Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (31 page)

Giving her his smirk, he opened it on the bed by hers. “Well, if I’m going to be dating my best girl here, I need to go prepared, don’t I?”

“Good plan. Hey, later today, I am going to need some help. I need to close up my little house and move the few things out and back to my new old home.” The look she gave him wasn’t too happy though and he knew it was going to be hard for her to face her parents’ home as being hers.

“Chan, you know you don’t have to live there. Move your stuff here. We’ve only got a few days until we leave and after we get back, you do plan to stay here permanently, right?” He stopped what he was doing waiting for her answer.

“Why Mr. MacDonald, are you asking me to move in with you?” Her voice was laced with a southern drawl. “I thought we were just talking about dating.”

He reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her flush against him. “Yes, I am asking you to move in with me. We are about to spend the next few months eating, sleeping, fucking, and yes, dating. The absolute last thing I’m going to want is for you to live somewhere else when we get back. We have plenty of room here and this place is so much closer to everything in Austin. I mean, I know you have a really nice home out in The Hills, but it’s so far away. But hey, if you want to live there, we’ll work something out. I don’t really care as long as we are in the same place.”

Jumping up and wrapping around him, she gave him a hard, sweet kiss. “Yes, Keeton MacDonald, I will move in with you. We’ll figure the rest out when we get back. Let’s enjoy the tour and not think about this ‘adulting’ thing until we get back.”

To be continued...

Ryan’s story continues the fun with Assured Distraction...

Book #2 of
Assured Distraction
Series

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W
ho tha fuck wa tat?” Carter’s drunken speech was difficult to decipher.

“Awe, ‘ell. It ‘as Krissssssyyy.” Ryan drew out the last few letters as though his brain couldn’t remember the word was finished. They had been drinking on the bus since they left Denver almost a day and half ago, heading home to Austin. Chandler had disappeared during their stop in Amarillo the night before and the guys had picked up the pace of their alcohol consumption trying to help calm Keeton down.

“She’s pissed ‘cause Imma drunk in th’ middle of th’ dayyyy.” Ryan took another pull off the long neck beer.

“That’s realll nice bro. That’ll be some gooooood make-up sex for ya’ when ya’ getto ‘er.” Carter mimicked the act from his sitting position spilling beer everywhere.

“Awwwe, shit man,” Ryan started laughing at him and fell over sideways on the couch. “Nooowww it’s like ya’ pissed yourself in th’ chair.” He couldn’t stop laughing while Carter attempted to brush the liquid off his crotch.

“This sucks. Wasted almos’ a whole fuckin’ brew.” Still wiping at it.

Laughing so hard he could hardly talk, Ryan tried to get out, “Wha the fuck are ya’ doin’, asswipe? Ya’ can’t wipe beer off.” This caused him to laugh even harder until he passed out and let his own bottle hit the floor and roll away, spilling beer across the living space of the bus.

KeeMac and Gunner were already passed out, and when Ryan closed his eyes and stopped laughing, Carter put his head back on the chair and fell into drunken slumber, as well.

****

W
aking up to the bus coming to a halt in the middle of the parking lot where they had boarded the bus two months ago, they were all happy to see Austin again. KeeMac left the bus in a run to get to Chandler. Where ever she was he was going to find her. With a rent car sitting there waiting on him, he ran into the office to grab the keys and left half of the tires on the pavement getting out of the lot.

Carter woke up and saw the bottle lying in his lap with its contents still causing his jeans to be damp between his legs. “What the Fuck!” His yelling woke up Gunner and Ryan.

“Dude, can you keep it down a little? My head is killing me. What did we do?”

“Looks like we killed a bottle of tequila at some point,” Gunner said rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I think I swallowed cotton.”

“Better than something else you could have swallowed.” Carter laughed when he said it. Gunner just gave him the finger and kept rubbing.

“Yeah, you and KeeMac pussied out on us so soon that we could have pulled some good tricks on y’all.”

