Hudson
I find myself in agony lying on the floor after the best night with my beautiful Siren. Her voice sang me right to sleep, and I had dreams filled with a future where I saw her singing to our children. It was fucking insanity. I know this now that I’m awake, but at the time I had never felt such peace. Coffee helps me out of my haze, and soon Marcus is beating on my door to hurry me to the studio.
We play our hearts out again for hours, only breaking for lunch, and soon everything starts winding down. Charlotte joins us and shares a new song idea, and we all give her our thoughts. It’s a very sexy song so we all love it. Bandit gets inappropriate, and I’m about to tell him to shut his ars but Marcus beats me to it with a stern look that reads murder, clearly protective of his childhood friend. I wonder if there has ever been anything between the two and catch myself going down a road that will only lead to trouble.
“Alright, guys, I’m calling it. Let’s head down to the beach for a beer. Charlie, you want to come? Lyla and Cole just texted me asking us to join them since we didn’t have family dinner this week. Willow will be bringing Harmony until Grace gets off work.” She nods to Marcus and I can’t help feeling a bit jealous at how close they are. I remember the lyrics to her song last night, and I think he’s protected her against her father before. I wish I could remember every word of that song, but her voice, paired with all the alcohol, had me drifting off after the first verse.
“Yeah, I’m in, I’ll bring the s’mores.”
“What the fuck is a s’more?” I ask, genuinely out of the American loop on this one.
I get that gorgeous smile of hers as she asks, “Do you not have s’mores in London?”
“No, love, not sure what the hell it is. Might you enlighten me?”
“It’s a graham cracker, a small piece of chocolate, and a roasted marshmallow made perfect by a campfire usually.”
“What is a graham cracker?”
She smiles at me and shrugs her shoulder. “I’ll show you.”
She jumps down from the table. “Meet us at the beach. I’ll bring the sweets; you guys bring the music.” She nods to the guitars, and I wonder if I could get her to sing.
“I’m in, meet you there. Come on, boys, we’ve got a gig.”
We all grab our gear and head to the beach. Marcus, Mason, Simone, and all us rowdy rockers set up a small firepit and unload chairs, chips, and guitars. Red solo cups are passed out, and I see blond curls bouncing up over a sand dune. Charlotte and a couple I haven’t met yet make their way to us with camping chairs and grocery bags.
A girl with bright-blue hair and one colorful arm sleeved with tattoos follows behind them with an adorable little girl whose curls rival Charlotte’s. She soon hops down and runs into Marcus’ waiting arms. This must be the beloved Harmony I have heard so much about. I wonder if the tattooed lady is Grace, her mother, but soon she introduces herself as Willow. Introductions go around and we meet Cole, who is a huge man with a ponytail, his wife Lyla who brought mouthwatering food for everyone, and Harmony, quite possibly the sweetest little girl in the world. I’m the lucky chap she chooses to hang out with when the guitars come out. She tells me she wants to be a singer one day, and we all sit around and sing cover songs we all know, eat delicious s’mores that Charlotte seems proud of me for enjoying, and have an absolutely great night on the beach. Harmony is the first to yawn and before anyone says they want to leave, I do my best to strum what I remember from one of Charlie’s songs. She notices and gives me a terrified look, so instead of pushing I change it to “Friends in Low Places.” Bandit is the first one to sing, and we all laugh and join in. She looks relieved, but this just makes me want to help her more. Lesson two will be tomorrow, and I think I know exactly how to push her just a little bit out of her comfort zone. Baby steps and I’ll have her up on stage by the time we leave for the road. The thought of saying goodbye to these awesome new friends leaves a pain in my chest, but I push it aside and finish up the melody.
* * *
“You were right about your fancy crackers,” I tell Charlotte as I walk home with her. All the seats in the cars were full, and I decided walking would be nice anyway. She decided to join me which was a pleasant surprise.
“You’re welcome.” She shrugs with a smile that would make a man fall to his knees. One I know for a fact she doesn’t share with other men, which makes me feel ten fucking feet tall.
“So, I’ve been thinking a lot about lesson two, and I think I have the perfect thing to help you in front of people. Nothing to do with singing but it’ll definitely push you. You in?”
“Well, when you say it all mysterious like that, how can I say no.” Her voice drips sarcasm, and she side-eyes me, but I take it as a win.
“Good. Tomorrow is a short day in the studio. I’ll set everything up, and tomorrow night you’re all mine.” I don’t mean for it to sound so possessive, but I know that’s how it comes out.
“Okay. What should I wear?”
“Anything you want, you won’t have to worry about it once we get there anyway.” I wink, not giving too much away, and we head inside our flats for the night.