From My Heart

By Breigh Forstner

Everyone has secrets and demons that they hide...

Bryn is now happily dating Cale, who is not only her boyfriend but band mate in Everlasting. After the aftermath of an event gone wrong, Bryn is struggling to pick up the pieces and discover herself while Cale is struggling with something entirely different. What lifts up her spirits is her two best friends, Gina & Bethany, are riding along on the tour bus as the official "Everlasting Groupies."

The thing he thought he had under control in his life had come back to strike with a vengeance. His battle to keep himself sane while focusing on a new tour is killing him inside. He is doubting that Bryn should even be with him, but once his secret gets out to her, he knows she won't ever trust him again.

Join Bryn, Cale and the rest of the crew from "Everlasting" as they embark on their next tour, facing plenty of cat fights,drama on stage and off, and lies that could possibly tear up the band, and their relationship, for good.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Breigh Forstner
• Release date: Nov 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311577795

Breigh Forstner

I am an AVID reader and write almost everyday. I have two young daughters and work full-time.I love rock n' roll music and writing about it most of all.Currently, I have released "Forever and Always" and my newest book "Straight from the Heart."

Book preview

From My Heart

Straight from the Heart #2

Breigh Forstner

From My Heart

Straight from the Heart Series Book # 2

Copyright © 2014 by Breigh Forstner

Cover designed by: Madelene Martin

Editing by: Metamorphosis Editing Services

Interior Formatting by: Dayne Edmondson

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 9781311577795

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements:

Note from the author:

Chapter 1: Away From You

Chapter 2: Playing with Fire

Chapter 3: Time

Chapter 4: Mayhem

Chapter 5: Addiction

Chapter 6: Live A Little

Chapter 7: Everything Changes

Chapter 8: How it could be

Chapter 9: In the End

Chapter 10: Straight from the Heart

Chapter 11: Secrets Kill the Weak

Chapter 12: Another Pill to Swallow

Chapter 13: Take Backs

Chapter 14: Gotta Be You

Epilogue:

About the Author:

Upcoming Releases:

Acknowledgements:

There’s a lot of people I would like to thank this time around. First, my two daughters. You were very patient when we would watch videos on one side of my laptop screen while I wrote on the other side and I love you so much. To the rest of my family, you have all been so supportive of my journey as an author thus far, and I can’t thank you enough.

My editor, Nikki at Metamorphosis Editing Services, you rock! I loved seeing all of your feedback as I was making the changes to the book and it was great working with you.

Once again, Madelene Martin did my cover for From My Heart and it looks so good, and such a quick turnaround.

Also to my beta readers that gave me early feedback about From My Heart, and what they liked and who they didn’t like in it, you also rock!

And who could forget my fellow authors, bloggers, and the readers? I appreciate each and every single one of you and everything you have done for me, whether it’s advice, support, anything. I love you all.

Readers are what makes the world go around and this book is dedicated to you.

Note from the author:

The chapter titles that you are going to see in From My Heart are song titles from the band Everlasting, who are the main characters. I also threw in a song from Ignite the Flames, which you met in Straight from the Heart. Also the lyrics below each chapter title go with that song too.

Chapter 1: Away From You

Cale

"Spent so much time

Wondering where it all went wrong

But I was manipulated and caught in your web

I have to get away from you"

I hate hospitals.

The only other time I’ve ever been hospitalized was after the Tyler-beat-up incident -we got into a brawl on stage less than a year ago.

Maybe it was the way nurses stared at me like I was a criminal and the doctors talked to me like I was stupid because of my tattoos. Or it could’ve been my shitty attitude.

Yeah that was it.

You should be able to go home tomorrow, mister. The nurse tapped my leg slightly as she finished taking my latest round of vitals. We’ll keep you overnight just as a precaution from the surgery just in case of any after effects that may occur. Also you have the buzzer beside your bed in case you need anything else. Jessie, the nurse that had been taking care of me, was Raptor’s older sister. She was the normal of the two siblings so to speak. While Raptor was crazy and died his Mohawk a different color every other day, Jessie went to medical school and had her own house on the outskirts of town.

Aww, come on, Jess, I groaned, and she shot me a dirty look. You know what I really need?

Not a chance, bud. Jessie grinned, turning around on her heels to go check on her next patient. I’ll be back later. She knew I was kidding, but I had to make myself laugh while I was in this depressing place. I mean, if I was into girls that were like six years my senior, I would have totally went after her. She had dark blond hair that was cut to her chin, a pretty athletic body, and wore dark rimmed glasses that made her look even older. But the times I’d seen her after tours and on breaks she usually stuck to her contacts, which made her baby blue eyes pop.

