Between Flaming Stars (Offspring Legends Book 1) Read online

  Between Flaming Stars

  Hayley Faiman

  Hayley Faiman Books, LLC

  Contents

  Also by Hayley Faiman

  Stay Connected

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Hayley Faiman

  Between Flaming Stars

  Copyright © 2021 by Hayley Faiman

  All rights reserved.

  Editor: My Brother’s Editor. Ellie McLove. http://www.mybrotherseditor.net

  Proofreading: My Brothers Editor. Rosa Sharon. http://www.mybrotherseditor.net

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Visit my website at: http://hayleyfaiman.com

  Created with Vellum

  Also by Hayley Faiman

  Men of Baseball Series—

  Pitching for Amalie

  Catching Maggie

  Forced Play for Libby

  Sweet Spot for Victoria

  Russian Bratva Series —

  Owned by the Badman

  Seducing the Badman

  Dancing for the Badman

  Living for the Badman

  Tempting the Badman

  Protected by the Badman

  Forever my Badman

  Betrothed to the Badman

  Chosen by the Badman

  Bought by the Badman

  Collared by the Badman

  Notorious Devils MC —

  Rough & Rowdy

  Rough & Raw

  Rough & Rugged

  Rough & Ruthless

  Rough & Ready

  Rough & Rich

  Rough & Real

  Cash Bar Series —

  Laced with Fear

  Chased with Strength

  Flamed with Courage

  Blended with Pain

  Twisted with Chaos

  Mixed with trouble

  SAVAGE BEAST MC —

  UnScrew Me

  UnBreak Me

  UnChain Me

  UnLeash Me

  UnTouch Me

  UnHinge Me

  UnWreck Me

  UnCage Me

  Unfit Hero Series —

  CONVICT

  HERO

  FRAUD

  KILLER

  COWBOY

  Zanetti Famiglia Series —

  Becoming the Boss

  Becoming his Mistress

  Becoming his Possession

  Becoming the Street Boss

  Becoming the Hitman

  Becoming his Wife

  Becoming her Salvation

  Prophecy Sisters Series —

  Bride of the Traitor

  Bride of the Sea

  Bride of the Frontier

  Bride of the Emperor

  Astor Family Series —

  Hypocritically Yours

  Egotistically Yours

  Matrimonially Yours

  Occasionally Yours

  Nasty Bastards MC —

  Ruin My Life

  Tame My Life

  Start My Life

  Dance into My Life

  Shake Up My Life

  Repair My Life

  Sweeten My Life

  Russian Torpedo—

  Stolen by the Sinner

  Bound to the Sinner

  Caught by the Sinner

  F*cked by the Sinner

  Stripped by the Sinner

  Rejecting the Sinner

  Loved by the Sinner

  Offspring Legends—

  Between Flaming Stars

  Esquire Black Duet Series –

  DISCOVERY

  APPEAL

  Forbidden Love Series —

  Personal Foul

  Kinetic Energy

  Standalone Titles

  Royally Relinquished: A Modern Day Fairy Tale

  Stay Connected

  Website: http://hayleyfaiman.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorhayleyfaiman

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  To me, a song is new every time I sing it.

  Meat Loaf

  Prologue

  MEMPHIS

  I watch her for a moment, unable to take my eyes from her. She’s gorgeous. Probably the prettiest woman I’ve ever met. A singer like me. A star like me. Together we’re the perfect couple. The tabloids say so, our friends and family agree.

  We’re perfect.

  Although I’m high as fuck, so maybe perfect is a little over the top?

  Eliana looks over her shoulder at me. Her long blonde hair and bright-blue eyes finding mine, then her lips curve up into a smile.

  Then I decide it’s not over the top. She’s fucking perfect.

  “I look amazing, don’t I?” she asks. She does.

  She’s wearing a skintight dress that’s cut extremely low, showing off the middle of her chest, all the way down to her stomach. The side is also cut in to give everyone a view of her side boob.

  It’s good side boob too.

  She looks stunning.

  The dress is custom made for her, the jewelry loaned out from a new designer, and her shoes are from some designer that is new on the scene. Put it all together and it’s something from another goddamn planet.

  “You do,” I offer with a grin.

