Rock All Night(41)

His face darkened a little.

“It’s just the first verse is really strong, that’s all,” I added quickly.

“Yeah, the rest was f*ckin’ weak,” Riley taunted him.

“Fuck you,” Derek snapped.

“Ha haaaaa,” she jeered back at him.

“But you liked it overall?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, it was good.”

“How good?”

I shrugged. “Solidly in the middle of everything you’ve ever done.”

Ryan cringed. “That’s it?”

I stared at him. “That’s the first time you ever played it, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“And all the other songs you’ve done, you did a ton more work on them before you recorded them, right?”

He sighed. “Yeah…”

Then he turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s put it on the back burner for now. Killian, come up with some new ideas for the bridge. Derek – ”

“Yeah, yeah,” he growled. “If we’re through getting reviews on our shit before it’s even halfway finished, can we get back to work?”

Ouch.

I sat down and crossed my arms.

“It’s good to hear from people,” Ryan protested, giving me a sideways glance to make sure I wasn’t taking it too hard. “It’s good to get feedback.”

“Yeah, well, now you’ve got it. Let’s work on ‘Gold And Diamonds.’”

“Okay…”

Ryan gave me a sympathetic look, and then he turned back to the band.

“For the bass line, I was thinking of changing it from what I played you guys last time to…”





29




Despite my wounded pride at being told to butt out, I was soon captivated by the jam session. In total, they worked on three songs I’d never heard before. Each one was better than the last; the final one could have been good enough to be a single on the radio, even in its rough state.


I kept that opinion to myself, though.

Two hours passed, and suddenly Miles walked in. “Twenty minutes. In twenty minutes, you’re on the bus or my foot is up your arse.”

The band members put up their stuff and retreated to their separate rooms. Derek slipped out before I could say anything to him.

“He just hates criticism in any way, shape, or form,” a voice said behind me. “Can’t stand it.”

I looked back. Ryan was standing in the doorway of one of the bedrooms.

“It was actually pretty good, though,” I protested.

“Yeah, well, for Derek, telling him he’s ‘pretty good’ is a half step above saying he’s awful. It’s amazing – the guy can handle all sorts of stuff getting thrown at him, but he gets bent out of shape at the first mention that his lyrics or singing aren’t absolutely amazing. It’s been that way since the beginning.”

“Is that why he can’t handle music critics?”

“That’s pretty much it. Although some of them aren’t exactly evenhanded. There was this one guy at the Red and Black back when we were in Athens – ”

“He told me about that.”

Ryan grimaced. “Did he tell you about him sleeping with the guy’s girlfriend for revenge?”

My stomach turned. “Yeah.”

“Did he tell you he recorded it and sent it to the paper’s offices?”

I felt even queasier. “Yes.”

“Derek’s always been super-mature,” Ryan said sarcastically, then shrugged. “Oh well. Hey, you got whatever stuff you need? Because Miles is one hundred percent not kidding about being on the bus at 3:05.”

“Oh crap,” I whispered, and ran out of the penthouse as fast as I could.





30




I made it out to the bus with five minutes to spare.

It was waiting outside the main circular drive in front of the hotel. The exterior was black, with ‘BIGGER’ in huge white letters on the side – plus a graphic of the .44 Magnum Smith and Wesson from their first album, only now it was about twenty feet long.

Subtle.

Inside, the thing was beautifully decorated. It looked more like a luxurious train car, with tons of soft, plush, black leather seats. There were a couple of giant flatscreen TVs on the wall, areas set up for instruments, a kitchen area with a double-wide steel refrigerator, a full bar, and what looked like sleeping quarters in the back.

Ryan and Killian were already onboard. Derek showed up a couple minutes late, quite obviously in defiance of the deadline. He waved to the paparazzi and a couple of dozen screaming fans as he entered the bus.

“Hey – I just wanted you to know, I thought the verses were good,” I said as he walked up the center aisle.

“Okay,” he said without any emotion, and strolled past me to the bar.

ASSHOLE!

Somewhat deviously, I wondered where Miles was and why he wasn’t chewing Derek out – until I saw a giant crew member walk out of the hotel with Riley slung over his shoulder. She was kicking and screaming, and Miles was marching along behind her, hurling insults and profanities at the top of his voice.

The paparazzi had a field day with that one.