There I was I am thinking about another girl when my girl was in another hospital room on the same floor…wow, what an ass.

I kept saying the words, ‘my girl’ to myself, still in disbelief I really had the girl of my dreams all to myself. Bryn Schaefler was my official girlfriend. I was a lucky guy. Who else got the opportunity to perform on stage beside their girlfriend nearly every day for weeks on end? I would never get tired of seeing her. She was completely and utterly made for me, I was sure of it.

Her green eyes were what sold me the first time I met her and shook her hand. They were like brand new emeralds that glistened in the sun. And plus it helped that she had a rocking body, despite her complaints from time to time about how her hips are too wide or how she was getting arm fat. I would shoot her down immediately and kiss her just so I wouldn’t have to hear her talk about herself like that.

After flipping through TV stations, most of which were showing early morning news shows, I heard a faint knock at the door. It was getting late, or at least close to the end of visiting hours, so I wasn’t sure who it could be. For a split second, I wished it would’ve been one of the nurses wheeling Bryn in to see me.

Come in! I yelled, straightening the pillows behind me so I could sit up a little straighter.

The door opened, and in came Vince. His light brown hair was a mess and it looked like he slept in one of the hospital waiting room chairs for the night.

How ya doing, bud? he mumbled, stepping closer to my hospital bed to take a closer look at me. Judging by the discouraged look on his face, he seemed reluctant to come any farther.

You don’t have to be scared, I said. I’m not broken, Vince. I chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. He shook his head with a grin and sat down in a chair against the wall. I mean, besides a couple of stab wounds and a bullet to my chest, I’m hanging in there. You on the other hand, my man, look like shit.

Vince ran a hand through his disheveled hair and sighed. Yeah, I feel like it, he said. It should be me in one of these beds, not you, Tyler, and Bryn. If she hadn’t told me to run I could have helped save her and get you guys help…

I raised my hand to silence him. He was one of my best friends and I wasn’t going to let him take the blame for what happened to us. Don’t guilt trip yourself. Dammit, between you and Luke, you guys got us help. You saved us before Brayden could hurt anyone else… During our last show almost three days ago, Bryn’s older brother Brayden caused mayhem backstage, all for Bryn’s attention. Her parents were secretly hell-bent on bringing her back home, and that meant pulling out all of the tricks to get her there, no matter the costs.

Which included roping their only son into doing whatever it took to make Bryn realize she was making a mistake. He had been a part of Raptor’s beating that cost him his spot in the band and an injured hand. Now this shooting at the festival. Just thinking of what went down gave me chills. I didn’t want to relive watching Bryn being hurt by her brother, let alone getting hurt myself. I hadn’t heard how Tyler was doing, but when the ambulances finally came to get us, all I could hear was his brutal screams of pain.

I was scared to ask. Have you seen Tyler or Bryn?

Vince stiffened up, They look like hell if you want my honest opinion. Bryn has a huge bandage around her head from when it was slammed against the tree and some scratches on her face. She had a blanket covering the rest of her body so I couldn’t tell ya if anything else was wrong with her.

What about Ty?

He’s got a few broken ribs and a concussion. I had to stop him from schmoozing one of the nurses into bringing him alcohol to numb his pain. Vince laughed. That sounded like Tyler Donahue, alright. We were practically one in the same. Don’t tell me you tried that too?

I shook my head. Nah. I was joking around with Raptor’s sister and she took it the wrong way. Thought I was trying to get into her scrubs.

Ohhh Raptor would kill you for that if he found out. Vince smirked. But she’s married, isn’t she?

Hell if I know. I replied. I already have a girl anyways.

An amazing one. Vince admitted, rubbing his eyes as he slumped over. You better not lose her or else I’ll snatch her up.

I glared at him; he knew better than to even joke about taking Bryn from me. Now that I had her I wasn’t ever going to let go. They need to get me out of this damn bed and wheel me to her room, I said. This has been the longest period of time I haven’t seen her and it sucks shit, I whined, feeling pain in my chest. My hand held onto my heart as I tried to slow my breathing down. Where was the pain medicine when I need it? They had been giving me doses about every 4-6 hours and that wasn’t enough. If I could walk, I’d steal their stash in the pharmacy.

