Finding the Rhythm Read online

  “I’m not really sure that’s a fair comparison,” Vinny replied.

  I had to agree with my bud. I didn’t think the evaporation of DA3 was something that could be dumped at Allison’s door. “E, I get it, I really do. But I don’t think the end of DA3 had much to do with Allison Watts, and a lot more to do with a certain Devon Montgomery being found balls deep in the boss’s kid.”

  Vinny’s eyes rolled. “I’m a fucking creep, and even I wouldn’t do that shit. There are just some lines you aren’t meant to cross. That is most definitely one of them!”

  “Okay, but what if she did get involved with one of us? And then, for whatever reason, it doesn’t work out. Is that really the kind of environment any of us want to be working in?” Ethan argued.

  I mean, I got it. He had a point, but was that really a valid reason for excluding someone who actually had talent, and the ability to give us something different and break into a new fanbase? It was something to think about.

  “What about a pact then?” Vinny offered.

  “A pact?” Ethan echoed.

  “Yes, a pact,” Vinny repeated. “If we like her, and we take her on, we all agree right here and now that we do not mix business and pleasure. Under no circumstances do we shit where we eat.”

  Ethan snorted. “You really think that’s a deal you can stick with, buddy?”

  I smirked; he had a point. Vinny was a womaniser, and I wasn’t sure his cock had ever found a pussy it didn’t like.

  “I’ll agree to do it if you guys do,” he stated.

  I wiped my hand down my face. I knew this would only end in disaster, but who was I to disbelieve the guy I had been best friends with since we started school aged four? Vinny offered out his hand to us to shake on the deal. A gentleman’s agreement between three friends. We would not fraternise with our potential new drummer if we decided we wanted her in the band.

  “Fine. Deal,” Ethan grumbled, and we all shook on it.

  Well, well, well. It looked like our profile was about to change.

  The guys worked me hard for my audition. They threw everything they could at me, Ethan especially, hoping I would slip up and give them a reason to not take me on. I played like my life depended on it, and I guess, in a way, it did. With the drama over the last few weeks, I had forgotten just how much I needed to play to feel alive. How much I needed to take my frustrations out beating my sticks against the stretched-out skin on the top of a drum. When we finished, I was covered in sweat, my long hair stuck to my face, and I was flushed from the raw energy I had put into playing.

  Vinny threw a towel in my direction when we were done. “Dry yourself off there, love. You’re looking a bit wet.” He grinned. It was a good job I was already flushed, because I’m sure my face would have been a giveaway to where my mind went with his comment.

  Smith unplugged his guitar and set it back down on the stand beside him before turning to me. “Damn, you really can play,” he said, sounding genuinely surprised.

  A laugh escaped me. “Would I be here if I wasn’t going to be able to play at the level you guys need?”

  “True. I mean it though. Some of those tracks even Jason had trouble with when he was having a good day. You’re a fucking natural.”

  Now I did feel a heat in my cheeks, proud to have someone as talented as Smith Bennett think that I had any kind of musical gift. “Thanks, Smith.”

  Ethan also appeared by where Smith and Vinny were standing in front of the drum set. He reached out his hand for me to shake. “Welcome to Dragon Zion, Allison,” he said when I took his hand in mine. The other two lads grinned in Ethan’s direction.

  “Yes!” Vinny cheered, and Smith laughed.

  “Really?” I exclaimed in excitement.

  Smith nodded. “Works for me, Ally.”

  I cheered myself, and jumped up from the stool, moved round the drum set, and threw my arms around all three guys, pulling them as best I could into an excited group hug. Vinny’s hand was around my waist, pulling me closer to them, and surprisingly, so was Ethan’s, both of them pulling me in tighter, directly again Smith’s chest. Suddenly, I realised just how much I needed this. To feel like I was a part of a team again, a team that wasn’t about to act in the same way Devon had.

