Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

AIDEN

“Who said we should come to this stupid shit small town anyway?” I asked once I entered the small studio where we were recording music for the next album.

“Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?” Talon asked.

“Some chick ran into me this morning. Had to call the police, and now I have to deal with the insurance company. She blamed me, of course.”

Royal chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just that it most likely was your fault. We all know how you drive.”

“Shut up. No one asked you anyway. Let’s get back on track.”

The guys looked at me with questioning looks. Maybe I lost my mind one too many times. I couldn’t help if I had a temper. It just came out of me, and I had no control. That’s why our manager Melissa had us move to Lockridge, so we could focus on the album and take some time away from the spotlight and away from Nashville, TN, where we tended to party a little too hard. It’s easy to lose focus when you become a chart-topping band at the heart of our career. But this next album could make or break us. So, it needs to be perfect. And we needed to get our act together…mainly me.

The guys and I took our time writing songs and trying to put the melody together. Once we had to gist of it, we headed into the sound booth for a test run. Renting out a studio costs a lot of money, so we did most of the song-writing at the house we were renting so we could maximize our studio time.

And it just so happens I got my rental car rammed into. There I go, getting angry just thinking about how infuriating that inconvenience was. Ugh. The only upside was, I got to look at the beautiful angel who caused such a ruckus. She was like wildfire, and I hoped I would run into her again, but not literally this time.

I poured my heart into the song we were currently recording called High Line, which I wrote one late night, in my room by myself. It’s about being sick and tired of having a different girl in your bed every night and the booze that goes along with it.

Every song written has a little bit of each of us in it, depending on who writes it, etc. Besides singing, songwriting was actually my favorite part of being in the band. The only bad part was, the record company might not accept every song we wrote for the album. So, we had to save them for farther down the line or scrap it altogether. I always kept track of all the ones I wrote and the ones I needed to keep on the back burner. You never know when you’ll need them.

“Good job, Aiden,” Talon said.

“Thanks, man.” We slapped our hands together. “It’s only day one, though.”

A week from now, the dynamic could change, or we could stay on this streak. With five guys working together in a band, that was a lot of testosterone. I had to make sure to take some time away from the guys, it’s what calmed me, and I could put things in perspective.

“I’m gonna take a walk,” I stated before walking out of the studio.

Our studio was right in town, and if you had ever seen an old western, you would know exactly what the small town looked like, just more modern. In town, the shops were old-town-looking, and there was something in every shop. I passed by a butcher shop, a clothing store for women, a small grocery store, a western wear shop, a bookstore, and a dry-cleaning establishment. Lockridge had a little bit of everything. Even a theater right in the center of town. Once I reached the end of the shops, I turned around to head back. But this time, I stopped inside the book-store.

“Can I help you with…”

“It’s you!” I interrupted her. The woman that crashed into me this morning.

“My name is Melody, thank you very much.”

Oh, she’s a smart ass. I like it.

“Can I help you find anything? Maybe a book on how to drive.”

“Oh, she’s got jokes. Very funny. Where’s your non-fiction section?” I asked.

“Right over there. If you need any how-to books, like driving, those are over there,” she pointed, wearing a sarcastic smile.

I made a face at her and headed to the non-fiction section. I liked to read autobiographies. I looked at a few before grabbing two I found interesting and headed to pay for them. Not looking forward to another interaction with Melody . It seemed like she hated my guts.

“Found a couple,” I said nervously as I plopped them on the counter. She barely looked up at me. Her black hair curtained around her face and reached past her shoulders, and she had the most gorgeous green eyes I have ever seen, a tiny diamond nose piercing, and pretty pink luscious lips.