Read Online Rock Star by Roslyn Hardy Holcomb - Free Book Online Page B

Bryan was surprised to find that Storm Crow had any black female fans. He’d encountered a few black guys at their concerts, but no girls. Apparently this was a demographic that B.T. had missed despite his rabid attentiveness to every aspect of Storm Crow’s sales. He would enjoy ribbing him about that.
    “Have they always listened to rock music?” he asked curiously.
    Callie nodded, “Yeah, our schools here in Maple Fork are pretty small. Most of the classes are too small to break up into racial cliques like bigger schools. I think there’s only about twenty kids in Addie and Cynthia’s class. They hang together pretty closely. They seem to listen to just about anything. Mainly it’s hip-hop and alternative rock. It was the same when I was in school. But you know, we grew up listening to all kinds of music. My daddy is a big Hank Williams fan, and I’d bet we have as much Patsy Cline as we do Aretha Franklin in our house. I mean, I see folks on TV and in articles talking about ‘black music’ and ‘white music,’ and I don’t get it. Around here, good music is good music. Maybe it’s a big-city thing. Anyway, I graduated twelve years ago, and we were seriously into grunge at the time. But I’ve mellowed with age, and primarily listen to soft rock and pop.”
    Bryan grabbed his head, feigning a mortal blow. “You mean you’re not a Storm Crow fan?” He cringed as the rest of her statement sank in. “So you’re the person who listens to soft rock. I wondered who they played that crap for.”
    “ ’Fraid so, buddy. Storm Crow rocks just a little too hard for me. All that primal screaming…” She paused, looking up at him ruefully. “Oops, that’s you, isn’t it?”
    “Uh, yeah, that’s me,” Bryan replied, doubly insulted. “What have you got against primal screaming?” He pursed his lips, giving her a knowing look. “In some situations it can be, shall we say…stimulating.”
    Callie grunted. “Maybe in the circles you travel in. It just gives me gruesome nightmares. Do you write most of your songs?” Bryan nodded. “You must have lived a helluva life. Some of that stuff is bone-chilling.”
    Bryan raised his brows. “I’ve had my share of hard knocks, but of course I do have an imagination too. Anyway, I’m willing to overlook the fact that you listen to soft rock.” He winced as if saying the words wounded him grievously, “But please don’t tell anybody else. I do have an image to maintain, you know.”
    Callie giggled.
    “Now back to your sisters.” He grinned wolfishly. “Nothing like impressionable young girls to inflate the old ego.”
    Callie smacked his arm playfully, “Bryan, I think they’re way out of your league. It’s all we can do to keep the boys away. Of course, being the big-time rock star you are, you might go to the head of the line.”
    Bryan leaned forward and stared intently into Callie’s eyes. “The only girl I want is right here.”
    Callie tsked. This was the only difficulty in their relationship. His insistence on teasing her. “I really wish you would stop doing that.”
    “What?” Bryan spread his hands in an innocent gesture.
    “You know exactly what I mean. You flirt with me all the time,” Callie responded irritably.
    “Is that some type of crime around here? A man can’t flirt with a pretty girl?”
    Callie was really getting annoyed now. She didn’t like the idea of this guy playing with her feelings. “It is when you’re just having fun at my expense.”
    Bryan straightened in the chair, dumbfounded by Callie’s remark. Where in the hell had she gotten that idea? “Callie, I’m doing no such thing!” he exclaimed, but he could tell she wasn’t listening.
    “Look, Bryan, I’ve got to go back to work.”
    After giving her a frustrated look, Bryan gathered their empty plates and returned them to the counter. At least now he had an explanation for her skittish behavior. How did she get that idea in her head? A laughable concept