Whisky Lullaby: Rock Star Romance, Step-brother New Adult Romance (Tennessee Romance Book 1) (11 page)

Set Fire to the Rain

Ashley and Logan spoke to the police while paramedics took the passed out girl, Marissa Barnes, on a stretcher. Ashley had told the police everything, and though she was okay, hearing her recount what she had gone through infuriated Logan even further.

The party broke the moment the cops showed up. How campus police hadn’t broken it up sooner was beyond Logan’s comprehension. Ashley didn’t want to press charges against Charlie but the police insisted he had to come with them. Ashley tried to talk them out of arresting him. Logan was impressed with her inner strength, but glad they were going to lock him up for the night. Maybe it would help straighten him out.

Logan offered to take her to his place for the night. She could sleep on his bed and he’d take the floor. He picked up her cello while she gathered her things. The policeman taking the report offered to drop them off.

Once settled into his place, all his bandmates sleeping and oblivious to Logan and Ashley returning, Logan set Ashley on the couch and attempted to make her a cup of tea.

“Hey Ash…” Logan watched her lie back on the couch.

“Yeah?” She sounded exhausted. It had to be nearly four in the morning now.

“You said you dealt with worse men up in New York.” Logan tried to keep the worry out of his voice. “What did you mean?”

Ashley sighed deeply, releasing a heavy outtake of breath. “My ex wasn’t such a nice guy. He’s part of the reason I applied here.”

“I’ll kill him for you,” he offered as he brought her a cup of hot water and plopped a teabag into it.

She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks for the offer. He did his talking with his fists, and apparently never heard the word no. My mother always insisted that you didn’t grow up in New York without knowing how to defend yourself.”

“I like your mom.”

“So do I.” A tear slid down the side of Ashley’s face.

Logan leaned over and wiped it away with his thumb. “I’m so sorry.” Logan sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. “I’m sorry for what my stepbrother put you through.”

“It’s not your fault, Logan. You’re a different man than Charlie. You’re a better man.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want anything to do with me.”

Ashley brought her finger to Logan’s firm jaw. Lifting his chin so that his eyes met hers, Ashley replied, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m quite comfortable where I am.”

Gently, Logan cupped Ashley’s face as he lightly brushed his lips against hers. Careful not to hurt her, Logan lingered for a moment, before sitting up. “You should get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

She leaned back against the couch and Logan took the mug from her. He set her legs over his lap. “It okay if we just stay here?”

Logan nodded.
Way easier than kicking my roomie out of our room.

Flicking on the TV, he put it on mute and then pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it over Ashley. In the dark of the living room, as the silence of night took over, Ashley was lulled to sleep with Logan’s elegant hum of the melody he had been working out earlier in his head.

Logan, on the other hand, didn’t plan on sleeping a wink.

Poison and Wine

Ashley mumbled, half asleep when her cell alarm woke her. She reached over and groaned at the soreness in her knuckles as she switched the sound off. Her altercation with Charlie came flooding back and she forced it out with memories of riding with Logan and watching Whisky Lullaby play.

Eyes still closed she did the math and figured she had gotten about four hours sleep. Hopefully Logan had managed to do the same. She nestled in the nook of Logan’s arm and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled up at him as she let out a yawn.
Please do not have gross breath.

“Sleeping beauty. I’m glad you got some sleep.” Logan looked as though he had gotten none.

Ashley licked her lips and rubbed her eyes. “Did you get any? Your eyes tell me no.” She slowly sat up, thankful her body didn’t hurt. Aside from a bit of stiffness, she’d be fine.

“A little.” He watched her intently. “We’ve got an hour before we have to be in class for your performance. You feel up to it? I’m sure if we explain what happened it can be rescheduled.”

“For the performance? I’m always ready,” Ashley said calmly. “I’m fine.” She reached out and squeezed his knee. “And I’ll be fine later too.”

“Natural-born performer, you are.” Logan stood and stretched. “The guys are probably still sleeping. Zip and Dale have class with us, but they’ll wake up ten minutes before class starts and sprint over to the junior auditorium.”

“Smart boys.” Ashley considered their late night. If they did that regularly, early morning classes were not going to work. Her stomach let out a ferocious growl. She blinked in surprise.

“Hungry?” A single eyebrow rose on Logan’s forehead and he chuckled. “There’s nothing but stale cereal here, but we can grab something on the way. There’s this food truck worth hitting up.”

“Oscar’s Omelets?”

“Yeah!”

Ashley nodded. “I passed it yesterday and it smelled soooo good! I was running late so didn’t have time to check it out.”

“He makes the best breakfast. More than just eggs, too.”

