Page 4 of Doc Rock
No oneknewthat every time he sang Summer Days,it wasa love song to the one that got away.
The one thatran away.
While the last notes rang out around the stadium, he bowed his head and let the thunderous applause wash over him before he banished all thoughts of Sie from his brain and lifted his gaze to take in the adoration of tens of thousands of people.
When they walked backstage and headed to their dressing room, Ford braced himself for what was about to happen.Therewould be a room full of groupies and hangers-on, all wanting to party with the band. And at some point, Ryan would disappear and come back far more energised, brushing at his nose to make suretherewas no white powder left on it.
Opening the door, he groaned.It wasexactly as he predicted. A room of noise, shouting, loud music, women, and people he didn’tknow.
Ford sighed in relief toseethat the underage-looking girl from the audience wasn’tthere, although a lot of the girls, who he assumed Ryan selected, looked like they were barely in their twenties.
Luckily, Donnie wouldwatchtheir backs and would have demanded ID from every person in the room to ensure no one underagecouldsneak in. But it still made Ford uncomfortable that a man he played with was chasing after girls, not women.
Accepting a beer, Ford propped himself against a wall, watching the revelry. Antics that he would have gladly taken partin once upon a time. He couldn’t lie. He had been the life and soul of these after-parties for many years. Then suddenly, he wasn’t. It all seemed a little pathetic as they grew older, and the groupies didn’t.
Ryan threw his arm around Ford’s shoulder, sniffing in that telltale way that meant he’d already had a little bump of something.“That was a great show, mate. I can’t believe we’ve only got one left.”
Ryan was tall at six feet and always wore platforms in his boots, so he stood eye to eye with Ford, who was six-foot-two. Fordknewabout the platforms as hesawthe other man in bare feet often enough toknowhe was two inches shorter, so the singer took it upon himself to investigate his bandmate’s shoes.
“Yeah.It wasa great audience.”Ford nodded in agreement and took a sip from his beer.
“I spotted a real little hottie in the crowd at the end.”Ryan’s eyes were a fraction too wide, and darted around as he searched for the young girl he’d picked out from the audience. The one he probably wanted to take back to his private tour bus tonight.
In the old days, they used to share one tour bus. Well, Ford amended to himself; in the really old days, Mr Harrington drove them in his van. Telling them that if the police pulled them over, they all needed to keep quiet and duck under some sheets, astherewere no seatbelts in the back.
The memory made Ford chuckle, as Darren insisted his wife and daughter sit up front with him, safely strapped in, but the welfare of three scruffy lads who dreamed of making it big was a lower priority.
“Hmmm,”Ford said non-committally, taking another sip of his beer.
“Who’ve yougot your eye on tonight?”Ryan’s eyes darted around again until they landed on a girl with long, dark hair. He nudged Ford.“She looks like your type.”
Ford smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The boysknewhis type, but none of them were the girl that got away, and the thought of a groupie wasn’t appealing to him anymore.
“Hmmm,” he said again.
“I’ll bring her over.”Ryan lifted his arm to signal for the dark-haired girl, but Ford grabbed hold of it, stopping him.
Ford managed to smile and said,“Thanks, mate. I’m exhausted. I think I’ll have an early night.”
Ryan looked like he might object, but eventually nodded. They were all now used to Ford’s early nights on this tour, where he would have a beer with them and then wander off to his bus.
“Night, mate.”Ryan clapped him on the back.“If you want me to send someone to your bus, just text,”he said with a leer and a wink that made Ford’s stomach churn.
Yeah, he was done with this. But he didn’t say that. All he said was,“Night.”
As he left the room, he caught the eyes of the other band members, Scotty and Joel, lifting his hand in salute to them before he walked out the door.
Chapter 3
Mai
Mai feltdeeplyunsettled that Midnight Thunder were playing two concerts in Burra Creek. Why on earth did they decide to end their world tour in a backwater town like the one she lived in?
She'd Googled why, and all it told her was they wanted to return to their roots and put on some shows in small towns. And luck or Lucifer, or whoever was in charge of those decisions, made them pick Burra Creek.
The chance of running into any of the band was infinitesimal, but her skin still itched at the fact Ford was so close by. And if she had to listen one more time to someone at work wax lyrical about a Midnight Thunder song, or how Ford was their hall pass—that one made her want to vomit—she was going to veer away from thesoftlyspoken doctor that she was known as and shout in someone’s face to shut the hell up.
Of course, there was also speculation about Sie Harrington, and she'd listened to the wild theories her friends in the pub quiz team came up with about where Sie was, without saying anything. Not that they'dnoticed how quiet she was, as silence was her default.
