The Hardest Set (Willow Son #4/Brothers of Rock #19) (10 page)

“
Take
these,
”
Andrea said.

Natalie took a bag of bagels and
carrier with two large cups of coffee. She went to the table and cleared
everything away, again.

Again
…

Natalie realized that Van must have
gone through her drawings.

It made her smile and blush.

“
What
are you so
…
wait a second.
I smell a man.
”

“
No
you don
’
t,
”
Natalie said.

“
Yes,
I do.
”

“
Stop.
”

Andrea
’
s eyes went wide. She hurried and dropped her bag
and her phone.
“
Tell me
right now.
”

“
You
wouldn
’
t believe me.
”

“
Try
me.
”

“
Andrea
…”

“
You
had a guy over last night. Look at your hair! You have sex hair!
”

Natalie touched her hair.
“
Sex hair?
”

“
Yeah.
It
’
s all messy and stuff.
Like you were on your back with your hair rubbing against a pillow for a while.
You little
…”

“
I
did not have sex,
”
Natalie
said.
“
I swear on my life.
”

“
But
you had a guy here?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
You
have a guy come over but you don
’
t
sleep with him?
”

“
Actually,
no. He didn
’
t even sleep in
my bed. He slept on the floor.
”

“
What?
How old are you?
”

“
You
wouldn
’
t believe me,
”
Natalie said. She grabbed her
coffee and blew into the small opening. She sipped it.

Andrea reached for her bag and
pulled out an envelope.
“
This
is your pay from last night. If you don
’
t
confess what happened, I
’
m
going to start docking your pay.
”

“
Bitch.
”

“
Yes.
Now talk.
”

Natalie sighed.
“
You remember when I was looking
for Willow Son?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
That
was because Van, the bassist, was out back, drunk. Like really drunk. I
’
m surprised he didn
’
t get sick, he was that drunk.
”

“
Okay
…”

“
So
I brought him here.
”

“
You
brought a rockstar back to your place? And you didn
’
t
…”

“
He
was a drunk asshole,
”
Natalie said.
“
Trust me, it
wasn
’
t happening. He kept
saying really nasty things.
”

“
So
what? He
’
s famous. You have
to look past that. I mean, you had the chance of a lifetime.
”

“
I
don
’
t care,
”
Natalie said.
“
I was going to leave him there,
but I didn
’
t want him to
get killed or arrested. So he slept on the floor. I woke up and he was gone.
End of story.
”

“
That
was almost a good story,
”
Andrea said. She threw the envelope to the table.
“
I don
’
t
know if that will cover your rent, but it
’
s
a start.
”

Natalie looked in the envelope.
“
Whoa. No way. That
’
s not right. That
’
s too much money.
”

“
It
’
s your cut,
”
Andrea said.
“
Don
’
t argue it. You worked your ass off. I have more
nights available if you want.
”

“
I
’
ll take whatever you
’
ve got.
”

“
Good.
So far everything seemed to go smooth last night. Which is huge for me. I
’
d love for you to get closer to
the business, Nat. We can do something together.
”

“
It
’
s your business,
”
Natalie said.
“
I
’
m
not going to suck off it. I
’
ll
work a few nights though. I just need to call
…”

There was a heavy pounding at the
door.

Andrea jumped and gasped.
“
What the
…”

“
That
’
s Mr. Frehnen,
”
Natalie said.
“
He loves to make his presence
known.
”

“
Oh,
no. Are you getting booted right now?
”

“
Who
knows?
”

“
Nat,
if you want me to bullshit him a little
…”

“
Will
you sleep with him?
”
Natalie asked.
“
Just give
him one good one
…”

“
I
love you, but not that much,
”
Andrea said.
“
Plus, you
deserve to be punished for letting that sexy rockstar slip through your
fingers.
”

Natalie grinned and blushed again.
She didn
’
t exactly let him
slip
through her fingers
. She did make a little bit of a move. But it just wasn
’
t going to happen. Van was too
angry at someone else. And Natalie knew she was - like a fool - waiting for
Mark to call her.

Natalie ran her hands through her
hair, trying to make it not look like
sex hair
. She was a little more
than embarrassed to answer the door, but she knew Mr. Frehnen would be
persistent at the door. Then he
’
d
just stand there and wait.

