Chase the Road (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) (16 page)

“
Us
…”

“
I
’
ll keep my place, of course. You
can give yours up. Then the both of us have our own place.
”

“
Hunter
…”

Maya
’
s
world was spinning. She tried to think about the last time they talked. Or
texted each other.

We broke up. We
’
re not together anymore.

“
Maya,
will you sit with me for a second?
”

“
Okay,
”
Maya said.

Hunter pulled out a chair for her.
He sat across the table. When he reached for her hand, Maya pulled away and put
her hands on her lap.

“
I
’
ve hurt you,
”
Hunter said.

“
You
could say that,
”
Maya said.

“
I
didn
’
t
…”

“
First
off, you can
’
t control what
people do. I
’
m not part of
your business or investments. Second, my grandfather was dying and you were
worried about your meetings.
”

“
I
came back.
”

“
It
’
s too late. It
’
s
…”

“
Before
you say anything,
”
Hunter
said.
“
I
’
m just sorry about this. I
’
m not used to something so
serious. And the timing was so poor. I know we can
’
t control death. I understand. But when my
grandfather passed away, my father and I were in China for a meeting. We didn
’
t rush and leave. That
’
s not what my grandfather would
have wanted.
”

“
Good
for him,
”
Maya said.
“
Hunter, I have to tell you
something.
”

“
Just
wait a second,
”
Hunter
said.
“
I haven
’
t slept in thirty hours. I
’
m dead tired. I just want to fix
this. Make the wrong right.
”

“
Sometimes
it doesn
’
t work that way.
”

“
But
sometimes it does,
”
Hunter
said.

Maya still couldn
’
t believe Hunter was sitting
across from her.

I should have gone to the studio
with the band.

“
I
’
m sorry for insulting your
career,
”
Hunter said.
“
If you want to go out on the
road, then we can work it around my traveling schedule. When I
’
m gone, you
’
re gone. When I
’
m home, you come home. It all
works. We
’
ll have our own
place. a matching schedule. It
’
ll
be perfect.
”

“
For
you,
”
Maya said.
“
Not me. I missed the opening
night of the tour. I
’
ve
never missed an opening night. I did that because of you.
”

“
You
did that for me. For us. Because you
…”

“
It
was wrong,
”
Maya said.
“
I hurt the band. I hurt myself.
”

“
Screw
the band,
”
Hunter said.
“
This is about us.
”

Maya stood up.
“
No, it
’
s not. We
’
re
done, Hunter. This band is part of my life. More than I can explain right now.
Just please go home. Go get sleep and I promise we will talk later. I just can
’
t do this right now.
”

“
What
is it?
”
Hunter asked as he
rose from his chair.
“
Do
you think I
’
m not serious?
Because I am
…”

“
I
never said that.
”

Hunter moved around the table and
reached for Maya. She, again, jumped back.
“
Hunter
…”

“
Fair
enough. But I did bring you something. Another reason I was a little late. I
’
m terribly sorry for that, but I
think this will make it up. Explain something to you
…”
Hunter reached into his suit jacket and took out
a small box. He put it on the table.
“
Not
how I planned on doing this, but I want you to know the truth.
”

Hunter walked slowly from the
apartment and Maya looked at the box. She was afraid to look inside the box,
but there was no need. She knew what was in there.

Hunter had come home to propose to
her.

(16)

Blake strummed the last chord and
just sat there. He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Never before
had a song been so draining. And that was a damn good thing. The rest of the
band sat there, waiting for something.

Ryan was the first to move.

The rest of the band followed as
they exited the small record room and went to the control board room. They all
crashed to couches and chairs, nobody speaking a word.

“
Want
me to play it back?
”
asked
the recording engineer.

They all nodded.

For the first time since writing
the song the band got to sit and listen to the record version. Usually, there
were minor imperfections that needed to be fixed. Ryan obsessing over a note or
lyric. Asher pissed off at a solo.

But this was different.

This song was deep and raw. The
imperfections (which didn
’
t
exist in the song) made it all that much better. Five acoustic guitars and five
rockstars creating something so powerful.

When the song ended, the band all
looked at each other.

“
That
’
s a big one,
”
Blake finally said.

