Not A Hero: A Bad Boy Marine Romance

  “Yes, sir!”

  Logan was nervous, but Gina squeezed his hand, giving him the extra boost he needed to charge in there. He quickly found his guitar that had been brought there earlier. Gently brushing the sparkling red instrument with his fingertips, he smiled at the memory of every performance at McGinny’s, every bedside song for his mother, and every garage band practice over the last many years.

  He sat on the stool in front of the microphone and pulled on the headphones hanging beside it. He perched the guitar on one knee and grabbed a guitar pick out of his pocket and tested it out, strumming a few chords. He stopped to tweak some knobs at the top, listening to make sure it was perfectly in tune. After a couple minutes perfecting the sound, he gave a thumbs-up to Garrett who was on the other side of the glass partition standing beside Gina.

  Garrett’s voice came over the intercom. “Alright, when you see the red light above the window go on, it means I’m recording. Got it?”

  Logan nodded he understood and then looked at the light. A few seconds later, it flashed on and he played the first few chords of his favorite song.

  Stole my heart just to throw it away,

  No explanation for the games you play.

  Am I just a Friday night to you,

  or are we going to see this through?

  “Gina, this man is good,” Garrett mused, listening to Logan still singing. “He is going to be something.”

  “He is so talented, Daddy.” Gina beamed and crossed her arms as if to hug herself.

  “You did great. I wasn’t sure you would be able to land him when I sent you out there. I can admit when I’m wrong.” He glanced at Gina and nodded his head in approval. Her face lit up.

  Between our kisses, you said “forever”,

  but behind my back, you laughed “never”.

  So, I tossed the thief from my bed,

  but damn it all, she’s still in my head.

  Even if I lock up my whole heart,

  you pierce your way in like a dart,

  now your reign of power’s through,

  I’m not the one you’ll come home to,

  “I want you to close this, okay? Give him whatever he wants, but we need to sign him. He needs to come to New York and work on recording an album. This company needs him, Gina.” Garrett looked at his daughter. “Can you do that?”

  Gina clasped her hands together, excitedly. “I’ve got it completely covered.”

  “Good, looks like we have a new manager at New York New Music.” Garrett winked at her and she grinned back, radiating in happiness.

  Did you hear, girl, what I said?

  No more damn thieves in my bed.

  Did you hear, girl, what I said?

  Get the fuck out of my bed!

  Garret pressed the “talk” button on the pad in front of him, and spoke into the microphone. “That was it! Perfect, Logan, just perfect.”

  Garrett clapped his hands together and Logan smiled, giving him a thumbs up as he put down his guitar and pulled off his head set.

  “Gina, you did perfect. The job is yours, sweetheart. You’ve proved yourself to me with this one, baby girl. You landed us a good one.” Garrett squeezed his daughter’s shoulder and then walked out of the room.

  Gina’s face lit up at the rare compliment from her father.

  “Thank you, Daddy! I won’t disappoint you.” She called after him, but he had already left.

  Still smiling, she turned back to look at Logan in the studio through the glass. He was standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face, completely frozen. Gina reached for the talk button to ask him what was wrong, only to see that the talk button was still on.

  Her father had left it on.

  Logan had heard everything.

  He suddenly came to life and stormed toward the door to the booth, bursting into the recording room which was now empty except for Gina. His eyes were dark and angry, not even a hint of sparkling blue to them, as he glared at her and quickly closed the gap between them. Fear coursed through Gina’s body, she had no idea what to say.

  She knew he was angry, but he couldn’t leave her for this. She loved him, she had refused to say it, but she knew she did. She needed him too, if he didn’t sign with her then she was out of a job and would have proved to her father that she couldn’t make it in the music business.

  She honestly couldn’t even tell herself which of those things were more important to her- Logan or her career.

  “What the fuck was that?” Logan seethed through his teeth.

  “It’s not what it sounds like, I swear. I told you I was going to graduate school and I wanted to work here, but my dad wouldn’t let me until I proved I could do the job,” Gina tried to explain, but it was coming out all wrong.

  “Not even two hours ago, I told you I loved you. Now you’re telling me I was just a damn job to you?” He was getting angrier by the second, his large frame towering over her menacingly.

  She scooted away to put a bit more distance between them. “No, Logan, I swear that’s not true. I mean, okay, yes, at first it was. My dad heard your record and sent me to scout you out before he came out. I went to like five of your shows before the night we met.”

  “Holy shit, how could I have been so stupid?” Logan groaned and ran his fingers through his hair, walking toward the door.

  “Logan, don’t go! It started out that way, but it’s real for me now. I care about you, I want to be with you,” she begged him, but he already had one hand on the door.

  “Please, Logan, I love you,” she burst out, feeling the foreign words spill out of her mouth in a desperate attempt to keep him from leaving her.

  She had never said those words to anyone before. Logan paused and turned his head to the side, looking down at his shoulder, then slowly exhaling.

  “If you really meant that, you would have said it in the park. Not now. Not ever again,” he finished, choking out the last words, and closing the door between them.

