Rock Star

  ROCK STAR

  STACEY KENNEDY

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Stacey Kennedy. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact Stacey Kennedy.

  EPUB Edition

  Stacey Kennedy

  www.staceykennedy.com

  Edited by Christa Soule

  Copy Edited by Chelle Olson, Literally Addicted to Detail

  Cover Photograph by Sara Eirew

  E-book Cover Design by Charity Hendry

  Print Design by Graphic Fantastic

  Manufactured in Canada

  First Edition June 2017

  As always, for my readers.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About Bad Boy Homecoming

  Also by Stacey Kennedy

  Stay up-to-date with Stacey

  About the Author

  Excerpt from Dropout by Carrie Ann Ryan

  About Heartbreaker

  About Bound Beneath His Pain

  PROLOGUE

  One foot propped against the white railing, Travis Walker pushed the wooden swing back and forth on the porch of his parents’ home as he stared out at the quiet, tree-lined street. The day couldn’t be any sunnier, with a clear blue sky and only a few clouds, but a heavy darkness hung over the small town of Catfish Creek, Texas.

  “It’s really happening.”

  Travis turned toward the soft, sweet voice, finding his high school sweetheart, Rae Evans, sitting next to him. She stared at the For Sale sign with the SOLD sticker diagonally across the front. Her long, straight, brown hair curtained her face, but he could see the sadness in her pretty hazel eyes. “Yeah,” he answered her statement, “the realtor came today, and my parents accepted the buyers’ offer.”

  Even as he said the words, he begged for them not to be true. From this day on, their lives would be forever changed. When they graduated a couple of weeks ago, a big-time agent from New York showed up with a recording deal. One that would make all of Travis’s dreams come true.

  “When do you leave?” Rae barely whispered.

  “Tomorrow morning,” he replied, reaching for her hand and taking it in his, wishing, somehow, he could hold onto her forever. “I’ll be staying with my agent while my parents get the house packed up and move into the city.”

  “That’s good,” she said with a soft smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You know, that you have a plan and everything.”

  Travis’s heart clenched, and he ran his thumb across the back of her palm, doubting his every move and all the decisions that led him to this moment. His parents always told him not to get too serious with Rae. He was only eighteen years old, as was she. They were too young, too immature, too inexperienced in life to know what they wanted.

  His parents were wrong.

  He loved Rae with all that he was. Deeply. Madly. Irrevocably.

  In the silence that stretched between them, a painful sense of distance seeped into the air. One Travis had never felt before. One that felt so…wrong. One that he wished he could remove with every breath he took.

  Obviously, she felt the icy whisper, too since she smiled again, clearly to lighten the mood, and said, “I bet, one day, girls will throw their panties at you.”

  The swing slowed, and he pushed against the railing again, sending them swaying. “Most girlfriends wouldn’t want other girls throwing their panties at their boyfriends.”

  “Well, I don’t want that, of course…” She hesitated, lips pursing, then added, “But to be honest, I guess I kinda do.”

  “And why is that?”

  Her eyes sparkled, so full of dreams and life. “Because that would mean you made it. That you became the rock star you always hoped to be. And that everything I hoped and wished for you came true.”

  God. His heart twisted with the misery of how life had brought them to this fork in the road, one where they knew they were about to go off in different directions. “You’re not wrong, I guess, even if the logic is a bit warped.” He’d never really had the drive she did, but somehow, she always made him want to do better. For her. She forced him, all too naturally, up to her level. “And what about you? What about your dreams?”

  “I’ve got enough AP credits to fast-track through undergrad to veterinary college so I can finish sooner.” She pulled up her legs onto the swing, sitting cross-legged. “I figure there’s no reason not to dive right in.”

  “You could live a little,” he said, offering her another choice. “Maybe travel?” Come to New York with me!

  She shook her head. “That’s not in my thirty-year plan.”

  “What is then?”

  “Opening two clinics,” she replied, glancing at the car driving by and giving whoever was inside a wave before adding, “And to do that, I need to get my schooling over as quickly as I can. So I’ll double up on courses and take summer school, too.”

  What about me? brushed across his subconscious. But he was leaving her, too because he couldn’t make music in Catfish Creek. Well, he could, but he wouldn’t go anywhere. “It’s a good dream,” he told her. “And I have no doubt you’ll do everything you set out to do.”

  “I will.” There wasn’t a hint of insecurity in her voice.

  That’s what he loved about Rae. She never wavered in the things she wanted, including him. He’d never met anyone who had such clear purpose in life at such a young age, but he knew it was because of her logical mind. Things never got murky or messy for her. Emotions simply weren’t part of her internal make-up. Maybe, sometimes, he wished she thought more like him.

  The tightness in his chest rose again. Their time was dwindling. What would happen to them? Would she forget him when he moved? Would he forget her? Feeling the icy wisp of dread, he took one of her hands in both of his and kissed the back of it, eyes on her.

