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  King of Hearts

  Kings of Karmichael, Book 1

  RH Tucker

  Copyright © 2019 by RH Tucker

  All rights reserved.

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

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

  Edited by Melissa Ringsted of There For You Editing.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by RH Tucker

  King of Hearts

  1

  Derrik

  “Ladies and gentlemen, our next guests really need no introduction, but I’ll try.”

  I hear Johnny Phillips, host of Tonight with Johnny, start our introductions. We’ve been on the late-night show before. At least a dozen times. It’s the number one rated late-night show in the country. And I can’t lie, it is fun. My bandmates love being on it; I think Maddox most of all. I’d say he’s the most “rock star” of the four of us.

  I’m just happy being back in California. Los Angeles, where Tonight with Johnny is recorded, is only a couple hours away from Karmichael. The small, quiet town we all grew up in. Seriously, this entire two-year run has been like a storybook. A movie. And I love it. Being in a band with my brother and our two best friends is awesome. Insanely awesome. Emphasis on the insane.

  “Imagine a teenybopper band that suddenly has a hit record,” Johnny says to the audience. We all wait behind the velvet curtain, and I hold on to the microphone in front of me, taking a long breath before the maelstrom of energy breaks out when this curtain pulls back. “Imagine bands like Hanson or New Kids on the Block, remember them? Okay, now imagine, as cool and as popular as they were, they don’t fizzle out. Instead, they become heartthrobs the world over, selling out arenas, and racking up number one hit records. Thirteen to be exact.”

  EJ, my brother and our lead guitarist, whispers over to me, “He’s laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?”

  I smirk, lifting my shoulders. “You know Johnny. He loves to hype things up.” I chuckle and look back over at Maddox, one of our best friends and the drummer. He takes a quick swig of whatever’s in his reusable water bottle—that all of us know is not water—and quickly stashes it behind a snare drum.

  “Dude, put that shit away,” I hiss over at him.

  He gives me a goofy smile, shrugs his shoulders, and then spins the drumstick between his fingers.

  “They are world-renowned, and have won seven Grammys,” Johnny continues. “Tonight, they start the final stretch of their worldwide tour, finishing up with the last six locations, right here on the West Coast. Their sophomore album, Teen Icons, has broken multiple records and is already five times platinum. That’s not to mention the download and streaming records they’ve broken. It is with great pleasure I introduce to you the Kings of Karmichael!”

  I look over at Jade, our bassist, with a smirk. “No pressure, right?”

  She giggles.

  “Rock and roll, bitches!” Maddox calls out to us. The curtains fly open, EJ hits the first chord, and the show is on.

  The rhythm’s slow, and I try to focus past the spotlights coming down on us. She’s supposed to be here tonight.

  Don’t know if this is the time,

  And I don’t know if this is right.

  I just need you to know,

  I wanna rock with you tonight.

  After the soft opening, EJ hits the hard chords on his guitar, and Jade comes in with the bass. Maddox hits his sticks, and the easygoing opening to our latest number one hit echoes in the studio, and everyone goes crazy. Mostly girls, much to Jade’s chagrin. But they’ve got brothers, and she doesn’t like to admit it, but they drool over her as much as the girls drool over her twin brother.

  I play away on my guitar, citing off the lyrics, and the rhythm sways everyone, all the while I continue to scan the audience for her. She’s only missed one Tonight with Johnny show, but she’s been to all the others. I made sure to get her extra tickets because she likes to bring her friend, Becca.

  Ah, there she is. Zoey.

  I turn around, grinning at EJ. Of the four of us, he’s the most reserved, but I know he loves it like the rest of us. We love being rock stars. Walking over to the second microphone stand, we hit the chorus chords, and I lean into the microphone with Jade, both of us harmonizing to sing the hook.

  And whether you know it or not,

  I’ve always been the lock,

  and you’ve always had the key.

  So let’s rock tonight,

  And run down the road to z.

  Spinning around, I flash a grin over to Zoey, who starts laughing. I told her before we released our second album that “Road to Z” was inspired by her. She thought I was playing at first, then when she heard it, she knew. I was beyond excited when our manager gave us the okay to use it as our latest single.

  “Go!” I scream out, and EJ steps forward, hitting his guitar solo. Maddox keeps the rhythm with the drums in the back, and I watch my brother play his heart out.

  Technically, we’re stepbrothers. His mom married my dad when we were both two years old. I’m older than him but only by three months. I don’t remember the last time we called one another stepbrother. We may not be blood, but we’ve been family forever.