When Natalie opened the door, she
smiled.
“
Good morning, Mr.
Frehnen. I was going to call you today. I have some
…”

“
Save
it,
”
the old man said in
his gruff voice.
“
Just want
to make something very clear.
”

“
Of
course.
”

“
I
don
’
t like what I have to
do sometimes around here. It
’
s
no fun trying to be the mean guy, okay? I let tenants in and have the dream
that I
’
ll never have to
chase money down. Then when I gotta do it, I look like the mean old man.
”

“
I
would never say that about you,
”
Natalie said.
“
You have
every right
…”

“
I
said save it,
”
Mr. Frehnen
said.
“
Whatever you got
going on around here, maybe I
’
m
better off to not know. But next time, just have him give you whatever and then
you give it to me. So I don
’
t
have anything to worry about.
”

“
Wait,
what?
”

“
You
don
’
t have yourself a
boyfriend or husband, right?
”

“
That
’
s personal.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Mr. Frehnen said.
“
So that
’
s why I
’
m
here.
”

“
Look,
I have some of the rent money,
”
Natalie said.
“
Cash. Right
now. I can
…”

“
You
keep saving it so you don
’
t
fall behind ever again.
”

“
What?
”

Mr. Frehnen groaned.
“
That guy you had call me took
care of everything. You
’
re
all paid up now, Natalie. I don
’
t
know who he was or what you
’
re
doing with him, but like I said, if you
’
re
going to have guys paying your rent, just make them give it to you. I don
’
t want to get involved in
anything illegal around here.
”

“
My
rent is paid?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
So
I
’
m not getting kicked out?
”

“
Not
today,
”
Mr. Frehnen.
“
Stay out of trouble.
”

Natalie was flabbergasted. She
watched Mr. Frehnen slowly shuffle away. Then she shut the door. Andrea was
asking her questions, but they faded in and out. All Natalie could do was think
about Van.

He paid my rent? So that means
…
he saw the eviction
notice.

Now Natalie was even more
embarrassed.

The right thing would have been to
just let it all go. Put it on the tab from the night before. Have the craziest
story in the world to tell anyone who would listen and believe.

Natalie rushed to the trashcan and
took the lid off.

“
What
are you doing?
”
Andrea
asked.

Natalie grabbed the paper with the
phone number on it.

Van was an asshole, yes, but
Natalie wanted to explain herself. And thank him.

8.

Two black cups of coffee and a
decent meal set Van completely straight. He met the band in the studio where
Harry and Portis were already. They were listening to a couple tracks the band
had started to record.

“
Far
from done,
”
Brantley said.
“
But it
’
s an idea.
”

“
I
love it,
”
Portis said.
“
The sound is tight. Solid.
Exactly what the fans expect.
”

“
So
no arguing?
”
Colby asked.
“
That
’
s rare.
”

“
Hey,
”
Portis said.
“
We had a party for the ages. My
phone won
’
t stop blowing up
right now. You guys are going to be playing some shows, but it
’
s going to be a little
different. Rather than an actual tour, we
’
re
going to start with some mega shows. Heavily sponsored, add some bands and
events around it, with Willow Son as the headliner.
”

“
I
’
m not wearing special clothes
and shit,
”
Van said.

“
Hey,
he
’
s alive,
”
Jett said.

“
Where
’
d you end up last night?
”
Ryker asked.

“
With
a woman, I bet,
”
Colby
said.

“
Yeah,
you could say that,
”
Van
said with a grin.

“
Good
for you,
”
Brantley said.
“
You needed it. Get all that
other shit off your back.
”

Hardly, brother. But I won
’
t tell you that.

“
Van,
”
Portis said.
“
What kind of clothes do you want
to wear?
”

“
My
own,
”
Van said.
“
I
’
m
not wearing anything. I
’
m
not drinking anything. I
’
m
not going to be a giant commercial for money. Sorry.
”

“
I
agree,
”
Jett said.

“
We
all agree,
”
Colby said.

“
That
’
s already been talked about,
”
Harry said.
“
Everyone
’
s best interests are taken care of here.
”

“
It
’
s good,
”
Portis said.
“
Let
me handle the money.
”

“
As
long as the checks clear for us,
”
Van said.

“
I
’
m sure you
’
ll be happy with the upcoming
structure of your contract,
”
Portis said.

“
Oh?
”
Ryker asked.

“
It
’
s only fair,
”
Harry said.
“
I took it to the lawyers and
then to Portis. We
’
re going
to restructure some things. Since you
’
ve
been so successful.
”