Rock God, page 11
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
I bounced on my toes, warming up.
Tommy was air drumming, rolling his neck back and forth to get loose.
Kellan swung his guitar a full three hundred sixty degrees, letting the strap carry it up and over. He always did it three times before every show. We weren’t overly superstitious, but we were definitely set in our ways.
Z picked up his guitar and looked at me, a smile quirking up one side of his mouth.
“You ready?” he mouthed.
I gave him a thumb’s up.
Both of us turned to Devyn, whose eyes were closed as she played something we couldn’t hear on her bass. She looked cool and aloof, a hundred percent rock and roll, wearing all black except for deep purple Doc Martens. She had a long leather trench coat on over her jeans and ripped up T-shirt, her hair down and falling over her face, as if she were trying to hide it. In this case, it worked like a charm, adding another layer of mystery to someone who was already shrouded in it.
Her fingers flew over the frets as she warmed up, like they were an extension of her arm, and once again, I was momentarily mesmerized.
The crowd would be too.
I could feel it.
They would love her.
My gut had been guiding my career since day one, and it had never let me down.
We just had to get over a few of these early humps.
Like the first fucking show.
“Let’s go!” Ross called as the curtain went up. It was still dark, but we had a display of red and white spotlights moving back and forth across the stage.
Tommy ran to his drum set and climbed up, thumping on the bass drum a few times. The volume of the chanting got louder once they heard him.
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
Kellan went next, hitting a chord and letting the sound reverberate through the room.
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
Z was next, and he did a short five-second solo that got the crowd even more worked up.
I turned to Devyn, who was right behind me.
“You got this.” I didn’t know if she could hear me over the noise and the music, but she was close enough to read my lips. I reached out and squeezed her hand before bounding onto the stage.
“What’s up, Hollywood?” I yelled as the spotlight hit me. “Did you miss us?!”
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!” The chant was almost deafening now and I lifted a fist in the air.
“Let me hear you say Onyx!” I yelled.
“Onyx!”
“Let me hear you say…” I drew it out, letting the whistles and catcalls fill the room. “KNIGHT!”
“Knight-Knight-Knight-Knight!”
“That’s right, you motherfuckers. We are Onyx fucking Knight, and tonight we have something really special planned. You wanna know what it is?” The first bra landed at my feet and I scooped it up, lacing around my mic stand and wondering how women could afford to throw them at us night after night. We got so many we’d started collecting and donating them to women’s shelters every few weeks on the road.
“We have a new bass player and you are going to fucking love her…”
More catcalls and whistles.
Tommy started a rhythmic pounding of the bass drum, and I lifted my hands over my head, clapping in time to it. “Let me see your hands!” I yelled.
Hands went up and the energy amped up a notch.
Good.
This was what I wanted.
“She’s not coming out until every god damn hand in the room is in the air! Let me see you clap.” I walked from one end of the stage to the other, watching the fans in the first few rows. There was no assigned seating tonight, a veritable free-for-all that would be a lot of fun once we got them all singing and dancing. Our music was technically hard rock, but we had the kinds of melodies that made people want to move, and tonight would be no different.
Hollywood was home, and this crowd was one of my favorites.
“Oh yeah! Can you say Onyx?”
“Onyx!”
“Knight.”
“Knight!”
“Onyx Knight.”
“Onyx Knight! Onyx Knight! Onyx Knight! Onyx Knight!”
I turned to the wings, looking for Devyn, and she was tapping her foot in time to Tommy’s beat.
She was as ready as she was ever gonna be, and I turned back to the crowd.
“We spent a long time looking for someone special to play with us, you know what I mean? Because I know you all loved Carter. Did you love Carter? We did. He was our brother and our best friend and one of the baddest bass players that ever graced the stage. Am I right?”
The crowd went nuts.
I let them yell and get it out of their systems for a minute.
“And now we honor him by bringing in one of his favorite bass players to pick up where he left off… ladies and gentleman, let me hear you give it up for the newest member of Onyx Knight—Devyn Fucking Cates!”
16
Devyn
There were no words for the way it felt to run out on that stage.
At the fucking Whiskey.
I’d been coming here my entire life.
And dreaming about playing for my hometown crowd.
Now it was happening.
Fuck yeah.
I hit a series of notes on my bass, letting the rich, heavy sound bounce over the sound of the audience.
And they were into it, continuing to clap their hands to the rhythm I was pounding out in time to Tommy’s beat. Z joined in, doing a simple but catchy melody, and Kellan was making some cool sound effects by messing with his foot pedal. Kingston grabbed his harmonica and we launched into the opening bars of “Tempo in Reno.” The moment the crowd recognized the song they went wild all over again.
And we were off and running.
I hadn’t performed live in nearly five years and the excitement surging through me was like nothing else. I’d missed it more than I wanted to admit, but I’d thought I’d closed the door on that facet of my life forever. And my reluctance to fully submerge myself in Onyx Knight was more about the fear that I’d like it too much and it wouldn’t work out than anything else.
