The Billionaire’s Fan (The Whispering Oaks Society)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Asher

I swirl the amber liquid in my glass before bringing it to my lips. I breathe in through my nose and exhale through my mouth as I relax into the leather chair in front of the fireplace.

The Whispering Oaks Society is practically empty, aside from staff. A few other members are here, but not any of the guys that I regularly associate with. I keep to the same group of men that are members here and prefer to not open my group up any more than it is.

I stand up and place my drink on the bar top, signaling for a refill.

“Well, Mr. Rockstar, didn’t think that I would see you here?” a voice says from behind. I turn and see Miller Davenport as he steps beside me.

Drinks are placed in front of us, and I return to the chair I was previously sitting in. Miller follows suit.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” I ask.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of you in the press lately. First you and some girl, then another girl, and then you’re back with the first girl.”

“Well, the first woman is my girlfriend. The other was non-important.”

“Your girlfriend is pretty.”

“Thank you.”

“How did you guys meet?” he asks.

“It was an accident. A good one, though.”

“Like a car accident?”

I laugh and shake my head, then proceed to tell him our kismet story.

“What are you guys talking about over here like high school girls?” the good doctor sits down across from me.

“Oh, man. I’m just giving Knight over here a hard time. He’s got a new girlfriend, and he’s all in love. He’s over here gushing about how they met with the stupidest smile on his face.”

“I am not,” I say.

“Bullshit. Look at that shit-eatin’ grin,” Miller points.

I place my face in my hands and lean my head up to the ceiling.

“I think we should have a double date,” Miller says.

“With you two? No, thank you.” I joke.

“No. My girl, Denise, and myself.”

“You want to go on a date with me?” I tease.

“Motherfucker. A double date, that means you and your girl and me with mine.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Ben holds up his hands.

“You have a girlfriend that we don’t know about?” Miller asks.

“Well no. But I’m pretty sure I can find one for a night.”

“That’s too many people for a double date.” Miller shakes his head, then looks back at me, “So what do you say?”

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to Jordyn, but I’m not guaranteeing anything. I’ll be getting back on tour soon, not sure if we will have time.”

I’m sitting on Jordyn’s couch with a notepad in my hand. I’m humming out the lyrics that I just wrote in different melodies, trying to get a feeling out for what works best, when my phone rings.

It’s Paddy, our tour manager.

“Hey boss man, what’s going on?” I answer.

“You ready to get back on the road?”

“Not in the slightest,” I laugh.

“Well, buckle up, buttercup. We leave next week.”

“Got it.”

“I just wanted to check in and make sure that you were still alive.”

“Alive and kicking. I’m even working on new songs.”

“Nice. Maybe we can get you guys in the studio next week to put some beats down to the lyrics to get a feel for how they would sound on stage. Add them to the last leg?”

“Set something up starting Monday and we’ll make it happen. When do we leave?”

“Saturday morning. Bright and early.”

“Perfect. Get us a few studio days in Empire Bay and let’s make some magic happen.”

When I lay in bed at night. I close my eyes and it’s you I see.

You hold my hand and my heart, and you make me believe.

In love. True love. Yeah. In love. True love.

My life changed when you walked in. And I couldn’t catch my breath.

I believe that you’re the one. The woman who will make my dreams come true.

In love. I’m so in love with you.

In love. True love. Yeah. Yeah. It’s you.

“Sounds to me like Jordyn is your muse,” Tate teases.

“She might as well be.” I shrug.

“So, you’re in love?” Tate asks.

“Is it that obvious?” I ask.

“Have you read your lyrics? I think it’s quite obvious. Has she heard this yet?”

“Not yet. Anyway, this is what I’m thinking as far as guitars go.” I give the melody that I hummed when I was working on the song, with Davey and Mikey immediately picking up. Tate throws in a few snares and I point at him after I pause. He rolls with it and adds his piece. Three hours later, we are in our fifth run of the song, with the music backing the lyrics, feeling comfortable with what we’ve done today.

“Do you have any other new songs?” Mikey asks.

“I have four more.” I hold up my notebook.

“Are they all sappy love songs?” Davey asks.

“Is one of them about pizza?” Tate jokes.

We spent the next two days in the studio. Jordyn worked back in Fairhaven during the day, then went back to my house at night. Our lives intermingled perfectly. But at the end of the week, I was about to jump on a bus again and hit up twelve cities over the next few months. And as much as I loved touring, and performing in front of large audiences, I was dreading it. I didn’t want to be away from her. And we’ve been ignoring the elephant in the room.

But tonight, we needed to talk.

I pulled dishes down from the cabinets as she walked through the hallway with takeout bags in her hands.

“Hey good-lookin’, what’s you got cookin’?” I say.

“Looks like we have some pasta, breadsticks, and salads. Is that okay?” she looks hesitant.

“More than okay. Give me some carbs with more carbs, please. Just on the other side of that counter is a hidden wine fridge. Grab something out from there, will ya?”

She feels around and finds the fridge, pulls out a bottle of white and a bottle of red, and pushes them forward.

Once we get settled, she turns to me with a smile.

“There’s something that I want to talk to you about.”

“Should I be worried?”