  After a moment, I attempted to break contact with the guys. Any longer in the middle of their manwich and things would have started to get very awkward. They were all gorgeous, but I wasn’t about to let that get in the way of all the possibilities that I had now. This needed to be completely professional.

  I was going to be thrown in at the deep end. The guys were due to leave on a tour in just five weeks. I needed to get myself organised to get out on the road so soon after arriving home from my own tour with DA3. There was to be a general press release issued; Jason wasn’t sacked, he had decided to take time out and put himself into rehab. In the meantime, it would be announced that I would be standing in for their upcoming tour.

  It was going to generate an incredible amount of attention. When we weren’t rehearsing, we were on the press junket; late night talk shows, radio shows, morning television magazine shows. My introduction to the world of Dragon Zion would be a baptism of fire.

  * * *

  “Hot on the break up of her relationship from front man Devon Montgomery, Allison Watts is now standing in for the misfit drummer of Dragon Zion, Jason Adams. They’ll be here to tell us all about it later.”

  I winced when I heard Phillip Schofield explain our appearance on This Morning in just forty-five minutes.

  Vinny caught my gaze and smiled at me. “Don’t worry, love. We’ll shoot that shit down for you,” he reassured me, and warmth crept over me. He was protective of me, and I found it very endearing. It was still a novel concept to have someone being concerned with how I was feeling about things.

  Smith agreed with Vinny. “It’s all good, Ally. We’ve got your back.” He put his hand on my shoulder to let me know he meant it.

  Ethan nudged my back. “If all else fails, we’ll have Vinny flirt with Holly.” He smiled.

  Damn, these guys were amazing. It had only been two weeks since my audition, and this was our first outing on daytime TV, but already they were looking after me, and looking out for me. If things were too uncomfortable for me, they deflected the questions or comments away from me and the topic the interviewer was focusing on. I already felt like I was well and truly part of their team.

  Forty-three minutes later and we were sitting on the sofa opposite Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

  “So, Allison, how does it feel to be spending so much time with these gorgeous fellas?” Holly asked.

  I smiled. “Honestly, Holly, they have me working so hard, I haven’t had a chance to really think about it. We’ve been rehearsing so much for the upcoming tour.”

  Holly nodded and looked at Phillip, letting him know it was his turn. “Will you be replacing Jason Adams permanently?” he asked me.

  Smith was instantly in with a reply on my behalf. “Jason is like a brother to us. It’s not that he could just be replaced, but he has some problems he needs to give his full attention to. He needs to get healthy, and at the minute, being in the band isn’t providing him the stability he needs. So, Ally graciously agreed to help us out with that.”

  I smiled, listening to Smith’s diplomatic reply. They weren’t saying they had 100% ousted Jason, but they also weren’t saying I wasn’t a permanent replacement.

  “So, the upcoming tour. It’s sold out everywhere. How are you handling that level of interest?” Holly asked.

  Vinny stepped in this time. “Well, I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we are all incredibly flattered by the response of the public for the band, and it’s very humbling to know we’re being so well received. What about you, Holly?” Vinny said with a wink. “What’s your personal favourite of our tracks?” And there it was, Vinny flirting with Holly Willoughby, live on This Morning. Ethan looked at me and smirked. She blushed, though
t about it, gave her answer, and Phillip only had enough time to tell us good luck with the tour, and just like that, the interview was done. “The guys will be back after the break to play us out with their latest hit,” he announced.

  “You were amazing!” Smith smiled at me when everything was over.

  “Oh, I dunno about that.” Vinny sulked. “She said she hadn’t noticed how hot we all are!”

  Ethan groaned. “Thinking with the wrong head again, Vinny?” He glared. Vinny laughed, but dropped it and walked away.

  I felt like I was missing something. I knew Vinny was a womaniser and a flirt. Was there something about me and my brass pussy that meant he couldn’t be that way with me?

  Four weeks later

  The sight of her small form struggling with her case towards the tour bus had me rushing over to assist her.