“
Maybe
the biggest we
’
ve ever had,
”
Gabe said.
“
Or ever will have.
”

“
What
do we do now?
”
Gabe asked.
“
I
’
m
fucking drained right now.
”

“
Call
Sam,
”
Tanner said.
“
Let him hear it and let him
figure it out.
”

“
Can
we goddamn sleep soon?
”
Asher grumbled.

“
You
actually want to sleep?
”
Blake asked.

“
I
’
m crashing right here on the
couch,
”
Asher said.

“
Guys,
”
the engineer said,
“
we have sleeping bags, blankets,
pillows, even a tent. You can crash.
”

Blake thought about it.

But, damn, he couldn
’
t miss a night with Maya. He put
his head back and shut his eyes, smiling. He just needed to call Sam, then get
a ride to her place
…

It was probably no more than a
thousand people packed in the bar, but it was electric.
It had the appeal
of playing an arena. Every person there was jumping, dancing, cheering, even
singing. Singing! They knew the lyrics to Gone by Autumn songs! It was crazy to
think about but even crazier to witness.

If that wasn
’
t enough, it was the band
’
s longest set to date. They debuted two new songs
and mixed in an all acoustic set, which was pretty cool. Blake had never been
that close to the front of the stage.

The eye candy was unbelievable.
Beautiful women everywhere, wearing Gone by Autumn shirts, calling out which
was their favorite band member. The low cut tops were matched by the half
shirts. And some of the women got crazier and lifted their shirts up, showing
everyone in the place their breasts.

Complete and total rockstar chaos.

When the show ended, Blake was
halfway off the stage when a security guard came running up to him.

“
Hey,
Blake, right?
”

“
That
’
s me.
”

“
See
anything you wanted?
”

“
What?
”

“
Out
in the crowd, man. You see anything? Let me know. I
’
ll go wrangle them up. Bring them backstage for
you.
”

“
Christ,
”
Blake said.

He was still a little taken back by
things. They were above the normal set of laws. That meant wild sex with anyone
they wanted, sometimes more than one woman at a time. That meant drugs on call,
if they wanted it, which none of them did. But it was for the taking. Each tour
stop came with some backdoor offerings for anything the band needed to be
comfortable.

“
I
’
m good,
”
Blake said.
“
Let
me get a drink.
”

Blake went to the backstage area
and grabbed a beer. The band was huddled together, talking and celebrating the
show. Someone from one of the other bands that had played opened a door and a cloud
of smoke came out. He offered the band to go inside but they declined. They
didn
’
t have the luxury yet
of someone packing up their gear for them. They were their own band and roadies
for the moment. That meant a long night ahead of them.

Blake was secretly on the prowl,
looking for Maya.

He spotted her near the stage and
ran to her.

She grabbed him by the hands and
smiled big.

Damn, he wanted to kiss her
right now. Right fucking now. Make everything right.

“
That
was amazing!
”
Maya yelled.
“
Best show you guys ever did.
”

“
Really?
”

“
Cross
my heart.
”

“
It
felt so good.
”

“
Those
new songs were great. And did you hear everyone singing?
”

“
Yes,
”
Blake said.
“
I
’
m
just
…
I
’
m in
…”

“
Hey,
Maya, I
’
ve been looking for
you.
”

Blake turned his head and saw some
guy with tattoos on his arms approaching. He recognized him as the drummer for
one of the other bands. Something with flowers in the name. Not really much of
a band
…
or a drummer
…
at least in Blake
’
s opinion.

“
Hey,
”
Maya said.
“
Oh, Blake, this is Gunner. He
’
s the drummer
…”

“
Yeah,
hey,
”
Blake said.

“
Dude,
you guys are fucking ripping it up,
”
Gunner the drummer said.

“
Thanks.
”

“
Wish
we could get picked up on the road. Soon, right?
”

“
Yeah,
right,
”
Blake said.

“
I
’
m going to have a drink with
Gunner,
”
Maya said.
“
You want one?
”

“
I
’
m good,
”
Blake said.
“
You
two have fun.
”

Gunner put his arm around Maya, and
Blake stood there with his hands balled into fists as he watched the woman he
loved walk away with some wannabe punk ass drummer from a much crappier band.

Blake turned around and tracked
down that security guard from before.

“
You
remember something?
”
the
security guard asked.

“
You
know what
…
there were three
right in front of me
…”

“
Say
no more,
”
the security
guard said.
“
I
’
ll bring them back. I
’
m sure they
’
ll love an autograph.
”

Blake forced a grin.

