Devil with Angel Eyes

FWD 2 weeks; Nashville, TN

“Hey thanks for coming down here to do the photoshoot.” I thank Kendall as we set up everything to do the photoshoot. We are currently in an industrial warehouse in the heart of Nashville for the shoot.

“No problem.” She smiles. “It gets me out of the city of angels for a bit. It just sucks that Ben couldn’t make it down here. It would have been a lot of fun. It’s been awhile since the four of us hung out.” She states as we watch Ashley walk into the warehouse with coffee. “I kind of miss our double dates. It was fun.”

“I miss those too.” I admit. “But I’m sure Ben is hard at work. He wouldn’t have missed this for just anything.” I just can’t admit that he’s currently planning how he’s going to propose to her. If anything leaked, Ben would seriously kill me. Apparently I’m the only one that knows. He mentioned something about Danny, James, Sam and Cameron not being able to “keep a fucking secret”.

“You should date Danny just so we can do those double dates again.” She laughs. “It would be weird to do those dates with someone we aren’t friends with.”

“Please the day she dates Danny is the day hell freezes over.” Ashley states as he walks over to us. “I highly doubt she wants to date another rockstar and more importantly another Brit.”

“Playboy has a point.” I agree with Ashley. “Also dating anyone is out of the picture anyway. Cliched but I’m focusing on my music career; that’s more important than anything at this point.”

“Speaking of career, how is Nikki Sixx being your manager working out for you?” Kendall smirks. “Ben is very jealous, by the way.”

“Fuck, all of us are jealous.” Ashley laughs.

“It’s amazing.” I admit. “He got the forced interview with me, Colson and Doug nixed and he got me the ability to only have On My Knees on certain CDs, which is what I wanted since it’s so different than every other song. And we are now able to pick my first single instead of Elektra picking it.”

“So what’s the new single?” Kendall asks. “The only song I’ve heard from the cd was On My Knees.”

“Devil in Paradise.” I reply. “We figured it would be a fitting single since I’ll be on the Hotel Diablo tour this summer.”

“I can’t believe you're finally going on your first actual tour.” Ashley states. “That has to be nerve wrecking.”

“Being the daughter or girlfriend of a rockstar sort of prepared me for this.” I laugh. “But actually performing in front of hundreds and hundreds of people a night is scaring the ever living fuck out of me.”

“You’ll kick ass and take names; that’s just who you are.” Kendall smiles. “Nikki Lovey is soon to be a name on everyone’s tongue. You’ll be more than just Tommy Lee’s daughter; trust me.”

“I hope you’re right, Ken.”

“Fuck yea I’m gonna be right.” She chuckles. “Now come on, let’s get to this photoshoot. Let’s show the world how sexy you can be…”

**

“So are you going to tell me which songs are about me and Doug on your CD?” Ashley asks as we decided to lay out on the roof of my newly purchased house.

“You already know On My Knees is about you.” I point out before taking a sip of my beer. “Why do you want to know which songs are about Doug?”

“Curiosity.” He shrugs.

“Curiosity killed the cat.” I remind him.

“But satisfaction brought it back.” He counters with a smirk. “Come on, just tell me.”

“Dark in my Imagination is sorta about him but Goodbye for Now is definitely about him.” I cave. “Happy?”

“I figured Goodbye for Now was about him.” Ashley admits. “When you played that song for me I knew it wasn’t about me. It was geared towards him.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Had to be sure before I stick my foot in my mouth.” He chuckles a reply. “You really loved him didn’t you?”

“Ash, I really don’t want to talk about my ex-boyfriend with you.” I plea with the bass player. “I’m through thinking about him. He’s in the past and I want to move on with my future. Like our future project. You know it still needs a name, right?”

“Let’s make music and survive working with each other before we pick out a name.” He laughs. “We need to survive the recording process, first. Or the fans would have nothing to listen to.”

“Thanks for agreeing to do this with me. It means a lot.”

“I means a lot that you asked me personally.” He admits. “I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with me. Not after everything I’ve put you through.”

“I’m turning over a new leaf.” I tell him. “That means, giving my exes a second chance at being friends. And besides, you are one of the best bass players I know. I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else.”

“Not even Nikki fucking Sixx made the list?” A smirk dances on Ashley’s lips.

“I love my godfather and manager but when it comes to writing music, I want to steer clear of him, Mick, Vince and my dad. I don’t want my music to be Motley Crue 2.0. Everyone completely understands it. Nikki even joked about it when I asked him to help me out with Black Tar and Nicotine.”

“I’m so proud of you, Nik.” Ashley tells me. “You’ve seriously grown up so much this past year; musically and personally. Your first CD is coming out and you’re going on your first tour. I never imagined this for you. I thought you’d stay behind the scenes and only bartender at the bar you own with your best friend. But here you are, kicking ass and taking names.”

“Thanks Ash.” I smile before pulling him into a brief hug. “I’m so glad we’re able to put our past behind us and become friends again. I seriously can’t imagine my life without you. I’m just glad I finally realized that I can have a relationship with you even if it isn’t involving sex and titles. It’s nice to know you’ll always have my back.”

“You’re important to me Nik.” He admits to me. “I’ll never not have your back. It pains me to see guys treat you like I did. And honestly, when I found out about the shit Douglas did to you, I wanted to kick his ass. He swore up and down, he’d never treat you like I did. But he was actually worse. I really want to kill him for that.”

“I’ll tell you what I told Andy and Ben, no.” I smile. “Your ass is too pretty. You’ll become someone’s bitch in jail.”

“It would be worth it.” A chuckle escapes his lips. “Do you regret saying yes to Douglas? Do you regret accepting a marriage proposal?”

“Honesty? I regret nothing.” I reply. “Okay, I regret one thing…”

“Which is?”

“That a part of me will always love that asshole. And that’s why I don’t think I could ever be friends with him. The love is different and I can’t explain it.”