UNTAMED by S.C. Stephens
November 3, 2015
Forever Trade Paperback
Thoughtful #5
The spotlight doesn’t only shine. Sometimes, it burns.
Being
the bad-boy bassist for the world’s hottest band has earned Griffin
Hancock some perks: a big house, a fast car, and most importantly his
incredible wife Anna. The
one thing it hasn’t brought him is the spotlight. Anna tells him to be
patient, that his talent will win out. But Griffin is through waiting
for permission to shine.
Without
warning, Griffin makes a shocking decision and takes the gamble of a
lifetime. Suddenly he’s caught up in a new level of lights, cameras, and
chaos—one that pushes
his relationship with Anna to its limits. Anna has always found his
unpredictable behavior sexy, but lately he’s seen an ache in her eyes,
and it has his soul in knots. Just as the recognition Griffin seeks is
finally within reach, the thing he loves most
in life could be slipping through his fingers…
Griffin. You always have been, and you always
will be.”
Pushing him back a step, I snapped, “It’s a
little late for the pep talk, bro. If you think I’m so valuable, you could have stood up for me in there.” I lifted my
arms for emphasis. “It gave me the warm and fuzzies how you let him walk all
over me.”
Kellan sighed. “It’s complicated, Griff.
Matt’s a genius on guitar…he’s…it’s his instrument, the one he’s born to play.
But us saying that isn’t an insult to you. You’re amazing on bass, gifted even.
It’s just…we each have our part, you know? And we have to do them the best we
can.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “For the sake of the band, I’m asking you
to let this go and just…forget about lead. Please?”
I could only stare at him. I felt numb
inside. Was this what giving up your dream felt like? For as long as I could
remember, I’d wanted all eyes on me—I’d wanted to be the center of attention.
Matt had never wanted that. But he was given the instrument that shone while I
was given the one that everyone forgot about. My part was designed to blend,
designed to go unnoticed. It was everything I wasn’t, and I was sick of being
stuck with it. I wanted more, but they wouldn’t give me more.
Without answering him, I turned and walked
away, toward the house. What could I say to that anyway? Matt had just
permanently rejected my chances at ever being lead guitar. Forgetting was the
only thing left that I could do. Forget, or stew, and right now, I wanted to
stew.
When I got back to the living room, Jenny and
Rachel were there working. “Need something, Griffin?” Jenny asked, her pale
eyes practically sparkling with happiness.
Ignoring both her good mood and her question,
I called out for Anna. “She’s upstairs with Kiera,” Rachel quietly replied.
Harrumphing some sort of thank-you, I began
plodding my way to the stairs. Fucking stairs. I stomped up them, cursing my
bandmates with each step. I imagined that the carpet treads under my feet were
their squishy faces. I felt a little better by the time I reached the top. “Yo,
Anna! Where are you?”
Both Anna and Kiera instantly appeared in a
bedroom door frame. Simultaneously, they both put fingers to their lips.
“Shhhhhhh,” they both scolded.
I was tired of being reprimanded today, so I
didn’t lower my voice any. “Wake up Gibson. We’re leaving.”
Anna instantly edged around Kiera to step
into the hallway. “What’s wrong?” she asked me, while Kiera stepped out of the
room behind her. The two sisters were pretty similar, but Anna definitely had a
lot more curves than her slimmer and straighter sister. Generally I appreciated
those curves, but at the moment, I just wanted to shove them into the car and
get out of here.
“There’s no point being here right now, so
we’re leaving. Actually, there’s no point in ever coming back here, so we’re
leaving.” I opened the door closest to me, hoping I’d find my sleeping daughter
behind it. Nope. Empty.
I moved to try another door, but Anna stepped
in front of me. “Let’s go outside, get some fresh air.”
Dramatically tossing my hands in the air, I
gave up. “Fine.” What did it matter, since nothing was working for me today
anyway?
I headed back to those goddamn stairs while
Anna told Kiera she’d be right back. Not waiting for my very pregnant wife, I
sped down the steps and out the door. The fresh air on my face helped calm me
down a little, but I was still riled up. I paced the front porch while I waited
for Anna. Those sanctimonious assholes.
“Griff?” A soft touch on my shoulder spooked
me, and I jumped. Turning, I saw Anna behind me, her green eyes worried.
“What’s going on?” She indicated the front step, and I grudgingly sat down.
Once I was seated, my mood dropped. I’d
started the day so positively, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that this
tour was going to be the one. But not
anymore. It was going to be the same old crap. Dropping my head, I slumped
over. Anna sat beside me, and her fingers lightly caressed my back in a
soothing pattern. It helped my residual anger, but not my rising
disappointment.
“One song. I asked for one fucking song…and
they wouldn’t even give that to me…” I studied my fingers in my lap while my
dreams dissolved in my hands. “Matt just told me that he’s not ever going to
give me a chance to play lead, and the rest of the guys agreed with him. I’m
done…forever stuck on bass…forever in the shadows. I just wanted one song, one
moment in the spotlight.” With a sigh, I looked up at her. “Four minutes? Is
that so much?”
Anna’s eyes were heavy with sympathy.
Reaching up, she threaded her fingers through my hair. “No…that’s not much at
all.”
I nodded and dropped my vision to my lap
again. “Yeah, I didn’t think so either. But they can’t even give that to me.”
The anger resurfaced, wrapping disappointment around it like a blanket.
“Between me and you, babe, sometimes…I really don’t like those guys.”
Anna kissed the back of my neck and wrapped
an arm around my shoulder in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Griffin.”
Closing my eyes, I let her comfort wash over
me. At least there was one person on earth who gave a shit about me.
Oh, Griffin. Very over the top Griffin. We first met in Thoughtless, and I didn’t
like him at the beginning. As we
progressed through Effortless, and Reckless my opinion started to change. Well, in Untamed, we get pure, unadulterated egotistical
Griffin. And thus started my love/hate
relationship with him, again.
All throughout Untamed, I was
conflicted. I couldn’t figure out what
was holding me back from loving his character completely, and then it finally
clicked. I loved Kellan Kyle so
much. It’s not an easy task that SC
Stephens undertook writing this book, I’m sure, knowing how we all fell in love
with the D. Bags front man. It was hard
for me to see things through Griffin’s eyes until I let Kellan and Kiera’s
story go. When I did, this story became
more enjoyable to me.
Griffin feels like he is overlooked,
never gets the chance to show how great he is in the spotlight, and has a huge
chip on his shoulder where the band is concerned. The band sees things rather differently. To them, they see Griffin as a slacker, he
doesn’t pay attention to a word they say, and is always messing around. So.
Griffin goes in search of greener pastures.
Anna.
She sticks by her man, but just as it seems that Griffin is getting
everything he thinks he needs, the one thing that he actually does need is in
danger of slipping away. Anna and
Griffin’s relationship is unique, it always has been, but with Griffin acting
the way he has been, it’s plain to see that he needs to open his eyes to see
what he has in front of him. And he
needs to do it before it’s too late.
Otherwise the life he knew could be gone forever.
The writing is fabulous, as always. Even though, I still never connected with
Griffin in this story, I still enjoyed it. I loved visiting all of my favorite
characters once again; even if it was through Griffin. <3
S.C. Stephens is a #1 bestselling
author who spends her every free moment creating stories that are packed
with emotion and heavy on romance. In addition to writing, she enjoys
spending lazy afternoons
in the sun reading, listening to music, watching movies, and spending
time with her friends and family. She and her two children reside in the
Pacific Northwest.
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