Gabe
and Blake.
”

“
I
disagree,
”
Tanner said.
“
You don
’
t want to see Gone by Autumn to go away, but yet
you
’
re sitting at my table
talking about the band breaking up.
”

“
I
’
m discussing the inevitable,
”
Richie said.
“
See, a smart businessman can
look toward the future. Not predict, but prepare for it. That
’
s how you survive in this
business. Or else you
’
re screwed.
Look what happened with Fallen Tuesday. They screwed you.
”

“
No,
”
Tanner said.
“
Nobody screwed us.
”

“
Then
why aren
’
t you on tour with
them?
”

Tanner had nothing. He looked away.

“
That
’
s what I thought,
”
Richie said.
“
They had a chance to take off
internationally and you were left behind. Lucky for you there were loyal fans
waiting and ready. You had money. Sam is a smart guy. If it wasn
’
t for Sam, you wouldn
’
t be here.
”

“
More
of a reason why I wouldn
’
t
leave the band. Or Sam.
”

“
Remember
what I just said,
”
Richie
said with a grin.
“
Sam is
smart. He can see things you can
’
t.
He can talk about things with people that you
’
ll
never know. He knows where the money is. And how to get it.
”

“
He
’
s not greedy.
”

“
Everyone
is greedy. Don
’
t tell me you
believe in that bullshit, Tanner.
”

Tanner gritted his teeth.
Of
course everyone is greedy.
I
’
m
greedy for Jules. Why the hell did she leave my room? Where is she right now?

“
I
’
m not telling you to walk into
your practice session today and demand the band breaks up. I
’
m just asking for a signature. A
promise. So when shit hits the fan you can walk away ready to go. I
’
m sure you have plenty of songs.
Unless you
’
re giving them
to the band. Which doesn
’
t
make sense.
”

“
Why
not?
”

“
Because
what
’
s Ryan
’
s job then? You can certainly
sing better than him, so if you're also writing the songs then you don't need
Ryan anyway.
”

“
I
’
m not doing this. I know what I
want to do. I
’
m happy
…”

“
Sure,
”
Richie said.
“
Little hottie in your apartment
each morning. That
’
s a
sweet deal. But what happens when the money runs out? Think they
’
ll still be jumping into your
bed?
”

“
Out,
”
Tanner said.
“
I
’
m
done, Richie. Don
’
t bring
me articles. Don
’
t spin
things about Ryan. I
’
ll
make my own decisions. Get the fuck out of my apartment.
”

Richie stood. He grabbed the
article and folded it up.
“
I
’
m sorry to stop by so early like
this. I have to go check on a good friend. He was attacked last night."

“
Sorry
to hear that,
”
Tanner said.
“
There
’
s my door. Get to it.
”

“
Not
that easy. See, he was talking to a lovely woman when some out of control
asshole grabbed him, threw him into a bathroom, and then beat him up. For no
reason.
”

“
What
the fu
…”

“
I
invited Rob to town to help me with some business dealings. And you smacked him
around.
”
Richie smiled.

“
That
guy from last night? The one who was hurting Jules?
”

“
Please,
”
Richie said.
“
Hurting? She wanted it
…”

Tanner lunged at Richie, but Richie
put his hands out.

“
Take
it easy,
”
Richie said.
“
I
’
m
on your side. In fact, I
’
m
going there to try to talk him out of coming after you. Legally. After all, you
did assault him. And the security at The Jack was very unhelpful.
”

“
He
was hurting Jules,
”
Tanner
said.

“
Of
course, we could settle all this like men.
”

“
Are
you going to blackmail me?
”

“
That
’
s an evil word. I
’
m giving you an opportunity.
”
Richie opened the door to the
apartment.
“
Have a good
day, night, whatever.
”

Richie shut the door and Tanner was
fuming. He never asked for Richie to poke around in his past. He never asked
for Richie to find new opportunities for him. But he also didn
’
t rush and seek help either.
What Tanner did do was invite himself back in time to question his present and
future.

He went back to his room and stared
at the mess he created. Tanner looked at the clock. The day was wasting away.
He closed the bedroom door and grabbed his keys.

He needed to get control of things
or something bad was going to happen.

*

Jules woke to her phone ringing.
Her eyes opened and the ceiling looked jumpy for a few seconds. Her mouth was
dry and tasted horrible. She tried to sit up and her head felt a thousand times
worse than when she laid down.

Now this is reality.

Waking up on the floor next to
Tanner was not. That was a once in a lifetime experience that she would always
remember.