Always Read Free

absolutely.”
    “Thanks.”
    This close to him, the musician she’d idolized since she’d first heard their self-produced EP over a year ago, she found herself utterly overwhelmed. He was her hero and the first thing he said to her was that he’d liked her performance. It was almost too much to take in.
    Then she realized Ash was still talking. That was probably a novel experience for him— a girl in a bar ignoring him. But he was trying to introduce her to the rest of the band, and she was a fan of them all, so reluctantly she pulled her attention away from Dillon.
    “Justine James, of the awesome porn star name and the killer voice, this is Rocky and over there’s JD.”
    Rocky was leaning on the bar behind Ash, chatting up one of the girls. He was a stocky wall of solid-packed, tattooed muscle. The forest of metal lining his ear cartilage, piercing his eyebrow, lip and nose, was forbidding, but the open, friendly grin he threw her was not.
    “Nice name, Justine James,” he smirked.
    JD, taller, soft-featured, with shaggy brown hair, was sipping his drink, talking to the same girl as Rocky, but he glanced up long enough to smile and nod at her in greeting.
    Justine knew who they were already, of course. And while Rocky looked like a fascinating individual and JD was no doubt a talented bassist, there was only one person she’d come out here to meet and that was Dillon.
    Ignoring Ash’s mildly leering grin, she turned back to Dillon. “I’m really glad you caught the show tonight.”
    “I am, too. Like I said, you kicked ass.” He gestured to her empty hands. “You need a drink?”
    Justine smiled and nodded, stepping up to the bar into the space between Ash and Dillon. He turned to face her just as Ash turned back towards Rocky and JD and then it was just the two of them. The bartender showed up much faster for friends of Ash Thoren than he ever had for her and in moments, she had her water and he had his beer. There was so much she wanted to say and now she finally had her chance, she didn’t know where to start. Taking a deep breath, she decided to jump into the deep end.
    “Can I say something without sounding like a creepy fangirl?”
    “I’m pretty sure it would be impossible for you to sound like a fangirl. Shoot.”
    “I loved this last album. I liked your first one, too, but this last one, it was good on a whole new level. Soul of Rust ? That song... it was brilliant.”
    Dillon looked at her with mild surprise. “Thanks. That song was my favorite, actually, but most people know—“
    “ Heartbreak Tonight . Yeah, it’s good and I’m so glad it’s charting. You guys deserve it. But I don’t know… Soul of Rust really got to me. The lyrics, the sound. You produced it, right?”
    He shifted awkwardly and rubbed his palm across the back of his neck. “I just tweaked some stuff.”
    “There’s what the credits say and there’s what everybody knows, and everybody knows you’re the one who really produced that album. It’s amazing.”
    Dillon gave a nod, acknowledging her compliment. “So how long have you been with… sorry, is it Failsafe?”
    Justine nodded and took a sip of her drink before answering, giving Dillon a moment to watch her. He’d been intrigued the minute he’d seen her approaching them. To be fair, he’d been intrigued the minute she’d walked on stage. It was hard not to be intrigued by a girl who looked like Justine. Once she’d started singing, though, he’d been floored, and his attention hadn’t wavered for the entire thirty minute set.
    “I’ve been singing with them for two years.”
    The way she worded her answer piqued his curiosity. “It’s not your band? I mean, you didn’t start it?”
    She shook her head. “David did. He plays guitar. They advertised for a lead singer and they found me.”
    “Lucky for them,” Dillon said and she smiled. And it was their lucky day for sure. The band was utterly unremarkable, from their name—Failsafe?