The ride in the car was quiet so I found myself humming “Whiskey River” by Willie Nelson. She cast a sideways look at me and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.
“How do you know every old country song on the planet, but can’t sing me Tim McGraw to save your life?”
I rolled my eyes a little and settled back in the passenger seat.
“My mom. She loved country. She used to sing it to me when I was little. She actually has a pretty good voice.”
“And your dad was a rocker?”
The irony was suddenly right in my face. “Yeah, but he was also a sadistic bastard, so history will not be repeating itself with you and me.”
She reached out and put her hand on my knee. “I know that. Plus, I hate to admit it, but the house was almost too quiet without all of that racket you call music blaring from your room.”
That made me snicker and before I knew it, we were pulling into the passenger drop-off area and we had to say good-bye. She came around to my side of the car and leaned against the door. I put my hands in the back pockets of her shorts and pulled her so we were flush. She put her hands around my neck and I kissed the tip of her nose.
“I’ll be thinking about you all the time.”
“Don’t. Just go have fun and be a rock star. You being here was everything I needed.”
“Call me if you need me.”
“I’ll always need you. I’ll just call you because.”
“Fair enough.” I pressed my mouth to hers with enough intensity to let her know she would be missed. When I pulled back there was moisture in her eyes and I was ready to rip up my plane ticket on the spot until she gave me a half smile.
“I really do love you.”
“Good thing I’m going to marry you, then.” I winked at her as she smacked me on the arm.
We said another good-bye and this time she kissed me. Saying good-bye sucked, but it was bearable because unlike the last time I had left her behind, this time I knew she would be there when I got back. She had on my ring, and she gave me her heart and her trust. I was her future and she was my entirety. Damn, I might be in the first metal band that sang love songs after all.
Epilogue
Jet, A Few Months Later, The Fourth of July
I can’t believe you have a yard with grass, sprinklers, and a barbeque. That is some serious adultlike shit.” I handed Rule a cold beer good-naturedly even though he glared at me.
“I’m not the one rocking a wedding ring.”
I absently looked down at the wide titanium ring on my left hand. The same topaz that sat on Ayden’s finger rested on mine. I had told her we could wait until she was done with school, that I could wait until I had the new business up and running, to actually get hitched, but after being gone and apart for two months that wasn’t something either of us wanted or had the patience to wait for. As soon as I got back to the States, I packed her up and hauled her to Vegas for a long weekend. It had turned from a simple ceremony between the two of us into an epic party weekend, when all of our friends had decided to crash the event. I knew she wanted something more formal, more traditional, but every time I brought up doing a reception or some kind of ceremony here for everyone, she would roll her eyes at me and tell me that she had to pay Shaw back and that Asa’s hospital bills weren’t going anywhere. I was going to let her get away with that excuse for a little while, and then I was just going to plan one for her anyway.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. The house is awesome and this yard is badass. I just never pictured you manning a grill and being all domesticated.”
Those pale eyes of his were still as sharp as ice shards and he still mixed it up with his hair; today it was his natural dark brown and a startling lime green that was spiked up in a hundred directions. Now, though, there was just something inherently more settled about him. I wondered if Ayden did that for me, wondered if it was so obvious to other people that with her, I had found my place and had been able to put out most of the bonfire that used to burn me alive.
He tilted his head to where the girls were sitting on the deck that jutted out from the back of the house. Shaw was cracking up at some story Ayden’s brother was telling and Ayden was leaning back watching me talk to Rule. I lifted an eyebrow at her and she just shrugged. Asa could charm the pants off a nun, but ever since he had gotten mobile again he had been on his best behavior. His recovery had been long and tenuous. He had had not one but two major setbacks, and Ayden had just decided to repeat the semester at DU until he was out of the hospital because she had missed so much school taking care of him and being in Kentucky. As soon as she was able, she had packed him up and brought him to Denver with her, so not only did I have Cora’s big mouth to contend with, but also Asa’s slicker-than-slick charm.
Asa and I weren’t exactly friends. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but he seemed to be operating on the up and up. I think he had a healthy fear of what I would do to him if he messed with Ayden in the slightest, and his brush with death had seemed to give him some brief bit of clarity. As much as it bugged me because I now knew exactly how complicated their dynamic was, I could see he really did love her. I know Ayden was hoping for a total transformation, but the guy was just too smooth, too good at reading people and playing games, for me to believe that was going to be the case. I really felt like he wanted to go straight for his sister, so for that alone I was willing to give him a chance. Since I was on the road at least once or twice a week with the new label, I liked having him at the house with the girls, even if he still had a cast on one arm and a walking boot on his foot.