  “Hey. Need a hand with that?” I asked her. She smiled and blew a stray hair out of her face. I couldn’t help myself; I reached forward and tucked her hair behind her ear for her, touching her cheek as I did, feeling my stomach flip. Shit. I quickly looked away and grabbed her case from her hand. “Your carriage awaits, madam.” I grinned and motioned towards the bus parked up in the yard of the studios.

  She laughed, and it was a sound that rang in my ears. It was sweet and angelic, and I shook my head to stop the thoughts that were starting to swim around, wondering how to get that laugh out of her more, how to get her to make other sounds, and just how sweet and angelic those might also sound. I pulled her case to Jimmy, who was busy loading everything under the bus for us. This was the nice thing about being on tour now we were the next hot thing. We had more space than we had when we were starting out. The bus was exclusively for us and our shit. Everything else was in a truck that followed behind. Aside from our cases and the odd acoustic guitar, everything else had a different way of getting there. It made a refreshing change from moving to and from gigs in the back of Smith’s Ford Transit, an amp slamming into the back of your seat when Smith braked a little too hard sometimes.

  Once I had Ally’s case taken care of, I ushered her in the direction of the main door. “M’lady,” I said, bowing before her. She laughed again and started up the steps of the coach. My eyes couldn’t help but fall on her rounded arse, and my body reacted to what I was looking at. Double shit! I followed her up the stairs, only to be met with a grinning Smith at the top step.

  “Like what you see there, buddy?” He smirked at me. Busted. Fuck.

  I glared at him and muttered a stern “Fuck off” as I passed by him. I growled at myself. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. I might be famed womaniser Vinny Richards, but even I could fucking control myself. But then I looked again at Ally, catching another glimpse of her arse as my eyes betrayed me, and I really wasn’t so sure this was something I would be able to avoid.

  I headed to the back of the bus and settled myself into the corner, as far as the confines of our transport would allow me. I needed to steel myself up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid her forever. She was sweet and sassy, and yet there was a certain element of vulnerability about her that made me want to protect her.

  Smith sank into the seat opposite me. “You’re staring, mate.”

  Fuck. I hadn’t even realised I had been looking at her all the time.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I murmured, and turned my gaze out the window instead.

  Smith laughed. “You can’t kid a kidder. But we all made a deal, remember?”

  “I know,” I snapped back at him.

  He held his hand up in defeat. “I get it, big guy. Honestly, I do, but we can’t afford to have this blow up in our faces, and you promised.”

  I looked at him incredulously. “I’ve found a girl I don’t want to sink my cock into. Okay!” I snapped.

  Smith rolled his eyes. “I’m not dead, Vin. I get it, she’s a gorgeous woman, and on some other plane, hell yes. But we have had enough shit around our band’s name, and so has she. So, I hope for your sake the lie you’re telling yourself turns out to be true.”

  I had to admire his honesty. I also had to agree with him. While, yes, Ally was a sexy woman who any man would be lucky to get the chance to satisfy, that wasn’t all there was to her. Lust wasn’t the only thing she inspired in me, apparently. But we had worked too long and too hard on the band and getting where we were now to throw it all away.

  “Honest, boss, I will not stick my dick in the hot little drummer girl.” I laughed.

  Smith groaned, and with that, the spell was broken. He gave me the disgust I needed to shake off the feelings that were rising about Ally. “Classy as always, Vincent. Classy as always. Now, fuck off. I’m going to get some kip.” He kicked my foot.

  I laughed again and lifted myself from the chair. “Fine. I know when to take a hint.” I smirked and moved off to set myself down in front of Ally instead.

