Tak: The A**hole Club Series

by Ivy Harper

  “Have you finished looking me over?” she asked, her voice holding only amusement.

  Her voice always sounded like a smooth lullaby. Something told me the first time I heard her cry out during sex it would be my favorite sound from then on.

  “No,” I said and enjoyed the weird way she worked her mouth when she couldn’t find a word to say back.

  She fluttered her fingers together as she shifted. She was odd. At some moments, she was like a fan, watching me with shiny eyes and her expression as bashful as a woman who’d never touched a man.

  Other times, she was bold and reckless. I immediately remembered her taking my car and playing chicken and my amusement disappeared.

  “That night, I took two pills. Normally, when I do blue it doesn’t hit me so hard. I don’t fall so deep. But since I’ve been avoiding the heavy shit for so fucking long, it looks like I’ve lost my resistance to the stuff. That night was the result,” I explained.

  “I… My childhood wasn’t the best. I grew up more alone than the average kid and, uh, someone in my life took advantage of that. I got beat up a lot and I’ve never really dealt with it like I should have, I guess.

  “Sometimes I’m okay, and then, I’m… just not.” I swallowed, trying to face one of my demons was like climbing over a mountain made of glass. “Anyway, I’ve been using for so long that when my thoughts and emotions get a bit too overwhelming, I tend to lean on a few pills and the occasional blunt to get through it.”

  “To be honest, I know I fucked up, but I’m usually alone when I’m dealing with both my highs and lows. That night, for some reason I was low, real low. I hope we can move on from this and know that will be the last time it happens.”

  She stiffened, her eyes growing dark. It was at moments like these I realized she wasn’t just someone who worked for me. She wasn’t another fan. She was a comrade in pain. She looked at me not with pity but with understanding and acceptance.

  I felt my heart clench. Fighting the urge to reach across and drag her into my arms was killing me.

  “I lost my mother when I was in high school,” she suddenly announced.

  Her words took me aback. “Huh, repeat that?”

  She smiled at me, but it held a ting of sadness to it. “I lost my mother when I was in high school.” She didn’t lose her smile, nor did she look away from me. “I found her the same night my date for prom stood me up.

  “I walked back from my school because I was too embarrassed to call the limo back for only me. I walked home and opened the doors and found her at the bottom of the steps, dead. They said she’d taken a few too many sleeping pills. It must have made her drowsy and she fell. The officers told me with the amount she took, it was possible she was trying to kill herself.” Her smile was gone and her eyes were empty.

  “Stop.” I stood. “You don’t have to tell me. Shit, I didn’t tell you so you would tell me something traumatic about your past.”

  “It’s only fair,” she said, standing as well. “I just don’t want you to think I think of you any differently. We all have demons, I shared one of mine with you.”

  “Don’t you hate her?” I asked.

  She looked away from me. “And what would my hate do?” she asked, shrugging. “I don’t, there isn’t any point when she’s already dead. Anyway, now you know one of my secrets. And I know yours. Is there anything else you need to get off your chest?”

  I stared at her. For the longest I’d hated my family and everything about them. I still couldn’t stomach even hearing their name.

  “No.”

  “So, with this, we can go back to normal,” she concluded, giving me a small smile.

  “Actually, I think there is one more thing we should talk about.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “When are you going to admit you’re attracted to me?”

  Call me a dick, but this emotional shit had a time limit. Now it was time to see just how close I could get to getting in her pants because I couldn’t think of anything else except using this moment as an opportunity to fuck our brains out.

  Jazz shook her head. “Your timing sucks.”

  “So, you are attracted to me.”

  “I didn’t say that. Do you even listen when I talk?”

  I grabbed her wrist, pulled her over, and leaned in close. “No, not really.”

  She slapped my shoulder, glaring up at me. “Let go.”

  “Sure, as soon as we have our make-up kiss,” I teased.

  “Tak,” her angry words were cut off by my lips.

  Delicious, she tasted like pure sugar on my tongue. I took her lips in the way I’d been dreaming about, hungrily. She was like a sweet and sour candy I could suck on all day.

  Her moans were added perks. My lips craved more of her, even as I kissed her. She smelled like a cupcake.

  I wanted to open up her pussy and lick the cream from between her legs. Groaning, I pulled her closer. She let out another moan and pressed her hands against my chest. I abruptly broke the kiss, otherwise I’d have her stripped and panting under me on the couch behind her.

  She gasped, falling back to plop down on the couch. With eyes glazed with lust, she looked up at me, dazed.

  “Now we’ve made up,” I panted out.

  She peeked her tongue out to lick her bottom lip. Eventually her eyes regained focus as she stood up. “Mmm,” she hummed before beating a quick retreat.

  “Shit.” I looked down at my hard friend. “Soon, I fucking swear, you’ll get some.”

  It was time for a cold shower.

  Jazz

  * * *

  I really needed to stop those kisses between me and Tak. I really, really should. Yet, I didn’t want them to stop. Shutting the door to my room, I walked over to my desk and stared down at it.

  My mother died when I was in high school.

