Blood and Guitars (27 page)

Aurora brushed one more stroke across the
bottom right corner and then set the brush down.

“This is incredible,” I wrapped my arms
around her from behind, hugging her tight to my chest.

She turned her head to smile up at me. “I’m
glad you think so.”

I gave her a light kiss and then pulled back,
staring at the painting again. “I don’t know where you come up with
this stuff, but it’s amazing.”

“That’s how I feel about the songs you
write.”

“Yeah, but it’s different.”

“How?”

“I sing the stories I want to tell people,” I
explained. “You … you don’t have to say a word. It’s just
there.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you picked
up a guitar in high school and not a paint brush,” she said with a
grin. “The world just wouldn’t be the same without that sandpaper
voice of yours.”

My cheeks grew hot and I squeezed her
lightly, wishing I could hold her forever as I breathed in the
smell of her hair. “I could write a whole song about this painting
if I looked at it long enough.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Then you could
name the album after the song and we’d already have the cover
finished. It would make my job easy.”

“And lose the one excuse you have to hang out
at the studio with me all the time?” I teased. “I don’t think
so.”

Then, in typical Trey fashion, my stomach
gave a loud grumble. Aurora laughed and said, “All right, all
right. I can take a hint.”

I chuckled, releasing my hold on her, and she
began opening the Styrofoam containers of food I’d brought back.
There was ravioli in a marinara sauce, chicken fettuccini Alfredo
and a bunch of breadsticks. I pulled up two chairs for us to sit on
and she handed me a plastic fork, taking the other for herself.

“Thanks for your help tonight.” She took a
bite of ravioli and chewed it thoughtfully.

“It was nothing, really.”

She gave me a small smile and then bit her
bottom lip. It was obvious something was on her mind so I waited
patiently for her to explain. After a moment she finally spoke up.
“How do you deal with it all?” Her gaze was intense, her eyes
filled with genuine curiosity.

“What exactly?”

“You know … fame.”

I smiled and took a deep breath. “I bet last
night was kind of weird for you, huh?”

She gave me a one-shouldered shrug and said,
“I think the weird part was that it didn’t seem weird at all for
you.”

“I must be a better actor than I thought,” I
said with a grin. “Some things you never get used to.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I still get nervous when I
have to go in front of a crowd. It’s a little different if it’s one
of our shows, but even then I feel it.”

“You didn’t look nervous.” She took a sip of
the root beer she hadn’t finished earlier.

“That’s a good thing.” I grinned at her.

“What about all the fans? Do you get used to
that?”

I took a deep breath, considering her
question. “The fans are just like having a ton of friends. You kind
of get used to being recognized everywhere you go, and being
approached for autographs and pictures and stuff, but I’m always a
little surprised that anyone cares enough about our music to
approach us. We have the best fans in the world. We’re really
lucky.”

“Everyone in the band is really talented,”
she said. “I don’t think it’s just luck.” I smiled at that and she
grinned back, adding, “Plus, your lead singer is hot. That’s got to
help.”

I laughed out loud, glad that I’d managed to
swallow the mouthful of fettuccini beforehand. It would have been
all too typical for me to spit pasta everywhere. “You planning on
coming to the studio tomorrow night?” I asked her when I’d
recovered.

“Sure.” She sipped from her root beer again.
“How close do you think you are to finishing the album?”

I bit the end off a breadstick and considered
her while I chewed. “We’ve got fifteen songs finished, and several
more to work on. The goal is the end of the month. If we were done
recording before October our record label would be really
happy.”

“I bet you’re anxious to get it finished so
you can share it with the fans. They seemed pretty excited when you
said you were working on a new record last night.”

I nodded. “It’s always fun to have new
material to work with, but my life gets pretty hectic when a new
album drops.” I took a bite, chewed and swallowed before I spoke
again. “I’ve never really minded before. I like to stay busy so the
schedule and the traveling doesn’t usually bother me, but…” I
paused, searching for the right words to explain.

“But what?”

“But I’ve never really had a reason to miss
home until now.” It was something that had been gnawing on the back
of my mind since the first night I’d kissed her. Saying it didn’t
necessarily change much, but at least she knew. That alone was a
weight off my shoulders. Aurora smiled at me and I saw a hint of
sadness in the depths of her green eyes.

