Read Online A Seductive Melody (The Kelly Brothers Book 5) by Crista McHugh - Free Book Online Page B

places.”
    “Trust me—lesson learned.” He moved aside so they could continue walking. “Ace caught me in a bad moment and said some things that pushed me to the edge.”
    “But not over it.”
    He paused and let her assessment sink in. He’d lost count of how many times he almost opened up that bag, but he hadn’t. He’d been strong enough to resist. “Yeah, but not over it.”
    It still didn’t change the fact he was caught in limbo as far as his music went.
    Becca looped her arm through his and resumed their stroll. “So you mentioned you were at a bad moment. Care to elaborate?”
    “You wouldn’t understand.”
    “Try me.”
    He looked down to where their arms entwined. And surprisingly, he liked it. He liked the weight of her arm against his. He liked the way her hips brushed against his thigh when she walked. He liked the subtle halo of her perfume that he inhaled every time the breeze caught it. But most important, he liked that she wasn’t afraid to invade his personal space, and she didn’t back down when he tried to push her away. If she’d been anyone else, he would’ve kept pushing. But walking arm in arm with her filled him with a momentary serenity he’d been missing for so many years.
    “I’m a musician.”
    “I know,” she replied as though he’d said he was something more commonplace, like a schoolteacher.
    But did she know who he was? Did it even matter?
    After a moment’s hesitation, he decided not to bring his fame up. After all, she’d been famous—or infamous—herself. “I haven’t been able to play since my best friend died.”
    “Can’t play, as in you forgot how to strum a guitar?”
    “No.” Even though it wasn’t far from the truth based on the clumsy way his fingers had been forming chords lately. He pulled his arm free and turned back to the railing. “I met my best friend at a music camp when I was twelve. He was a year older than me and represented so much of what I wanted to be. Fun. Outgoing. Crazy fucking talented. The guy could touch a guitar and spontaneously compose magic. So naturally, I looked up to him, and it wasn’t long before we were best friends.”
    He stared into the murky water of the Hudson River, remembering all the fun they’d had as kids. “One thing led to another, and when he suggested we start a band with a couple of other guys in the neighborhood, I agreed. By the time we’d graduated from high school, we were already playing the local scene and decided to hit the road. Tin Lily was the venue that I always associated with making it to the big time. Once we played there, we became more than just some kids with a garage band. We were somebody.”
    “And is that what you meant by reliving some good memories?”
    He nodded, but the burning along his left arm reminded him that those memories were now tainted. “But there was a dark side to our success. It didn’t start out that way, you know? We were both just a couple of stupid teenagers who would light up a joint after practice. We weren’t baked the entire time, but when we got high, that’s when we wrote the songs that made us famous. And as our fame grew, so did the pressure to keep writing those kinds of songs.
    “He started experimenting with the harder stuff first. A couple of Percocets here, a whiff of coke there. And like a dumbass, I tried whatever he offered me. The night we played Tin Lily was the first night I shot up.”
    He expected her to smack him on the back of his head like his mother did when he’d admitted to doing something stupid, but she stood next to him, mirroring his posture as she looked out over the river. “So you always associated getting high with the celebration of that night.”
    “Yeah. But later on that night, we composed our best song ever. Then one thing led to another, and before I knew what was happening, I discovered I couldn’t write music without getting high first.”
    “Heroin became your muse,” she said matter-of-factly, and