Because this was epic.
I took a moment to find Greatty in the wings and almost laughed. Instead of sitting in the chair the band had provided, with headphones on to protect her ears, she was on her feet, hands over her head, clapping along with the audience, singing along, and the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
When I met Kingston’s eyes, he grinned at me over his harmonica.
I swung around, facing the audience and letting my body take over.
It knew what to do even when my brain tried to override it.
This was what I’d dreamed of since I was a kid, and the emotional trauma of my last band slowly began to ease as I danced across the stage. Z, Kellan, and I had choreographed a few different routines, and we moved into position just before the bridge. Z loved to swing his guitar around by the strap, over his shoulder and back into place without missing a beat. Instead of doing it in unison, we’d opted to stagger it, one after the other and then back the other direction. During the encore, Kingston would also have a guitar and join us, and it was how we planned to end the show, alternating guitar spins. The last one would hit Z’s hands as Tommy hit the last beat of the drums. And the lights would go out for a few seconds before we came back to take a bow.
Not that I was in a rush to end the show.
I was loving every minute of this.
The crowd seemed happy too, clapping and singing along.
I bobbed my head in time to the heavier beat of the next song, “Shiny Pieces,” itching for my eight-string. I just hadn’t wanted to make this first show too complicated. Now I regretted being so conservative. I was absolutely going to change things up when we started rehearsing for the tour. The show would be bigger and longer, so everything would be different, and even just two songs into this one, I knew I wanted to level up. I wasn’t a star yet, but I had the potential, and I was going to do everything in my power to show the world I deserved to be Carter’s replacement.
“God damn, Hollywood, it’s hot in here.” Kingston ran his hands through his now damp hair. “Is anyone else feeling the heat? Anyone else want to ‘Cool Off’ tonight?” That was another one of the band’s hits.
We launched into the next song and after that, one song morphed into the next. I knew the set backward and forward, so it became one long, non-stop plethora of music that fed my soul. I forgot about the past, Larry, and even my current hesitation in immersing myself in the band.
There was nothing but this.
Music and sweat and the roar of the crowd.
My fingers moved on the neck of my bass with ease and precision, and my body remembered the moves, the choreography, even the rhythm, anticipating what I had to do even before I did it.
It had always been this way, from my first live gig when I was seventeen. I’d done piano recitals and school marching band shows, but that had been different. Playing live rock and roll was something else entirely. No one could understand unless and until they could experience it. And at this level? With a band like Onyx Knight? There was literally no greater feeling in the world.
We took our final bow, threw picks and drum sticks into the crowd and retreated into the wings. I handed my bass to the waiting roadie and a wave of emotion washed over me that was so strong, tears stung my eyes.
Oh, fuck.
I turned, and the first person I saw was Kingston.
It wasn’t planned and if I’d stopped to get control of myself, I never would have done it. But the emotion and excitement of the night was more than I could deal with, and before I knew what I was doing, I threw myself into his arms.
And adding insult to injury, I burst into tears.
“Hey. It’s okay.” His arms closed around me without hesitation. “You’re good. It was amazing. Let it out.” He gently stroked my back, and even though I knew the band and crew and most of our management team was watching, all I could do was hang on for dear life.
“God, I’m sorry,” I whispered against his neck since we were almost the same height.
“It’s okay. There’s a lot of emotion involved in this.” His arms were strong and steady around my waist. “No one here will judge you. We’ve all wanted to cry after a particularly emotional show. But we’re guys, so we don’t. You’re allowed to be who you are, though.”
The whirlwind of emotions shooting through me were almost overwhelming, but somehow, with Kingston holding me, it was okay. I’d convinced myself I’d healed from the band-related trauma in my life, but sometimes it didn’t feel like it. Like right now. Except Kingston made it okay. And he didn’t know anything about my past.
I’d never felt as safe and content as I did right now, and a big part of that was the man whose arms I was currently crying in.
It made no sense.
We weren’t a couple.
We were friends, but we’d only known each other a month or so.
The sexual attraction between us didn’t mean anything.
Did it?
I was going to have to think about that, but not tonight.
Not now.
I took a shaky breath and finally pulled away, averting my gaze because I didn’t want to acknowledge just how good it felt to be in Kingston Knight’s arms.
“I’m sorry, guys,” I said, when I could finally find my voice. “That was the most intense…”
“It’s okay.” Z reached out and hugged me next. “We get it. Believe me, we get it. It was an incredible show. You went out there and showed them who you are—which is exactly what we wanted. Listen to them—they’re still cheering. For you.”
“Don’t make me cry again!” I said, smiling even as I swiped at my eyes.
“Let’s go backstage,” Sasha whispered. “So you guys can have a few minutes to pull yourselves together before we let the press in.”
She was probably referring to me, since it didn’t l seem like the guys needed to pull themselves together, but that was okay.