She was going to miss me, too.

I wracked my brain as I tried to come up with
a way to console her. I could always fly her out to some of the
shows. I didn’t want to disrupt her life, but I was sure she
wouldn’t mind a few visits. We could talk on the phone, or via our
laptops, but the truth was things were about to get really
complicated. There really was no way around it.

“I guess we’ll just cross that bridge when we
get there.” She was trying to be optimistic, and I appreciated the
effort. I just wished our lives weren’t about to pull us in
different directions.

I was pretty sure I was being followed. I’d
taken a detour on my way to Karatz’s house, but the black Lincoln
Towncar behind me hadn’t missed a beat, staying half a block behind
me the entire time. Of course, this wasn’t the first time the
paparazzi had found me at home, and I was pretty certain the guys
and I had generated some buzz at the VMA’s, especially since I’d
mentioned we were about to put out another record. Still, these
guys behind me weren’t going to get a very good shot from that
distance, even with a wicked lens. Without much hope of losing
them, I got back on course and headed for the studio again. At
least the studio was located in Karatz’s backyard. The photogs
would have to do some serious fence-climbing and bush-hiding to get
any kind of a shot. Not that I would put it past them. We wouldn’t
have to worry about it long, though. It would be dark in an
hour.

As I pulled through Ken’s driveway and around
to the side of the house, I was disappointed to see that Aurora
wasn’t already there. It would have been nice to have her inside
before I arrived, paparazzi in tow. The less she was subjected to
the crazy stuff that came with being around me and the guys, the
better.

O’Shea was in the sound booth recording
feedback when I walked into the control room. Ken was sipping
coffee and watching Joshua as he lay on a baby blanket on the floor
nearby, chewing on a toy turtle.

“Hey,” I said. “Just a heads up. There may be
some photogs hiding in the bushes. I tried to lose them on the way
here but they were pretty determined.”

Karatz gave an exasperated sigh. “Thanks for
the warning. I’ll let Serena know.” I raised the blinds in the
window so I could watch for Aurora to arrive. Chase pulled in first
with Aurora just behind him. I walked out to greet them, giving
Aurora a quick kiss and earning a gagging noise from Chase.

“Like you have any room to talk,” I said to
him with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure you and Krystal set a new record
at the club the other night.” Chase gave a happy sigh and a dreamy
look crossed his face. “Snap out of it, Romeo.” I elbowed him as I
walked past, carrying Aurora’s easel in one hand and opening the
door for her with the other.

Aurora laughed and Chase followed us inside.
Jonas pulled up a few minutes later just as I finished getting
Aurora set up in the live room. Chase got comfortable at the drum
kit and the rest of us strapped on our guitars. Serena had gone out
to run some errands, so Ken was watching Joshua until she got back.
For that reason, he was staying in the control room so he could
adjust the volume as he listened to us work out the kinks in our
newest song, “Random Words.”

We played for an hour before Chase went into
a sound booth to lay down the drum tracks for the song. At that
point Serena had come to get Joshua and take him in to bed. The
rest of us stayed in the live room and continued working. Jonas and
I gave suggestions to O’Shea as he finished working out his guitar
solo. Chase nailed the drum part in two takes and then it was my
turn to record the rhythm guitar. We pulled the drums out of the
booth and I brought in Liza, my electric. Aurora must have decided
to take a break from painting, because she waved at me from the
control room where she was standing in front of the glass, holding
a bottle of water. Wes had come in a few minutes before and was
sitting on the leather sofa. He was texting on his cell but paused
long enough to give me a thumbs-up.

Karatz walked in to adjust the microphone and
then went back to his seat at the computer. I put on the headphones
and signaled to him through the glass. My part was fairly simple,
so it didn’t take long for me to nail a good take. Aurora watched
through the glass the entire time. I glanced up on occasion to see
her standing there, and although we’d only known each other a
relatively short time, it was hard to remember what it was like to
record without her there. She’d been such a crucial part of this
record for me personally; I couldn’t imagine what direction it
would have taken if we’d never met.