Relax, Cale, Vince said. You seriously need to take it easy for the night. That bullet was too close to your heart, I was here when they said it was merely a few centimeters away from killing you. Especially with the tour coming up—we’ll have to tone it down on stage. That was exactly what I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t care if I was centimeters from death, I was not going to stop doing what I loved, which was giving Everlasting fans a show they’d never forget.

No chance. We’ve still got until January anyway so we should all be back to our usual selves. I’m not changing what I do on a daily basis because of a psychotic idiot who shouldn’t have had a gun in the first place.

My son, you use your words so well. I heard my mom say sarcastically as she entered the room, her tennis shoes squeaking against the floor. Are you giving Vince problems, sweetheart?

I rolled my eyes. Vince was eating it up the attention, standing up to kiss my mom on the cheek. She had grown to consider all of the guys in Everlasting her sons. Most of the time she’d take their sides over mine due to my ‘potty’ mouth.

Of course not, mother, I’m a perfect gentleman, I lied, smiling widely. She leaned over to give me a brief hug without touching my injuries.

I’m sorry, Mom said, even though the hug didn’t hurt. I just don’t want to hit something. Tears were in her eyes at the pure sight of me. Probably because none of her four kids had ever had serious injuries before, let alone surgery. Luckily, I didn’t have broken ribs like Tyler or even a bandage around my head like my Bryn. Damn I wished I could go see her. Rubbing the back of Mom’s hand along my cheek, I tried relaxing. Are you sure you’re okay to be released tomorrow? she asked.

Yesss, Mom. Jessie just came in and said they’re keeping me overnight just as a precaution and Vince will take me home. I looked over at Vince, who had fallen asleep, slouched over in the chair. I could hear a faint snore from his lips, but I covered my mouth so my hysterical laughing wouldn’t wake him up. I patted down a small bit of space next to me on the bed. Come sit, Mom. You look frazzled.

She snorted. Tying her long copper colored hair into a ponytail, she slowly sat down beside my good leg. Well, your sisters are freaking out and were upset when I told them they couldn’t come up to see you. I didn’t want them to see you in pain. You know how Sadie gets when she gets a paper cut, let alone sees anything remotely close to blood. But she said she’d suck it up for an hour or two. If I could say one thing about my family, it was that we were all close. Besides the guys in the band, my sisters Sadie, Danielle, and Alexandria were my best friends. We were all born within five years of each other, Sadie 21, Danielle 19, and Alexandria had just turned 17. Danielle and I had gotten the brown hair from our dad while Sadie and Alexandria had mom’s copper shaded hair. But we all got the amber colored eyes from Mom.

Tell them I love them, promise? I asked, and Mom nodded. When everyone gets feeling better I want them to meet Bryn.

My mom’s eyes lightened up instantly. "You’re finally going to bring her around? After how long, mister?"

I clasped a hand onto her shoulder and squeezed. "Give it a bit. I promise I will bring her by the house for one of your home cooked dinners. Just name the date and time."

Another hour went by, my mom giving me updates on how Danielle wanted to move across the country and go to the University of Oregon, while Alexandria wanted to start up a band. I admired both of them for going after what they wanted. Sadie, on the other hand, was more of a home-body and spent most of her time with her long term boyfriend; she liked her life like that.

Another nurse peeked through the door and smiled. I’m sorry, Mrs. Pelton, visiting hours are almost up. Pointing to Vince, who was now drooling on his chin, she grinned and said, Might want to wake him up too. We said thank you, and before I could throw my empty cup of ice water at Vince, Mom had shaken him awake.

He looked back and forth between us, still in a sleepy daze. They kicked you out, man, I told him. You should go with my mom and stay until the morning.

Groaning, Vince nodded in agreement. Suppose you’re right. You’ll be okay until the morning, right?

Yes, my second mother, I teased. But thank you for staying, Vince. Love ya.

He took a couple of steps to my side, giving me a one armed hug. Not a problem. Always got your back.

In between the police coming to question me right after surgery and my few visitors, I was more than anticipating seeing Bryn and how she was holding up.

***

Bryn

Frickety frick my head felt like it hit a ton of bricks. Well, close enough. The back of my head hit a huge oak tree at full force. I was still in shock that my older brother Brayden was capable of anything so horrific. Was he serious when he said he reconciled with Mom and Dad? I’m sure they tracked him down and bribed him with money. That’s probably why he did what he did to get me to come home. But after seeing what he was capable of, there was no way I could trust him again. Or my parents for that matter.

