Don't Break My Heart (Straight from the Heart #3) (10 page)

Placing the guitar on the leather recliner closest to me, I gestured for Lucy to come sit in between my legs. She scooted over, her ass in between my thighs; she let out a sigh and let her body sink into me.

“It explains how I feel,” I said quietly, my arms encircling around her. “We haven’t been together long, but we’ve been best friends for so long, and you will always have all of my heart, no matter what, Lucy Ann Tomlinson. You’re perfect in every way possible. You know all of my secrets and everything there is to know about me. No one else knows me like you do, and I’m glad I have you in my life.”

“I feel the same way,” Lucy whispered, her eyes focused on the fire burning in the fireplace. “You get me. You knew me when I was porky Lucy in school, made fun of at music camp, you stuck up for me when the other girls poked fun at me. I realized then how I couldn’t lose you Paul.” She didn’t use my nickname this time. “I love you so much. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been seeing each other. I’ve loved you for a while and it took fucking up with Cale to realize that and I’m not letting go.”

She said she loved me?

Lucy loved me.

“I love you, too, Lucy.” I rubbed my hands up and down her arms. We both ended up falling asleep lying by the fire, holding each other as I sang her to sleep. I usually sleep like shit but having Lucy beside me, I slept like a damn baby. I listened to her gentle breaths, the little sighing noises she made when she shifted her leg, and I even heard her snore, but she’d kick my ass if I told anyone about that.

The next morning, I woke up to Atreyu’s
Right Side of the Bed,
the alarm on my phone; it startled me out of my amazing dream. Lucy and I had been in some fancy hotel room somewhere, and she was lying down on the bed in nothing but a string of pearls, earrings, and a shiny rock on her finger. The way she looked up at me with her dreamy eyes screamed, ‘fuck me now’ but before I could get any further, the alarm sounded.

And, sure enough, with a hard on. I fucking hate morning wood. I opened my eyes; I heard singing from the kitchen and realized Lucy wasn’t lying with me anymore.

“
She looks so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear
…” Lucy shouted at the top of her lungs as I stood up and straightened out my jeans. She was wiggling her ass to the song she was listening to out there and, lord help me, I felt like an animal stalking their prey. I stalked toward her, ready to carry her upstairs to my bedroom and have my way with her before it was time to leave.

“Gotcha.” My hands gripped her shoulders, and she screamed bloody murder and turned around looking terrified as could be.

“What the heck was that for?” She pulled the ear buds out of her ears and placed her hands on her hips. “I was just making you breakfast AND I was in the middle of listening to a good song.”

Hearing Lucy get whiny because I scared her only made me grin wider. “And what song were you listening to?”

“
She Looks So Perfect
by 5 Seconds of Summer.” Lucy stuck her tongue out at me, before she returned to the stove where it appeared she was making scrambled eggs and bacon.

“5 Seconds of what?” I asked, not knowing what the hell she was talking about.

Lucy groaned and shook her head in disappointment. “Never mind; you don’t listen to boy bands so you wouldn’t know.”

I scoffed, leaning against the cupboard. “Damn right, I don’t. But I’ll listen to you singing any time.” Placing my hand on top of hers, I suggested, “You should forget making me breakfast so we can get ready. The bus is coming in an hour, anyway.”

Lucy peered down at her watch and turned off the oven. “This better be good…” She winked, linking her arm with mine and she let me drag her upstairs. I didn’t care about the wasted food; I was more interested in taking care of my girl before we went back to our crazy second life in just a matter of hours.

“Oh, trust me, darling; it will be better than good,” I promised her.

And it sure as hell was.

***

“All right guys!” Damon hollered as we met in the living room of the bus. It had a huge ass wide-screen smart TV equipped with the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and probably a hundred games and movies to cover us for the next few months. This area was, of course, where the guys spent the most time, while Lucy typically read a book in her bunk with her ear buds plugged in. The couch was my favorite part of the whole bus, except the bedroom where I planned to be spending a lot of time with Lucy. It was a dark shade of red, and the fabric was soft as silk. I’ve passed out on it one too many times. “It’s time for a toast! Pauly, get the wine out!”

I reached for the bottle of red wine on the table near me and opened it up. The five of us each held up a wine glass as I poured an even amount into each one.

“What are we toasting to?” Lucy wrinkled her eyebrows at Damon as she placed a hand on her hip.