Only three and a half hours after Chase had
entered the sound booth, we’d finished the song. Ken still had four
or five hours of mixing to do to get it polished up, but the
recording aspect was done. My voice was back in shape, better than
it had been when we’d started recording a month ago. I was back in
the swing of things, as were the rest of the guys, and that made
recording a song go more smoothly.

It was ten-thirty when we finished up and
decided to call it a night. We spent a few minutes talking business
with Wes and then I made plans with the guys to come back to the
studio tomorrow afternoon. I carried Aurora’s stuff out to her car
for her and loaded it in the trunk.

“You did good work tonight,” she said to me,
leaning up against the door of her car.

“So did you,” I returned. I was the only one
she’d allowed to have a good look at the art she’d been doing for
the album cover and the booklet inside. So far, she’d finished
paintings of Jonas, O’Shea, Chase and I all individually. Tonight
she’d been working on the second of two group paintings while we
all rehearsed in the live room. She’d admitted to having a couple
of ideas for the cover in her head and I couldn’t wait to see what
she had in mind.

“What are your plans tonight?” I asked her
casually. I knew her well enough at this point to know she wasn’t
headed straight home to go to bed.

“I’m going to go work on an idea I have for
the album cover,” she said. The look she gave me made it clear that
she was already waiting for me to ask if I could come along.

“Do I get a sneak peek?” I teased, not
wanting to disappoint.

“Nice try.” She was too good at this
game.

“What? You don’t trust me?” I complained.

“About as far as I could pick you up and
throw you,” she retorted. I scrutinized her hundred-and-ten-pound
frame and chuckled. “You should get some rest, anyway. Can’t have
you wore out for tomorrow night’s recording session.”

“You know, you’re much too logical for my own
good,” I replied, feigning disappointment as I stepped forward.

“I come by it naturally.” She raised her hand
to play with my hair for a second, smiling at me. “Go home and get
some sleep. When you wake up tomorrow you can write me a song.”

I bit my bottom lip, gazing at her. I could
have pointed out that all I’d been doing lately was writing songs
for her, but then, she already knew that. She grabbed the front of
my tee shirt and pulled me closer, kissing me quick and hard, and
making my heart beat in double-time. She looked almost dazed when
we pulled apart, giving me a slow, euphoric smile.

“Good night, Trey.”

“Good night.” It was all I could manage as I
watched her climb in her car and start the engine. She waved as she
backed out of the parking space and disappeared around the side of
the house.

“Pull yourself together, man.” It was
O’Shea’s voice coming from behind me. I’d been so caught up I
hadn’t even realized his car was still in the parking lot. I’d
thought Aurora and I were the only ones left.

“Shut up.” Once again, it was the best I
could manage.

O’Shea paused at my side, scrutinizing me.
“You’ve got it bad.”

“Am I that obvious?”

He laughed. “It wouldn’t matter anyway. I
know you well enough to recognize the signs.”

I gave him a defeated smile. He did know me
too well. It was one of the curses of spending every waking moment
with someone for nine or ten months out of the year.

“Come on,” he said. “You and I haven’t had a
chance to just hang out lately. Let’s go to Carlie’s and see if
there’s a good band playing. You can tell me all about how Aurora’s
the perfect woman and all that mush. I promise I’ll at least
pretend to listen.”

I grinned and smacked him on the arm. At
least he wasn’t mad at me for all the time I’d been spending with
Aurora. “Meet you there,” I said. We climbed in our separate
vehicles and I followed him through the driveway and down the
street.

The next night was just as productive as the
last in the studio. We didn’t record much, but we did hammer out
another song titled “Untold You”, and with Karatz’ suggestions, it
was shaping up to be a great one. Aurora had stood in the corner
painting away the entire time and joking around with us. She even
painted an acrylic Picasso-esqe version of O’Shea that showed him
with half a nose and one eye. It was hilarious. He’d begged her to
let him keep it and then Jonas suggested we give it away to someone
in the fan club. The painting Aurora had done of me playing my
guitar in the loft of The Waking Moon had been such a big hit when
we’d given it away in an online drawing that it seemed logical to
do the same with this painting. Even O’Shea liked that idea, so
when it dried, Aurora gave each of us a turn with the paintbrush to
add our signatures to the bottom of the painting next to hers.