Read Online Fully Automatic (Bullet) by Jade C. Jamison - Free Book Online

and he saw results in his day-to-day life.  More women approached him than ever had before, many of them older (but not to the extreme like Misti), and he got a large raise at work, where he was now employed full time.  His newfound confidence and what he almost considered luck made him more determined than ever to make his band work.  Bullet was going to make it big if it was the last thing he’d ever do.
    * * *
    Late August, Ethan and Zane left for school.  Brad felt a little discouraged, but his friends had promised to return home when needed.  Brad had gigs lined up in September, October, and November, and he’d even managed to land two during their Christmas break.  The guys promised to practice at school, especially right before shows, and they’d try to come home occasionally to get together to practice and maybe even try on some new stuff.  They’d find a way to make it work, and Brad hoped that maybe before next summer, they’d have a record contract, and then Ethan and Zane’s families would see that they had a future in music.
    Fall seemed to come quickly, faster than it ever had when he’d been in school, and—as promised—Zane and Ethan showed up for their gigs in spite of being in school.  The nice thing was they were making a little cash, and Brad figured that had to be an incentive as well.  He’d been watching other bands make money with merch tables, so he planned to invest in t-shirts (now that he’d made a logo), stickers, and other stuff, and he hoped they could record an EP in the spring.  First, though, more amps.  Living at home and working full-time made it easy to save up and buy things for the band.  When he wasn’t working, he was doing something band related.  He was almost obsessed, but he was driven.  He was determined to make it work.  He was not going to be a fucking lube tech his entire life.
    Girls weren’t as important, either.  Yeah, he was getting laid on a regular basis now, but he’d managed to keep his heart from getting snagged.  His goal wasn’t to be a heartbreaker either, so he tried to be upfront with girls, letting them know he wasn’t ready for a relationship.  Most of them seemed okay with it, and those who weren’t, he didn’t pursue at all, because he didn’t want to hurt anyone.  He’d been there himself and didn’t want to do it to someone else.
    He and Misti fizzled out sometime early October.  She got back together with an old boyfriend and told Brad she was sorry for letting him down.  He tried to assure her that he was okay, but she acted nervous that now he’d go tell his mother.  Part of him felt relieved because it was often awkward.  On occasion, though, she’d still buy him liquor if he wanted it, and that, he supposed, was a great payoff from the relationship.
    He knew he’d gotten more out of it, though, and if he hadn’t felt like it would make him look stupid, he would have profusely thanked Misti.
    At Thanksgiving, Ethan and Zane hung out for several days before heading back to college.  Ethan started talking about some girl he’d met at school, and Brad worried at first.  He was angry that he felt that way, because part of him was anxious that a girl was going to take his best friend away from him, make his friend no longer interested in making music or even coming home.  But the more he, Ethan, and Zane talked, the more he realized that this girl was just a friend…or at least Ethan played it off that way.
    “Anyway, she keeps pestering me about seeing the band, so I’m gonna see if she wants to come home with us next weekend.”
    Zane said, “Dude, we’re coming home next weekend?  You know it’s finals week after that, right?”
    Ethan sneered.  “Like you give a shit?”
    Zane started laughing.  “Right.  But if I’m here practicing and partying with you guys, my parents are gonna know I’m not studying my ass off for finals.”
    “So?  Do you really care?”
    Zane shrugged.  “No, but I