  EJ strikes his last string, and Jade steps forward with her bass solo. I’ll admit, between EJ and me, I wasn’t so sure about adding her to the band. I’m happy I was wrong, though. When we all got together years ago, playing in our garage, I never would’ve guessed we’d be here just a few short years later. Arguably the biggest rock stars on the planet. Life is crazy.

  When Jade stops playing, her brother, Maddox, hits a light tone on his drums, and I step back up to the microphone, almost whispering into it.

  You thought I’d forget,

  And you didn’t believe me.

  So don’t ever doubt it again,

  I’ll always wanna run down the road to z!

  As the song comes to an end, the audience—mostly our fanbase of girls—goes crazy. My eyes find Zoey’s again, and I smirk. She smiles back, and then Becca cheers out along with everyone else. A guy leans over, and it’s the first time I even notice him during this whole performance. He says something to Zoey, and she smiles before returning her attention to us on stage.

  “Come right back!” Johnny shouts as our performance ends. “We’ll be talking to the Kings of Karmichael right after the break!”

  The light on the camera fades, telling us
we’re not on the air anymore. I give Jade and EJ a high five while Maddox takes a quick drink from his container, smirking at me. Maddox has more than adapted to our musically induced and vagabond-living lifestyle. He’s embraced it, rock star clichés and all. It’s never gotten too crazy, so as he chuckles, I simply shake my head, smirking. We all head over to the interview section of the set while the crowd continues to hoot and holler. I look over and see Zoey, back to normal, talking to Becca and the guy with her.

  Who is that?

  Unlike our rabid fanbase, Zoey is entirely at ease with the rest of the band and me. We all went to school together at Karmichael High, and while she’s finishing up her senior year, we all took our GED’s. Instead of working on graduating, we’ve been touring the world.

  There are a lot of bands who get together by happenstance. We’ve all been friends for years and came from the same town, but our interests are varied. For instance, I like sports—watching them, playing them, even video game ones. My brother, EJ, wouldn’t know the difference between a home run and a slam dunk. Okay, maybe that’s a bit overdramatic, but I’m sure if you asked him who played in the Super Bowl, he’d give you a wide-eyed stare, and probably name a baseball team.

  Maddox, even though he’s the drummer, is an accomplished musician himself and can also play the guitar and a little piano, too. Lately, he’s been on a big kick of deejaying and creating beats with his electronic drum machine. Speaking of differences, his maternal twin sister, Jade, likes acoustic stuff and alt-rock. Of the four of us, she probably avoids the spotlight the most. She puts up with it and handles it as well as anyone, but she’d be happy just being a songwriter instead of an eighteen-year-old rock star.

  Sure, we all have our differences, we each have our own likes and dislikes, but one thing is for certain—we’ve become a family over the last few years being together.

  “You guys, that was amazing!” Johnny whispers to us as we get counted back into the live show. “Terrific. Really terrific.”

  Johnny’s always been a massive supporter of ours. Tonight with Johnny is the hippest late-night show on all of TV. I know, I know. I say hippest because that’s what our manager called it the very first time we were booked for it. We all made fun of him. It’s since become an ongoing joke.

  The producer off to the side tells the crowd we’re coming back live, and the audience starts cheering. Or, I should stay, cheers louder than they were since they never quieted down since the end of the performance.

  “Welcome back,” Johnny tells the crowd. “Oh my God. If you guys are just joining, you missed an absolutely epic performance from the Kings of Karmichael. Absolutely epic.” I look over and smile at my family. “Okay, okay, we have to do these introductions right.”

  “Here we go,” Maddox says, chuckling, which gets a laugh out of the audience.

  “You know we trademarked those bad boys, right, Johnny?” I ask him with a grin.

  “I know!” He plays along, throwing his hands in the air. “If I would’ve just kept it to myself, I could’ve made millions off the nicknames that I created.”

  Another laugh from the audience.

  “So, we have the King of Bad,” Johnny says, and Maddox exaggerates the introduction, jumping up on the sofa couch we’re all sitting on.

  “Yeah, baby!” Maddox calls out, and as usual, he gets the catcalls the girls love to scream out to him.

  “Of course, not to be outdone, but his sister, the Queen of Kings.” Johnny claps, and Jade gets a loud cheer of her own.

  “From there,” Johnny continues, and I can hear EJ let out a groan; he hates his nickname, “it’s the King of Nice.”

  Smiling, EJ waves to the crowd, trying to be as casual as he can when I know he’s dying inside.

  “And then last, and definitely not least, we have the King of Hearts!”

  A cheer as loud as Maddox’s erupts, and I smile, playing it up for the crowd. Finding Zoey’s gaze, I see she’s laughing at the reaction. I shrug, then give a wink.