  I watched the interaction of my bandmates, Vinny and Smith, having a secret hushed conversation in the back corner of the bus, all the while making occasional glances in my direction. They weren’t very subtle. It was pretty damn obvious that I was the topic of conversation, and for the first time, I felt uneasy around them. I was filled with dread that I was stuck on a tour with a couple of guys who might not actually have wanted me there. I could hear Devon’s voice in my head, pointing out a million and one reasons why I wasn’t good enough to be there. My faults, my flaws, the things that made me a misfit everywhere. He preferred blondes; I was brunette. He preferred tall girls; I was five five. He preferred slim girls with tits that could fit in his hand; ‘more than a handful was a waste’. I was curvy and well-blessed in the tit department. All of this reinforced further by finding him in bed with Don’s daughter. Tall, thin, blonde, with a modest cleavage, and worst of all, younger. Everything I could never be.

  I watched them from the corner of my eye as Vinny got up. I pretended I had been finding something out the window so very interesting instead of noticing the looks and whispers. He plonked himself into the chair next to me.

  “Hello, love. Are you all set for your first exciting adventure as part of Dragon Zion?” he asked.

  I sighed. “Am I part of Dragon Zion, Vinny?” I hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but the words just fell out of my mouth. I couldn’t hold my insecurity in.

  Vinny stared at me. “Why the hell wouldn’t you be? You’re here, aren’t you?” He gestured around the tour bus.

  “What was all that about then?” I said, nodding towards where Smith was now sitting alone, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes closed.

  For a split-second, Vinny winced, and my heart sank. I had definitely caught him out in something. “That wasn’t what you think, sweetness. Trust me, you don’t even want to know what that was about.”

  I glared. I honestly thought things had settled and that it had been agreed that I was a good fit for the band. I guess he was just a very good actor.

  Vinny seemed to read my face. “Allycat, listen,” he started. “That wasn’t about anyone not wanting you here. It was about him giving me shit for being flirty. You know me, I’m a bit of a tease, and God knows I’ll sink my cock into almost any sweet piece of ass that crosses my path. Smith just wants to make sure I’m on the same page as the rest of the guys. That you’re a great fit for the Dragons and I can’t allow my libido to fuck that up for us.”

  My face flushed. So, I was the kind of girl Vinny would be interested in normally? When I realised that was the first place my mind went instead of being relieved that it wasn’t about me not fitting into the band, I blushed more.

  Vinny put his hand on my knee. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, love. I didn’t want you to think that it was something like you not fitting in. I just needed to be honest and tell you where my mind was, and that Smith was trying to drum sense into me over.” I glanced down at his hand, his thumb rubbing circles on the inside of my knee, and I felt the contact sizzling right up my thigh and into my sex. Vinny’s eyes followed m
ine, realised what he was doing, and pulled his hand back.

  “Shit, I’m sorry. See, this is what Smith means. I’m such a womaniser, I don’t even realise I’m doing it. It’s just second nature.” He held both hands in the air. “I promise I will not hit on you, love. I mean it.”

  Vinny’s smile was warm, and I should have felt reassured by it. Instead, I just felt a faint sting of rejection. I got the logic behind it. Hell, I agreed with it 100%. I wanted to fit in with the band. I loved being a part of it, I wanted to stay, and I didn’t need something to mess that up and make the whole thing very uncomfortable. But with everything that had happened of late, all I felt was unwanted. Damn Devon Montgomery and what he was still doing to me. I guess I had been more under his spell and put upon more than I ever realised.

  I forced a smile to Vinny and changed the subject to the tour. I knew the list of dates and some of the itinerary, but I needed to talk about some of it. We were on our way from London to Edinburgh. We had a show there the following night, then we played Newcastle, then Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Portsmouth, and then London for the grand finale. Plans were already being worked on for a big European tour to follow.

  Vinny answered everything I asked, ran down the standard practice for each stop. Travel by bus, arrive at a nice hotel, stay there, play some music for people, then back on the bus to the next stop of the tour. Apparently, in most places, we would take over a whole floor, a bedroom each, traditionally one room after the other, with Don usually staying on the same floor with us. I nodded, digesting everything I was told.

  Ethan boarded and came to where Vinny and I were sitting and took the seat right beside me. He nudged me and grinned. “Well, are you ready for the heady adoration of Dragon Zion’s screaming fans?”