“I have never been as proud of you as I am right now!” Greatty said, coming over and slipping her arm through mine. “You were amazing.”
I covered her hand with mine as we walked. “Thanks, Granny. I love you.” I called her Greatty ninety-nine-percent of the time, but we had an inside joke where I occasionally called her Granny because she was so old and there was always fun banter that went with it. It was a term of endearment, though, and tonight there was no banter. Just a loving smile and the squeeze of her hand.
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
When we got to the room they’d set up for us as a makeshift backstage since there wasn’t a traditional one at the Whiskey, I gulped down a bottle of water. I’d probably sweated out a gallon and needed to hydrate or I’d be hurting tomorrow. Especially since I had a feeling we were going to party tonight.
“What’s your drink of choice?” Kingston asked me.
I hesitated.
Once upon a time it had been Jack Daniels.
That stuff tended to get me into trouble, though.
These days Greatty and I drank a lot of wine, and we’d begun to acquire expensive taste too.
That wasn’t going to happen at a venue like this.
“I’m a simple girl unless we’re drinking wine,” I replied. “And this isn’t a wine kind of night.”
“It is not,” he agreed patiently.
“Vodka cranberry,” I said. “No lime.”
“You got it.” He spoke to what appeared to be a waitress sent up to take care of us, so I sank into the nearest chair.
“How do you feel?” Sasha asked, sitting down next to me.
“Excited. Overwhelmed. Like I just fell in love.”
We both laughed, understanding how that statement was equal parts ridiculous and ridiculously accurate. “I don’t know firsthand, but from what I’ve heard, rock and roll can do that to you.”
“It has to be the right rock and roll setting,” I said. “It doesn’t happen automatically. In fact, in some cases, it can be the opposite.”
She met my gaze curiously. “You had a bad experience with Lace and Venom, didn’t you?”
I nodded. “Well, let’s be clear. I had a bad experience with Larry Hanks. The other guys were decent. And the music was good. It was just… everything else.”
“Is there anything I need to know going forward?”
Well, if that wasn’t a loaded question, I didn’t know what was.
There was so much she probably needed to know.
But there was very little I was willing to talk about.
“About Larry?” I asked slowly.
She shrugged. “Larry, the other guys in the band, whatever you think might be pertinent now that you’re about to become a household name in rock.”
I refused to let the past continue to fuck with my present. Tonight had been one of the best nights of my life and I wasn’t going to allow Larry to ruin anything else. I’d given him power over me once—never again.
I shrugged. “The other guys in the band were great. Who knows with Larry? He’s an asshole so he’ll probably talk shit about me given the chance.”
“Noted.”
“We’re going out,” Kingston said, coming over to us. “You guys coming?”
“I probably shouldn’t,” Sasha said, glancing over at Axel, her bodyguard. “It’s too complicated for me to be in a busy night club. But you guys have a good time.”
“I’m in,” I told Kingston, my eyes lingering on his face a little longer than necessary.
Was it wrong to be so attracted to someone you couldn’t help but stare whenever they were close?
Was it normal to understand something was wrong intellectually but want it anyway?
Was there any chance in hell I’d be able to resist him if we continued to spend time together?
I’d been managing to ignore the pull between us, but I’d screwed up tonight by having an intense moment that sent me to the one place I wasn’t supposed to be—his arms. Luckily, everyone had written it off as post-gig emotions, but I knew better. My subconscious had done what my rational mind wouldn’t allow and now I was going to have to figure out what to do about it.
17
Kingston
The look in Devyn’s eyes was impossible to ignore.
Resistance, as Star Trek fans would say, was futile.
She might not be willing to act on it, but it seemed like we were fighting a losing battle. The pull between us was so strong I was a little worried everyone in the room could see it.
A quick look around told me they couldn’t. Everyone was distracted with the excitement of the show and this new era for the band. Personally, I was torn between wanting to share in that excitement and dragging Devyn somewhere private we could talk. That wasn’t going to happen, though, because the room was filling up with friends, family, and the highly curated list of journalists we’d agreed to give access to us.
Before I could come up with a plan, I was surrounded by people clamoring to talk to me, and Devyn disappeared in a throng of journalists looking to talk to her. I’d have to wait until we headed out to have any one-on-one time with her, but after the way she’d thrown herself into my arms after the gig, it seemed like it was time to have another conversation. The one we’d had at my condo that night felt a bit outdated now. Or something. It was hard to think because I was distracted as hell.
As frustrated as I was on a personal level, it was a good night professionally. We’d managed to have a successful first show without Carter, and I was looking forward to the European tour. Everyone had great things to say about us in general and Devyn’s performance in particular, which was exactly what we’d been hoping for.
Sasha put a gentle hand on my arm. “I’m going to take off—band meeting Monday morning.”
“All right. Thanks for everything.” I gave her a hug and then caught Grim’s eye.
“What’s up, King?” He was instantly at my side.
