Free The Songwriter by A. P. Jensen Page B

outside of New York.”
    “ I live in New York too!” Gwen said excitedly.
    “ Good.”
    “ Actually, we have a recording studio here.”
    “ Yeah?”
    Gwen grabbed Gabriel’s hand and the next thing Trey knew, Gwen was taking him to the recording bus. He followed hot on their heels , but got waylaid by a bunch of his crew and Angie. By the time Trey walked on the bus, Gwen and Gabriel were sitting on the couch, shoulders touching as they leaned over a legal pad where Gwen wrote feverishly. Gwen held a note and Gabriel’s raspy voice twined around hers. Gabriel was a rock country artist with major grit and Trey could see the wheels turning in her head.
    “ Gabe, Gwen’s probably exhausted from the show. Maybe-” Trey began.
    “ I’m fine,” Gwen said and shot him a quelling look.
    “ I don’t want you to push yourself. This is her first tour,” Trey pushed.
    Gabe looked between them and raised his brows. He rose and Gwen looked devastated.
    “Trey’s right. You’re on tour and that’s stressful enough without me asking for a song.”
    “ No, I’m fine,” Gwen argued.
    Gabriel shook his head and hugged her. “We’ll catch up. You have my number. You were great tonight.”
    Trey followed Gabriel out of the bus and felt Gwen’s furious gaze following him. He walked Gabriel back towards the arena.
    “She’s great,” Gabriel said.
    “ I know.”
    Gabriel glanced sideways at him. “You dating her?”
    “ No.”
    “ She dating anybody?
    Trey stopped and faced his friend. “Not Gwen.”
    Gabriel grinned and Trey wanted to punch him.
    “If nobody’s dating her why can’t I-”
    “ I don’t want her distracted on tour.”
    Gabriel snickered. “That so?”
    “ Drop it and get out of here.”
    He walked away as Gabriel’s taunting laughter followed him. When he walked onto Gwen’s bus , he wasn’t surprised to see her pacing angrily. She whirled on him and slapped a hand on his chest.
    “ What the hell was that?” she demanded. “That was Gabriel Heely .”
    “ I know who he is.”
    She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and tried to shake him. “He wants me to write for him.”
    “ Everybody wants you to write for them, but right now you’re touring and that takes a lot out of you. Gabe will be around after the tour.”
    Gwen bared her teeth at him. “I can decide for myself whether I’m too tired or not. You’re acting like my dad!”
    “ I’m responsible for you on this tour-”
    “ I’m responsible for myself!” Gwen retorted.
    “ You’re not experienced enough to know when you’re pushing yourself too far.”
    “ I am not a child!” she shouted.
    “ Then start acting like a woman. You were songwriting in your robe with Gabe and he was more interested in you than writing songs since you’re dressed like that.”
    Her eyes were nearly the color of sherry she was so pissed. “How dare you! You’re the one that knocked on my door.”
    “ How did I know you weren’t dressed?” he roared back.
    “ I’m perfectly decent!”
    He looked down at her and froze. “No. You’re not.”
    She looked down and saw that her robe gaped down to her waist, tugged open by her wild arm waving. She was too angry to care. She had a bra and panty on beneath. She wasn’t naked.
    “ Gabriel probably has naked women throwing themselves at him all the time.” Gwen said dismissively and when Trey tried to straighten her robe, she slapped his hands away. “And you too! What do you care if I parade around in my underwear? Natasha did that on a daily basis and you didn’t do a damn thing.”
    “ You’re not Natasha.”
    She was so tired of hearing that! ‘Don’t try to sing like Natasha,’ ‘Don’t try to dress like Natasha’ and on and on. She was competing against a selfish bitch that didn’ t have enough class to keep her word. She definitely wasn’t Natasha and she was tired of being compared to her. She spread her robe wide and faced Trey defiantly.
    “ No, I’m not Natasha the