Lick: Stage Dive 1(39)

“Child bride! Let me in!” Mal hollered from the other side of the door. He followed it up with an impressive percussive performance, banging his hands against the solid wood. Definitely the drummer. “Evvie!”

No one called me Evvie. I’d stamped out that nickname years ago. However, it might be better than “child bride”.

I opened the door and Mal barreled in, Tyler dragging himself along after. Considering Tyler had sat up drinking and playing music with David until the wee small hours, I wasn’t really surprised at his condition. The poor man clearly suffered with the hangover from hell. He looked like he’d been punched in both eyes, the bruises from lack of sleep were so bad. An energy drink was attached to his lips.

“Mal. What are you doing here?” I stopped, rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Wake-up call, it wasn’t even my house. “Sorry, that was rude. It’s just a surprise to see you. Hi, Tyler.”

I’d been hoping to have my husband to myself today, but apparently it wasn’t to be.

Mal dropped my backpack at my feet. He was so busy looking around the place he didn’t even seem to have heard my question, rude or not.

“David is still asleep,” I said and rifled through the contents of my bag. Oh, my stuff. My wonderful stuff. My purse and phone in particular were a delight to lay eyes on. Many text messages from Lauren, plus a few from my Dad. I hadn’t even known he could text. “Thank you for bringing this.”

“Dave called me at four in the morning and told me he’d written some new stuff. Figured I’d come up and see what was going on. Thought you’d like your gear.” Hands on hips, Mal stood before the wall of windows pondering the magnificence of nature. “Man, check out that view.”

“Nice, huh?” said Tyler from behind his drink. “Wait till you see the studio.”

Mal cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hipster King. Get down here!”

“Hi, sweetie.” Pam wandered in, twirling a set of keys on her finger. “I tried to make them leave it a few more hours, but as you can see, I lost. Sorry.”

“Never mind,” I said. I’m not much of a hugger normally. We didn’t do a lot of it in my family. My parents preferred a more hands-free method. But Pam was so nice that I hugged her back straight away when she threw her arms around me.

We’d talked for hours the night before down in the recording studio. It had been illuminating. Married to a popular session player and producer, she’d lived the lifestyle for over twenty years. Touring, recording, groupies … she’d experienced the whole rock ’n’ roll shebang. She and Tyler had attended a music festival and fallen in love with Monterey with its jagged coastline and sweeping ocean views.

“The lounge and another couple of beds are on their way, should be here soon. Mal, Tyler, help move the boxes. We’ll stack them against the fireplace.” Suddenly Pam stopped, giving me a cautious smile. “Hang on. You’re the woman of the house. You give the orders here.”

“Oh, against the fireplace sounds great, thanks,” I said.

“You heard her, boys. Get moving.”

Tyler grumbled but put down his can and lumbered toward a box, dragging his feet like the walking dead.

“Hold up.” Mal smacked his lips at Pam and me. “I haven’t gotten my hello kisses yet.” He caught Pam up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet and twirling her around until she laughed. Arms wide, he stepped toward me next. “Come to daddy, bed-head girl.”

I put a hand out to halt him, laughing. “That’s actually really disturbing, Mal.”

“Leave her be,” said David from the top of the stairs, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Still wearing just the jeans. He was my kryptonite. All the strength of my convictions to be careful disappeared. My legs actually wobbled. I hated that.

Were we married or not today? He’d had a hell of a lot to drink last night. Drunk people and promises did not go well together—we’d both learned that the hard way. I could only hope he remembered our conversation and still felt the same way.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” growled my husband.

“I want to hear the new stuff, asswipe. Deal with it.” Mal stared up at him, his jaw set in a hard line. “I should beat the living crap out of you. Fuck, man. That was my favorite kit!”

Body rigid, David started down the stairs. “I said I’m sorry. I meant it.”

“Maybe. But it’s still time to pay, you dickwad.”

For a moment David didn’t reply. Tension lined his face but there was a look of inevitability in his weary eyes. “Alright. What?”