Page 93 of Dirty Rock

“Your guest is here, Mr West.”

Presley’s face lit up, and he beckoned his unannounced visitor inside. “Cheers, Mal, send him in.”

“Visitor?” I glanced at Dicky.

He shrugged, uninterested. “Some guy Pres used to jam with in high school or something.”

“The fuck?” I scowled.

Dicky didn’t bother responding. The sound of a foreign voice entered the room, and soon Presley was pushing a handsome fucker towards the group around him. The dude’s smile was illuminous, and his biceps were bigger than my head as he stepped closer to Jules. He clearly worked out, and his white T-shirt set against his black skin made him look like he’d just covered himself in fucking oil for the occasion. I didn’t know the guy, but when he held his hand out to Jules, and she looked up at him with stars in her eyes, and her cheeks blushed the way they only blushed for me, I hated him immediately.

“Boys, this is the lead singer from the first band I was ever in. He used to go to high school with Cherry and me.” Pres slapped a hand on the guy’s back. “I’d like you all to meet Joshua Smith. Josh, this is Youth Gone Wild.”

Joshua, the fucker, had one of those handsome, happy faces that people gravitated towards, and it wasn’t long before the group around him were laughing and sharing jokes I wasn’t a part of as I sat on the edge of the sofa, watching him through narrowed eyes.

When Joshua glanced at me from across the room, he chucked his chin in acknowledgement and waved a casual hand my way.

I nodded back at him, smiling tightly.

Jules was chuckling about something with Hawk before she looked back up at Josh and said, “Well, since you’re here, what say we make you comfortable and grab you a beer so you can watch the guys rehearse?”

“Sounds amazing,” Josh said in a voice that had to belong to a fifty-year-old porn star, surely.

He looked down at Jules with a smoulder in his eyes.

That fucker sure saw her straight away.

He didn’t need to spend three years by her side before he realised just how fucking perfect she was. The way his mouth lifted at the corner, and the way he pressed his hand to the small of her back told everyone in the room he was already interested, and it made me stand abruptly, all pretence of being laid back and bored now gone.

“What? I don’t get an intro?”

Julia’s step faltered, and she looked up at me through cautious eyes. I knew that look. It was one that said,be very careful what comes out of your mouth next, Rhett Ryan.

I raised a brow her way and smirked.

Joshua wasted no time in stepping around her and making his way over. Shit, he was bulky. About the same height as me, but he looked like he’d eaten a mini Rhett for breakfast and was now ready for some serious lunch.

“Hey, man, nice to meet you.”

“Sure,” I said, sounding shitty as I shook his hand—a hand that was the size of my face.

“Big fan. Of all of you, actually.”

“You’re a singer, too?”

“Yeah.” He let go of my hand and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “Have been all my life.”

“Singing in the womb, huh?”

“Something like that.” He laughed. I hated when people laughed at shit that wasn’t funny.

I glanced over his shoulder at Presley, who had his arms folded over his chest, and his smirk set firmly in place as a piece of his long hair fell forward from his man-bun thing.

“How come Pres ditched you for Youth Gone Wild, then?” I asked Josh when I turned back to him.

“That was my fault. Presley was always ready for the big time. Not me. I freaked out a little bit. Had parents who wanted me to study right, go to college, hit up uni, all that stuff.”

“What did you study?”

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