Gunner stopped rubbing and looked at Carter who was now standing. “Damn, dude, you were so drunk that you took a piss in that chair!” He now pointed to Carter’s crotch and started laughing himself.

“Hell no, I didn’t.” Carter stood up and the bottle rolled off and onto the floor. “See it’s beer.”

“Cash is going to love this. Piss and beer all on the furniture and floor. He’s going to wonder what went on.” Gunner was still laughing at Carter.

“I’m telling you I did not piss on myself. I’ve
never
been that drunk.” Carter was starting to grow angry at the accusation.

“That’s a fucking lie right there. Remember that time we decided to...” Gunner was gearing up for a good story.

“Shut the fuck up, Gunner.” Carter knew Gunner had many stories to draw on from all of their debauchery. When the laughter from the three died down, they started collecting their things from the inside of the bus.

“I’m glad we decided to sleep off the buzz we had going because we gotta drive home, and I am so ready to see my own fucking bed.” Carter picked up his bags and headed out the bus door walking bowlegged from the wet crotch. “Damn, I feel like I have on a wet diaper of something.” This gave way to another bout of laughter. When they stepped off the bus in the evening sun, they shielded their eyes.

“Yeah, by the way my head feels right now, I think I’ll sleep a few days.” Gunner spoke, lowering his sunglasses.

Looking over at Ryan, Gunner said, “Who you calling already... no, don’t answer that, ‘cause I already know this shit: Krissy. Didn’t you tell her what time we would be here?”

“Yeah. But she’s not here, and she’s not answering the damn phone.” Ryan knew she was not all that dependable but he told her almost the exact time to be in the lot to get him. He was dying to see her since their visits had been short-and-sweet during the two-month tour.

“Looks like your fucked, dude.” Gunner bent down to get the rest of the items from storage under the bus.

“DAMMIT, KRISSY! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!” Ryan yelled it into the phone when it rolled to voice mail this time.

The guys dug through all the luggage and pulled out the items belonging to them. Ryan set his aside so he could call a cab. He called Krissy’s number one more time and still nothing. As soon as he hit end, the phone lit up with text message from a number he didn’t recognize.

Janae: This is Janae. Krissy’s in jail and needs you to bail her out, ASAP.

Ryan: WTF?! I just got off the bus in Austin. What happened?

Janae: I’m at work, go get your girlfriend, douche

Ryan: Is she OK? I gotta call a cab first. Which station? WTF happened J?

Janae: Whatever, just get her out of jail. She’s been there a few hours.

“This is un-fucking-believable.” Ryan said to everyone standing around. “Krissy’s in jail and I gotta go bail her ass out!” He was beyond angry.

“What did she do to get thrown in jail since you talked to her last?” Carter pulled the handles of the suitcase up to head to his car.

“Hell if I know. Janae texted and said I needed to go get her.”

“Dude, where’s your truck? I’ll take you to it. Get your shit and let’s go.” Gunner was already heading in that direction.

When they headed out of the parking lot, Gunner said, “There is no telling what she did. It’s the middle of the work week and she should be at work, right?”

“Yeah, she should be. She’ll probably get fired now for not showing up and for getting arrested for some dumb shit thing she did.” The more Ryan thought about it, the angrier he became. He knew she was easy to get riled up when she was mad but he didn’t see her doing something so dumb to get arrested for it. She liked to drink a little but she wouldn’t be drinking in the middle of the day, especially after busting his balls about doing it earlier.

Ryan jumped out of Gunner’s truck and pulled his luggage out of the back. “Hey, thanks for the ride, dude. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Well, if you need any help, let me know. I’m going home to go back to sleep.”

“Yeah, first chance I get.” Ryan shut his door and took off to downtown where the police station was located.

I cannot believe she would pull this shit right now. What in this fucking world has she done to get herself thrown in jail, and why didn’t she call me instead of Janae to come get her?

