Flesh & Bone - a contemporary romance: The Minstrel Series #2 by Lee Strauss, Elle Strauss Read Free Book Online Page B

while.
    Sebastian needed noise. He searched the room for the remote, finding it under a cushion and turned on the TV projector. He fell into a chair and let out a long hard breath, working to focus on the program.
    Normally, he liked being alone—he hardly ever was—but tonight the solitude mocked him. He no longer had the comfort of knowing his relationships extended beyond these doors. If he couldn’t trust his girlfriend and best buddy—correction, ex girlfriend and ex best buddy—then who could he trust?
    His fame had grown, but his world had shrunk. He hadn’t called his parents in years. He commented on his sister’s Facebook status once in a while, but that was the extent of that relationship. His band was his family, and now that too had gone to hell.
    A dark cloak of depression settled on him as he stretched out once again on his couch. He wished he would’ve turned out the lights, but he was too weary to get up and shut them off. Instead, he placed a cushion over his face.
    He was alone. He didn’t even have a pet. Not a good idea when you’re only home half the year in spurts.
    The image of Yvonne and Karl passionately kissing in front of her building burned stubbornly at the back of his mind. How could they do this to him??
    Now that he thought about it, he could see the signs that something had been amiss. Yvonne had been pulling away for some time, and Karl rarely held his gaze. Right. Now it was fricking obvious. They’d both played him, and Sebastian was the fool. Now he wished he’d blackened Karl’s other eye.
    The TV program was nonsense that got on his nerves and he clicked the remote to turn it off.
    “The Water Song” from Eva Baumann ran through Sebastian’s head, tugging him out of slippery despair before he slid too deep. He hummed the haunting melody over and over again. So achingly beautiful.
    He had to meet up with this girl. He had to get to know the person who could write a song like that. She wasn’t conventionally beautiful like the groupies who wore too much makeup, or like Yvonne, whose Goth edge caught attention, but she was cute in her own way.
    Too bad about the limp and the cane. He wondered what happened to her? Was it a birth defect? Had she been born with a withered leg?
    Whatever it was, it hadn’t affected her pipes. The girl could sing. And she seemed to like him, even if it was directed at Sebastian Weiss the icon and not Sebastian the guy around the corner. It wasn’t the first time he used his fame to his advantage. Just flash his winning smile, turn on the charm, flex his tattoo. Worked every time. If he could get her to sing for him, just for him, that might soothe the angst that ate away at the core of his being. He hummed her tune like a lullaby and let the emotional weariness overtake him. He fell into a deep sleep and surprisingly never had any nightmares.
    Sebastian awoke the next morning feeling discombobulated. This wasn’t an unusual experience. For a fleeting moment his mind raced to remember what hotel he was in, then his eyes registered the familiar surroundings of his living room. Why didn’t he sleep in his bed?
    Then he remembered Yvonne and Karl’s betrayal. An avalanche of anger built up from the day before swooshed down and pooled in his gut. He reached for his phone on the end table where he’d tossed it the night before. He’d turned it off when he entered the Blue Note and had forgotten to turn it back on. Nine text messages. Eight from Yvonne, which he deleted, and one from Dirk who’d called a meeting for that afternoon and wanted the band there.
    Sebastian groaned. He’d hoped for at least one day off. One day to not have to look at Karl’s ugly mug. He texted back that he was sick and couldn’t make it and turned off his phone. He removed his clothing and was about to crawl into bed when he heard pounding at the door. What now?
    “Who is it?”
    “It’s me, Yvonne.”
    Damn. He really didn’t want to see her yet.
    Yvonne