“To the new album! May we kick ass harder than ever before, and maybe I’ll find a Mrs. Charming!” Damon said enthusiastically, and we all started laughing hysterically. When everyone calmed down, we lifted our glasses to one another’s and said, “Cheers!”

I chugged the red liquid within seconds. After disposing of our glasses, we turned on some music and waited for our arrival in Grand Rapids. My eyes flickered out the window toward the high-rise buildings coming into view.

Different city every day. I loved the fact that I’ve been able to see so many amazing cities while touring with the band, going as far as Hawaii and even playing a show in Alaska. I wasn’t going to be the Pauly that brought women on stage and kissed them in front of crowds of thousands anymore. I wasn’t going to get completely trashed and wind up in my hotel suite with a women on each side of me.

Now? Lucy is imprinted in my brain and I can’t stop thinking about her. And I don’t want anyone else but her.

Our bus driver, Frank, pulled the bus up to the local Guitar Center, where fans were already lined up outside. This was no surprise, but still to this day, it seems so surreal that people want to meet us, and are waiting to get their hands on our new music.

“You look nice,” I walked up to Lucy as she changed into a band T-shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged her ass just perfectly. It took every ounce of willpower not to touch her or kiss her, but doing that would’ve made my dick stir in my pants and we had an acoustic set to go play. I was going to make things special for my girl tonight, the hard part was fucking waiting. When it came to sex, I’ve never had to wait until now, and I knew how shallow that made me sound.

“Thanks,” She replied sweetly, giving me a hug, and kissing me quickly on the lips. “This is going to be kind of fun. We haven’t played an acoustic set in forever.”

“Yeah, did you see that crowd waiting to get in? It’s insane.” I pointed out the window, where more people were filing up to the Guitar Center by the minute.

Lucy stood on her tiptoes to peer over my shoulder. “Holy shit! They really did spread the word around town, huh? This is so much more intimidating than the arena.” It’s a whole different ball game playing in small place like a Guitar Center compared to an arena that can hold thousands. It’s more intimate, and all eyes are on you.

“Don’t worry; this is going to be a piece of cake,” I reassured her. “And you look sexy as hell on the cover. It’s no wonder half the people in the damn line are guys. They probably want to get a close up view.”

Lucy giggled. “You’re the only guy that will get a close up view.” Her eyes met mine and she licked her lips. “And when I say that, I mean the only guy ever.”

***

By the time we got set up over by the loud lounge, the managers of the store started letting people in slowly but surely. The looks on these people’s faces was something I would never forget. It was a combination of pure shock that we’re real people and that they’re part of a once in a lifetime set. There was a taped line on the ground in front of us set up so the fans couldn’t get too close while we were playing. They were still trickling in when we took our places and sat down on the wooden stools by our instruments.

“Hey everyone, on behalf of Guitar Center here in Grand Rapids, we’d like to thank the members of platinum selling group Ignite The Flames for coming out this morning to celebrate the release of their new album
Behind it All
.” The manager spoke through the wireless mic, and the crowd started clapping and cheering for us. “They’re going to play a few acoustic songs for you and shortly after, you’ll be able to purchase the new album and be able to meet the group. Without further ado, I’ll pass the mic over to them. Thanks again, guys.” The guy patted my back, and I smiled as Damon took the mic.

“Welcome lovely ladies and gents,” Damon spoke to the crowd. “Thank you for stopping by so early in the morning to check us out. We’re Ignite the Flames, and our first song we’re going to do is
Limitless
.”

Mike and I launched into the beginning of the song, Lucy following in on her acoustic bass. Damon started singing the lyrics much differently than the non-acoustic version.

I feel like I’m on top of the world

We’re limitless

No boundaries, no strings attached

We do what we please

And I’ve never felt more alive

After playing the first two songs,
Limitless
and
Monster
Inside
, we took requests for our next two songs.

I heard everything from
Freakshow
to
All of You
, which were two of our hit singles, and then someone in the front shouted
Behind it All
.

“Someone’s already listened to the new album, huh?” I said into my mic and the girl nodded. She didn’t look a day over 18, her head partly down looking at the ground. She looked up and said back “Yeah, I bought it before I came here and I liked that song.”

Lucy, who was sitting on Damon’s other side, replied, “Of course, we’ll do it. Glad you liked the song. What was your name?”

“Anna,” she replied, her eyes lighting up as Lucy talked to her, her friends holding onto her as if she’d won the damn lottery or something.

