Blood and Guitars (18 page)

“Did you make this?” I asked incredulously,
noting that it had all of the actual knobs and strings that a real
guitar would.

“A fan gave that to me at one of our shows
during the last tour.”

“Pretty dedicated fan,” I said.

“You can say that again. You can actually
plug it in to an amp and play it.” I thought he was joking at
first, and he must have known it from the smile I gave him. “True
story. I’ll prove it to you sometime.”

As the tour continued, I discovered there
were two and a half baths on the first floor, along with two extra
bedrooms complete with furnishings. There was also an exercise room
with a private porch. Upstairs was a game room with a wet bar and a
balcony. An expensive pool table sat in the center and cushy seats
lined the walls, along with two loveseats, all in red. Then he led
me back to a dimly lit room with two rows of black leather Lazy Boy
theater seating. A large projector screen covered the wall in
front, and a wooden stage sat beneath it.

“Movie night at your place,” I teased.

“Just say the words,” he said, and I could
tell that he meant it. I gazed up at him, staring into his blue
eyes. They smiled along with the curve of his lips.

“Where do you sleep?” I knew I hadn’t seen
the master suite yet and I was curious about what Trey’s bedroom
might look like.

“This way.” He took my hand and led me out of
the home theater and away from the game room to the other end of
the house. The master suite was everything I had expected and more.
The floor was the same light stone as the downstairs and the far
wall was almost entirely window. Trey’s bed was a black California
King that sat low to the floor with lime green bedding. I crossed
the lush grey rug and approached the window.

“You must have some view to have such a big
window,” I added. He followed closely behind as I walked toward the
glass. The image before me was breathtaking. There was a pool
below, complete with palm trees and flowering tropical plants. I
even spotted a life-sized dolphin fountain on a stand inside the
water. If that wasn’t enough, the entire pool area was enclosed in
glass to protect it from the elements.

“I should have asked you to bring a swimming
suit.” He leaned his arm against the glass. “We could have taken a
dip after dinner.”

“I’ll take a rain check.” I gazed out at the
beautiful scene before me.

“Deal.”

He led me into the master bath where I viewed
a jetted-tub and oversized curved-glass shower. The bathroom also
had a view of the pool down below.

“How do you get yourself to ever leave home?”
I questioned as we made our way downstairs again.

“I might be more tempted to hole up in here
if I had someone to share it with,” he admitted. “For now, the guys
would come and drag me out if I tried.” He led me to the dining
room, which was a nook off of the kitchen with a small but
expensive looking table with dinner settings for two. He pulled out
the chair for me and I sat down. “Dinner should be just about
ready. Give me two seconds.”

The food in the Wok sizzled and hissed as I
scraped it into a large bowl and then carried it over to the table.
Aurora grinned up at me, looking impressed. I winked at her and
then put the egg rolls on a plate and carried them to the table,
too, along with a small bowl of chilled mandarin oranges I’d gotten
from a can.

“Dinner is served,” I said, taking my seat
across from her.

“You really went out of your way,” she stated
as I gestured for her to fill her plate.

“I have a confession to make,” I said.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I cheated and didn’t grow the oranges
myself.”

She laughed and I chuckled, feeling my heart
jump at the sound. I filled my plate with food and watched eagerly
as she took a taste of the stir fry.

“I … I can’t believe you made this.” She
looked up at me in amazement. “Where did you learn to cook like
this?”

I smiled, happy with her reaction. “There’s
this restaurant in Shanghai,” I began. “O’Shea and I had the most
amazing Asian Princess Chicken there one night on our last tour.
When the chef found out he had a famous American band in his
restaurant he came out to say hello and make sure we were enjoying
the meal. When I saw that he spoke pretty good English, I expressed
my wish to learn how to make it myself sometime. He promised that
if I came back to the restaurant sometime, he would give me his
recipe. He was enjoying the press he’d get because we were there,
but I knew we wouldn’t be going back to China on tour again for
maybe a couple of years depending on our schedule so I made O’Shea
go back with me again before we left town. To make a long story
short, he hadn’t actually expected me to ever come back, let alone
show up the next day. He was so amused by the fact that I was back
that he wrote out the recipe himself and brought it out to me. I’ve
been making it ever since.”

