Rhythm of the Road (Lost Kings MC 16)

“Oh. My. God,” Heidi squeals. “I love that!”

Spurred by her positive reaction, I continue, “I want to call my next album ‘Flocking Fabulous’ and have the flamingo with boots on the cover.”

“That’s freakin’ adorable,” Trinity says.

“Greg doesn’t think the label will let me do it.” I wobble my hand in the air. “Country leans a little conservative.”

Both of them roll their eyes, much like I’ve done many times myself.

“I kind of had a whole bunch of shirts in mind with flamingo puns. Flocking fabulous. For flock’s sake. What the flock? Silly stuff like that.”

“Who gives a flying flock?” Trinity picks up where I left off.

Heidi snaps her fingers. “No flocks given!”

“Party like a flock star,” Trinity shoots back.

“Sassy as flock,” I add.

The three of us burst into giggles.

“Girls,” Swan interrupts in her soft voice. “Calm the flock down.”

“Yes!” Heidi shouts, jumping around in a circle.

“Now I wish I had my notebook,” I mutter, patting my pockets.

Trinity taps the side of her head. “We got you. Don’t worry.”

“Hey.” Heidi settles down and touches my shoulder. “Maybe if the record company won’t let you use that title, you can like, start your own label and call it Flocking Fabulous?”

“Or have a side hustle selling your Fancy as Flock T-shirts,” Trinity adds. “A lot of musicians do stuff on the side, right?”

“Oh yeah. They have to since they’re not making money off their music.”

Heidi’s mouth twists down. “That sucks.”

I shrug.

“Well, Hope helped me set up the legal end of my photography and graphic design business, so if you ever want help with it, let her know.” Trinity slaps her hand over her mouth. “Shoot. She’s only licensed in New York. You probably want to set up in Texas. But I’m sure she could still give you some pointers or whatever.”

After having so much fun laughing and goofing around with the girls, the reminder that I don’t belong here stings.

Maybe the disappointment shows on my face. Trinity’s quick to reach out and touch my arm. “You think you’d move to New York?”

Somehow, I don’t think we’re talking about a T-shirt business anymore. Feels like they want to assess my relationship with Rooster. I shrug. “Maybe. My mom’s in Texas, though.” I hate to admit to them that except for a trip to Disneyland when I was a kid, I’d never traveled outside of Texas until I was picked for Redneck Roadhouse and now this tour.

The two girls share a sneaky look. “So, are you planning to keep things long distance with Rooster?” Heidi asks.

“Wow, y’all going right for it, huh?” I smile to cover the annoyance that crept into my tone.

“Just curious.”

“I like him.” I swallow hard. “A lot. We’re going to…I think he might visit me on the road.”

Heidi squeals and bounces on her toes again. “So romantic. I can totally see Rooster doing that.”

“I feel bad. But he offered…”

“Don’t feel bad.” Trinity gestures toward the rest of the clubhouse. “These guys don’t do anything they don’t want to do. And they live for a nice, long road trip.”

Trinity’s words calm the uncertainty that had been creeping up on me since last night. I glance over at Swan who returned to cooking after her calm the flock down contribution. “What can I do to help out?”

“We could use a batch of sweet tea, if you don’t mind,” Trinity says.

“Sure. I can do that. Hope you’ve got lots of sugar.” I glance at the clock. “It might not be totally done in time for breakfast but the longer it’s chillin’ the better it gets. We can pour in some bourbon for dinner.”

“Perfect.” Trinity touches my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re sticking around.”

So am I.Rooster

“You staying for breakfast?” Wrath asks, clapping one of the bear paws he calls hands on my shoulder.

“I think so.” I glance at my phone. “Taking Shelby to a thing. Still have to ask her what time she needs to be there.”

“She’s probably doing yoga with the girls,” Ravage says. “Do you know the ol’ ladies stole our champagne room?” He waves his hand at Wrath and then Rock. “And they allowed it.”

One corner of Wrath’s mouth slides up. “You can thank us later,” he says to me before shoving Ravage sideways. “Fuck off. You guys still use it at night.”

“No, we don’t. Your wife put a lock on the door.”

“Oops.” Wrath smirks.

“Aren’t you guys building an entire clubhouse of sin down in Empire?” I ask Ravage.

“Yeah, that’s why we had to build it.”

“Build it and we will come. All over the place,” Stash adds.

I groan at the lame joke. “How are we the same age?”

Jigsaw joins them to discuss a trip down to Crystal Ball. Wrath nudges Sparky. “You might want to warn Willow there’s going to be a full house tonight.”

“Me?” Sparky’s voice climbs several octaves. “Why would I warn her?”