Page 72 of Bulletproof
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Derek raced up the driveway to the front door, excited to be returning home with Travis by his side and hoping this was a sign that their relationship would deepen nowthat the tour was over. As his key slid into the lock, a sudden onslaught of homesickness hit him. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the comfort and familiarity of his home. The sense of belonging and stability seemed to matter more now that Travis was with him, and he realized that this is exactly what a relationship was all about. Sharing the little things that were normally taken for grantednow mattered.
Travis whistled as he came up behind Derek. “She’s a beauty.”
“Who?” Derek turned quickly.
“This house.” Travis chuckled. “Did you think I was referring to you?”
“No. But I was hoping you were.” Not true. Derek thought Travis was checking out some chick, maybe the cleaning woman, who wore the tightest pair of jeans imaginable. “Thiswas my first big purchase. We all bought houses at the same time, once the money started coming in.”
“I wish I had enough cash to buy something like this.” Travis gazed up at the tall columns that flanked the front door.
“You don’t have to buy something this big.” The mansion was really too much house for a single guy, but Derek had wanted it. They had all decided togo big when purchasing their homes. “Buy something in your price range, something you can pay cash for so it’s yours free and clear. That way, no one can take it away. That was Felix’s first piece of financial advice to us.” Felix had told them that the single most important thing they could do with their money was invest in a home free of a mortgage. Then they could blow their money on whatever ridiculousunnecessary luxuries they wanted.
“It sounds like a great idea, but I’m not exactly rolling in the dough yet. We got expenses that the label has to cover and we have to produce an album before we get a big payout. That’s why my bandmates are pressuring me to finish the lyrics. They think I can’t get it done and we won’t be able to fulfill our contract.”
No wonder Traviswas so stressed. Derek knew that most bands took several years before they actually made fat stacks. Bulletproof had been lucky. They had catapulted to the top of the charts, pulling in numbers that no one had ever seen before on a debut album, and things just got better from there. They had more cash than they knew what to do with in their first year. After they each opened a specialty restauranta few months ago, their bank accounts took another huge jump, and Derek was damn thankful for it. They all were.
Derek and his bandmates all came from modest families and they had never imagined the wealth they saw in the first few years of their careers. Derek had bought his mom a new house, and so had Alan and Jeremy. Brandon’s family hadn’t wanted to move out of the house wheretheir kids grew up, so they had added an extension and some luxuries. The place held so many memories, not just for Brandon’s family, but for Derek, Alan, and Jeremy as well. They all practically grew up in that house.
“Come on in,” Derek said, opening the door. “Welcome to my humble abode. Or some shit like that.” It felt wonderful to be home. Bulletproof had been on the road foralmost a year. Derek hadn’t even stopped home when Bulletproof’s tour had brought them to L.A. for a few days. It would have been too hard to leave. When he was in tour mode, nothing else mattered, and he hadn’t wanted to get pulled out of the zone.
Derek put his shit down in the entry hall, alongside Travis’, and inhaled deeply, absorbing the fresh smell. “Ahh,” he sighed. “I alwaysworry it’s gonna stink when I get home after being on tour, but it never does. My cleaning lady has this special lemony concoction – that’s what you smell – but if my mom didn’t come by a few times a week to air out the place, it would still smell like an old pair of underwear.”
“Your mom comes by?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t have to. She wants to. So I let her. She even stocksthe fridge so I’ll have something to eat.”
The corners of Travis’ mouth turned downward, ever so slightly. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but Derek did. And he wanted to bite his tongue off. In a way, he hated mentioning how good his mom was to him, but she was an angel, and he wasn’t going to downplay how much she meant to him. “My mom wants to meet you. I told her all aboutyou.”
Travis’ eyes turned round and fearful. “What’d you tell her?”
“I told her you were a crazy motherfucker.”
“You did not.”
“Well, I didn’t curse, but I told her you were crazier than I was, and the two of us together were mayhem.”
“She’s going to hate me!”
“No way. She knows I need someone who can keep up with me.She said it sounded like I finally met my match.”
A smile crept back onto Travis’ face. “I’m your match, huh?”
“You betcha. I can’t wait to introduce you to my mom.”
Travis’ mouth hung open. “I don’t know what to say, Derek.”
“Say you can’t wait to meet her either. And when you do, tell her a bunch of good shit about me.”
“I don’tthink I need to brag to your mom about what a great guy you are.”
“True,” Derek said, with no modesty at all. “She knows I’m awesome. She just wants me to be happy. And I am. Really fucking happy.”
“Me too.”