“You’re serious?”

“I swear.” I set down my fork and held my
hands up innocently. “O’Shea still requests it every so often. He
doesn’t cook at all so he calls me up and places an order. It’s
kind of annoying, actually. I’d teach him how to make it himself
but he’d never get it right. Poor guy.” Aurora just shook her head
at me in mild disbelief. “Cooking is something I picked up from my
Mom. It was always just the two of us since I can remember. She’s a
great cook.”

“Well, it’s amazing. I’ll never be satisfied
with Chinese take out again, so thanks for ruining that for
me.”

I chuckled and she smiled up at me between
bites. Cowboy sauntered over to stand by my feet for a moment
before wandering off in search another issue of Rolling Stone to
destroy.

“Can I ask you something?” I said after
chewing a bite of egg roll.

“Sure.”

“Would you ever consider doing artwork for a
record?”

Her eyes grew wide and she stared up at me
appraisingly. “I guess that would depend on who’s asking.”

I smiled and said, “I mean it. I’ve seen your
work and it’s different from anything else out there.”

She put down her chopsticks and considered me
for a moment. “You’re hot. Why not just get some famous celebrity
photographer to take a picture of you?” she said, but she was
grinning. And did she really just call me hot? I mentally
high-fived myself and then cleared my throat to answer her.

“It’s been done to death,” I said.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” I nodded at
her. “I … I don’t know, Trey. I’ve never done that kind of work
before.”

“All I’m asking is that you do some sketches
or something to show the rest of the guys what you could do and
we’ll go from there.” She still didn’t look convinced so I
continued. “Come out to the studio again with me and you can bring
a sketchpad and do your thing while we work. Or bring your entire
easel and your paints for that matter. What have you got to
lose?”

She studied me silently, biting her bottom
lip in thought. “It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is,” I added. “If everything goes as
planned your work will be displayed on the front of an album that
will be in the hands of a million teenagers and young adults within
a few months.” I knocked on the wooden table and raised an eyebrow
at her, awaiting her response.

“You’re right,” she said. “I’d be crazy to
pass up a chance to do something like that. It’s just so
unexpected.”

“Your work is incredible, and we need
something incredible. It was bound to come to this, don’t you
think?” She bit her lip and I knew I had her. “So you’ll do it?” I
asked.

She nodded. “I’ll do it. Just remember, your
band mates might hate my work.”

“Doubtful.” I grinned victoriously and took
another bite of egg roll.

When we’d finished eating, Aurora asked if we
could walk out by the pool. I took her hand and happily led the
way. When we neared the water, Aurora slipped off her shoes and
rolled up her pant legs, sitting down to dangle her feet in the
cool water.

“It’s saltwater,” I explained as I opened
some of the glass doors surrounding us to let in the warm night air
and then joined her, putting my feet in the water next to hers.

“That explains it,” she said
matter-of-factly.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Explains
what?”

“Why you smell like the beach.” I looked
away, not sure how to take her comment. “That’s a good thing,” she
added, noticing my hesitation. “I love the smell of a salty ocean
breeze.”

I chuckled, feeling self-conscious. “Good to
know.”

“Do you write songs out here?” she asked,
gazing into the water.

“Nah.”

“Why not? I’d paint out here all the time,”
she observed. “It’s so calming.”

“I’m too clumsy,” I admitted. I’d end up
dropping my guitar in the water or something. Just ask any of the
guys.” She laughed along with me. “Besides, a nice calm, serene
atmosphere doesn’t always make for the best songwriting. Teenage
angst sells better.” She laughed again and turned to look at me. I
couldn’t see past her green eyes for all their intensity. “You
know, green just so happens to be my favorite color,” I
whispered.

“I might have guessed that judging by your
favorite guitar and your bedding,” she said softly, smiling.