  11

  Logan stared at the bleak hospital wall as he sat next to his mother’s bed while she slept. He’d sent his father home for a few hours to shower and change since he spent every minute here with his wife for days.

  Logan hadn’t slept since before his trip to New York yesterday and his eyes were burning with exhaustion, begging them to close. His brain was playing a cruel trick and replaying his fight with Gina again and again, preventing him from anything even remotely close to restful.

  “Mr. Clay?” A tall, thin doctor with short blonde hair walked into the room carrying a metal clipboard and sporting a white doctor’s coat over his blue scrubs.

  “That’s me.” Logan turned around and stood up, raising his hand and walking toward the doctor.

  “Oh, I was looking for Mr. Mickey Clay?” The doctor looked surprised to see the younger version there instead.

  “That’s my father, he’s at home showering and picking up some stuff for Momma. How’s she doing? Any news?” Logan asked, his jaw tightened preparing for something negative.

  “There is nothing new with your mom’s condition since we are still waiting for an available kidney. Honestly, she won’t be able to be off that machine until then because her only remaining kidney after the accident has been overworked and is only at 5% functioning, if not less.” The doctor looked down at his chart as if to verify what he was saying, but in reality, he just hated seeing pain on people’s face.

  “Oh.” Logan mustered up after a moment of silence and ran his hand through his hair, looking bewildered.

  “Unfortunately, I am here on slightly different news. Your father’s blood test was negative. We checked it again, like he asked, but it’s definitely negative.” The look of pity on the doctor’s face made Logan’s stomach churn.

  “What are you talking about? What’s wrong with my dad?” Logan was confused as to what blood test his father needed.

  “Nothing, he is perfectly healthy. His blood just isn’t a match for donating a kidney to yo
ur mother. I am really sorry, I know how badly he wanted it to be, but it’s just not a viable option.” The doctor explained further.

  “Test me. Please test me. Right now.” Logan immediately understood and jumped at the opportunity. “Where do I go?”

  “Well, hold on, sir. This isn’t something you just jump into. There are a lot of risks in that procedure. If you are a match and you decide to donate your kidney, you’re risking being in her same situation in ten, twenty, thirty years.

  It’s impossible to predict, but it is very risky, just like any elective surgery would be. It’s not something that you can go back and change either.” The doctor put one hand up as if to caution Logan from any rash impulse he might be having. “Once it’s done, it’s done and you will be walking around with one kidney for the rest of your life.”

  “I don’t care, I understand. Just test me. Like you said, the worst case scenario is that I’m not a match,” Logan said.

  “Well, no, the worst case scenario is that you are a match, you donate your kidney, and then you end up in the same situation, or worse, as your mother.”“What’s going on?” Dylan walked into the hospital room unexpectedly to see the tension between Logan and the doctor.

  He went to stand next to Logan facing the doctor. Rock and Charlie appeared behind him and hovered in the doorway, arms across their chests, looking like body guards ready to protect and defend.

  “I want them to test my blood, see if I am a match to donate a kidney to Momma. Doc here doesn’t think it’s a good idea because I could be in the same predicament down the road,” Logan told him as he gestured to his mother still asleep. The pain medications she’d been given not too long ago had a strong sedative effect.

  “Test mine too,” Dylan said, staring down the doctor and daring him to refuse.

  The doctor sighed and raised his hands in defeat. Rock and Charlie traded glances then stepped further into the room.

  “Me too.” Rock announced and Charlie raised a hand in agreement.

  “Alright, we will test you both. However, if one of you is a match, we will need to discuss the long term consequences. You’re young, healthy men right now and this could change that.” The doctor warned, looking sideways at the two hulking men who were now joining Dylan and Logan.

  “I understand,” Dylan said simply, as if it was not a big deal at all.

  “Me too,” Logan chimed in.

  Rock put a hand on Logan’s shoulder in solidarity. “I do too.

  “Same here,” Charlie spoke up.

  “All four of you want to be tested?” An incredulous look on the doctor’s face. Logan looked to his left and Dylan nodded his head at him, he then looked to his right and saw the determined looks on Charlie and Rock’s faces.

  “It looks like it.”

  “Alright, I will send a nurse in to draw your blood in a moment. Just sit tight.” With that final instruction, the doctor walked out of the hospital room, shaking his head in frustration.

  “Do you mean this, guys? You don’t have to do this. None of you. She’s not your mom, this should be my responsibility,” Logan said, rubbing the back of his neck and scrunching his eyebrows together as he looked from one friend to another.

  “Okay, first of all, the fuck she’s not. That woman raised me a lot more than any other woman on this planet. Do you know where the fuck my mother is?” Dylan asked him.

  Logan chuckled and shook his head, knowing that Dylan’s mother had been in prison for years. They tried to joke about it some, but mostly because it didn’t seem like Dylan was ever ready to talk about it.

  “That’s what I thought. So then, second, fuck yeah if you are a match that kidney is coming out of your gut, not mine. You can take that to the bank, kid.” Dylan grinned and punched Logan softly on the left side of his chest.