  Whatever she saw in his expression drew her brows together, and she said, “I want you to promise me something, okay?”

  “What’s that?”

  “That no matter what, you will live out your dreams fully and completely.” Eyes locked onto his, she added, “I never want to be the one who holds you back.”

  He drew in a long, deep breath, seeing a new clarity in her he’d never seen before. It made him realize that she knew how hard walking away would be for him, and understood that he had doubts about his choice to leave. “You could come with me,” he offered. “Go to school in New York.”

  She paused, shut her eyes, then reopened them, misty-eyed. “My life is here, my family is here, and so are my friends. I don’t ever want to leave Catfish Creek.” She placed her feet back onto the porch’s whitewashed floor and turned to face him. “If we truly love each other, let’s promise to always love each other right—make sure everything we want comes to pass. That we never, ever give up anything of ourselves for the other person. Promise me.”

  His throat tightened, chest squeezing at the thought of leaving her. She was his everything. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “But you’re only leaving for a little while,” she r
etorted, twining her fingers with his. “We can see each other on weekends. Maybe I can fly to see you. Who knows, once you make something of yourself, maybe you can move back here.”

  “But…”

  “Travis,” she said, sternly giving him the look, leaving no room for argument. “You do your music. I’ll do vet school. If that leads us back to each other, then it’s meant to be. I’m sure the romantic in you loves that idea.”

  He snorted and shook his head. “I don’t understand how you can always be so practical.”

  She shrugged, giving a lopsided grin. “It’s both a gift and a curse.”

  His curse.

  On one hand, he agreed with her, they needed to follow their dreams. On the other hand, he hated not choosing love. Deep in his heart, it felt as if he were ripping his soul apart. A part of him would always remain here, with her. “We can’t ever take this back, Rae,” he said. “Once I go, I’m gone.”

  “I want you to live your dreams, Travis.” She lifted her chin and squeezed his hand, and he could tell she was already decided. “And I want to live mine, too.”

  CHAPTER 1

  Travis Walker made women’s panties disappear.

  On most nights, anyway.

  Tonight, sitting on a wooden stool set upon the stage at Catfish Creek High School’s conference center, only one woman was on his mind. His fingers strummed over the strings of the guitar, mouth rested near the microphone, and after he sang the final two lines of the chorus—I wanna kiss you under the moonlight. And love you ’til the sun comes up—the applause from the crowd reopened his eyes.

  Sparkling string lights and masquerade masks hung from the ceiling above him, reminding him that he wasn’t surrounded by thousands of his typical screaming and wild fans. In his Texas hometown, he stared out at teachers, old friends, and classmates, all dressed in formal wear and masquerade masks.

  From his seat in the spotlight, he recalled playing for smaller crowds on this very stage back in high school. Those had been some of the happiest days of his life. Now, fresh off his last world tour, he realized he loved that scene, too. The energy of a smaller crowd, who knew him personally, and a larger crowd, who thought they were in love with him, was so different he couldn’t compare the two, but admittedly, he missed the intimacy that came from a smaller venue.

  Done with his song, and with the crowd quieting, he slid the guitar strap over his head and handed the instrument back to a member of the band that’d been hired to play at Catfish Creek High School’s ten-year reunion. When he jumped off the stage, he sighed in relief, finding that all the cell phones pointed in his direction were now put away, and the flashing lights were gone.

  That’s when he set his focus on what mattered tonight: finding her. Rae Evans—the muse behind the song he sang tonight, Moonlight.

  He scanned the crowd overtop the decorated tables with their gold chairs, but the beauty had escaped him somehow. He recognized Annie Flowers, the librarian, who gave him a little wave, and Christopher Christianson, the principal, who was grabbing a drink from the bar. Travis could have sworn he spotted Rae entering the masquerade ball when he began his song. Desperation now clawed at his chest.

  Determined to find her, he moved farther into the crowd, just as his cell vibrated in his pocket. Knowing exactly who it’d be, and that he couldn’t ignore the call, he reached for his phone and then frowned at the text from his manager, Scott Price.

  Awesome job. The video is already up on YouTube. Fans are loving it. The mask was a nice touch. Don’t miss your flight in the a.m.

  Travis shifted the black masquerade mask around his eyes, and the muscles along his shoulders tightened with the reminder of the weight they carried; of the need for him to always be on point, and the fact that nothing, not even his high school reunion, was sacred anymore.

  Life had changed dramatically since the last time Travis stepped foot in the conference center. But he didn’t want to think about the shit weighing on him, so he fired off a response—I’ll be on it—then tucked his cell phone back into his pocket.

  He had tonight to fix everything that was wrong with his life, and he wouldn’t waste it.

  In the eyes of his manager, Travis had come to the reunion to put on a show and to look real to his fans. But Travis hadn’t come for the publicity; he had come for one very good reason: to find his anchor—the woman who stopped his world from spinning wildly out of control.