  Remembering my earlier words, I cringed. I’d only wished to share something that would make what he had said worth it. Since he’d shared with me one of his demons, it was only right for me to do the same.

  I rubbed my hot cheeks. I couldn’t shake the feel of his lips against mine. What was wrong with me?

  A stalker fan infiltrates her favorite artist’s staff and steals kisses from him. That would be the headline once I was caught. Being an heiress would be second in the entire story of how I lied to him.

  However, I couldn’t get rid of his words that kept ringing over and over in my head.

  I didn’t know how to deal with him and yet, I couldn’t get enough of being around him. I wanted more of his blunt words and his teasing tone.

  I wanted to see his darkest moments and I also wanted to be there for when he found the light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing about Tak disgusted me, nothing about him could push me away. I leaned forward and pressed my hands flat against the desk.

  Was I crazy?

  Chapter 31

  Break In

  Jazz

  * * *

  Only I would be spending my day off like this. Happy Monday, I think with a snort to myself. I wriggled two lock picks into the lock of Bradley’s house.

  I had known Tak would have a few enemies close to him, but to find out both his attackers worked at the label had still been a little startling. And one of them even worked in the HR department. Dutch had kept an eye on everything related to Bradley since IDing him which is why we’d learned he’d be out of town this weekend. Giving me a chance to snoop around his place.

  “Dutch, were you able to find anything in his phone records that’s suspicious,” I whispered, my voice muffled behind my face mask.

  I released a sigh when the lock clicked. I quickly removed the picks and placed them in my back pocket. Dutch’s voice came over the earphone in my right ear.

  “No, at least nothing too obvious. He has a few calls from a random number, but I can’t find anything else.”

  “Could he have used a burner phone?” I asked as I opened the door slowly.

  “Sur
e, after I check Bradley’s security cameras, I’ll check his bank accounts.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  I leaned forward to listen with the ear that didn’t have an earphone. Hearing nothing, I snuck in, remaining low. I entered the kitchen and crawled across the floor. When I reached the other side, I turned and sat down on the floor, my back pressed against the bottom cabinets.

  “See anything?”

  “No, it’s all clear,” Dutch answered.

  “Got it. Where is the office?” I asked as I slowly rose to my feet.

  “The door you entered through is to the kitchen. The living room is right around the corner from it and the office is across from there,” he said.

  I pursed my lips together and walked around the corner with my back pressed against the wall. Leaning forward, I investigated the dark living room before turning for the room I intended to head into. An ominous chill ran down my back. I swallowed, suddenly feeling the sensation of being watched.

  “Jazz, watch out,” Dutch shouted.

  Before I could answer, someone shot toward me from the dark living room.

  “Shit,” I retreated.

  “Come here,” the person ordered in a harsh voice.

  They grabbed the backpack on my back in one hand. I spun completely around, escaping the shoulder straps. Grabbing a knife from the knife block, I then straightened and stood with it in my hand.

  I stared the person down. It was clear he was the one up to no good. He was dressed from top to bottom in black. He carelessly let my backpack drop to the floor.

  “Who sent you?” he gruffly demanded, pulling something from his back pocket, black gloves. He slipped them on. “You should tell me voluntarily.”

  I laughed. “And why would I do that?”

  “Okay, the hard way it is.”

  The space was small, but I moved forward. The knife made its mark in his shoulder. However, he didn’t flinch. Taking a bold step forward, he reached out to grab at my arm.

  I dodged, stepping sideways and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. I spun it as I lowered myself and brought it across his stomach. His shirt tore, revealing the Kevlar vest beneath it.

  His hands landed on my shoulders and he grabbed me up. He pulled back his right hand and he made a fist, plowing it into my stomach. I gasped, my eyes watering.

  I smacked his hand off my shoulder and grabbed the rack of dishes. I pulled hard to make sure it hit him, then I turned to run.

  “Stop,” he yelled.

  I ignored him, grabbing my backpack up. I ran deeper into the house, past the living room into the hallway. There was a hard yank on my backpack as he caught me and pulled me back.

  I turned, twisted my hip, and lashed out with my foot, hitting him square in the chest. He released a grunt. Not waiting for him to recover, I ran for the front door and pulled it open.

  Running out into the street, I noticed almost instantly he didn’t chase after me. Breathing hard, I continued running until I couldn’t see the house. Stopping, I took a deep breath, the sound of my heart pounding in my ears.

  “Don’t cover my mouth, something’s happening to Jazz. Jazz, are you there? What happened? It sounded like a war was going on over there. I could hear it in my apartment and came over to check.”

  “There was someone else in the house,” I answered, taking a look around and realizing I’d ran in the opposite direction of the neighborhood’s entrance. “Dutch, I thought you said it was clear.”

  “The fucker must’ve been standing in a blind spot. It was like he jumped out from behind the damn camera,” Dutch explained.

  “Is he still there?”

  There was a beat of silence. I found myself saying, “Dutch, Trisha… Why did you guys go silent all of a sudden?”

  It was Dutch who answered. “Bradley pulled in and entered the house right after you ran out.”

  “What, isn’t that other guy still there?”