Whiskey and women
…
the only cure for a
broken heart.

When Blake opened his eyes, he
looked around and realized he was in the studio still. Asher was snoring on the
couch. Gabe in the other chair, passed out. It was freaking morning. Blake got
out of the chair and felt the pain in his neck from sleeping in a crappy
position like that.

He stood and hurried to send Maya a
text, letting her know he was alive and had passed out in the studio.

Tanner and Ryan were sleeping in
sleeping bags out in the hallway.

He gave Ryan a little kick and his
eyes popped open.

“
Hey,
”
Ryan said.
“
You okay?
”

“
Yeah.
Didn
’
t realize I fell asleep.
”

“
You
were the first one out. So we just stayed.
”

“
What
did Sam think of the song?
”

Ryan smiled.
“
Check your phone, man. It
’
s been uploaded.
”

Blake hurried to the site and saw
that the song had been listened to almost a hundred thousand times.

In just one night?

“
Holy
shit,
”
Blake whispered.
“
It was just uploaded
…”

“
I
know,
”
Ryan said. He sat up
and wiped his eyes.
“
Help
me up, man.
”

When Ryan was standing, he yawned
and then kicked Gabe.

Gabe grumbled and pulled himself
into the sleeping bag more.

“
I
need a drink,
”
Ryan said.

“
Whiskey?
”
Blake asked.

“
Fuck,
no. Coffee, man. Coffee. We have a busy day.
”

“
We
do?
”
Blake asked.

“
Oh,
that
’
s right, you were
sleeping. We
’
re playing The
Jack tonight. Little welcome home slash goodbye show again. We
’
re going to debut the new song
live and record it. Upload the video.
”

“
So
when do we sell the song?
”
Blake asked.

“
Talk
to Sam,
”
Ryan said and
waved a hand.
“
I need
coffee. Right now.
”

Ryan was always a dick in the
morning.

Blake held his phone tight, amazed
as the listened-to numbers kept going up. More than that, he was waiting for
Maya to text him back.

As Asher stumbled from the
soundboard room, he had a phone in his hand. He waved it and gave a nod.
“
All good, boys.
”

“
What
is?
”
Blake asked.

“
I
just called Sam. Told him there was an emergency.
”

“
What
kind of emergency?
”
Ryan
called out from the next room.

“
Who
cares? Told him to bring us coffee, food, and be ready.
”

Blake laughed.
“
You
’
re an asshole, man. He
’
s going to be pissed off.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Asher said.
“
But at least we get some coffee.
And food.
”

*

Maya stood on the small balcony of
her small apartment and sipped a decent cup of coffee. Nothing like that cup of
coffee at the diner near the cabin. Now that was a good cup of coffee. A damn
good cup of coffee. Plus, the company
…

Maya shut her eyes and sighed.

There was nothing else to think
about. The years before didn
’
t
matter anymore. She had spent years bouncing between her wants and needs,
trying to find someone who could replace Blake. She dated a couple drummers,
which was dumb. She swore off musicians and rockstars after dating a guy for a
month only to find out Maya was his
Wednesday thing
. Literally
…
that
’
s how it was programmed into his phone.

Maybe that
’
s what took her attention to Hunter like it did.
Because he was completely opposite of music and rockstar. But he was too far
off the end of it all. He wanted a life and woman who would do as told, play
the part as needed, and smile when required. She would accept that Hunter had
an apartment for himself, which implied several affairs. Maya could use the
word
implied
because Hunter himself had confessed that his own father
had three girlfriends. Worse yet, his mother knew about the other women and
didn
’
t care. As long as his
father came home to her.

It was all too much for Maya.

And now she had a goddamn
engagement ring sitting on the dining room table. Somehow Hunter hadn
’
t heard her the right way. Big
surprise there. After he left last night Maya should have called right away and
told Hunter that his proposal was insane. That they were done. To get the ring.
To go away for good.

But she hadn
’
t done that.

Instead, she stayed awake all night
and thought.

She replayed every possible moment
and memory her mind could muster up. From the first second she saw Blake and
felt that fire kick up inside her. Right up until the moment he lifted her from
the porch of the cabin and threw her to the bed. That was the passion she had
needed. She had it now.

When her phone beeped from inside,
she ignored it.

Truth was, she hadn
’
t heard from Blake all night.
She knew the guys were all in the studio, working on that amazing song.