Read Online Phone Calls From a Rock Star by J. L. Paul - Free Book Online Page B

father.
    “ Happy birthday,” he said,
blue eyes sparkling. I took the flower and it trembled in my grip.
He kissed my cheek and waited for me to say something.
    “ Thanks,” I said, nearly
choking on the word. I shivered, and he pulled off his sweatshirt
with a sigh.
    “ Here,” he said, handing it
to me. “Put this on.”
    “ Won’t you be cold?” I
asked. Déjà vu anyone?
    He tugged on the long sleeve of his shirt.
“Nah. Come on. Let’s take your car to get some food.”
    I pulled his shirt over my head, careful not
to crush the rose, and handed him my keys. My nervousness had snuck
back into my stomach and I didn’t trust myself to drive. He grinned
and opened the door, allowing me to climb over the console to the
passenger’s seat.
    We ran through the Burger Kastle drive-thru
and Jake handed me the bag of aromatic food. He headed back to the
hotel, and I followed him up to his room. Once again, I found
myself alone with him, totally vulnerable, but I didn’t feel an
ounce of fear.
    We sat at the small table and ate. I
remembered my vow to find out more about him so I pelted him with
questions.
    “ Jake, what’s your favorite
color?”
    He furrowed his brow. “Green. Like the color
of your eyes.” He winked and shoved a fry in his mouth. My heart
soared to my throat. “Why?”
    “ Well,” I started, taking a
sip of my drink. “I realized the other day that I didn’t know a
whole lot about you.”
    He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
“Ask me whatever you want.”
    So I did. I asked about his favorite food;
favorite movie; favorite thing to do. He answered each question
patiently. When I ran out of questions he smiled softly.
“Done?”
    “ For now,” I smiled
back.
    “ Good,” he said as he
sprang from his chair and strode over the chest of drawers across
from the bed. He smirked as he opened the top drawer and withdrew a
couple parcels. “Present time.”
    “ No, Jake,” I gasped, heat
touching my cheeks. “This is so unnecessary. You don’t need to do
this.”
    “ Sure I do, so just shut up
and open them.” He scooted two brightly wrapped gifts at me as he
leaned against the wall to watch, arms across his chest. “Go
on.”
    With a sigh, I snatched one off the top. It
was the smallest and I as I ripped the paper off, I frowned. It was
a CD in a plain green jewel case and no label–just a bunch of
scrawl in black marker.
    “ Me and the guys were
playing around in the studio one day–you know, kinda unplugged
style. The guys in the sound room recorded us. You are the only
person other than me and the band who have a copy. We all signed it
for you, too.”
    My breath left my lungs in a whoosh. “Jake,”
I managed to say. “This is amazing. Thank you so much.”
    He just grinned at nodded at the larger box.
“Open that.”
    I blushed, a little embarrassed. I hated
opening presents in front of people except for family at Christmas.
But Jake was nearly squirming in anticipation, and I didn’t want to
let him down. I tore at the paper and found a plain brown box. When
I lifted the lid, I squealed. Inside were concert DVDs from every
awesome band available: Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Greenday,
Nickelback, Pink Floyd—the list was endless.
    “ Jake, this is just
awesome. I don’t know how to thank you!”
    His eyes softened as a smile floated across
his face. “Well, I know you love music like I do. I thought you’d
enjoy them.”
    I pulled one out and flipped it over,
reading the back cover. I was beyond words. I had one or two
concert DVDs but nothing at all like this.
    “ Okay, before you get all
emotional or whatever you girls do, there’s one more
thing.”
    I tore my eyes from the DVD to glance at
him. “Huh?”
    He produced a long, slim box wrapped in
shiny green paper. He slid it on the table to me, and I caught it
reflexively before it could fall to the floor. “My sister helped me
with this one.”
    I couldn’t stop staring at him. He sighed
and nudged the