  She looks me up and down but doesn’t say anything about how I look in my new leather jacket or custom jeans and shirt. I also had my hair dyed and styled specifically for this event. She doesn’t say shit, but it doesn’t matter, not really. She’s the important one. I take another shot of liquor, following it with another pill.

  Holding out my hand, I walk over to her. She slips her palm in mine and I squeeze. “The car is downstairs waiting, right? I don’t want to walk all the way downstairs and the car not be ready.”

  “It’s there,” I murmur, assuring her.

  “Your parents?” she asks through gritted teeth.

  “They’re sitting with us at the dinner afterward.”

  I watch as she wrinkles
her nose and I press my lips together. I don’t know why she doesn’t like my parents, they’re awesome people.

  They’ve been my rock, always.

  They’ll always have my back and I know that I can always depend on them. My dad understands everything that I’ve gone through in my career and always has a listening ear for me, and great fucking advice.

  “Well, the girls are riding with us, and after dinner, I promised we’d go to the after-party with them. So we’ll have to eat fast.”

  “Eliana,” I say on a sigh.

  She leans forward, baring her teeth as she stares into my eyes. Her blue eyes go ice fucking cold and she narrows them on me. There is a moment where we just stare at one another in silence. I suck in a breath and shake my head.

  Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around the back of her neck, careful not to mess up her hair and rest my forehead against hers.

  “Okay, baby. We’ll do your plan.”

  She shifts backward, her eyes losing their coldness in an instant, her lips curving up into a grin. “Thanks,” she quips. “You’re going to have so much fun. I just know it.”

  Translation, she’s getting what she wants so she won’t be a bitch. She’ll have fun, and I’ll follow behind her, just the way she likes it.

  We leave, the limousine waiting outside just like she wanted. Once we’re inside, I take her hand in mine, holding it, but she doesn’t allow me to do that for long. She wriggles her fingers out of my grasp, leaning forward to talk to her girls. She’s animated, happy, and I can’t help but stare at her in awe. She’s never like this with me, and she’s fucking pretty when she’s this way, I hate that I don’t get to see it often.

  It doesn’t take the limo long to arrive at our destination. The awards show is in full swing when we roll up to the red carpet. I’m supposed to walk with the rest of Between Flaming Stars, but once again, Eliana made sure we didn’t ride together as a group. I feel bad that we hardly ever walk into these things together anymore.

  When the limousine door opens, I unfold, holding up my hand, waving, and smiling for the cameras. Then I hold my palm out for her to take. She does, a huge smile plastered on her face. It’s a bigger smile than I’ve ever seen pointed at me, and I wonder what it would be like to have all of that beauty aimed right at me. I doubt I’ll ever know.

  Holding her hand, I walk down the red carpet with her. She doesn’t even look in my direction as the reporters and paparazzi call out our names. There are a couple reporters that I want to talk to from some smaller blogs and podcasts, but I can’t seem to get over there without completely ditching her, which I wouldn’t do.

  When we get close to the people I want to talk to, she starts to walk past them. Smiling, I tug her hand slightly and she looks up at me for the first time since we sat down in the limo at our house.

  “I want to talk to a couple of these bloggers and podcasters,” I say, keeping my voice low.

  She continues to smile big and bright, talking between her teeth. “No, they aren’t anybody.”

  We walk into the venue and I feel almost defeated. As soon as the first tray of champagne passes me, I grab three glasses and down them, one right after the other. I feel like a piece of shit.

  The rest of the awards ceremony, I drink and take a few more pills that I brought with me. I don’t remember what I won, what the band won, or what I said in my acceptance speech. I don’t remember dinner with my family.

  I remember absolutely nothing, and the next morning I wake up naked, alone in bed, my entire body pulsing with a raging hangover.

  Instead of getting up and finding food, I reach for a pill bottle that’s in my nightstand drawer and I take a couple more. Then, I pass back out. I wake up later and do the same, and the cycle is repeated over and over until I finally feel nothing.

  LINDEN

  Between Flaming Stars.

  The words are right there on the tickets in my hands and yet, I can’t believe them. I can’t believe it’s real. Lifting my eyes, I look up to my father who is sitting on the edge of the sofa watching me, his leg bouncing with anticipation for my reaction.

