~Holly’s Point of View~ I could tell Slade was doing all he could to ask the big question, and all I did was avoid it. Would I stay, or would I go? At this point not giving him a straight answer was probably just mean, and I knew it. But I’d managed to let the night and day go by playing it cool. I didn’t want to talk about things but it was beyond obvious now what Slade thought, what he expected. He expected me to stay. And… I mean come on, his mom’s ring? What had he said to her to make her think everything was that serious? As the night drew on I just laid in silence, staring into space. But it was the first night since I’d been here we didn’t make love. We didn’t even sleep naked. Nothing about Slade’s life would have to change if we were together. Only obviously he’d get me and a mostly grown kid… But he won’t have to move. He won’t have to give up anything at all. He’d have amazing sex on demand … if I do say so myself… And potentially fulfilling his life’s goal apparent
~Slade’s Point of View~ I felt like I was the king of being a nervous wreck but being able to hold it in and not show it. Having to walk backstage into the lion’s den, without Holly was enough to make me have a nervous breakdown. What the hell could I tell everyone? So what do I do instead? Punk out and go sit at the bar. Nobody knows my face, nobody cares about the manager. Well, the bartender does, security. The little people always know me. This place actually had three bars but I went to the main one where I saw a familiar guy. “Hey Shane how you been,” I said, getting the last available stool. “Hey hey! There’s the man. Good, can’t complain. Can’t believe the guys wanted to play here, couldn't be happier about that. The tips will be off the hook tonight,” he said, nodding. I dropped a hundred dollar bill on the bar and ordered a glass of Jack and told him to keep them coming. Drinking was never my preference when nervous, I should want to keep a clear head. But right now m
~Holly’s Point of View~ I leaned back into Slade’s arms as the band played “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. I’m sure the crowd wasn’t expecting three-fourths of the show to be covers, but right now there wasn’t a dry eye in the house and I doubted anyone cared. There wasn’t a person in here male or female with a pulse that wouldn’t kill to go home with Jude Stone tonight. God he was sexy. Far from the horny little 15 year old toad that was always naked in Slade’s pool. Always with a drink in his hand, always goading the guys into some dumb idea. But I wasn’t one of those pairs of desperate eyes. Not anymore. Even if I knew they were all hung and well endowed. Yeah, hard to forget. Not that Slade was small in any way, I was just glad he didn’t have the same love of public nudity. It was comforting to know there weren't pictures and videos of him hanging all out. During a slow part I looked over at Chase and he was staring right at me. He had a huge smile on his face, watching Slade and
~Slade’s Point of View~ ~Three Months Later~ “But in all seriousness. Slade you are everything to us, and I’ll admit we all took you for granted for way too long. Hopefully, we’ve all grown up … a bit…” Corey trailed off. Everyone booed. I shook my head and laughed, then squeezed my bride’s hand. “Enough that at least we can finally start carrying our weight. Distribute the responsibilities. Having amazing wives to help doesn’t hurt,” he said, winking at Pearl. She had a little baby belly now, and damn she was beautiful. Natasha wasn’t far behind. Bailey though? She was holding out and Trey seemed just fine with that. Juliet wasn’t in a hurry for baby number two anytime soon. There would be three new Feisty babies this year, that was more than enough. A few whistles broke out. If this is how long it was going to take each one of them to make a damn speech, we’ll never get out of here. Jude and Lukas had already been nearly ten minutes a piece! I’d only had one dance with Holl
~Holly’s Point of View~~Twenty Five Years Ago, Suburbs of Portland, Oregon~I can’t believe mom forgot to get me from school … again. I know she’s got a lot on her plate but come on! Trudging down the sidewalk with my heavy backpack weighing me down, I tried to avoid the mud puddles. Thankfully by the time school ended the rain had quit but it had been pouring ALL day. Now I had nearly a two mile walk home and it was chilly. And muddy, there weren’t exactly sidewalks along the entire way.My mom was a night shift nurse at the hospital so I rarely saw her except when she picked me up from school. She worked seven at night to seven in the morning but often went in early. The fact that she didn’t show meant she either got doing something else or didn’t set her alarm.I’d thought about going into the office and calling home but if she needed to sleep that badly I guessed I should leave her alone.It just made my already bad day worse. First dad was late dropping me off, then we had a po
~Slade’s Point of View~~Present Day~“I don’t want you wasting time on your honeymoon worrying about my problems,” I said, to one of my best friends.The drummer in the band I had managed for the last fifteen years was newly married and he should be face first in his wife’s thighs instead of talking to me.The band and I were close, beyond close. We were brothers and we’d all been through hell and back together. I’d do anything for any one of them and I knew they all felt the same about me. True friendship, brotherhood, is something you can’t buy. Loyalty.While I was rich with those around me who cared and loved me, there was certainly a massive void in my life I didn’t know how to fill.“Look Slade you can’t fuck around. But you can’t be like a stalker either. Holly is right there, she’s right there bro. I’ve been talking to the wife about this and we agree,” Lukas said.I rolled my eyes as I heard a shuffle.“Slade, you need to give her what you failed to give her all those years
~Holly’s Point of View~“You’ve been on that video game all day,” I snapped, blowing my bangs out of my face.“I’m just getting your money’s worth,” Chase said, laughing.This kid.He’s way too smart for his age, way too far ahead of his time. He needs to slow down. He knows since we lost his dad I’ve pretty much let him do whatever he wants, though he usually doesn’t take advantage of that. I don’t have the heart to tell him no to anything.As I struggled to get more out of the fridge than I knew I should, my fingers seemed to stop working.“Damn it,” I whined, looking at the carton of eggs on the floor. I put everything else down and grabbed a roll of paper towels. But before I could even squat down I felt arms around me.“Mom, you’ve been off for a couple days. Like a space cadet off … floating without gravity. What’s up,” Chase said, resting his head on my shoulder. I couldn’t believe my flipping 13 year old was as tall as me already. I am only 5’5 but still. “Can’t hide anythi
~Slade’s Point of View~ It had absolutely killed me not to pay for Holly’s dinner, nearly killed me. Natasha’s words rang in my brain and told me not to. Don’t step into her life waving your money in her face. That’s not the way to do it. I was so damn messed up over seeing her I ended up giving the counter guy $300 for a $42 bag of food and telling him to keep the change. Her son was handsome and polite, clearly amused with the little exchange too. Which means he’s probably more mature than his years. He wasn’t defensive though, he wasn’t throwing me shade or irritated. I felt that was good, if there could be any good at any rate. It stabbed a bit when she called me an old friend, but really what would she say? I supposed it was better than saying “someone I used to know” or “some asshole” from high school. I had to get out of my head, I really should get back to California. But I just can’t. Running into her tonight was a complete fluke, I hadn’t even been following her aroun