“All right, Anna, this one is for you.” Lucy grinned, turning to all of us and mouthing our cues. We hadn’t planned to play this one for the tour, but Lucy, being Lucy, wasn’t going to turn down a request.
Behind It All
was one of the deepest songs on the record as far as lyrics. Lucy and I wrote this one together, and when she written one of the verses, she’d literally broken out in tears and couldn’t finish it.

I thought I was happy once

Living a royal rock star fantasy

I was the princess, and you were the prince

We were living our dream so happily

Then fate had to tear us down and break me apart

Leaving what was left of me out in the dark

Behind it all, I still cared about you

I wish I could’ve helped you

But it was all too late

You were gone away

All of the years of memories packed away

Lucy sang in perfect harmony with Damon during the chorus as the hushed audience listened to the heartfelt words. I could hear Lucy’s voice shake, but she still sounded like a perfect fucking angel. My angel. When the song was finished, we took a quick water break, only to come back and play our biggest hit,
Freakshow
. Of course, everyone was singing along to the words of the song, making me smile even wider.

All in all the acoustic set was a blast. Shortly after, we were directed over to a long table, where there was some of our merchandise and cd’s were ready for us to sign for the fans. I sat down next to Lucy and my leg brushed up against hers. “I love you,” I whispered into her ear before greeting our first fan.

After an hour of taking pictures, signing the new cd and other merch for fans, Bobby escorted us out of the Guitar Center, but not before I bought Lucy a brand new bass guitar she had been eying for a long time. She just didn’t know about it yet and would probably shit her pants when she saw it. It was a five string with black and hot pink stripes and a matching hot pink guitar strap. I had noticed it when we walked in and had the manager get it out for me to look at when Lucy wasn’t looking. I gave the guy cash and made sure it was tucked away safely until I was going to give it to her.

And I knew just the exact time.

Being in an arena getting ready to play a sold out show gave me goose bumps.

I was watching our opening band, The Straight and Narrow, rock on stage while Pauly tuned up his guitar and the others were getting a shot in before we went on stage, which wasn’t for a while, still. The Straight and Narrow had been around for a few years and had amazing talent. In addition, they had a female keyboardist in the band, Nicki Phantom, who was from England and had the best accent I had ever heard!

“I think I met my match, little sis,” Damon sounded excited as he draped an arm around me, handing me a shot.

“What do you mean, met your match?” I asked him curiously.

He moved me over so I could see some of the crowd, mostly the first few rows and in the stands. “See that girl down there? The dark red hair, short ass skirt…” He pointed with his free hand toward a girl who was standing next to what might have been her sister, and they were holding hands dancing along to the music. “That’s who I’m talking about.”

When he showed me the girl, I was screaming a silent victory in my head. That was Isabella Woods and the girl he pointed out was her sister, Samantha. I don’t know how he saw her already, but I was happy Pauly’s plan and mine was working. Or should I say the group plan to find a girl to tame Prince Charming was working.

“She’s cute,” I whispered loudly in his ear. “She looks young though. Too young for you.”

“Oh please, you’re not my mother, tommy girl.” Damon let out a hearty chuckle, his eyes never leaving Samantha’s direction. “She’s hot and has a mouth on her. By the end of the night she’ll be in my private suite and will have the best night of her life.” I pretended to gag, hoping he didn’t go into any more details. Although having been around these guys for as long as I have been, I’ve seen and heard the worst a guy could say.

I let myself out of Damon’s grasp and downed the shot, setting it down by one of our amps. “You won’t get her acting like that you dumbass!” I glared at him. “Some girls don’t fall for your ‘let’s go up to my suite’ act.” I used air quotes, but Damon brushed me off.

“Never know, Lucy girl. The way her legs look in that fucking leather skirt, especially up closer, good lord., I wanted to fucking kiss her and would have if it wasn’t for the fact I had other girls looking at me like I was something to eat.”

“So you’ve already talked to her?”

“Before the show, hell yes, I did. I snuck down there and saw her dancing to that shit on the screens and I talked to her.” Damon told me, a bit of excitement in his voice. Before I could open my mouth again, he clarified “And no I didn’t try to get her number, yet. Lucy, I know what you’re thinking.”

“You are so confusing sometimes, Damon,” I groaned at my friend. “Maybe, try being friends with her first. Would you want a girlfriend when we’re just starting this tour?”