  I open my mouth, close it, then open it again, and finally, I let out a bloodcurdling scream that only my thirteen-year-old self could. On shaky legs, I stand to my feet before I start to jump up and down at least a dozen times.

  I can hear my dad laughing in the background and my sister groaning next to me, while my mom just watches me with a big smile on her face. But nobody understands my deep love for the band Between Flaming Stars or my obsession with the lead singer, the Memphis Dixon.

  “That ticket includes backstage passes for you and two friends. It also includes the meet and greet before the show and the after-party, until it is too wild,” my dad announces.

  My screaming becomes louder, so much so that I’m afraid the windows could break. My dad still laughs, a huge smile on his face. Eventually, I have to take a breath, so I stop screaming and attempt to calm my racing heart, inhaling and exhaling over and over.

  “The concert is tomorrow night,” my dad announces.

  I don’t break out into screaming again, this time, I break out into freak-out mode. “I don’t have anything to wear,” I cry.

  It’s my mom’s turn to laugh. She walks over to the last box in the pile of presents and picks it up, then hands it to me.

  “Open this, Len.”

  I do, tearing open the paper, ripping it to shreds before I slowly open the box. Then I gasp and suck in a breath at the sight of the awesome little black dress and low chunky high heels. I can’t believe it’s real. It’s the outfit of my dreams.

  “Every girl needs a little black dress, and I wanted to be the one to buy your first,” my mom says with a soft smile on her lips.

  Grinning, I look at the dress again. It’s soft satin or silk fabric with two-inch shoulder straps and a high cut neckline. It’s an A-line skirt and since I’m tall, even though it looks long, it won’t even go to my knees.

  It’s perfect in every single way.

  This present is perfect in every single way.

  My life is perfect and maybe, just maybe, Memphis Dixon will see me and fall in love with me at first sight. I mean, he’s twenty-three and I’m thirteen, but a girl can dream, right?

  Walking through the special back entrance, I put my VIP backstage pass around my neck, holding hands with my two best friends as we walk right into the building. My parents guide us toward the backstage area, the room where the meet and greet is supposed to happen.

  I’m wearing my black dress, my heels, my hair and makeup are on point and I feel like I’m walking on a cloud. There is a short line to get into the room, but I don’t mind. I’d stand in line for a week if it meant I got to meet Memphis in the flesh.

  One by one, we’re shown inside. My mouth goes dry at the sight of the band standing against the wall, greeting everyone and taking pictures. Looking over to my mom and dad, I make sure that one of them has their phone in hand. They both do. Pressing my lips together, it’s my turn.

  There he is.

  OMG.

  He’s gorgeous.

  I notice a few more tattoos than the last paparazzi picture I’d seen him in, but they only make him look sexier. We walk up to the band and all the members shake our hands and talk to us, but I can’t focus on any of them.

  Only Memphis Dixon matters to me.

  Once it’s time to go over to Memphis, I try not to fall over. My belly flutters and I give him a big smile. Before he even says a word to me, he wraps his arms around me in a big hug and I close my eyes, smelling him. He smells so damn good. Better than anything else I’ve ever smelled in my entire life.

  I’m going to remember this moment until the day that I die. It will go down in history as the best moment of my entire life.

  “Hey, so glad you could come,” he whispers against my ear.

  I almost die right there on the spot. I could and I would have lived my life to the fullest. This is the peak, I
already know it.

  Chapter One

  TEN YEARS LATER

  MEMPHIS

  Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I let out a groan at the sight in front of me. There’s no denying that I look better than I did six months ago, but I still look strung the fuck out. I’m still too thin for my tall frame, but my dad is kind of built the same way, so maybe it’s not so much drugs and booze, but genetics.

  Lifting my hand, I run my palm down my face and let out a sigh.

  “You ready?” Zane asks.

  Turning my head, I look back at him and give him a bullshit fake smile. He shakes his head, then wraps his fingers around my shoulder, giving me a shake. “Take it slow, man. If this tour is too much, we cancel. No harm, no foul.”

  “Can’t do that, won’t do that to the fans.”

  “You’re a workaholic,” he says on a chuckle before giving me a grin.

  He’s the same fucking way.