Until Korry (PULSETUNES ROCK GODS Book 4), page 18
“If she’s that much of a friend, how come we’d never heard of her until you mentioned that crazy childish pact to us? Even then, you only did this after you were triggered by your sister telling you the chick was getting married.”
“Blaire was my best friend before I was in the band. We go way back. And anyway, did I give you a hard time about Siranne? That girl was a total mindfuck, or the drama between you and Tyler Nott?”
“Don’t start dragging that shit up,” Levi warned in a barking tone about a chapter in his life he would rather forget.
“Then keep your sticky nose out of my business. I’m not doing this with you of all people, Levi. Before you were with Trinnie, the attention and drama you brought to the band was markedly worse.”
“I never knocked anyone out,” he protested.
“If that’s what they’re saying, it’s horseshit. There were at least thirty people sitting there that would testify to him getting up and sitting back on his seat. That guy was asking to be knocked on his ass by approaching me like that in an emergency room. Let the press write what they want. I’m fucking over it.”
By the time I hung up, I was raging mad. Mad that my bandmate had felt it his business to call me. Remembering where I was, I slumped into a seat, pissed at being questioned like that by Levi. Deep down I knew he was trying to look out for me, but I owned every move I made, I always had.
“Are you Mr. Moonan?” a small, softly-spoken Chinese lady asked. I glanced at the name on her coat, Dr. Carmel Ching.
“Yes,” I replied, standing up, feeling worried.
“I’m Dr. Ching,” she said, pointing toward her name like I hadn’t already read it. “Blaire’s stable now,” she mumbled before she reached out and held my upper arm. “But I’m afraid she lost the baby.”
“Blaire’s going to be okay?” I blurted out, anguished.
The doctor nodded. “Physically she’s stable,” the doctor replied, repeating her status again. “However, she’ll need to be our guest here for another day or two yet.”
“To rest you mean?”
Dr. Ching shook her head. “As you know, Blaire hemorrhaged during the miscarriage, which is unusual. Her level of iron wasn’t good. We had to transfuse four pints of blood. However, like I said, it requires further investigation. I’ve asked a colleague to come check her out tomorrow. We need to figure out why her iron levels were so low, but we need to wait until the transfusion is complete before we can do further blood tests.”
“Can I see her?” I inquired, frowning.
“Of course, she’s been asking for you but keep it brief and let her rest.”
“Oh, I’m staying. I’m not leaving her here alone.”
“You can take that up with the nurse in charge. If you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to.”
It was refreshing that the doctor had no interest in who I was. If she knew I was a celebrity, she didn’t seem impressed at all. As the doctor left, Glenda came back to speak with me.
“I’ve sent for an orderly to escort you to Ms. Hutton’s room,” she advised with a soft smile.
As I entered Blaire’s hospital room, my eyes were immediately drawn to the monitoring equipment attached to her arm and how frail she looked lying in the bed.
The moment I came alongside her, her eyes opened, and she gave me a small smile. “Hey,” she croaked as I took in her dry lips and immediately picked up a cup of ice, that was left on the stand by her bed.
Taking a cube, I rubbed it tenderly along her lips and was rewarded with a weak smile. “You saved my life … again,” she mumbled and turned her head away from me.
“Always, sweetheart,” I told her. “I’m your regular hometown hero,” I said jokingly because the somber mood in the room had felt overwhelming. I had no idea what to say to her about the baby, but I assumed they had informed her.
“I lost the baby,” she mumbled as if she’d read my mind.
I leaned forward and held her head in my hands to comfort her. “I know, I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know whether to feel consumed by grief or selfishly relieved at not needing to face having a criminal’s baby. I guess I’m still numb now until I work that one out in my head,” she said tiredly.
“Losing a baby is devastating in any case. It’s never a blessing but the stress of Nevin being in jail and you being tangled up in all that couldn’t have been easy for you to wrap your head around. Although, I think I know you well enough to guess that once you feel healthier, the grief will set in.”
She nodded. “I think you’re right. I’m lucky to be alive right now.”
“Thank God,” I agreed. “But the blood …” There was much blood so quickly that I thought she was bleeding out.
“I’m sorry I ruined your T-shirt,” she said quickly.
“Fuck the T-shirt. We got you here on time, that’s all that matters.” A small smile curved her lips, but her eyelids drooped, and I guessed she felt exhausted. “Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
After arranging for a cot to be brought into Blaire’s room I sent a text to Deakon.
Me: I’m sure you’ve heard I’m in the shit again. Staying at the hospital with Blaire. Spend time with Sadie and I’ll see you in New York.
Two minutes later, Deakon responded.
Deakon: Dude, bad news travels fast. Watch your back and keep your head on straight. No matter what you feel about that girl, she’s bringing you a shitshow of negative press. I’m here when you’re ready to talk, otherwise I’ll see you in NYC.
CHAPTER 41
KORRY - THREE DAYS LATER
Blaire was being discharged from the hospital and I had to leave for New York to start work on our album. There was nothing I could do about the studio time or the producer that had been booked. So even though Blaire still needed support, I had no choice but to leave her.
