Under the Lights (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) by Karolyn James

solo, the next show, and the next woman who understood how
it worked. Get into bed and then get out. He knew he wasn't capable of having
that with Jules. It wouldn't end well.
    Tanner grabbed a beer and Blake was
right on his tail.
    “ Bro,
what ’ s wrong? ” Blake asked. “ You look a little off. Something
happen? ”
    “ Just
some crazy fans, ” Tanner
said. “ Had to go up to the
roof to escape. I ’ m not
used to that yet. ”
    “ I
say bring them on! ” Blake
said. “ Especially the
women. ”
    “ Yeah,
right, ” Tanner said.
    “ I
didn ’ t say anything to
anyone, but there was a guy lingering around looking for you. Looked like a
sleazy dude. ”
    “ What
was his name? ” Tanner
asked.
    “ He
didn ’ t say. Looked like he
was looking for a story or something. I told him you left already. He said you ’ d know who he is. ”
    Tanner knew exactly who it was.
    Goddamn Richie.
    "Well he isn't getting
anything out of me, ” Tanner
said. “ He probably wants to
talk about Ryan or something."
    “ Shit, ” Blake said. “ That would piss him off. ”
    “ Yeah,
it would. After everything that ’ s
happened. It ’ s been quiet
lately and it would suck for a reporter to stir up the same drama again."
    “ Yeah,
especially when we are getting ready for big things. ”
    “ I ’ ll take care of it, ” Tanner said. “ Let ’ s enjoy the rest of the night. ”
    “ Get
this man a shot! ” Blake
announced and threw his arm around Tanner ’ s
shoulder.
    Tanner didn ’ t want a shot of whiskey. He didn ’ t even want a sip of beer. He
didn ’ t want to ruin the
taste of Jules ’ lips and
tongue from his mouth.
    “ Not
too hard, ” Sam said. “ You guys have practice tomorrow. ”
    “ Practice? ” Tanner asked.
    “ Yeah.
You need to finish the demo soon. But you need to practice with the backup
singers. Make whatever changes you want. You know the routine. You ’ re the rockstars, not me. I just
book the shows, you play them. ”
    “ Speaking
of singers, ” Gabe said. “ Aren ’ t we missing one? ”
    “ Jules
went home." All eyes were on Tanner, again. He looked around the room. “ What? I saw her outside. When
the crazies were chasing me. She wanted to go home. ”
    “ Did
she quit or something? ” Asher asked.
    “ Not
that I know of, ” Tanner
said. “ Sam? ”
    “ No, ” Sam said. “ I talked to all three …”
    Tanner nodded and slipped back out
on the stage. The Jack was still like a big party. The house music was playing
and people were dancing. It was not like Tanner to not be in the mix. Normally
he would have been out there, drinking, finding the enjoyment to take back with
him for the night.
    Just one night.
    There was never two nights.
    “ What
are you doing? Scouting? ”
    Gabe stood next to him.
    “ Yeah, ” Tanner said. “ Scouting. ”
    “ Good.
Let ’ s make the most of the
night. Since the backup singers are off limits. ”
    Tanner grinned.
    Yeah, that ’ s what you all think.

(8)
     
    Tanner opened his eyes and rubbed
his forehead. He waited for the brick-thrown-against-my-fucking-head feeling to attack him, but it didn ’ t.
He was just killer tired and still half asleep. His phone was beeping somewhere
in the apartment.
    His bed was far more comfortable. A
good place to hide and be alone.
    Tanner rolled to his right side and
pulled at the covers. A blonde, hair covering her face, was snoring next to
him. Tanner lifted the covers. She was naked.
    Well, it was one of those night s then.
    Tanner rolled out of bed. Whoever
this woman was, she should have been gone by now. And if by some dumb chance he
did invite her to sleep over, she needed to wake the hell up and leave.
    Tanner grabbed his clothes from the
floor and snuck to his closet to get some fresh clothes. It was stupid to be
sneaking around his room. What Tanner feared was that if he woke the woman up ( what
the hell is her name? ) she would want to join him in the
shower or something. And