Now all that was on my mind was the guys. After Brayden threw me against the tree, I had blacked out. I remember hearing additional gun shots and a bunch of screaming coming from every direction. I didn’t know who they were coming from, but it scared the living crap out of me.

Waking up at the hospital, my first question was, Where’s Cale and Tyler? Vince and Luke were right by my side, each holding a hand as my eyelids finally opened after being out cold for hours.

They’re both being checked out right now, Luke whispered, his voice barely making any sound. It was bad Bryn. Bad wasn’t a good enough explanation for me. I needed to know if either one were going to make it out of the hospital alive.

How bad? I choked on my words, feeling a huge lump in my throat.

Cale was covered in blood, Vince said. They almost couldn’t stop the bleeding in his leg from the stab wound and he got shot…

But Tyler looks like he has a few broken ribs form the way he kept clutching his sides, Luke interjected. Don’t worry about them, Bryn. You’ll all be okay and hopefully out of the hospital in a few days.

A few days was right.

Here I was now, watching late night news on TV, complaining about this huge white bandage wrapped around my head. It was practically down to my eyebrows and it was driving me crazy. But after getting the scoop from the guys, including Raptor and Hal, who had been in to visit me on and off, Cale and Tyler got the worst of Brayden’s wrath.

That was what my brother wanted, which made me sick to my stomach. It was all a part of the Schaefler family master plan: Do whatever it takes to get Bryn home because apparently I didn’t belong writing music and playing guitar on a daily basis.

Visiting hours were just getting over with. I knew this from the shuffling of feet in the hallway. I couldn’t even see out into the hall to know if anyone was coming in, unless they knocked. Dammit, I could not wait to be released.

It’s Nurse Jessie, can I come in? My nurse knocked lightly. Without another word, she swiftly walked in, clipboard in her hand, as she immediately checked the monitors I was hooked up to.

Are they getting me out of here tomorrow? I asked.

Those odds are looking pretty good, Bryn. Your friends were asking me the same question, Jessie replied firmly, not looking in my direction. They’re getting pretty antsy, but they’re guys. It’s to be expected.

So they’re doing okay?

Jessie met my eyes and smiled. Well, considering your boyfriend was trying to bribe me, I think he’s back in rare form. Just the word boyfriend made me grin.

Is there any way I could see him? I blurted out.

Possibly in the morning, if that would work, she suggested. That way both of you are well rested.

I’ve waited days to see him. I think someone could wheel me down to his room, I mumbled under my breath. The nurse turned in my direction after jotting down my vitals.

I’ll let the next nurse coming in know so she can get a wheelchair ready in the morning, Nurse Jessie replied, not acknowledging my comment. Sleep well, Bryn.

Yeah. Okay. Sleep well? In this hospital bed? Fat chance. I could just make a run for it, take the machines I’m hooked up to with me.

It took me a couple hours into old romance movies on Lifetime before I finally dozed off. I heard faint laughter that sounded a lot like Cale’s. Don’t worry Bryn, I told myself. You’ll see him in the morning, in just a few short hours.

It was hard to believe that I had been a part of Everlasting for almost five months now, going on a half year. This was my new life and I was in love with what I did: play music. The guys were my new family now that I discovered how messed up my family really was. While everyone else knew I had an ex, Cale was the only one that I told about that night. As much as an ass he could be at times, he was all mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way right now.

Even since Tyler came back during the recording process, I had felt a connection with Tyler. We had both grown up in the same kind of family so we had that much in common. But he was one of the lucky ones that had easy going parents that let him go out and pursue what he wanted without any hassle. Spending time with him, he reminded me a lot of Ethan, but add four years, more muscles, and brown hair. He was definitely easy to look at, to say the least, but after what Cale went through with Lucy and Tyler, I wasn’t about to put him in that situation again. That was the whole reason Tyler got kicked out in the first place.

The next morning, I woke up to the sun shining through my hospital room window. More like the rays of sunshine were so bright I thought I was going to go blind. The hospital kitchen just called me to get my breakfast order and I flipped the channel to an early morning news show, not really paying attention to what the anchors were saying. When I heard one of the newscasters mention the word Shooting, my ears perked up and I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

In big bold letters at the bottom of the screen it flashed, Shooter dead after attack in Pontiac. My eyes widened in horror at the site as I watched a recap of what I couldn’t see, only heard.

My brother was dead?

Why didn’t anyone in this hospital tell me? Surely Raptor,