  “I agree with Dylan, and have you ever had your momma’s shepherd’s pie? I’d give a lot more than one damn kidney to keep having that for the rest of my life.” Rock smiled from ear to ear and squeezed Logan’s shoulder as he started walking out of the room.

  “What do I need two kidney’s for anyway? You bastards always make me be the fucking designated driver, so I’m certainly not using it as much as your drunk asses.” Charlie jabbed at his friend. “I spend half my night waiting for you jackasses to piss and the other half trying to get you all in the car.”

  All four men started laughing and then realized that they were still very close to his mother, so they crept out of the room to wait in the hallway. Logan’s phone began buzzing the moment he had stepped out and he quickly scooped it out of his pocket to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Clay? This is Garrett Vile calling from New York New Music. You left so quickly yesterday that I didn’t get to hear your answer,” Garrett said over the phone.

  “My answer to what?” Logan scratched his brain, but couldn’t recall whatever Garrett was referring to.

  “The record contract, of course.” Garrett sounded a bit irritated now. “Didn’t Gina go over it with you?”

  “Oh, no. I didn’t give her the chance to, my mother got sick and I had to rush back home,” Logan said, covering for Gina.

  He was still furious at her, but he saw how much her father’s approval meant to her and, for once, that was something he could relate to.

  “Oh, shit, sorry to hear that, son. Well, if you’ve got a minute, I can go over the terms with you right now?” he asked.

  “Uhm, sure.” Logan motioned with excitement for his friends to come listen to the conversation. They huddled close on one side of the hospital hallway as he put the call on speaker phone and held the phone out so everyone could hear.

  “The contract is for six years, a one-million-dollar advance and then we split everything fifty-fifty. You will be required to do at least three full albums during that time. We will want to do a tour probably every other year, but there is some wiggle room on that. You will also get five percent of all ticket sales. Merchandise is ten percent. There are a lot more, minor details which I can scan over and email to you right now, but that’s the major highlights. How do you think that sounds?” Garrett held his breath, waiting for an answer.

  Dylan’s face was so ecstatic, he was almost jumping up and down. Charlie looked stunned and Rock was grinning like they had all just won the lottery. Logan was lightheaded and found a chair nearby to sit in as his mind wrapped around everything he had just heard. He looked around at his friends who were all genuinely excited for him.

  The overwhelming feeling of support laid heavy on his chest and he owed these men for any musical success he would ever have. This would change his life. This would change everything.

  He felt his mind slipping to Gina for a few moments, wishing she were here to share in this excitement with him. At least the Gina he had known and loved, not the real Gina. He didn’t even know who the real Gina was. It had all been an act and yet here he was feeling like something was missing, like she was missing. Logan pushed those thoughts out of his mind and focused his gaze back on the phone in front of him.

  “Well, Logan, how does that sound?” Garrett asked again, having heard no response.

  Logan sat up abruptly, realizing he had completely forgotten to reply in all his excitement. “It sounds amazing, sir. I’d love to sign.”

  “Good. Glad to have you on board. Lawyers will send over the paperwork shortly. Make sure to have your lawyer look it over and send it back. Once all that is squared away, New York New Music will officially become your representative,” he concluded.

  “Thank you, sir. This is amazing news,” Logan gushed, unable to hold back his eagerness as much as he tried. His friends were high-fiving one another and smacking him on the back in triumph.

  “Get ready to be a star, Logan Clay,” Garrett said as he hung up.

  “Congrats, Logan. That’s freaking amazing,” Rock said, wide-eyed.

  “Fuck yes, man!” Dylan cheered as his, now former, band mates headed back into the
hospital room with huge smiles on their face.

  Logan stood in the hallway a moment longer, trying to find the feeling in his legs again after everything he’d just heard. A sniffling sound to his right caught his attention however, and he turned to see a young girl slumped down in a chair. She was maybe two or three years younger than him, with dark brown, wavy hair falling over her face.

  “Are you okay, miss?” he asked awkwardly, taking a few steps closer.

  She waved her hands as if to tell him to not worry about her. “I’m fine. Don’t let me bother you.”

  Logan paused and looked back toward his mother’s hospital room. He could hear her voice and his band mates, happily celebrating the news. Biting back the urge to run from anything unpleasant, he stepped over toward the mystery woman. Something about her seemed so innocent, so in need.

  “What’s got you so upset?”

  “I’m not upset,” she said, a deep blush creeping up her cheeks. “These are actually happy tears.”

  Logan smiled, because he definitely could understand that. He was having trouble trying to keep them at bay right now, knowing his entire life had just changed. She looked up at him when he didn’t say anything, and her bright hazel eyes pierced through him. “You must think I’m pretty weird.”

  “No,” he assured her. “I get it. I got some good news today too. What about you?”

  “You could say that. My cousin had a terrible skiing accident a while back and today was the first time she walked again on her own,” the young woman told him, pride beaming through her smile.

  “That’s amazing. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “What about you? What’s your news?”

  He paused, unsure what to say. It seemed odd to say he just earned a million-dollar paycheck. “I got the job I was applying for.”