“I don’t even know anything about the girl!” Damon threw his hands in the air. “Shit, I don’t even know her name. But there was something about her…”

“Well…” I patted Damon’s shoulder before turning around to go find Pauly. “Maybe she’ll come backstage after the show like everyone else.” What he didn’t know was that we had given Isabella backstage passes. Well, technically, Emily gave them to her, and more than likely Damon was going to see his ‘girl’ again tonight.

“Don’t screw it up for me!” Damon yelled as I walked toward Pauly as he finished tuning his last guitar.

“I wouldn’t dare, Charming!” I grinned as Pauly welcomed me into his arms. This man was everything to me. I felt so safe in his strong, muscular arms that I never wanted to let go of him. I breathed in his strong scent of cologne, letting out a sigh.

“He’s love struck,” I murmured as I relaxed into Pauly.

“Damon is?” Pauly asked, and I nodded.

“He’s apparently already talked to Samantha and is going crazy saying he’s never felt this way before,” I said to him. “It’s so not Damon, so I really think he must like her if he’s acting this way.”

We separated from our embrace and Pauly’s fingers gently grazed my wrist. “Well, talking is always a good start… who knows? This might be the girl for him.”

“I can only hope,” I replied, and we chatted with Alex and Mike while Damon pretended to be in a conversation when really he was checking out Samantha. The first night on tour always gave me a slight case of anxiety. This concert would set the bar for the rest of the tour: if we kicked ass tonight, then we’d just have to raise the bar over the next 40 shows. I was anxious to get out my bass and put on a show for the fans that had paid to come see us. If you’re going to pay fifty dollars for a concert, it doesn’t matter if you’re in front row or in the nosebleed seats. No matter what, everyone deserved a full-on rock concert from start to finish.

After The Straight and Narrow performed their set, Don’t Remember Me and The Brittle Souls were next just before Ignite’s grand entrance. We stood watching and supporting each of the bands, rocking out to the music as if we were in the crowd ourselves. I was still a bit nervous, but after taking another quick shot to ease my nerves, I was ready to conquer the world.

“Don’t worry, love, you’ll kick some fucking ass like you always do,” Nikki Phantom draped an arm around me. We stood about the same height, but Nikki had platinum blonde hair that reminded me of a Barbie doll. She had overdone makeup on her eyes and all over her face, but it looked well on her. “That crowd is fucking killer.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Nikki. It’s just been a few months since we’ve been on stage and with the new album and everything that has been happening…”

“Lucy Tomlinson, you have no reason to worry. You’re in Ignite the Flames. You guys are bigger than you think. If I were you, I’d go crazy ape shit tonight and celebrate!” Nikki smiled, and she was right. This album was something worth celebrating, and I wasn’t going to let my anxiety and nerves get the best of me. I was going to have fun and bang the shit out of my bass.

“Well, in that case, let’s save it for after our set,” I chuckled. “I don’t want to get too wasted now and fall offstage halfway through a song.”

Nikki patted me on the shoulder and said, “I’ll save you a few drinks, babe.”

“Thanks!” I yelled as she headed toward the dressing rooms.

We had less than five minutes before we went on stage.

The crowd was already chanting “Flames! Flames! Flames!” as our video for
Broken By the Best
, an older song of ours, played on the screens facing the audience. I started jumping up and down to warm up my muscles, my bass strapped on around my shoulders as I ran my fingers along the strings, playing some notes to help me get in my ‘zone.’

“Look at them,” Alex pointed with his drumsticks toward the few people we could see since the curtain practically shielded the crowd from the stage. “This is amazing.”

“All right guys, come here really quick.” Damon gestured toward himself. We gathered around him, huddling up. “It’s our first show on the tour. The album released today. Let’s play our music for these people the best we’ve ever played. They deserve a damn good set from us and we’re going to give it to them!”

We shouted ‘Yeah!’ in response, giving each other hugs before Alex sat down at his drum set to play the beginning to our opening song.

The minute Alex started using the pedals, I couldn’t hear a thing besides loud shrilly screams, sending shivers down my spine. This is what I lived for right here. This thrill.

The rest of us ran out onto the stage, rocking out the opening notes to
Broken By the Best
. We hit the end of the introduction, the curtain came tumbling down, and the flames rose, exposing us to the already roaring crowd. I couldn’t contain the smile that was on my face, it fed off the energy of the thousands of screaming fans, ready to sing along to every word of our songs.

But when Damon growled into his mic, “How the fuck we doing tonight Grand Rapids?” The girls were screeching louder than before. I could hear a few ‘I love you, Charming!’ and ‘Marry me, Prince Charming!’ over the music, which was a normal thing. He started belting out the lyrics and I stood over on my side of the stage, singing backup vocals.