  “Whoa, whoa,” Johnny interrupts the applause. “What was that? Was that a wink? Does the King of Hearts have his eyes on someone?”

  Teasing “oohs” float in, and I do my best to laugh it off. “Just saying hi,” I answer.

  “Of course. I was going to say, because Danica Parker is still in the green room, and she might have something to say about that.”

  Everyone laughs and I do my best to laugh along. Danica Parker. Why did I get involved in that?

  “You guys, this world tour has been amazing. Fifteen countries, right?”

  “Eighteen,” Jade corrects him.

  “Eighteen countries! Goodness gracious. That’s incredible. And now, you’re finishing it up with this last leg of the tour.”

  “Yeah, but we’ve got a special surprise, Johnny,” Maddox calls out.

  Johnny’s in on the secret since we went over the interview earlier, but he acts like he has no idea what we’re talking about.

  “Secret? What are you talking about?”

  EJ starts, “We’re playing the Forum tomorrow, then we’re in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. But there’s one last spot.” EJ smiles, acting like he’s keeping a huge secret.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Johnny yells, hyping it up. “Vancouver is the last stop on the tour.”

  “You want to tell them, Jade?” I ask her.

  Laughing, she nods. “Everyone knows So Cal is our home. That’s why we started the tour down in San Diego. In addition to playing the Forum tomorrow night, we’re holding an extra show at the end of the tour. Those tickets are only available to our super-secret fan club.”

  “You guys are killing me! Super-secret? How do you get in on the super-secret fan club?”

  I quirk an eyebrow. “First rule about King’s Court, Johnny. You don’t talk about King’s Court.”

  “Incredible,” Johnny plays along and waves to us. “Aren’t these guys incredible? A special super-secret show, exclusively for King’s Court members. Amazing!” We receive another round of huge applause with people screaming. “Okay, okay.” He waves his hands to calm the audience down. “But, Derrik, that’s not all you guys are up to, is it?”

  “Yeah, Derrik,” Jade says my name all flirty. “What are you up to?”

  “I’m filming a guest spot on Danica Parker’s TV show. So that should be fun.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Johnny blows me off, almost acting offended but with a chuckle. “No big deal. Just the biggest rock star on the planet right now, guest-starring on the hottest TV show in the world. No biggie. Oh, and they’re dating, but NBD.”

  “Hey, hey,” I laugh. “We’re … taking it slow.”

  We’re not. We’re not really dating at all. It’s in all the tabloids about us being together, and that was done specifically between our manager and her management team. Though, if she had her way, we would be. So, there’s that.

  “Oh, right. Sure.” Johnny laughs again. “Because Danica Parker always hangs around backstage at my show when she’s not scheduled to appear.”

  All I can do is lift my shoulders. I told her not to come, mainly because I knew Zoey would be here. Zoey already teases me enough about the whole situation.

  “And after that, we’ve got the Rocket and Moon Music Fest,” Maddox blurts out.

  “Whoa, what?” Johnny drops his jaw, truly surprised. All three of us—EJ, Jade, and I—stare at Maddox, incredulously. Now that was a secret we weren’t supposed to reveal yet. He immediately cringes, suddenly remembering he wasn’t supposed to talk about it.

  “Good job, man,” I hiss under my breath.

  “Is that true?” Johnny asks.

  “Heh,” I let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Yeah, we’re headlining that music festival.”

  “Wait, wait …” Johnny can’t believe it. “You guys just did an insane world tour, you’re selling albums like crazy, and your downloads are through the roof. So, you decide
to just headline the hottest music festival of the year? Crazy!”

  We laugh, but it’s the kind where we don’t really know what else we’re supposed to do. Peter, our manager, might blow a gasket. The reveal of us playing at the festival was supposed to be next week and happen on a different talk show. Maddox continues to smile nervously.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Johnny begins talking to the camera, lifting our latest record up, “Teen Icons is available now wherever you buy or download your music from. Tickets are sold out for their remaining tour dates, but if you’re a member of King’s Court, you can be expecting your invitation to the members only performance later. And evidently, be sure to grab your tickets to Rocket and Moon Festival this summer. One more time, give it up for the Kings of Karmichael!”

  2

  Zoey

  The crowd is insane. I knew it would be.

  Johnny’s house band plays out the rest of the show, and the lights start to dim as the cameras turn off. Becca and I get up from our seats, with Landon standing up next to us.

  “Can you believe this reaction?” Becca asks, laughing.

  “Of course I can,” I reply with a giggle of my own. “Becca, you saw them last year just before the tour kicked off. They had that signing at MaxMart where the line circled around the store and down the street.”

  “Right.” She nods. “I can’t believe they stayed there four hours past the time they were scheduled.”