* * *
Marcus
I ring Naomi for the ninth time in a row and she’s still not picking up. In fact, I think she just blocked me. “What the fuck did you do to her?” I demand of Theo. “You were the last one of us to see her.”
He bounces a shoulder, twirling a drumstick in the air. “Maybe she got sick of watching you hook up with randos every other night.”
“Fuck off, Theo. She’s a big girl. She knows the deal,” I spit back, annoyed at him for being so high and mighty. Just because he doesn’t want to take advantage of the hot and willing girls out there, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to live like monks.
“Maybe you could tone it down a little around her, man,” Jack puts in. “She had a thing for you all through high school, and everyone knows you slept with her then dumped her. It’s not cool to be all over chicks in front of her like you do.”
“Whatever,” I grumble, huffing out my breath and running my hand roughly over my hair. I try to ignore that little tinge of guilt that niggles inside of me, but just shift the focus instead. “Well, we need her here. She’s our fucking ticket to the big leagues. If she quits, we’re fucked.”
“How?” Lachlan asks.
“The clip of us playing It’s a Crime has gone nuts. We got an offer to support Radio Silence on their Australian tour next month. If she’s not in, we don’t have a deal. This is big, guys. We need her back.”
“Why the hell did they call you?” Theo asks, normally all gig offers go through him.
“Um. Because I’m awesome,” I state, widening my eyes comically. Although, the contact came through me because Theo left the launch party too early.
“Whatever,” Theo says, rolling his eyes. “But if we need Naomi that badly, I’ll take a ride and talk to her.”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure you’re the reason she isn’t here today. You haven’t exactly been nice to her.” I snatch the keys to his motorbike from his hands.
“No, you don’t,” he says, snatching them back.
“I’ll tell you what, we’ll rock, paper, scissors for it,” I challenge, staring Theo in the eye defiantly. “Winner goes to find her.”
“Fine,” he agrees, holding his hand next to mine in preparation. There’s no decision or argument in this world that a good rock off can’t fix. “I’ll call it. Ready? Go.”
We bounce our fists in the air the required three times. Theo holds his hand flat for paper. I turn my hand upward, extending my middle finger as I snatch the keys back again. Theo is quick though, and he gives me a slap upside my head for playing unfairly, earning a roar of laughter from Lachlan and Jack.
“You’re a fuckwit. Give them back and do it properly,” he demands.
“Not a chance,” I say, moving them out of his reach as he goes to grab them. “I’m going. You’ve done enough.”
Theo folds his arms over his chest, looking at the blank wall as he grumpily concedes defeat, telling me what I’ve already figured out—he was the one who chased her away. He wouldn’t have given up so easy otherwise.
“Don’t crash my bike or you’re a dead man,” he calls after me as I head out the door.
* * *
Naomi
“What can I get you?” I ask the next customer in line as I push the till closed with my hip. When I look up, I’m met with Marcus’s self-assured smile. “Kylie. Can you serve this one? There’s something I need from the backroom.”
“Sure.” She smiles as she leans towards Marcus. “What’ll it be?”
His smile drops and he holds up a finger before pushing back through the crowd and calling my name.
“Why aren’t you at rehearsal? We waited on you for over an hour,” he yells over the music, catching up to me while I lift the side of the bar.
“I’m not here,” I yell back. “I’m just a figment of your imagination. In fact, you’ve been imagining me this whole time. I’m not even a real person.” It’s how they fucking treat me.
“Come off it, Naomi,” he returns, completely ignoring my sarcastic tone. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you.” I walk down the short hall, past the bathrooms, readying my key so I’ll waste as little time as possible in his presence.
“Why didn’t you come to rehearsal?” he asks again, placing his hand on the door the moment I get it open.
“Take your hand off the door. This is staff only.”
“Explain yourself and I will.” His eyes narrow and I have a sudden desire to stomp on his toes. I let out a frustrated sigh instead.
“Because you and your brother are jerks. I don’t want to be in a band with either of you anymore.”
“Why? What did Theo do?” He frowns and I almost laugh. Marcus can never accept any wrongdoing. You'd think his shit shines like diamonds and smells like a meadow of wildflowers.
“Not just Theo. Both of you. You both have a fucked up view of women. You think we're disposable and Theo thinks we're tainted.”
Marcus twists his mouth a little. “He thinks you’re tainted. Which, believe me, is a good thing. You don’t need Sir Broods-a-lot in your life. You’re too good for him.”
I close my eyes and shake my head, not quite believing my ears. “Go away, Marcus. I don’t need this kind of controlling shit in my life. I have a job. I was doing fine before the band.”
“Fine?” he scoffs. “Working in a bar, barely making rent?” He laughs. “What an excellent use of your talent.”
“It pays the bills.”
He locks eyes with me as his jaw tenses. “You’re better than this.”
“No. I’m just another one of your castoffs.”
Before he can respond, a group of drunk and squealing women come too far down the hall and find us talking. “Is this the ladies?” One of them hiccups my way.
“Turn around and stop before you reach the corner,” I instruct. “It’s past the mens.”
Marcus shoots an exasperated glance over his shoulder when they don’t leave right away. “She said its around the corner,” he says.
“Oh, my god.” One girl’s eyes go round with excitement. “You’re Marcus Bailey.”
Another girl gasps while the third squeals and says, “Holy shit. We saw your band. And you. You’re the new girl. Neve. Nelly.”
“Naomi,” the first girl says, bouncing on her toes. “Matiari is seriously my most favourite band. I have listened to your new songs like, seventy times already.”