  “Yeah, and...” He stopped talking, but I could still hear Trisha yelling something in the back.

  “And, what? Dutch, tell me what’s going on,” I demanded.

  “He killed him, the guy who attacked you killed Bradley just now.”

  My body went cold at his words. I stood there staring numbly at my feet. When the shock finally wore off, the sound of sirens filled the air.

  I looked up to see the lights of the police cars that were approaching, I assumed they were heading to Bradley’s house, where I’d just run from. I needed to get as far as I could from the scene.

  “Dutch, I’m going to hang up. I’ll call you once I’m back at Tak’s place.”

  “Okay, be safe.”

  I hung up and started making my way toward the neighborhood exit. Bradley was killed by the man I’d run into when I’d broke in. Which only left me with one conclusion. I was going in the right direction in searching for the people who’d attempted to kill Tak.

  Chapter 32

  Practice

  Jazz

  * * *

  The hard sound of a guitar poured out of the speakers as Tak sung. His voice filling the studio room. The band continued playing into another track from their last album, Disfunction.

  It had already been a few hours since they’d started practicing and it didn’t look like they had any intention of stopping soon. I had already been blessed once to see a shirtless Tak. Yet, I was being blessed again with a front-row seat to a live performance from Rejected One.

  I could have died happy. My heart nearly exploded as I repeatedly told myself I couldn’t dance or sing along. I remained seated in the corner, watching as Jay smoothly revved up to the song’s climax with his skillful guitar playing.

  Omar stood with his dreads held back with a hair band, plucking the strings of his bass. He smiled like a Cheshire cat as his eyes flicked every once in a while to Ark who kept the whole thing together with his continuous drum playing.

  I wanted to scream along, but I was in the room with Chelsea and a few others I decided to call the entourage. I wasn’t sure what they all did, but they’d all been welcomed into the studio.

  I focused completely on Tak as they moved to the next song, last night’s debacle totally forgotten in the moment. Tak hopped up and down. His energy was obviously through the roof. He demonstrated this by stopping and releasing a familiar smooth run into the mic.

  “You must like their music.” I looked over at one of the people who I’d grouped together in the entourage, who had finally deigned to speak to me. She had raven hair and smiled softly at me. “This is actually one of my favorite songs.”

  I dropped my gaze and forced myself to stop tapping my foot. Meeting her eyes once more, I nodded.

  “I’m not a big fan, but I can appreciate the music they make.”

  I released an inner scream of a dying animal. Every fiber of my being wanted me to take back the words I’d just said. However, I couldn’t let them know how much of a hard-core fan I was.

  “I assumed from the way you were swaying to the music you were a big fan,” she said.

  I hadn’t realized I was swaying. I honestly wanted to scream. Yes. Yes, I am. I’ve been here since “Descension”.

  I couldn’t say that though. It was painful. If I had to choose between this or being stabbed a thousand times with needles, I’d much rather the needles. Taking a deep breath, I forced out a Mona Lisa smile.

  “It’s more like I can’t help it since this song is really good. I’m still learning who’s who. What’s your name?”

  The girl released a laugh. “No problem, I’m Risa. I’m engaged to Omar.” She motioned toward the window. “He’s the one with the dreads.”

  I glanced back at the glass window that separated us from the band. I felt a mix of offense and amusement. Did she think I didn’t know who Omar was? Besides, I still remembered when Tak called him out for cheating.

  Thinking this, I only said, “Oh, okay.”

  She chuckled. “You’re the new bodyguard for Tak, rig
ht? He must be a handful.”

  That statement was something I’d heard way too much. I knew there were those who didn’t like Tak, but I never knew they were this comfortable expressing it. I’d honestly grown tired of hearing it.

  “No, not really,” I said.

  I wasn’t expecting her welcoming expression to turn cold.

  “Hmm, I guess you’re actually more of a fan than you thought.” With that said, she turned her attention to those next to her.

  Taken aback by her sudden coldness, I stared at her, thinking over her reaction. The door to the booth opened, catching my attention. The band came into the control room.

  All of their shirts were drenched in sweat. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d picked up Tak’s black towel from the chair he’d left it on and taken it to him.

  He smiled down at me and winked. “Thanks, Jazzy.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I quickly looked away out of embarrassment and said, “You’ve got one more round of practice you can do before we have to leave for your next appointment.”

  “Shit, do we really have to do it today?”

  “Yep.” Chelsea cut in and as usual, her eyes were on her phone. “PR for this last-minute concert is important. Unless you’re saying you’re not interested in doing it? I could always cancel it.”

  “Don’t lie.” He glared at her with no heat. “You’d kill me if I canceled.”

  “No, we would kill you,” Jay cut in. “Besides, Conner said he’d pay money to see you back in a dive bar.”

  “He could pay to see me fuck you—”

  “Tak.” Jay’s face turned red as he glared at him. “Finish that sentence and I swear to god I’ll sell your number on eBay.”

  The bodyguard in me said, no, but the stalker in me said yes. I couldn’t believe I’d reached such a new low as a fan.

  Tak turned his attention on me. “Ready for the last round?”