My Own Personal Rockstar

MY OWN PERSONAL ROCKSTAR KIRSTY MCMANUS Copyright © 2023 Kirsty McManus The right of Kirsty McManus to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2023 by Bloodhound Books. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. www.bloodhoundbooks.com Print ISBN: 978-1-5040-8551-9 CONTENTS Love best-selling fiction? 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 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Acknowledgements You will also enjoy: A note from the publisher Love best-selling fiction? LOVE BEST-SELLING FICTION? Sign up today to be the first to hear about new releases and exclusive offers, including free and discounted ebooks! Why not like us or follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest news from your favourite authors? Facebook Twitter Instagram CHAPTER 1 TASH Okay. I’ll admit it. I’m lame. You’re not supposed to have a crush on a reality TV singing contestant. That’s reserved for thirteen-year-old girls and people who have no lives – not busy thirty-five-year-old single mothers. “Tash! It’s back on!” I hurry to the lounge, balancing four bowls of Ben and Jerry’s on a tray. I unceremoniously dump three of them into outstretched hands and sit down next to my bestie, Millicent (or Missy, as she prefers to be called) and start shovelling that heavenly ice cream into my mouth. Mmm… eye candy and literal candy. (I got the flavour with those little chocolate-covered caramel chunks.) “You almost missed your favourite contestant,” Millicent teases. “Come on. I can’t be the only one who loves Lincoln Page.” Millicent looks down at the floor, where my six-year-old daughter Daisy is sitting cross-legged, eyes glued to the screen. She’s so entranced by what she’s watching, she attempts to spoon some ice cream into her mouth and misses. It lands with a plop beside her. Millicent laughs. “I’m guessing your daughter is also a fan.” Normally I would pick up any spilled food immediately, but for now, I’m leaving it. Lincoln Page is about to perform on Sing to Me. “I wouldn’t say your son is any better,” I point out as her little boy rubs his food-covered hands in his hair. “Yeah, but that’s Ryder. He’s not hypnotised by the curly-haired rock god on the screen.” “Shh, he’s starting,” I hiss. Millicent rolls her eyes but stops talking so we can fully appreciate the spectacle that is Australia’s Sing to Me semi-final. There are only six contestants left, and Lincoln is one of them. The audience cheers as the lights go down. The studio band plays the opening chords of INXS’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, and a single spotlight illuminates Lincoln in all his beautiful glory. Tonight, he’s wearing black leather pants and a loose black T-shirt. His ebony curls are perfectly defined, falling to just above his shoulders. But it’s not even the fact that he’s insanely hot I find the most attractive. It’s that he seems like a genuinely nice guy. Throughout the whole series, he has been super supportive of all the other contestants, and he looks as if he’s really enjoying the journey, constantly smiling and bantering with all the mentors and backstage crew. When he starts, the audience almost overwhelms his voice with their appreciative cheers. That slightly raspy tone channelling Michael Hutchence causes my skin to break out in goosebumps. “He’s good, isn’t he, Mummy?” Daisy says. “He’s very good.” Lincoln grips the microphone with both hands and soulfully sings about two people meeting by chance and not wanting the connection to end. He closes his eyes, making me feel as if he means every single word. On the final note, he reopens them, and the intensity with which he looks down the camera and directly into my soul makes me shiver. Everyone in the audience jumps to their feet, clapping and whooping. “I suppose that was okay,” Millicent concedes. “Okay? We were watching the same thing, weren’t we?” “All right. He was impressive.” “Will you vote for him?” “Will I be welcome back in this house if I don’t?” “Not for at least a month.” She mock sighs. “Okay. I suppose I can spare my incredibly valuable consumer power for you.” I log onto the show’s website with my phone and cast my vote. “Who else would you pick?” “Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t choose anyone. I’m not a hormone-driven teenager.” “But it’s fun, lusting after a rockstar on TV. Where else can you obsessively watch a hot guy and not get into trouble?” She smirks. “You, my dear, are a lost cause.” I pick up her phone from the coffee table and shove it at her so she can process her vote. “You see the appeal though, right?” “Sure. I mean, I don’t love long hair on a guy, but Lincoln Page definitely has the ‘it’ factor.” “Can I vote, Mummy?” Daisy asks. “Sorry, baby, you have to be over sixteen. But you can share mine.” “I hope he wins!” “We’ll find out soon enough.” Lincoln is the last singer of the night, and the voting lines close after a recap of the evening’s performances and an ad break. I really