“He’s almost as pretty as she is, isn’t he?”
Rule’s question snapped me out of my reverie and I gave Ayden a wink before turning back to him.
“He’s a pain in the ass.”
Rule snorted and turned over the burgers he was watching.
“Shaw likes him, which surprises me after everything he put Ayden through, and Cora thinks he’s a riot.’
“That’s because they’re chicks and that dude has more game in his pinkie finger than we have combined. It’s unreal.”
Rule squinted his eyes a little, in the direction where the rest of the group was sitting in a circle lounging on lawn chairs on the grassy lawn. Rowdy and Nash were messing around with a whole pile of fireworks that looked illegal as hell. I assumed they probably came from across the state border in Wyoming. Cora was sitting next to Rule’s older brother Rome and neither one of them looked too happy with the situation or the company.
“I know all about siblings being a pain in the ass.”
I had only seen Rome a few times since he had gotten back from Afghanistan. I knew through the grapevine—the grapevine being Rowdy—that he and Rule weren’t exactly feeling the brotherly love. I guess Rome was still pissed at his folks about something to do with their other brother and it was pretty obvious whatever had happened involved Shaw, because the older Archer brother was barely civil to her and this was her house. I knew Rome and Rule were tight, so whatever was going on was going to have to be addressed, but I guess Rome was wound pretty tight and had been pretty unpredictable since his return. Nash had mentioned a couple times, since they were roommates now that he had never seen the big guy drink the way he did now. I knew the guys were worried about him, but Rome was the oldest and by default the leader, so I think they were having a hard time addressing any of it with him.
Rule’s pale eyes flicked back to me. “How are things with the rest of the family?”
I shrugged and watched as Ayden got up and started down the steps of the deck. I wondered if my heart was always going to turn over when it realized she was coming to me, always to me. I could watch her move all day on those killer legs and I elbowed Rule in the ribs when I caught him checking them out as well. He just lifted an eyebrow like it was an involuntary response.
“The same I guess. Mom hasn’t forgiven me for not inviting them to the wedding in Vegas, even though I told her she could come as long as she left that bastard at home. She just doesn’t get it. Ayd’s even tried to talk to her, tried to explain that as long as she stays with him that she won’t be part of our family. God forbid we have kids, because the old man is coming nowhere near them. Sometimes, it looks like the sun is shining through the clouds, only for it to disappear again. I have more important things to worry about and focus on, so that’s what I do.”
When Ayden reached my side, I hauled her in close with an arm around her neck and planted a kiss on her temple. Her arm went around my waist and she leaned against me lightly. Rowdy was almost done with the piece that took up my entire ribs on the backside and she was used to having to be gentle with the tender skin and new ink.
“What are you two over here gossiping about like a bunch of girls?”
Rule narrowed his eyes at her and I chuckled. “Family drama.”
She made a face and snagged the beer I was holding out of my hand.
“Yuck. Hey, are you going to be in town all week? I was thinking about taking a summer interim class to catch up on some of the stuff I had to miss last semester, but if you’re going to be around, I don’t want to do it.”
It was a tough balancing act with both our schedules. I was gone more than I had thought I would be, because starting the label meant finding bands, and finding bands meant I had to go places where bands played. With her being in school, that meant she couldn’t come with me. Which sucked for both of us, but we were learning to adjust.
The first band I actually signed and agreed to work with was the new band Jorge had formed after finally getting tired of Ryan’s crap with Black Market Alphas. The band was amazing, even better than Enmity was, in my opinion, and I really thought I could make Jorge into the star I always thought he was. I loved it and had clearly found my calling, even though I still played with the guys in town and wrote songs when I found the time. My favorite time to sing was when I sang Ayden to sleep at night. I still refused to learn any of that new country junk she liked, but luckily the old stuff still rattled around in my brain and she never complained about it.
I was going to tell her to take the class regardless, because it was important to her and we had the rest of forever to spend time together, but I never got the chance. Across the yard, Cora screeched, and the next thing we knew Rome was soaking wet as she dumped her beer over his dark head, a feat that would have been impossible if the guy had been standing, because she was itty bitty and Rome was a giant. Nash scooped her up before she could lunge at the glaring soldier and Rowdy stepped between all of them. Shaw bolted to her feet and came running down from the deck as Rule stomped off in the direction of the fray. Asa could only watch from the deck since his gimpy limbs kept him pretty immobile, and Ayden and I just watched the entire thing in silence.
“You’re an asshole!” Cora’s voice was sharp and loud as Nash hauled her over in our direction. She was pointing a finger at Rome and her heated anger was almost alive in its intensity. Nash kept right on walking past us and I heard Rule holler at his brother.