  Lately, in a sea of chaos, he’d finally stopped drowning and saw a way back to the happiness he once had. That happiness had started with Rae, and surely, she was his way to find himself again.

  One touch. One taste. He wanted to remember what that happiness felt like.

  Again, he searched the crowd, ignoring the way some men glowered at him, and some women batted their lashes. Rae. That’s whom he’d come here to see tonight. Only her.

  The band behind him started playing another ballad, and that’s when he found her, staring right at him from across the room. She wore a sleek, black, strapless gown around her slender figure with matching long, black gloves.

  His muscles surged with adrenaline, and he went to move toward her when a hard voice came from behind him.

  “Karly wants you to play another song.”

  Travis slowly glanced over his shoulder to find the biggest asshole in Catfish Creek High School history, Jason, a blond-haired, slender, one-time big shot. Rae was best friends with Kate, and Kate had loved—and later married and divorced—the dipshit behind him.

  Times had changed.

  Travis didn’t owe Jason anything now, and he certainly didn’t owe the reunion’s event planner, Karly, shit. “You can tell Karly that I told her I’d play one song, and that’s exactly what I did. Bother me again, and we’ll have a problem.”

  Jason didn’t make a move or say a word in rebuttal. Once a coward, always a coward.

  Refocused on the only person who mattered tonight, and pulled by the energy only Rae conjured, Travis stretched out his fingers, shedding his frustrations as he moved with purpose through the crowd. Her pretty, hazel eyes surrounded by dark makeup followed his every move, and she yanked him forward with a simple look.

  She’d always been a pretty girl, but she’d grown into a blindingly beautiful and stunning woman. Her gown fit her like a glove. A gold filigree mask somehow made the creaminess of her skin appear richer. She wore her shoulder-length, brown hair in big waves framing her round face.

  Tonight, she didn’t look so fresh-faced and innocent. She looked sexy as hell, and just the sight of her again caused Travis’s cock to swell eagerly.

  While he’d talked to her through email, text, and the occasional late-night, drunk phone call every birthday and Christmas over the last ten years, he hadn’t seen her. Not since that day on his parents’ porch. Sure, he’d kept an eye on her through the Catfish Creek Chronicle when they featured her for her charity work, and also on the website for the vet clinic she owned. But after he’d walked the path that led away from her, he’d never found his way back. Life got busy. New friends were found. Fame overtook him.

  Now, he was…home.

  When he finally reached her, the air between them felt charged. “Rae,” he said.

  Her eyes warmed. Dark, red-painted lips curved. “Travis.”

  Christ, he remembered how those lips tasted. How she tasted—every goddamn inch of her.

  Beneath her mask, those pretty eyes now turned a little suspicious. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the reunion?”

  Perhaps he should have called, but… “I wanted to surprise you.” Because there were important reasons he returned to his hometown, ones that he didn’t want her to know about. Yet.

  It all began with an article in the Catfish Creek Chronicle.

  Dr. Rae Evans feels she’s done what was needed to help the animals in Catfish Creek, and she’s ready to begin a new journey. She’s looking to open another clinic in one of the neighboring towns.

  At twenty-
eight years old, she’d achieved what she hoped to do by thirty, and that article reminded him of the guy he used to be when she’d first made those plans. He wasn’t the same man who left Catfish Creek all those years ago, and he didn’t know when exactly he lost himself. While Rae had likely found all the happiness she wanted in her success, he simply wanted to find his way back to the carefree guy he once was.

  To do that, he had to come back to the place where he was the happiest. He had to come back to her. “But to tell you why I wanted to surprise you, I need to tell you a story.” He offered his hand. “How about we dance, and I’ll share it.”

  For a second, he thought she might refuse him. She simply stared at his hand.

  When her eyes met his again, and she slowly slid her palm into his, the tightening in his chest eased. He closed his fingers around hers and sensed her soften, making him smile.

  Reliving that infectious energy she carried, he led her into the middle of the dance floor, then he spun her around and pulled her to him, nice and close, sliding his hand across her lower back.

  She laughed softly, eyes twinkling behind her mask. “You’ve still got the moves, I see.”

  “My moves will never fail me.” He grinned.

  The band played the perfect song. Something a little sexy and slow, keeping her hips swaying perfectly with his. He did nothing to shield his erection, but one look into her eyes told him that was all right. With her breasts pressed against his chest, her cheeks a little pink now, he noticed the heat in the depths of her gaze. He’d recognize it anywhere. That fire felt like it belonged to him—always had, always would. Yet in the past, she’d shy away from that desire. Now, he noted how she firmly held his gaze, telling him she wasn’t the young lover he once had.

  “How long are you staying in town?” she asked, in an obvious attempt to divert their attention away from his cock.

  “Just tonight.” He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, keeping her as close as he could, inhaling her flowery scent that had faded from his memory. “I fly out bright and early in the morning.”