THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (7 page)

She got two bottles of water and
rushed back out of the hall.

Christie was on her back, on a
leather couch, giggling. One leg was on the floor, her dress wide open. There
was a guy standing there, too.

Tessa rushed over just as the guy
reached down and touched Christie
’
s
leg.

“
Don
’
t touch her,
”
Tessa said.

The guy looked back.
“
I
’
m
fixing her dress so nobody else sees her
…”

Tessa met eyes with the guy, and
she dropped the bottle of water.

“
Hey,
”
he said.
“
Pretty eyes
…”

Holyshit
…
Colby is here
…

(7)

Colby left the room and just kept
going, down the hall, trying to catch his breath a little. Trying to calm his
nerves and trying to chase away the shit comment Portis had made to him.
Sometimes people were best off keeping their mouths shut when they didn
’
t understand the truth.

When Colby saw a woman obviously
drunk swaying back and forth on a couch, he went to her rescue. Truth, he went
to see just how drunk. Maybe drunk enough for some fun, but not drunk enough to
get sick.

“
You
okay?
”
he asked the woman.

She looked at him and reached for
him.
“
I know you.
”

“
You
know me?
”

“
You
’
re famous.
”

“
Yeah,
I am. Are you okay?
”

“
I
’
m fine.
”

The woman tried to plant a foot to
the ground and slipped back on the couch. She fell to her back on the couch.
She wiped hair out of her face, laughing. Her legs were then spread wide open.
Her dress pulled right up, showing off a neon green pair of panties.

Colby looked away, not wanting to
look and take advantage of the woman.

“
You
need to get home,
”
Colby
said.
“
You have a phone I
can use to help get you home?
”

The woman kept giggling.

Colby reached down to touch her
leg. He went for her dress to pull it down and keep anyone else from seeing her
panties.

That
’
s
when he heard
her
voice.

“
Don
’
t touch her.
”

Colby looked back.
“
I
’
m
fixing her dress so nobody else sees her
…”

He smiled when Tessa realized who
it was. She was holding a bottle of water and dropped it.

“
Hey,
”
Colby said.
“
Pretty eyes
…”

“
Colby,
”
Tessa said.
“
What are you doing here?
”

“
Getting
into trouble. Is this your friend?
”

“
Yeah.
That
’
s Christie.
”

“
She
’
s a little drunk, huh?
”

“
Just
a little.
”

Colby grabbed the water from the
floor and helped to sit Christie up. He made her drink the water.

She took a few mouthfuls and then
said,
“
I love your music.
And you. You
’
re sexy.
”

“
Thanks,
”
Colby said.
“
I appreciate that.
”
He looked back at Tessa.
“
You
’
re staying local?
”

“
Five
minutes away,
”
Tessa said.

“
Okay.
She just needs to sleep it off. She
’
ll
be fine.
”

Colby stood back up. Christie sat
there, drinking the water.

“
How
much did you have to drink?
”
Colby asked Tessa.

“
Why?
Want to take home two drunk women?
”

Colby raised an eyebrow.
“
Hmm
…
now that you mention it
…”

“
Ew,
”
Tessa said.

“
What
’
s wrong with that?
”

“
Everything,
”
Tessa said. She pushed by Colby
and looked down at Christie.
“
Come
on. We have to get a ride back to the hotel. I
’
m
done with tonight.
”

Colby easily sensed how annoyed
Tessa was. It was actually kind of sexy. Along with the black dress that hugged
her body in all the right places.

“
Tell
you what,
”
Colby said. He
gently touched Tessa
’
s arm
and turned her around.

“
What?
”
Tessa snapped.

Colby put his hands up.
“
Feisty tonight.
”

“
Sorry,
”
Tessa said. She let out a shaky
sigh.
“
I
’
m just
…”

Colby took Tessa by the shoulders.
“
Look at me, pretty eyes.
”
Tessa did.
“
I
’
ll
have one of my guys take her to the hotel. Make sure she gets into bed and
falls asleep. That way you can stay here with me. You can come to my party, if
I
’
m still allowed in.
”

“
Why
wouldn
’
t you be allowed in?
”
Tessa asked.

“
Well,
we
’
re supposed to have a
meeting with a guy who could possibly sign the band to a new deal. But he
pissed me off and I punched him in the mouth.
”

“
What?
”

Colby laughed.
“
I
’
ll
tell you about it over a drink. Deal?
”

“
I
can
’
t leave her,
”
Tessa said.

“
Pretty
eyes. She
’
s going to crash.
She
’
s going to wake up and
feel like shit. She
’
s fine.
Something tells me you
’
ve
dealt with this before.
”

“
Yeah,
I have,
”
Tessa said.

