Drive(48)

“Uh, no,” I said, quickly shoving my phone down my pants.

He arched a brow. “You think I won’t go after that? Read it . . . out loud.”

“No way, man,” I said, shooting to my feet and putting the island between us.

Reid seemed satisfied as he watched my chest heave. “My songs are just as personal to me until I’m ready to share them.” He gave up, victorious.

“Fine. I’ll read it out loud,” I said to his retreating back.

I looked like an idiot pulling my phone from my pants, and I caught his smirk. I cleared my throat, scanned the text, and slumped in defeat. I saw groupies, whores, and head in a booth. “Never mind, carry on.”

His loud laugh was the best part of that day.

Well, that and the fact that an hour later, he found his way into my phone holster.





1,2,3,4

Plain White T’s



“You really don’t have to do this,” I said to Reid as he sat in his truck, waiting on the address. “I can find my way around.”

“Where to, Stella?”

I gave him the name of the street and he nodded. “You know where this is?”

“I do.”

“Is it a decent area?”

“For you, it’s safe enough.”

“Enough?”

“Safe is an illusion, Stella,” he said as he turned on the radio.

“I see you’ve had your morning box of Lucky Charms.” He cut his eyes at me and pulled out of the parking lot. We asked Leslie to schedule our shifts as close together as possible for the next week. It took little maneuvering due to Paige’s outburst, and she agreed, but only after giving us a lecture on leaving our personal shit at our front door.

Reid and I had both been humiliated and punished for our decision. And as the days passed, I was starting to care less and less about how everyone else felt. Except for Reid. In his company, I couldn’t shut up. Under his stare, I’d never felt so beautiful. And beneath him . . .

“What?” he asked as I grinned at my window. “I can see you smiling.”

“I was just thinking about Jim Morrison.”

Reid wasn’t buying it. “Jim Morrison?”

“Yeah, he was fascinating. And you’re kind of like him in a way. He was shy. He didn’t like to perform at first, always had his back to the audience when he was singing. But then he became notorious.”

Reid shook his head.

“I want to visit his grave in Paris. Bucket list.”

“He had some good tunes.”

“I love their story,” I said wistfully, “him and Pam.”

“It was dysfunctional as hell,” Reid pointed out.

“It was rock and roll,” I said with a shrug. “Love and rock ‘n’ roll love stories aren’t for the faint of heart. Look at Elvis, he was a glorified pedophile and so was Jerry Lee Lewis. But they are legends. And despite their crazy shit, they loved the same women their whole life.”

“Elvis and Priscilla got divorced.”

“You are definitely a pessimist in his prime,” I said, repeating Ben’s words.

Reid looked over at me skeptically. “Nothing about you, Stella, says you’d be cool with that kind of life.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“No?” he asked, baited.

I shrugged. “The women behind these guys get overlooked so often. It’s sad really. The first wives especially. They are usually the ones down from day one. They invest all their time, raise that first kid that often grows up to be a total spoiled fuckup, and gets left for wife number two. They just forget about them.”

“And you aren’t worried about that because?”

“Because I will not be forgotten, Reid Crowne,” I said with a wink. “Now, let us go see my new castle.”

My castle turned out to be a sheet-white two-bedroom slum with ruined carpet.

“We’re going to replace the carpet,” the manager said as I stared at the large brown stain in the middle of the sad excuse of a living room.

I looked at Reid. “Rumor has it Cobain lived under a bridge. I can starve for my art.”

Reid shook his head and grabbed my hand before he addressed the manager. “No, thank you.”

The second complex looked far better than the first. I breathed out a sigh of relief when the manager opened the door and there was clean carpet and fresh paint on the walls. It was also only a twenty-minute walk to the restaurant. When Lexi couldn’t take me, it would be an easy commute. The light switches worked, and the cars in the parking lot weren’t leaking oil.

“I’ll take it,” I said proudly as Reid gave me a nod of approval.

Finally. FREE.

“First month’s rent is half off,” the manager said as he ushered us back into the heat.

I gave Reid a sarcastic grin and my best Texas accent. “Looks like we’re eatin’ steak tonight, honey!”

He just shook his head and walked out the door.

After an hour of paperwork, I had a move-in date. One week. I swallowed that information as I joined Reid in the truck, where he patiently waited.

“Hi,” I said, swallowing the dry air, jumping in the truck, lifting my hair, and fanning my neck.