Last Song (Chasing Cross Book Five) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (rockstar contemporary romance) Read Free

couple slices.
    He stood back up and felt
the room start to spin. He put his hands out and found balance. The apartment
smelled of death, sweaty laundry, and moldy food. He had grabbed the third
floor apartment the day he decided to skip the show and quit Chasing Cross. He
came to the apartment building - the most beat up place he could find - and
paid cash for six months plus a security deposit, telling the person in the
office that they’d need every penny of it. Rick then locked himself into a
private hell that came fully furnished with disgusting furniture, a coffee
table, an end table with a lamp that flickered, and a bed. It was the place to
come to die, but Rick didn’t intend on dying. He intended getting on back to
living.
    A quick call to Peter and
then his lawyer ended his relationship with Chasing Cross. The guys had called
him a few times since he quit, but he didn’t feel like hearing the sedimentary
bullshit that Johnnie would spill about how important Rick was to the band.
Rick just wanted to drink until he got his fill and then move on to something
else.
    To something basic.
    Rick wanted to find a
house with a garage so he could start all over again like he had mentioned to
the band, but of course they had taken the idea and turned it into a way to
make money. Everything was about the fans, the shows, the money. Not that Rick
didn’t appreciate every single fan and every single show, just when did it
actually end? Was it so wrong to want to plug in a guitar and sit behind a kit
and just jam out? That’s how they got started, so why not enjoy it again?
Instead, it became a process. Sound checks. Set lists. Meet n’ greets. Posters.
Autographs. Contracts. Sure, at the end of that all came the royalty checks,
but Rick wanted the music, the life, the party, the fun.
    But he was alone.
    Rick grabbed his cell
phone and saw the texts he had sent out the night before. Almost thirty
messages to people asking them to come over and party it up. Half replied with
a maybe and the other half said no. A few offered Rick kind words and suggested
he take it easy or at least call the guys in Chasing Cross to talk.
    What the hell did they
know?
    What the hell did anyone
know?
    Especially Peter. He was
a short, fat, money grubbing son of a bitch who saw nothing but giant dollar
signs on Chasing Cross. Wasn’t he the guy that tried to convince Johnnie to go
out on his own? Wasn’t he the guy that swept Chris’s secret marriage under the
rug?
    Rick’s stomach turned and
he dropped his cell phone, heading for the bathroom. There wasn’t a clear path
to the bathroom and Rick had no energy to run. He hunched over and threw up
right there on the carpet. On a stack of magazines, pizza boxes, and an empty
case of beer. It hurt like hell to throw up nothing but stomach bile and vodka.
It did nothing to help his aching head, and when he stood up, he stumbled back
and fell backwards to the kitchen, reaching for the counter. He missed and
landed on the floor. The entire kitchen began to spin so Rick closed his eyes
to make it stop.
    When he opened his eyes
it was four hours later.
    It was already four in
the afternoon. Another day completely wasted but it was getting closer to party
time again. Rick appreciated the little nap on the kitchen floor because he was
now sober. He could sneak out and get some booze and food. Rick pulled himself
up and stood with no problem. He licked his lips and tasted something terrible.
He wiped his lip and saw the green ooze on his hand. He looked down at his
shirt and saw drops of it there too. Then it finally hit him... he had thrown
up while passed out. He looked at the floor and saw the small puddle of vomit.
His stomach ached again but there was nothing left the throw up. He touched the
counter and stared at the puddle, letting it really hit him. Tears filled his
eyes as he started to shake his head.
    He was becoming that
guy... the burned out rockstar who died alone. The guy who would pass out