Rainbow Lyrics and Mellow Mushrooms: Plot twists, tangled webs, and teasing shenanigans: In other words, welcome to Tuesdays!

This moment sparked something with these characters that was so unplanned that it resulted in the start of a whole new story. Several who have read Damaged Saints have reached out and asked about the dynamic between Johnny and Draven and how it felt like there was more than just a little bit of teasing in the moment below. It was intended to be, but once this scene was out there, Johnny and Draven decided to start dropping other comments when they were around one another which grew into a possibility. To my way of thinking, that's what all stories start out as: possibilities. A series of will they, won't they moments with interspacing of life, events, friends, distractions, and roadblocks. For Johnny and Draven, the roadblocks are coming, but what I can tell you for with all certainty is that their story is coming and that a preorder for it will go up somewhere in the next six months. I cannot say yet if this will be my Rocktoberfest story for the year, but what I can say is that I will be 'collecting underpants' in the form of snippets, conversations, and scenes between the two until the bones of the story have formed and once that happens, there will be another announcement, at which point, the cover, which I have, will be revealed along with the pre-order link. Until then, enjoy Damaged Saints and all of the books of various the Rocktoberfest collections from 2020, 2022 and 2023.

For now, what I can unveil is the title:

Echoes of a Muted Song

And now here is the scene that started us on the path towards a whole new rockstar adventure.

As Robbie slid onto the bench in front of Jagger and took a hit of his own, it dawned on him that the support system they hadn’t had in place just a few short weeks before had manifested itself. Now there was nothing left to do but start packing up the gear and get on the road.

Four days.

Shit.

Fuck.

Damn.

It had all sort of snuck up on him and was hitting now.

As if he sensed the change in Robbie’s mood, Jagger pulled him into a kiss and sucked the smoke from his lungs. Jagger turned and shared some of it with Kayden, who exhaled a thin stream after several seconds, took a hit of his own, and sent the smoke back Robbie’s way via Jagger’s lips.

“At least pass the bowl if you won’t pass the Lucky Charms,” Johnny grumbled, getting snickers from all around the table.

“Here, you want something sticky sweet to devour, try this,” Draven remarked, using his voice rather than the device, one of the few times he’d done that all night.

The moment Johnny turned his way Draven shoved a gooey marshmallow between his lips, pushing it in further with a finger Johnny tried to suck on before Draven quickly withdrew it.

“Not fair, straight boy!” Johnny growled; words garbled as the marshmallow stuck to the roof of his mouth. Even after he’d swallowed it, he had to lick his lips several times to get the residue off. “You can’t tease something sticky knowing you won’t put out.”

“Oh, I’ll put out, just not for the likes of you.”

“Damn, and here I was hoping someone had finally converted you,” Johnny said, flicking his tongue out at him.

“You’d trip all over yourself if I ever took you up on an offer like that,” Draven said, cocking his head to the side and giving Johnny a thoughtful look. “Might even be worth it, just to see you fumbling around to pick your tongue up off the floor.”

Nothing but stillness and utter silence followed in the wake of his comment. Robbie could have sworn that even the dogs stopped grooming one another to stare at Draven, who just shrugged.

“What? He’s pretty enough.”

Smart mouthed Johnny, with his cocky, fuckboy attitude, looked absolutely floored, small, stammered sounds choked out, then half swallowed as he struggled with how to respond. Draven just cocked an eyebrow at him while Johnny blinked and for the first time since he’d known the man, began to blush and averted his gaze from Draven.

“Well, shit. Someone get a video camera out and start filming, Johnny Amaral is blushing!” Jagger said, reaching for his pocket, and he wasn’t the only one. Draven pulled his phone out and started snapping still shots. Kayden snatched his phone up off the table and began to film. Johnny just chuckled, ripped one of the white paper towels off the roll, and waved it in the air over his head.

“I concede. Seriously, you win, fucker. Damn. I got nuthin’ after that!” Johnny declared.

Grinning, Draven stuck his tongue out at him, while Robbie just shook his head and muttered, “Checkmate.”

Last year, days after Rocktoberfest, the band Damaged Saints were onstage when a pyro accident burned their drummer and seriously injured their singer when he was hit with flying bits of burning shrapnel resulting in damage to his voice that has left him unable to continue on as the band’s singer.

He's their new manager though, and thanks to a friend from another band, they’ve got a lead on a new singer. Jagger is smokin’ hot, charismatic as hell, and so far as they’ve been able to tell, has very little in the way of inhibitions, which makes him the perfect fit for their rather snarky, salacious crew. There is just one problem: Jagger has only ever sung with cover bands and never on a large scale or even at a venue larger than a small-town waterfront festival. He’s used to having less than four feet to move around in, which doesn’t translate well when you’ve got a whole big stage to fill. With less than a month to see if he’s got some hidden moves they can draw out of him, they’re looking to use any means at their disposal and maybe even discover if Jagger is the perfect fit for them off the stage too.