Strung Out (Needles and Pins #1) by Lyrica Creed Read Free Book Online

beautiful on her. But he’d grown up with a Scarlette whose childhood golden blonde hair had gradually turned a sunny shade of brown when she became a teen.
    “Yeah. My part of it anyway.”
    “You write the songs?”
    “Mostly.”
    “They’re great, Gage. You’ve done well.”
    After her anger the night before and semi-chilly demeanor today, the sincerity of the compliment threw him for a moment. And because she was practically his sister, it embarrassed him. Strangers could sing their praises all day and all night. But it felt odd coming from someone who knew him so well.
    “Know how to get there?” He changed the subject. He’d offered to call his driver service, but she’d turned that down.
    “I'm sure my phone’s map app will get me there fine.”
    “The cars all have maps too.”
    “Cars?” The ‘S’ hissed in emphasis at the end of the one word question.
    He walked her to the garage. The light flickered on the moment he opened the door. Motioning her ahead of him, he paused before entering to select from the fobs hanging in the key panel. Following her, he found her again surveying her surroundings with her lips agape.
    “Do I get to pick?” She ran her fingertips over the hood of a bronze Bentley.
    “Hell to the no!” He feigned horror.
    “C’mon. I’m a good driver…” She’d moved on to his yellow Lotus Esprit GTA.
    “And that’s why you wrecked your Subi the day after your sixteenth birthday.”
    “It wasn’t the day after. And that wreck wasn’t my fault.” Stopping before his Ducati bike, she regarded it.
    “Says you.” He joked, knowing full well the fender bender she’d been in as a teen and had texted him pictures of, hadn’t been her fault. He held up the key fob.
    “Fine. I’m happy to drive any of these babies.” She pivoted at the black Escalade and closed the distance between them.
    Their fingers brushed as the device exchanged hands, and she pressed the button. When the Lotus flashed, she grinned.
    “Thanks, big bro. I’ll take good care of it.”
    “Be careful, Scar. It’s got a lot of muscle. It’s only a car. But you’re irreplaceable.” Had he really spewed that parental vomit? But she didn’t mock him. The smile when she tilted her face up to his before hastening to the car was so familiar, he marveled he hadn’t recognized her at first sight the previous night.
    For a nanosecond, a familiar current ran between them, and the warm tingles of cozy memories tangled in his cerebrum.
    “I will. I swear.” She took her place behind the wheel, adjusted the seat, and looked up with a bright smile. And he loved being the one who had put the glow of excitement on her face.

    Shaking a pill from the script bottle , he palmed it. Finding the whiskey bottle on his dresser empty, he popped the tablet into his mouth and swallowed it dry. Heading back down to the studio, he picked up a custom Charvel and strummed as he waited for the chemical compound that had been his muse in the past to infiltrate his bloodstream.
    The house was quiet. Scarlette routinely was gone by the time he woke each day. She had arrived two days ago, and her lingering aura seemed to block any creativity he might have had. Every day he settled in the studio to work, feeling guilty about letting her go out alone on her search for her friend. He continually advised her with any names or addresses he knew related to Rageon.
    His own problems he addressed one hurdle at a time. One song in three weeks. It could be done. It had often been done in less. He'd dug around in some of his unused stuff and found one suitable to work up.
    As the afternoon grew late, he worried when she wasn't back at the time that had become normal for her. Whether it was instinct, dumb luck, or someone had told her, the last couple of afternoons she'd been back before the freeway traffic completely stalled with evening rush hour.
    Hearing the front door slam, he raced into the hallway, but it was Seth. “Oh, it's