“
Then
don
’
t deal with it tonight.
I have guys waiting outside for the band. Private cars. The drivers do what we
say. It
’
s nothing they
haven
’
t handled before.
”

“
Transporting
drunk women for your enjoyment?
”

“
I
’
m not going to enjoy your drunk
friend, Tessa. I
’
m going to
enjoy you.
”

“
You
called me Tessa. You never called me my name the first time we met.
”

“
I
guess I
’
m full of
surprises.
”

Colby still couldn
’
t wrap his mind around running
into Tessa again. Hundreds of miles away. Looking more beautiful than the first
time he saw her.

“
Fine,
”
Tessa said.

Colby hurried to make one phone
call. He then helped Christie to her feet and they got her out to the car. She
was already starting to feel somewhat better. Still drunk but not stupid drunk.
Amazing what water and a breather could do.

“
What
am I doing?
”
Christie
asked.

Colby looked at her in the backseat
of the car.
“
Go back to the
hotel and get into bed.
”

“
Are
you joining me?
”

“
You
never know. Just do that, okay?
”

Colby shut the door and called the
driver over. He gave the guy strict orders. Get Christie into bed. Get her some
water and medicine for her pending headache. And wait for her to fall asleep.
Colby warned that if the driver even thought about touching Christie, he
’
d cut his hands off.

The driver knew better though.

A few seconds later, the car was
driving out of the parking lot.

Colby turned and smiled.
“
There. Problem solved.
”

Tessa smiled.
“
I can
’
t believe this.
”

Colby took Tessa by the hand.
“
Neither can I. The first thing I
want to know is why you bailed on breakfast.
”

Standing under the lights of the
front of the building Colby saw color rush to Tessa
’
s cheeks.

“
I
…
thought you were arrested.
”

“
Almost.
I was really annoyed when you weren
’
t
there. It
’
s been driving me
crazy.
”

“
Really?
”

“
Yeah.
I gave you my room for the night. All I thought about was breakfast with you
the next morning.
”

“
Colby
…
you don
’
t have to play games with me.
”

“
I
’
m not,
”
Colby said.
“
If
I was playing games, I
’
d be
in the car with your friend right now. But I want to be right here, right with
you. We
’
re here again,
pretty eyes. Together. I
’
m
not wasting tonight. Come on.
”

“
Where
are we going?
”
Tessa asked.

Colby grinned.
“
I should probably apologize to
the guy I punched. Then I
’
m
going to get up on a stage and play a song for you. Front row at a Willow Son
show. Just for you.
”

Colby knew it was going to take
balls to walk right back into the party like nothing had happened. But that was
okay with him. No matter what, he wasn
’
t
going to lose tonight. Before it was all said and done, Tessa would be in his
arms. It would all work out perfectly.

The band waited for Colby, along
with Harry.

Harry was red faced and looked
ready to hit Colby.

“
How
’
s Portis?
”
Colby asked.

“
What
the hell were you thinking?
”
Harry yelled.

“
What
the hell was he thinking?
”
Van said, sticking up for Colby.
“
You
don
’
t say shit like that
…”

“
I
’
m not going to change who I am,
”
Colby said.
“
Sorry, Harry. If you want a
paper cutout band that does what they
’
re
told, then call it quits with Willow Son.
”

Portis appeared behind Harry, a
black towel to his mouth. When he moved the towel, his lip was a little
swollen.

He
’
s lucky I didn
’
t really get him
, Colby thought.

“
Back
so soon?
”
Portis asked.

“
Wanted
to play another song,
”
Colby said.
“
Provide good
entertainment for your party.
”

Portis nodded.
“
Do you always punch people in
the face who are interested in helping you?
”

“
Do
you always ask shit questions that you know nothing about?
”

“
We
’
re going to have a wild ride,
aren
’
t we?
”
Portis asked, looking at Harry.

“
Rockstars,
”
Harry said.

“
Tell
you what,
”
Portis said.
“
I
’
m
going to go finish up another drink. Finish a few conversations. Willow Son can
take the stage again for one more song. After that, we all sit down at my
apartment - overlooking the water - and discuss some things.
”

“
Deal,
”
Harry said, before anyone could
mess it up.

Colby just stood silent.

He looked at Tessa.
“
Guess I
’
m going to play now. You ready for tonight?
”

“
It
’
s just one song,
”
Tessa teased.

Colby inched closer, his lips
grazing her cheek up to her ear.
“
No,
pretty eyes, that
’
s where
you
’
re very wrong. This
night is just beginning with one song
…”

**

How
’
s it going to end?

That
’
s
what ran through Tessa
’
s
mind as she stood frozen like ice, shivering on the outside but raging with
fire on the inside.

Colby gently pressed his lips to
her cheek, kissing her, then pulling away. He stared at her for a few seconds,
which to Tessa, could have been hours.

"So are we going to do
this?" Ryker asked.

"I'm ready," Colby said.

Tessa stood there, very much out of
place, but very excited to be in the middle of a group of rockstars.

Her mind was racing as fast as her
heart when Colby took her hand and pulled her into the room. It was full of
people, and the second they saw Willow Son walking toward the stage, they
started to cheer. While it was only a hundred people or so in the room, their
voices and cheers echoed all around.