Page 1 of Higher Notes

Chapter One

Jason

“Mom, I’m home!” I called out as I stepped inside. My brother, Gabriel, was playing Xbox while the twins, Nicole and Nolan, played their noisy hippo board game. Their giggles filled the room as they devoured the marbles. Mom was in the kitchen making dinner before she had to get to her second job cleaning office buildings at night. I hated that she had to work so hard but that would soon come to an end.

“Hey, Jase, thanks for picking up the grocery order.”

“No problem, Mom. I’ve got the rent money, too, and goodies for the kids.” Surprised I made it through the living room without them spotting the Disney bags I had in hand having just returned from Chase and Casey’s wedding at the magical wonderland.

“What? How?” She stumbled over her words. Generally, the two of us were on the verge of selling a kidney come the firstof the month to scramble to pay for the dingy two-bedroom apartment we rented for way too much and for way too long. Sad part was the landlord knew that and continually raised the rent to keep us in place knowing no one could save enough to afford first and last month’s rent somewhere new.

“We got our signing bonus this weekend.” Little did she know when I got my first royalty payout I planned to buy us a house. No more renting from slumlords in shitty hoods for the Stallworths.

Twenty-seven and still lived at home, though it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Kinda. My mother had the worst taste in men and even four kids later was still as gorgeous as ever, which attracted the bottom feeders. Too bad the baby daddies only took what they wanted then magically disappeared when she wound up pregnant. As though she did that on her own or to trap their worthless asses. That went for all four of us kids and none of our dads paid a dime in child support or ever showed their faces again.

Technically, I’d been working since I was twelve. First babysitting for families in the complex then when I hit sixteen I got a job as a bag boy at the grocery store near our house. From there I worked my way up to a nighttime stocker position while doing side gigs at clubs. Now, I was finally down to one job that paid far more than any others had. Problem with that was it left Gabriel to be the man of the house while I was on the road. Granted, he was the same age as I was when I started babysitting, but Gabriel lacked the discipline I had. He was far too angry to watch more than our six-year-old brother and sister and even that was pushing it.

“Gabriel, come help with dinner.” Mom’s request fell on deaf ears so as usual it was up to me. He’s the one I worried about the most living in the seedy part of town. His anger worsened witheach passing day, and I feared he’d make bad choices because of it.

“I got ya, Mom. By the way, I brought you something from Disneyland, too.”

“Wait, Disneyland?” That opened closed ears and if the three of them had wings they’d have flown into the kitchen in a feathered frenzy.

“You’re so lucky, Jase,” Nicole hugged one leg while Nolan gripped the other.

“I was there for a wedding, but I brought everyone something back. Clean up your toys and get ready for dinner then I’ll hand them out.” With a heavy sigh my dramatic siblings returned to the living room like a bunch of defeated pups. “The faster you clean the quicker you get your gifts.” That struck excitement in the twins, but Gabriel continued to bitch and moan.

I handed them each a bag. The twins hugged and thanked me then skipped off to dig into them. Reluctantly, Gabriel took his and muttered a hard to hear thanks.

“I don’t know what to do with him anymore, Jase,” Mom whispered as we filled the plates.

“He better pull his head out of his ass soon.” Before it was too late, though I purposely left that off. Mom may work a lot, but she worried about us equally as much. She really was a great mom and went without before she let that happen to any of us kids. She just made shitty choices where men were concerned.

“When do you leave again?”

“Not until like March or April.” Note to self, get the schedule from Jeremiah. “Our first CD releases in March.”

“I’m so ridiculously proud of you. You worked hard and stayed true to you. All those nights of singing the little ones to sleep really paid off. You’ve been a godsend, Jase. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.” She hugged me. “I love you.”

“Love you, too, Mom.” Hopefully soon I’d have even better news for her. Preorders for our upcoming CD were going great and the day it dropped, so would our royalty payment. Now, to make it financially until then.

Three very long months.

With dinner done and the kids in bed, I plopped down on the couch which also served as my bed and recapped the strange turn of events from this past week. I’d noticed their watchful eyes before, but all the guards were paid to keep us in line. It wasn’t until they texted and asked if we could talk that I found out there was more to it.

Sikes and Snipe.

I knew nothing about them other than they were Embrace’s guards. Hell, I didn’t even know their real names, yet they were interested in dating me and dropped that bombshell in the hotel bar, making it crystal clear that it was for more than a hook-up.

Up until now, it’d been easy to avoid relationships between working and helping with the kids. A quick orgasm here and there with nothing more. But did I want that now? A relationship, that was. And with two men?

Couldn’t deny since our conversation the idea hadn’t left my head. Jesus, two gorgeous hulking men who’d been together for what sounded like forever. How did that even work? They weren’t the usual type I went for but then again, did I even have a type? And a poly one. Wouldn’t one of us, likely me, be odd man out?

I showered and made up the sofa then fired off a text in the Chaotic chat to schedule a practice session for Friday. But before I could, one came through from Josh.

Josh: The band playing at Reagan’s on Friday night just cancelled. You guys feel like filling in?

Marley: Sorry bros, but this bassist has a date.

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