Heartstrings Read Free

Blake back up on stage? If nothing else, he could get shit-faced and pretend it was someone else. The band barely sounded the same. They were pop-country now, drifting from their bluegrass roots.
    Cal was not a quick thinker when it came to stuff like this. And he was also a terrible liar.
    So when he heard himself accept Yanmei’s offer with a half-grin, his brain was only just catching up. Shit. He’d left it too long. There was no graceful way to back out.
    But when she beamed at him, he felt a little better. It was good to see her smile like that. Cal’s inner circle was tiny, but he was fiercely protective of the people who managed to penetrate its walls. Yanmei was one of them. She deserved to have a good time.
    “Pregame at Megaburger, then we can take a cab?”
    “Sounds fantastic,” Cal lied through his teeth.
    He could psych himself up to this. No sense in being a heartbroken wuss anymore, not after five years. He and Blake had gone their separate ways, and it was for the best.

3
Blake
    D enver was beautiful from above . The city’s skyline, the flat stretch of plains that suddenly jutted upward into distant mountains... As far as approaches in a plane went, it was up there on Blake’s list. And not just because it meant coming home.
    Eight years ago, the band that eventually became the Sinsationals had formed in Blake’s hometown of Colorado Springs. Denver was where they’d played a lot of their early gigs. The city was a well of fond memories for someone as sentimental as Blake. And some not-so-fond ones, too. But overall, coming home was exciting.
    Especially since they were headlining two big arena shows. That was a first.
    The gig wasn’t for another couple of days. Rather than take the tour buses, Blake and his bandmates had flown in early so they could catch up with friends and make the rounds at all their old haunts.
    Or at least that was the plan. Then their limo didn’t turn up.
    Standing at the arrivals gate, his back to the crowd, Blake watched planes taxi for departure. Beside him, Rhett cursed into a cell phone. He hung up in a huff, stalking over to where the rest of the band loitered.
    “There’s a wreck on the highway. The limo’s late. Driver doesn’t know how long it’s going to be.”
    Rhett said this with the same tone of voice a kid might say we drove all the way to Disneyland and all the rides were closed. Blake looked deep down inside himself and found he didn’t really care all that much.
    “All good,” he said. “I’ll just get us a cab.”
    But when he reached for his phone, Rhett smacked his wrist.
    “Fuck no you won’t,” he growled. “Our last album went double platinum in the first month. I am not taking a fucking taxi.”
    Blake shot a piteous look toward Carlo and the girls, who were engaged in far-off chitchat of their own. Erica spoke up when she met his eyes.
    “Yeah, cab sounds great!”
    Blake looked back to Rhett and slowly met the other man’s eyes. He was prepared to stare him down if he had to, but what a dumb-ass thing to fight over.
    “You’re welcome to wait here,” Blake said. “I don’t care about going in a cab and I don’t think anyone else does, either.”
    Rhett hissed out a sigh through his teeth and threw his hands in the air, spinning away from Blake and stooping down to collect his carry-on.
    “You just don’t get it. We’ve got an image to maintain. We’re rock stars now.”
    Blake was about to argue that country music wasn’t rock music, but Rhett’s phone rang. He was quietly glad the guitarist had something new to focus his ire on. Rhett was a difficult man.
    But he was a difficult man Blake was more or less bound to. At least from a work perspective. Funny, even so-called rock stars ended up with coworkers they couldn’t stand.
    After Cal had abruptly quit the band, Blake had cycled through a series of short-lived lead guitarists who had never really fitted in. Rhett was the first in many who played like he gave a