I leaned toward her. Her lips parted slightly
in anticipation. My heart was doing double-time when our lips met.
Her hand was on my knee and I prayed that I could keep my balance.
Falling in the pool in the middle of the kiss would be all too
typical of me. The smell of her perfume filled my senses and I
breathed it in, making a mental note to find out what it was and
buy her a lifetime supply. We pulled apart reluctantly and Aurora
gazed up at me, looking a little dazed. Could it be that I was
having the same affect on her that she did me? I seriously doubted
that. But it was hard to deny the possibility when she scooted
closer to me and leaned her head against my shoulder with a sigh of
content.

Even without Trey, finding the recording
studio again was easy. I pulled straight through the side driveway
that led around Ken Morris’s house and to the back where the studio
was located. When I parked, it was next to a car I remembered being
here the last time, although I didn’t yet know who it belonged to.
I cut the engine, and with a sigh I wondered briefly why I had
come. On the surface, the answer was simple: Trey had asked me to.
But below the surface were many complicated layers, each filled
with reasons I should just put the car in reverse and back out of
here, leaving Trey to his fairly uncomplicated rock star life.

Then the door to the studio opened, and out
stepped Trey. He was wearing grey stonewashed jeans with a brown
leather belt and a black t-shirt with a faded design. His gaze fell
on me and that lazy half-smile tugged at his lips. And that was it.
I couldn’t resist.

So I did the only logical thing left to do. I
opened the door and climbed out. Trey was by my side immediately,
his lips brushing my cheek in greeting.

“I still can’t believe you managed to find
this place without directions” He smiled at me.

“Well, I have been here before,” I reminded
him.

“Must be that photographic memory of yours,”
he conceded as I pulled out my large sketchpad and a case of
charcoals. He took my supplies from me and gestured for me to lead
the way up the walk to the studio. Inside I was greeted by O’Shea
and Ken who were hanging out in the sound room.

“What are you working on today?” I wondered
out loud.

“New song,” Trey said simply.

“Already?” I didn’t try to conceal the
surprise in my tone.

“Trey is on a roll,” O’Shea said
matter-of-factly.

“We’re laying down some guitar parts for it,”
Trey clarified for my benefit. “Chase and Jonas left a little while
ago because they were done for the day.”

“Going to do a little drawing while you’re
here?” O’Shea asked, eying my sketch pad as Trey set it on the sofa
for me.

I shrugged and said, “We’ll have to see if
you guys can inspire me.”

O’Shea raised an eyebrow and then slugged
Trey on the shoulder in the strange way that human guys do. “I
believe we can rise to that challenge.”

Trey smiled at me and told me to get
comfortable and make myself at home. I settled down on the sofa and
Trey brought me a bottle of water and then followed O’Shea into the
sound booth. I pulled out my charcoals and opened my sketchpad to a
clean sheet while they plugged in their instruments and donned
their headphones. Ken and I made small talk until the sound of
electric guitars was pouring into the room via the speakers mounted
on the walls.

“You guys ready to roll tape?” Ken asked.

“Let’s do it,” O’Shea called out, his voice
coming through the microphone set up in the corner.

“I’ve got the drum track for you,” Ken said.
“Rolling.”

I sort of lost track of the specifics of
their conversation at that point. I was swept up in the act of
capturing the scene on my paper. It didn’t take me long to decide
exactly how to portray either of them in my drawing. I was
perceptive as a human, and my vampire senses and intuition had only
heightened my awareness. As Trey and O’Shea stood a few feet apart
from each other in the booth, playing their guitars, it was clear
that they had a long history together. Trey had mentioned that
they’d been best friends since the eighth grade. That was evident,
but so were the differences in their demeanor. While it was obvious
Trey cared deeply about his music and his career, he was generally
laid-back and easy going. O’Shea on the other hand was a
workaholic, and a perfectionist. He carried himself differently,
standing with his feet planted firmly while he ran through a lick
on his guitar. Trey was relaxed and prone to move around more. For
him, the entire experience seemed to be more about the emotion the
music was evoking rather than the technical aspects. One more way
Trey wore his heart on his sleeve. I could only imagine how this
would translate to a crowd at a live show. No wonder fans went
crazy over him.