Page 78 of Conquest

Jesse felt he could finally breathe as Evan’s voice trailed away.

Evan looked up at him. “That’s just a rough version, I’ve got a couple more verses I’m working on, but what do you think?”

Jesse took hold of the P.A. mic. “It’s,” a slow smile curved his lips, “genius.”

Evan laughed quietly and moved his gaze to JJ. “And what about you, you tone deaf bastard?”

“The song’s great. You still sound like a cat in heat, though.”

Evan laughed louder and flipped him off.

Kenny put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m the one trying to drag you into working, but we gotta start getting the kinks out of ‘Vanish.’”

“I know.” Jesse stood up, but instead of going to the door that led out, he headed toward the one leading to the live room. He stepped up to the piano and combed his fingers through Evan’s hair. “The song is beautiful.”

Evan caressed Jesse’s upper arm and guided him down. Jesse met his lips in a soft kiss.

JJ nudged Kenny with his elbow. “They always like that?”

Kenny sighed and nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty sick, really. And I don’t mean it’s sick because they’re both guys. It’d be sick if it was a dude and a chick hanging on each other like that, or two chicks. Well, maybe not if it was two chicks. Hot ones.”

JJ burst out laughing. “I hear that.”

Jesse walked back into the control room. “Alright, I’m ready now.”

Kenny stopped at the door and turned to JJ. “Hey, maybe if you get time, you could come down and listen to us.”

“Absolutely.”

“Awesome!” Kenny said.

Jesse turned up the hall toward the chill-out room. “Did you just meet your kindred spirit?”

“He’s so freakin’ cool! He’s one of the most kickass guitar gods ever! We should all go out tonight to welcome him into town.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool.” Jesse saw they were nearing the chill-out room and hushed his voice. “Has Trish calmed down yet?”

“She was still slamming things around when I left to go find you,” Kenny whispered.

That morning, they had been working on the fast pop/rock track “Vanish,” and the rapid, heavy rhythms were causing Trish more trouble than usual. It seemed like her concentration was everywhere but the song. He tried to be patient, but by her fifth screw-up, he had whirled around and yelled, “What the hell is wrong with you today? Is this your first day on the skins or what?” She hadn’t taken that well, and started whipping her drumsticks at him, pelting him not only with the ones she was using, but the spares sitting beside her. When her cache was depleted, she stormed out screeching “asshole” so loud it reverberated off the walls and window, and he decided they should all take an extra long break.

Jesse turned into the chill-out room with Kenny to find Julian sitting on a couch trying to hide behind a copy of Keyboard magazine, and Trish sitting at the small square table in the kitchen area, her right foot thumping a lightning fast stomp of annoyance.

Jesse marched over to the table. “Damn, if you could drum as fast as your foot is going, we wouldn’t be having the little issues we’re having now.”

Julian snorted in an attempt to not laugh and buried his face deeper in the magazine. Kenny scooted a large distance around Jesse, heading for safety at Julian’s side.

Trish slowly turned her head, her green eyes flashing rage.

Jesse stared back at her, his dark blue gaze insistent and unwavering. “Are you going to sit there glaring at me all day, or can we get back to work? We need to get ‘Vanish’ wrapped up.”

Trish looked away from him, defiance dominating her demeanor. “We’ve got others we can work on. I don’t feel like working on that song anymore today.”

“Oh shit,” Kenny mumbled, tucking back into the couch cushions beside Julian, who peeked over the top of his magazine.

“You don’t feel like it?” Jesse said, his tone revealing his disgust. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if you don’t feel like it. You made the decision to join this band, and I accepted you. Now if you got a problem being part of this family, then let me know right now. Otherwise, pop a Midol to balance out the bitchiness and let’s get back to work!”

Trish leaped out of her chair and into Jesse’s face. “Arrogant, narcissistic, cold-hearted, ignorant, smart-ass punk!”