You took advantage of me when I was at my weakest

Bent me so far I couldn’t get up

Broke me until I was in a thousand shards

But I was broken by the best of them

Because I’ll still hate your life

And the ones who worship you

Won’t be on their knees anymore

I was never the best singer in the world, so I liked singing Damon’s back up on occasion. He didn’t need it, though, because his voice was pure perfection. It was reminiscent of M Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold in a way; he could hit the high screams and low growls like the best singers in the rock ‘n’ roll world. That’s why Ignite the Flames has gotten as far as we have.

I quickly glanced over at Pauly, while he played an intense guitar solo. He slowly walked toward me. I swayed my hips, following the beat of my bass as we played our new songs for the crowd. There were a few rough patches, me nearly forgetting the opening to
Freakshow
but the crowd must not have noticed because they were screaming and chanting louder than before.

“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Damon growled into his microphone, hunched over so he could catch his breath. My eyes flickered over the front row and the girl Damon was already talking to, Samantha, was looking at her phone with a pissed off look on her face. I nearly tripped on a few bras that been thrown up on stage by our feet, picking one up when Damon started to introduce the band.

“Looks like someone wants you to call her.” I flung the small-cupped white lacy bra at Mike, who was taking a drink of water.

Mike picked it back up, looked inside the cup where there was a little love note, and a phone number so he could call the girl. “Look at that, I’m loved Lucy!” he teased, placing it down by a pile of others that were in front of the drum set now.

“And last but not least, this here is the finest girl in rock ‘n’ roll to ever play the bass guitar, and can kick a guy’s ass with ease, Lucy Tomlinson!” Damon kissed me on my sweaty cheek as I started to play a few quick notes and stuck my middle finger in the air. I heard guys shouting my name and other words I couldn’t comprehend.

“Enjoying the set tonight?” Pauly took his place in front of his microphone, on the opposite side of the stage. I took a long hard look at him as he was talking about the new album, and I wanted to pinch myself. I was with this man! His black hair was slicked back; the top of it dripping with sweat. His black Five Finger Death Punch shirt was clinging to his hard muscular chest. He looked pretty fucking irresistible, and I wanted to march over and kiss him in mid-speech. “All of you ladies look especially beautiful tonight, but right now, what we’re going to do is pick a few out of the audience here and have them come onstage for a special song we’ll be playing.”

I looked over at Damon, and he gave me a wink. He was up to something because I hadn’t known about this until now. He mouthed to me the name of the song we were going to play, so I went over to Gianni, one of our other roadies, where he handed me my other bass guitar to strap on.

“Thanks, G.” I patted him on the shoulder, and ran back out, where the spotlight was shining up and down the front row, finally showcasing none other than Samantha and Isabella. Why wasn’t I surprised? I smiled widely as the security between the stage and the railing helped the two of them over the railing, lifting them onto the stage. The look on both of their faces was surprised and shocked.

“Come on over here,” Pauly gestured toward the two, who practically ran toward him, but Samantha’s eyes were locked on Damon as Pauly handed the mic to them. “Now what are your names?”

The taller of the two leaned in and said “Samantha and this is my sister, Bella.”

“Nice to meet you ladies,” Damon cut in, giving each one of them a one armed hug. I smiled politely at Bella and repeated Damon’s gesture.

“It’s working, huh?” I whispered for her to hear me and she giggled, nodding as Samantha dragged her along to the side of the stage where they were watching the rest of the show. We played a few more songs to round out our hour and a half set, ending with
Mastermind
, one of my favorites that we’d written for the new album. It was sick and twisted in a way. When I wrote it, I thought of Cale and how I’d tried so hard when we were together to help him with his addiction.

As we performed the song, a huge mosh pit started forming in the center of the arena, and security was pulling crowd surfers out of the audience by the minute. It still amazed me how our music made people go insane like that. It’s my fuel for the day and it is what gets me a damn good sleep. Knowing we have fans out there, supporting our music, and actually wanting to see us play in concert gives me the greatest feeling.

The pyrotechnics went off again as we exited the stage, my skin feeling the immediate warmth. Once we were off stage, the five of us came in for some high-fives and a big group hug.

“That was awesome guys, way to kick off the tour!” Alex shouted, all of us still on a high. “They loved
Mastermind
. Did you see that pit? I have never seen one that big at any of our shows before!”