Vanni: A Prequel (Groupie Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

she can. I know she’s trying. I reward her with a kiss for the whole damn world to see. When our kiss breaks, I sing to my audience of one. I don’t care about the crowd around us. I don’t care about the band in front of us. All I care about is the possibility of the future. I lean forward to shout into her ear, “One day I’ll perform here. And you’ll be front row!”
    She laughs as she wraps her body around mine. I know she thinks I’m daydreaming again, but I’m dead serious.
    When we finally head backstage to meet a few of my idols, I am full of questions. “Such a fan, man. That show was killer.”
    “Thanks, man. Glad you enjoyed it.”
    “Hey, do you think you have a few words of wisdom for an aspiring singer?”
    “You sing?”
    “I want to.”
    The older man just chuckles. “It’s a yes or no answer, dude. You want to sing, you gotta sing. Period. Only a handful of people get anywhere in this business. What sets us apart is we’re willing to go for broke and make it happen. You can be a dreamer. Or you can be a doer. Your choice, man.”
    I nod my head. I know he’s right. And I know this next year is my opportunity to do something about it. I’m sure as hell not getting any younger. The clock ticks louder every year.
    I convince myself that my birthday officially starts my new year, ten days ahead of schedule. By the time I turn twenty-seven, I want to make music my focus. No more schlepping pizza or wearing hairnets.
    I’m ready to become a star, to live the life I see all around me, with fans and excitement and music and sheer creative orgasmic bliss.
    I’m still flying high as we head to SoHo, to the club where Lori works. We squeeze in past the pretty people who are there to see a local band. More music? I’m game. I follow as Lori leads us to one of the VIP tables on the top floor. We start with beer, but I couldn’t care less about the alcohol. I’m already drunk on my dreams. It’s exhilarating. I pull Lori close and plant hot kisses along her neck. The fact that we’re in public only makes it more exciting. Let them see. I want every guy in the joint to gnash his teeth that the prettiest girl will be leaving with me.
    “Vanni,” she says as she pushes me slightly away. “Come on. This is where I work.”
    “You’re not on duty tonight,” I tell her as I nibble her sensitive earlobe. She sighs against me and tries a little harder.
    “Come on, Vanni. I’m serious.”
    I slip my hand up her shirt, around her soft tummy and along her smooth side. She wears no bra, which makes me instantly hard. I drag her hand to my lap so she can know how crazy she makes me. “So am I.”
    She pulls a little stronger. “Vanni.”
    “Fine,” I relent. “But there will come a day you’ll want me to prove to a room full of sexy strangers that you belong to me. About a year from now almost exactly, I’d say.”
    She offers a benign smile. It’s nothing she hasn’t heard before. I dreamed of being a rock star long before Lori walked into my aunt’s living room for the first time.
    Tony, however, leans across the table. “It’s a tough road,” he cautions at once. “If you ever want to explore Plan B, I can probably get you something where I work. I mean, it’d be something in the mail room to start you out, but it pays more than Cynzia’s.”
    I roll my eyes. Mail room , good God. “There is no Plan B,” I tell my friend. There are a variety of reasons I don’t accept Tony’s generous offer. First and foremost, I don’t want to leave Brooklyn. What would happen if Susan needed me and I was working all the way in the city? I need to be close for her, especially the older she gets. She’d smack me for saying it, but she’s gotten noticeably feeble in the last year, after Mama died. I know Mama’s cancer took every bit as much out of her as it did out of me, arguably even more so. Mama was like a daughter to her.
    Two, I can’t leave old Santino, even if he was a grumpy slave