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T
o be continued...

W
hile Assured Distraction might be a fictional band, the music they play is real in my mind! I decided there needed to be a PLAY LIST of the things I listened to while writing.

Here’s one of the hit songs Ryder wrote while getting his head together after losing Laina:

Stolen

Lyrics by Ryder Steel ©2015 Thia Finn

Why are these times alone

With all that is unknown

Is the life we have undone

Or did they make you run

What was taken will always be

The missing piece of me

Our lives we’ll live as broken

The time not taken, but stolen.

Some sounds bring you back

Turning, it’s only a flash

The wind that haunts with your name

My mind can’t win this game.

Ones we love the most

Sent pain my mind can’t host

I’ve died a thousand times

Guilty of love our only crime.

What was taken will always be

The missing piece of me

Our lives we’ll live as broken

The time not taken, but stolen.

Our lives we’ll live as broken

The time not taken, but stolen.

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F
ollow it on Spotify at:

https://play.spotify.com/user/22sdylhty3uhosr7tomfbaaba/playlist/4BFGuENM8bCYMMyDpm4l7E

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B
lack Mambo
by
Glass Animals

Under the Influence
by
Elle King

Tell Me Baby
by
Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Wolf and Snake Eyes
by
Mumford and Sons

Run
by
Coin

Black Sun
by
Death Cab for Cutie

Mind Over Matter
by
Young the Giant

Love Song
by
311
(They do an awesome job of covering The Cure’s version)

Different Colors, Shut Up and Dance with Me, Anywayican
by
Walk the Moon

The Crane Wife 1
by
The Decemberists

Love Love Love and Your Bones
by
Of Monsters and Men

Dissolve Me, Bloodflood, Hunger of the Pine
by
alt J

Cigarette Daydreams, Come a Little Closer, Shake Me Down
by
Cage the Elephant

Kings and Queens from Unplugged by
Thirty Seconds to Mars
(Hey, it’s Jared Leto, what more can I say!)

Renegade
by
X Ambassadors

Demons
by
Imagine Dragons

Why’d You Only Call Me
by
Arctic Monkeys

T-Shirt Weather
by
Circa Waves
(sorry not sorry, it’s a fun summer beach song)

If You Ever Want To Be In Love
by
James Bay

Thunderhearts
by
Cold War Kids

Peaches
by
In the Valley Below

Don’t
by
Ed Sheeran

T
his has been a long journey since I wrote my first book at seventeen. I ran across it about ten years later, read it and laughed at my teenage-self, and then destroyed it. Now, I would give anything to have it back. It’s been a wild ride since that day but worth every minute.

I want to thank my Beta readers for giving me the courage to continue on this journey. Without their positive comments, I doubt I would have moved forward with
Assured Distraction
.
Melissa
,
Rene, Hayley, Mandy, Mary
(best sister ever), and
Debbie
.

I need to thank those wonderful authors I met and fell in love with at an author event called Authors After Dark.
Julie Morgan, Bronwyn Green, Jessica Jarman,
and many more were so kind to this old new kid on the block. Thank you also to
Joanna Talbot, Kristi Boulware, Diane Castilleja, and Stella Price
(and her minions) for allowing me to hang out, listen and learn from your expertise. I never knew publishing a book was going to be such an ordeal.

To
Kyle Jones
, I want to say a huge thank you for help with researching the music scene. You’ll always be a rock star to me!

Next, I want to thank my daughter,
Teale
. She is my most intensive reader, proofreader and general pick-it-apart, word-for-word reviewer. Her black-and-white, no-nonsense personality helped me immensely. She’s been my best cheerleader, my worst critic and generally a great twenty-something to help me, since that is the age group of my intended audience. Love you!

I want to also thank my daughter,
Lacy,
for helping with all of the computer expertise. Circumnavigating through the social media sphere and the computer world would not be possible without her, or my extra kid whom I love dearly,
Trey,
without your help. Love you both!