“All right, let me get dressed, and we’ll go.” She grabbed her duffle bag and headed to the bathroom. She washed her face, glad the cut on her lip could partially be hidden with lip gloss. Her right hand didn’t look very pretty but there was nothing she could do about that. She pulled her dress out of the bag and hung it up as she turned the shower on.

She showered quickly, letting the hot water steam the wrinkles out of her dress. It didn’t really need it. She’d purposely bought this while performing at outdoor Juilliard concerts. It was wrinkle-free and comfortable, while still being elegant. She skipped washing her hair and stuck it into a bun.

Twenty minutes later she was dressed, make up on and a long jacket hiding what she wore underneath. She sort of wanted to surprise Logan with it also.

Logan stood in the living room, freshly changed into a pair of dark jeans and red shirt. His back was to her so she admired the view before stepping behind him and peering over his shoulder.

He had his phone in hand and was searching through his contacts. He typed d-i-c-k-h-e and Ashley smirked when his stepbrother Charlie’s picture popped up.

Logan sent Charlie a text: Touch her again, it won’t be her that fucks you up. It’ll be me.

Logan glanced at Ashley as he waited for a reply, but after several minutes, none came through. He smirked at her. “Charlie wouldn’t be able to answer until someone pays his bail.” He shoved his phone in his back pocket and kissed her carefully on the lips. He seemed distracted and turned to grab her cello case. “Ready?” he asked before glancing down the hall to where the bedrooms were.

Nobody was stirring in that end of the house.

“Let’s go.” She slipped her bag over her shoulder and slipped out the door he held open for her.

***

“Oh, my goodness… this is the best omelet ever!” Ashley gushed as she devoured it.

Logan laughed as he sat across from her with her cello leaning against his leg. “You better hurry. We don’t want to get locked out.”

“Almost done,” Ashley said as she slurped her orange juice through a straw. She ran her finger over her plate, trying to get one last lick of flavor. Wiping her hands, she blushed as she noticed Logan watching her with interest. “I like food.” She shrugged.

“Your body keeps that secret very well.”

She grinned and grabbed a wet wipe from her backpack to clean her hands one more time.

“What’s with the coat? You not wearing anything underneath there?” He put an arm around the cello case and leaned forward. “I’d pay to see that in concert.”

She threw her crumpled wipe at him. “Easy tiger.”

He stood and lifted the cello case.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” Ashley stood and grinned as Logan shifted the case to his other hand. “Are you sure you have that cello. It’s heavy, isn’t it?!”

“You weren’t kidding!” Logan grunted as he lifted it onto his back. “How do you manage?”

“I’m superwoman under this coat.”

“I’m starting to believe you.” Not wasting any more time, Logan grabbed Ashley’s hand and led her to class.

Everyone was already seated as they came through the class door. Logan set her cello case on the small stage at the front of the room and grabbed an empty seat in the second row. Professor Mackey shut the door of the classroom.

Ashley peered around with a tinge of anxiety. The room was shaped like a shell. She knew the acoustics would not be a problem. Professor Mackey was a smart man.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please settle down. I want to segue right into our first performance workshop of the semester. Miss Ashley Slater has agreed to kick off the program. Each workshop will include five different pieces of music of the musician’s choosing. Each piece should show off a different style, a different personality and truly showcase the musician’s skill.” He motioned to Ashley. “Miss Slater if you would be so kind?”

She was prepared. She had received an email from Mackey before school started asking if she wouldn’t mind being the first artist to play. She hadn’t batted an eye when she hit reply and told him it wouldn’t be a problem.

Now, she walked to the front of the auditorium and took her cello out. Carefully, she placed the cello against its stand and organized her staff paper which contained the music she had specifically chosen for the showcase. She slipped out of her jacket, revealing her elegant black dress. Her long brown waves fell over her shoulder. She glanced up at Logan, meeting his gaze a moment and noticing his mouth hung slightly open in surprise. Hopefully she looked exquisite as she stood at the front of the room ready to perform and nobody noticed the bruise on her lip or knuckles.

The hush from the music performance class showed her they were surprised as well. She sat in the velvet-lined chair at the front of the room. She adjusted the strings of her cello, and finally, when all was ready, Ashley glanced up from her instrument to see that all of her classmates were peering down on her. Logan sat next to his bandmates, Zip and Dale, who she hadn’t noticed until that moment.

“All set, Miss Slater?” the professor asked with an expectant expression on his face.

“Almost,” Ashley replied in a hushed tone of voice. Something was missing. “Logan Murphy, I’ll be needing my bow.” She tried not to smile but it snuck through.

All eyes swiveled to Logan as he stood up from his chair and brought her the bow. It was a nod to last night’s performance at the Cave. Ashley was the keeper of Logan’s pick. Logan was the protector of Ashley’s bow.