Louis volunteered to bring Blaire home from the hospital and get her settled in. But I refused, insisting that I’d at least collect her and welcome her home.
Thankfully the house had begun to take shape. The decorating had been taken over by someone that Blaire knew, and by the time she came home all she had to overcome was the smell of whitewashed wood in her living room. The interior designer had replaced all the furniture and artwork and Blaire’s floor looked far more in keeping with a Florida residence.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with her?” I asked my brother as I was leaving to pick her up.
Louis rolled his eyes to his hairline, clearly intolerant that I was fussing. “I’m perfectly capable of keeping the woman entertained. I’ve known her for as long as you have. I’m just not as obsessed with her as you are,” Louis replied, winking.
“There’s a difference between obsessed and concerned,” I insisted.
“Then you won’t mind if I take my shot with her,” Louis suggested. I looked pissed and he began laughing. “I’ve always had a little thing for Blaire, pity you saw her first.”
“I might try to get down on the weekend, I need to check with the schedule,” I threatened, wondering if I had done the right thing by asking Louis to help her.
“Oh, I do believe my brother is worried,” Louis remarked in response.
“Fuck off, Louis,” I mumbled as I pocketed my cell phone and grabbed the new key for my Maserati. “I’ll see you when we get back.”
“So twice a day for the next two weeks, then we’ll check your iron levels again,” a young male doctor told Blaire as she took the discharge papers from him.
“You’re here,” Blaire mumbled, smiling as she slid off the bed and stood. “After fighting my way through the number of people that recognized me here, I’m at your service,” I replied, sounding harassed. “All set?”
She nodded as the orderly came in with a wheelchair. “Okay, lady, your chariot awaits,” he informed her cheerily. Blaire climbed into the chair, I grabbed her bag and we both thanked the doctor again.
Once we passed through the entrance doors to the parking lot, Blaire raised her face to the sun. “At last, fresh air.”
Leaning forward, I helped her out of the chair and thankfully there were only a few people around, so we made it to my car without more interruptions from would-be fans.
After she climbed into the seat, I bent over her to buckle her up and she caught my arm. Turning to look at her, our faces were inches apart. “Thank you for everything.” Her eyes looked much brighter than they had in days as they searched mine and we became lost in an intimate gaze. For a long moment all thoughts were wiped from my mind, until Blaire unexpectedly closed the space between us and kissed me.
The moment our lips met, I’d expected to feel that initial electrified thrill of a wonderful first kiss, where blood surged through my veins, and that dizzying desire an intimate connection like ours should have brought. Unfortunately, I felt bummed that there wasn’t even the hint of that spark I’d imagined.
Breaking the kiss, Blaire stared at me in confusion. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her brow creased as she stared, perplexed. I pulled away and stood up straight outside the passenger door. For a moment, I wondered if my reaction was due to the timing of the kiss and her current state of mind, then guilt consumed me for kissing her back, like I’d taken advantage of her vulnerability. As much as I’d have liked to believe my reaction had been due to this, I knew this wasn’t the case.
“That was a surprise,” I said dryly once I’d pulled myself together and slid into the driver’s seat. The lack of chemistry in our kiss was disconcerting.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know why I did. Actually, perhaps I do,” she mumbled, having second thoughts. “I had no words to express how incredible I think you are.”
“Sweetheart, you don’t need to offer yourself to me out of gratefulness. I’d hate to think you kissed me out of duty.”
“I didn’t. That kiss has been a long time coming … I know the timing isn’t the best, but you’re going away today and I—”
“Stop,” I said, cutting off her nervous babble. “Tell me what you felt?” I said as I studied her reaction to my question.
Blaire blinked before her gaze moved from me to the windshield. “Felt? Before I kissed you, you mean?”
“Yes, when you kissed me, what ran through your mind?”
She shrugged. “An instant swell of emotion in my chest that I can’t explain. Then … I don’t know … I mean, there have been times when I’ve sensed there was this … chemistry between us.” She paused and bit her lip in thought. “It’s hard to explain—like there was this portal with each of us just out of reach on opposite sides. Sometimes it felt like some magnetic force, drawing me toward you.”
“What you’re describing sounds like anticipation before we kissed. What did you feel as you actually kissed me?”
She frowned. “Like I was kissing my brother … no, ew, I mean kissing someone I loved very much, but there wasn’t …” she shrugged again as though she couldn’t find the words to explain it.
“Spark?” I suggested.
“Spark?” she repeated, nodding.
“Yes. I’m disappointed there wasn’t a spark between us as well. I considered whether the reality would match those pent-up feelings I had around you. Now, I think our chemistry has been born out of the anticipation of what it would be like to be in a physical relationship together, rather than the reality of one,” I reasoned.
“Yes,” she agreed flatly, nodding. “But I’m not sorry I kissed you. We’d never have known for sure we weren’t a match.”
For a moment I didn’t know what to do with the anticlimactic feeling inside. “Me too,” I agreed. “But this doesn’t change who you are to me, Blaire. You’re still my best female friend,” I declared, still reeling but relieved to finally understand where my affections for Blaire should be in my heart.
“Favorite friends,” she agreed. “Now we need to erase that kiss from our memories because it felt weird.”
