Sweet Melody (Rock & Rodeo Romance #1) Read Online Free Page A

more like the original. It’s not that hard. I have faith in our musical talent.”
    “Aw man, I’m with you, EJ. It’s definitely a girl.” Hart shakes his head at me. “And fuck you for making me agree with EJ,” he says to me.
    Mac stops loading and looks at me. “You know we can handle it. Thanks for the heads up. But you sure you know what you’re doing?”
    His question deserves some consideration. Do I know what I’m doing? Not totally. Do I know if she’ll even agree to my idea? Not totally. Am I willing to risk screwing with my band just to try and win some points with her?
    I’m asking a lot with this last minute request. But my gut tells me it’s a good idea. At least I hope it’s my gut and not my dick.
    “You guys know I would never steer us in a direction that would hurt us. Definitely not now.”
    Levi nods at me, as does Mac. The other two acquiesce quickly.
    “We’ve got your back,” EJ says, his serious tone filled with less sarcasm.
    Now all I have to do is convince her.
    We load a few of the last pieces into the trucks, sweat dripping down our faces and soaking our shirts. Except EJ. He uses his shirt already soaked with some of my spit to wipe himself off.
    He pulls an old T-shirt from the bottom of the truck cab, sniffs it, and puts it on before he points a finger at me. “My dad will have your ass if you scratch an inch of the paint on his new truck, asswipe. Have you properly padded everything?”
    “It’s your fucking fault for bringing his brand new one. Why the hell didn’t you bring Ol’ Bessie? Remember how we loaded as much of our shit as possible into the back of that elderly truck?” I make one last knot on the rope, check if it’s secure, and jump down.
    Mac and EJ laugh as they finish up, too. The smile plastered on Levi’s face tells me that even our quiet bassist remembers Bessie, the white Chevy with a blue stripe down each of its sides. The one girl we all shared back in the day.
    “Bessie shook as if she had permanent palsy. It’s a wonder any of our instruments or equipment made it in one piece.” Mac takes a long sip from his water bottle.
    “Or any of our furniture when we moved out of our parents’ homes,” adds EJ.
    Mac rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whoever had the bright idea to room with Wild Man here should have had their head examined.”
    I raise my hand. “You can call me crazy.”
    “Crazy,” all four of my band members say at the same time. They all crack up laughing. I flip them the bird.
    We stop what we’re doing and stand around, looking at the contents of our lives and our passion loaded in the back of the trucks. A heavy silence falls over us. Pretty soon, the life we know will change. It’s funny how when you get exactly what you’ve been hoping and praying for, it isn’t all butterflies and bunnies.
    “Poetic.” Levi breaks the stillness.
    “What?” asks EJ.
    “Us. Heading to our last local gig as a local band like we did the first time we played for money. Maybe it’ll remind us to keep things humble even when we’re riding in tour buses.” Levi shrugs.
    For such a quiet guy, when he chooses to speak, his words pack one hell of a punch. We all nod. Mac sniffs.
    “I knew it,” EJ snorts, pointing at Mac. “I knew our sensitive musician would be the first to cry at something so sentimental. Just like I know for sure that Hunter’s distracted by a girl.”
    Mac walks over to EJ, makes a circle with his finger and thumb, and punches the hell out of EJ’s arm when our lead guitarist looks. Like he does every time. He may be a genius with all things guitar, but he’s a downright dumbass when it comes to playing Asshole.
    Shaking my head, I walk toward my truck. “All right, jokers. You guys go on ahead to the R&R and start setting up. Talk to Sean behind the bar if you need anything. Devin’s gonna run the soundboard, Mac, so you’ll need to check in with him. I need to drop by my parents’ house and grab one more thing.