Gently, Logan passed the bow to Ashley and she accepted it gracefully, giving him a sly wink. Maybe one day together they would make beautiful music.

The whole room returned to silence as Ashley brought her bow to the strings of her cello. Closing her eyes, she took a breath before the first note played. Like a wizard casting a spell, her notes captivated the audience as the introduction of “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit began to play from the stringed instrument. The intricate notes of the song elegantly resounded from the instrument as the room broke out in whispers of delight. A few students clapped.

It was exactly as she had planned. Dressed so finely and carrying a cello, many of them expected to hear Beethoven’s Fifth, and not a song that they’d hear on their iPods.

She caught Logan’s bandmates’ surprise.

“Shut up!” Dale said in surprise. “I didn’t know she could play like that!” He pulled his phone out and held it toward her, like he was recording it.

“Shit… neither did I,” Logan replied. “Now you shut up, I don’t want to miss a second of Ashley’s performance. Every single note’s perfect. She doesn’t miss a beat.”

As the song drew to an end, she changed the tone of the music. A regal and important tune sounded from her cello as the tempo quickened. Ashley felt the pain of the music’s story as she played with her eyes closed. Of course she knew Vivaldi’s “Autumn” theme from the Four Seasons composition.

“She’s friggin’ magnificent,” Dale said loudly.

The professor shushed him and then clapped as the last note of Vivaldi’s “Autumn” played.

Quickly, Ashley flipped the sheet music over to her next piece. The tone changed again, this time transporting her audience from the Classical era to the 20
th
century Baroque period with the soulful and eloquent sounds of Claude Debussy. She knew her emotions from the music were showing on her face. She couldn’t stop them. That’s why she tended to play with her eyes closed. Debussy’s composition was so heartfelt and emotionally gutting at the same time. She played the song masterfully, and felt the audience hanging on to every note.

She glanced up and saw that every single movement of her bow entranced them. As the final note played, a joyful smile creased her pretty face.

“Were you seriously not going to tell us that your girlfriend is some sort of musical prodigy?” Zip said loudly as he punched Logan on the shoulder. “I have friggin goosebumps!”

Ashley smiled. She had planned to put one of her own compositions into the performance but hesitated. She wanted her performance to pull at Logan, like poison and wine, heaven and hell. She had told him about her musical experience, but she wanted him to see it for himself. It was a completely different experience. She hoped he had never seen anything like it before. Playing her own stuff might ruin the moment. What if he didn’t like it? Anxiety pulled her in the direction of safety. She went with what she knew.

The tempo quickened again. Speeding from the early 1900s straight to modern-day 21
st
century, Ashley channeled her inner-diva as she played the instrumental music to “Rolling in the Deep”. Surprising everyone in the audience, including Logan.

She pushed it further and began singing the lyrics to the song. Her voice came out powerful and beautiful. Her bow moved quickly as the song progressed, and Ashley never missed a beat. She was in tune with the music, with the song, and as students began to tap their foot, she let out a huge grin.

“Dude, I think we found our sixth band member,” Dale said over the music.

Ashley zoned in on their conversation, her heart rate picking up speed but she never missed a beat. She had no idea what they meant, but she knew it had to do with her.

“What?” Logan said.

“Yeah!” Zip said as he chewed loudly on his gum. “Fuck yeah!”

The professor cleared his throat, warning them to shut up.

Then, as the song came to an end, Ashley quickly segued into her fifth song. Eleanor Rigby, by the Beatles, played quickly as the audience clapped along. She focused again on the music, her face returning stoic and solemn as she played. This was serious business to her. As the song came to an end, the professor and the audience stood up, clapping loudly.

“Now that, Miss Slater, is what I call a perfect performance workshop!” The professor shook his head. “Good luck topping that, ladies and gentlemen.”

Ashley stood up and took a bow as the audience cheered.

The professor settled the students down after some work. He turned to her. “I like how you showed the different styles, along with different sides of your personality, and even included some vocals when you felt inspired to do so. Excellent, excellent work.” He smiled, clearly impressed.

“Thank you, sir,” Ashley said with a smile. “It was fun.”

Mackey opened the floor to questions from the other students. Ashley answered them, explaining where she had received her training, offering to give some tips on performing. One guy at the back asked if she had plans Friday night. She glanced at Logan, who sat smirking at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

Finally class was over and Logan waded through the crowd around her. “Well, well, well…” Logan said as he approached Ashley.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“I figured you were good, but I didn’t know you were a goddess of music.” He bowed dramatically. “I’m in the presence of greatness. That was amazing, Ash.”

“Nothing great. Just lucky to have amazing music to choose from.” She blushed and then giggled when Logan brought her hand to his mouth. From behind him someone cleared their throat.