I gave her a wry smile. “Glad we figured this out without acting on that marriage pact. Can you imagine our wedding night?” I remarked, shuddering. She laughed. “Can a person have more than one soulmate? If so, can you be my platonic one because I still love you, and I’d still move heaven and earth to protect you.”
CHAPTER 42
KORRY
“Now that there’s nothing to tie Blaire to that guy. You can tell her how you feel,” Zena suggested during the drive to Daytona airport.
“That’s not going to happen,” I informed her with a sideward glance, as I drove to catch my flight.
My charter was due for takeoff at 1:00 p.m. for New York, and my sister was accompanying me so she could take my car back to the house. It should have been odd that I let my eighteen-year-old sister drive my Maserati, but she was a far better driver than Louis, despite two accidents she’d had as a learner driver.
“It’s not? Why not? There’s nothing to stop you now,” Zena insisted.
“Passion is what’s stopping me … stopping us, actually.”
“Passion? Korry … that’s sick. You mean because she can’t have sex right now because—”
“Jesus, Zena. What do you take me for? Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
She shrugged, looking confused. I wasn’t surprised, since I’d told Zena recently that I’d loved Blaire since the first time I met her.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant?” I challenged.
“Because I didn’t believe her,” Zena mumbled as she gave me a sheepish smirk.
I nodded because Blaire was right on that thought. “She kissed me in my car as we were leaving the hospital.”
“She did?” Zena sat up straighter in her seat and turned her body toward me, her interest piqued. She studied my face, and I realized my lips were pinched tight. “And that didn’t feel right since she just lost the baby?”
“Fuck, will you stop second guessing and let me talk?” I asked in exasperation. “She kissed me and there was just … nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Baby, you’re my little sister, I’m not spelling it out for you.”
“Ah, you didn’t get hard.”
“It takes more than a kiss to get me hard … fuck. Scratch that from your memory and quit fucking talking like that to me,” I admonished, once I remembered who I was talking to.
“You think I haven’t seen or heard worse hanging around with the crew?” she questioned, laughing.
I shook my head. “Anyone touches you and I’ll kill them,” I mumbled.
“Seriously? In this business, everyone wants to touch me,” she muttered, disgusted. “I’m not a virgin, Korry.”
I steered off the highway and pressed my foot hard on the brakes. “Who?” I roared. “Who fucking touched you?”
She giggled, nervously. “No one recently. I was just saying, I’m not a virgin.”
“I don’t want you getting involved with any of those sleazeballs,” I mumbled, shuddering at the thought of her being taken advantage of.
“Sleazeballs like you? I mean, there was a time when you were screwing anything that moved according to what Dad told Mom.”
“Fuck,” I said, heading back out into the traffic. “Promise me you won’t fall for that fast-talking shit most musicians spout.”
“I don’t. As a matter of fact, I consider a lot of the men I’ve met as subpar when it comes to conversation, hygiene and genuine warmth.”
“Good. Keep finding those flaws. The guy that gets you will need to be everything and more to stop Louis, Ben and me from beating his ass to a pulp.”
I took the turn for the airport and pulled up alongside the security gates. The gatekeeper was one I’d met many times, and the moment he recognized me, he waved me onto the airfield.
“Don’t fuck around, Zena. You’re too good for that. You’re a fucking princess compared to most females in this industry.”
“I won’t. Jesus, Korry, give me a break.”
I pulled up about twenty feet from the charter and climbed out. As my sister and I crossed over in front of the hood I pulled her in for a hug. “Stay safe and try to stick to the speed limit. Text me when you’re home so that I know you got back okay.”
“Yes, Dad. You never finished telling me about Blaire.”
“In a nutshell? We kissed, and we both felt nothing. I got off more on the fantasy than the reality of her. Same for Blaire, I believe. There was nothing in that kiss. Anyway, think Shania Twain,” I said, hinting to her hit single, regarding a lack of sexual chemistry between two people, “That Don’t Impress Me Much”.
“Pity,” she said, sadly. “Oh well, never mind. Go make your album. Louis and I will take good care of her while you’re gone.”
My cell phone rang as I boarded the plane and I answered to Donnie.
“Are you determined to bring a clusterfuck of bad press to the band?”
“What’re you talking about?” I challenged.
“More shit in the press about you and that woman in Ormond. They’re now speculating you had her get rid of a kid she was carrying.”
“Who the fuck is reporting that? I want their asses sued. Blaire had a miscarriage.”
“Was it yours?”
“Of course not. Give me a fucking break,” I replied in frustration. “You want to know the truth about my love life? I haven’t been laid in weeks and I’m sick and tired of people like you telling me how I should be behaving.”
“Well, that’s only going to continue for the time being. At least until this album y’all are making has been launched,” he ordered.
“I’m a fucking rock star. Are you forgetting it’s me who should be calling the shots?” I queried. “Shit gets reported about people like me every day of the week but gets twisted into sensational stories. Who cares?”
“I do. The label fucking does. Your bandmates fucking should if they don’t. I mean, the press is putting the stuff together from the ER and now there are pictures of you kissing this woman in your car as she’s leaving the hospital.”
