Nobody Falls for the Opening Act (Break the Rules Book 2)

Chapter 7

Welcome to Denver, Colorado.

Next stop, Phoenix, Arizona. After that, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Then, Austin, Texas.

In just three shows, I’ll potentially be mere inches away from my hero. I know I should keep my expectations as ground-level as possible — sewer-level more like — but I can’t help but dream.

Meeting Dade Connery. Performing for him. He’ll hear one song and point at me. That’s my guy! That’s the sound I want for my comeback album!

It happened with Criminal Records. Why couldn’t it happen with him, too?

And just like that, my life will never be the same.

Just like that… I’m letting myself dream so hard I can’t even sleep.

I grab my notebook and head down to the lobby just after midnight. Or lobbies, I should say. Denver’s Botsford Plaza differs from others in that it’s split between two tall towers. They’re both identical mirror-images of each other, the ground floors connected by a courtyard with a fountain and a bunch of delicate flowers and shit. It definitely leaves plenty of room for a guy to wander around while his mind wanders, too.

So, I walk the lobby of tower one before looping around the courtyard of tower two and coming right back. I give the front desk workers a nod as I pass them, and they always give me a quiet smile in return. They don’t seem bothered by me at all, but they probably see far stranger shit working the night shift at a luxury hotel.

Eventually, I sit down in the courtyard between the two towers. I listen to the fountain and look up into the starless sky beneath the city lights, my wandering mind feeling as tired as my feet. With my notebook on my lap, I tap the page with the tip of my pen, feeling a fresh rhythm in my fingers. It comes from nowhere, but I hear it. I hear music echoing in the distance places of my mind, driving my pen to… write it all down.

I never put much thought into muses. Not sure I ever really believed in that kind of thing. My songs always just came from me after lots of time and hard work. Truthfully, I was never sure what Knox and Jonah meant when they talked about hearing music. But tonight…

I hear it.

For a moment, I listen to it. I follow the notes, letting them lead me into the unknown. Up and down. Left and right. Forward and backward through the cosmos toward…

Her.

I open my eyes. I’m still in the courtyard.

Shit. Did I fall asleep?

How long have I been sitting out here?

As I move to stand, someone walks out of tower one’s entrance.

I freeze, stopping mid-rise in an awkward hover as I watch Addison leave the hotel and… wait, where the hell is she going at this hour?

Addison doesn’t notice me. She walks with her eyes on her phone, completely unaware of my existence. She’s wearing thick boots, blue jeans, and a warm jacket. Her auburn hair sits high in a casual ponytail, leaving her sharp cheekbones on display for all to see.

Fuck, she’s pretty.

What I wouldn’t give to take her in my arms and… wait, who the fuck is that guy?

Addison walks right up to a man on a motorcycle waiting outside the hotel. She greets him with a smile as he offers her a helmet. She puts it on as she hops onto the back of the bike and… they take off.

Addison Abbey just left the hotel in the middle of the night with some mystery guy on the back of a motorcycle.

I sit back down on my bench.

Well, whatever song I’m writing…

It’s gonna be a sad one.