“You should offer to sign their breasts,” I say to Marcus, happy over the squeals the suggestion produces. They give me the opportunity to make my escape.
I have the door almost fully shut when Marcus jams his foot in it then barrels inside the tiny space. “That wasn’t playing fair,” he says, placing his body weight against it as the girls knock and call his name.
“Has anything ever been fair between us?”
He frowns. “Of course it has. Every member of the band gets an equal cut of royalties, merch and ticket sales. It’s always been fair.”
“I’m not talking but the band, Marcus. I’m talking about you and me. I’m talking about me and Theo.” He keeps leaning against the door like a human barricade as he looks at me with little comprehension. “You can get off the door it auto locks.”
“Oh.” He stands up straight, glancing over his shoulder as it rattles from the girls knocking.
“You can’t stay in there forever,” they say.
He shakes his head like he can’t believe this is happening, but by the shine in his eyes I can tell he’s also loving it.
“Go out there,” I say. “Have some fun with them. Have a three-way. That’s what you like people thinking, right?”
Raking a hand through his brown locks, he bites at his lip. “I don’t think I understand the problem. What’s going on between you, me and Theo?”
“Why didn’t you tell me Aramis was your brother?” I demand.
“What?” He laughs, stepping bac
k, only managing to press himself against the door of the two metre square room. The women on the other side get excited by the sound.
“Aramis. The name Theo used when he was all goth in high school. Why didn’t you ever mention he was your brother?”
“Um, because it was embarrassing. As if I was going to admit the freaky goth guy was my brother. I hid it from everyone.”
“And in doing so, you made me look like a fool.”
“How did I do that?”
“By not telling me then. By not explaining who Theo was now. I had no idea. Theo has been hating on me for months because of this.”
“What do you mean you had no idea? You made out with the guy, got him to take all of his makeup off. You were rambling about how you met my brother when I found you missing your clothes at that party.” He lets his eyes drift down my body like he’s recalling a mental picture. I put my arm across my breasts defensively, causing him to chuckle and look back up to my eyes.
“I don’t even remember that party. All I know is I got completely wasted off two drinks and ended up with our entire school thinking I had a threesome.”
He scrunches his face up. “With whom?”
“You and Aramis.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Well, I know that now. Twitter is a terrible narrator.”
“That’s why I don’t use it. The trolls are there.”
“I know. They were very sweet when they called me a slut in every creative way possible.”
“Is that why you disappeared? Because school kids and the internet called you a slut?”
“I was embarrassed. For years, I thought it was true. But it turns out, all I did was sleep with the would-be rock star who fucks ‘em and dumps ‘em. Which, mind you, is fucked up because surely you could tell I was off my face—”
“Of course I—”
“Let me finish. I’m sure you fuck plenty of wasted girls. It probably seemed normal to you. But I was with Aramis first—your brother, Marcus—and for some reason, you saw fit to step in and take something he wanted, something I’m sure I willingly gave because it’s no secret I had a crush on you all through high school. But I also had a crush on Aramis. A pretty fucking big one.”
“You had a crush on Theo when he dressed like that?” He laughs like it’s the craziest idea in the world.
“I did. Because he was sweet and creative, and he made me feel important. But now, he hates me. He looks at me like I’m tainted goods, and that makes me feel like a piece of shit. I don’t want to feel like that anymore.”
His brow knits, his expression taking on that thoughtful look he gets in the rare moments he’s being serious. “How did I make you feel?” he asks finally. “Not now. Back then. If he made you feel important, how did I make you feel?”
That’s what he’s focusing on? My eyes widen as I wonder if this is an ego thing, or a serious moment of reflection. I’m just about to tell him to fuck off when I change my mind at the last moment and go with the truth instead. “You made me feel lucky. I felt lucky to be the focus of your attention. But if you’re interested in how you make me feel now, you make me feel like I’m just another throwaway groupie.”
“But I’m the one who wanted you in the band.” He seems genuinely confused.
“That has nothing to do with me as a woman though. That was about my musical abilities. I don’t need you to make me feel special about my music, Marcus. I already know I can play.”
“But you need me to make you feel special as a woman?” The man will need Botox if he keeps frowning like that.
“Needed. Back then when I woke up next to you. That’s when I wanted to feel special.”
“What about now? Do you want to feel special now?”
I laugh and shake my head. “I just need a night I can’t remember to stop messing with my life. Can you make that happen?”
“Yeah. Um… about that night...” He closes one eye and sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck. I feel like he’s about to deliver some terrible news. Oh god. What don’t I know about that night? “You might have your story a bit messed up.”
“Messed up how? All I remember is waking up next to you before you gave me the ‘let’s be friends’ speech.”
“I didn’t give you that speech.”
“Yes, you did. I was getting dressed, and you sat up and said, About last night…”
“I know. I was trying to tell you not to worry, we didn’t sleep together. But you were in such a hurry to get out of there you refused to listen to me. You cut me off, said we were cool and that you already knew. So I thought you did know.”
“We didn’t sleep together?” Holy shit.
“No.” He laughs, before lowering his tone and stepping closer to me. “Not that I didn’t want to. It was so tempting having you right there, naked and willing. But, like you said, you were wasted. I would never fuck you like that, Naomi.”
“We didn’t sleep together?” I can’t even believe my ears right now. “Did anything happen?”
He shakes his head and gives me that sexy lopsided grin of his. “I stayed with you and we slept. I was keeping an eye on you.”
“You didn’t fuck me?”
Placing his fingers under my chin, he tilts my head up so I’m looking into his eyes. “No. And I’ll tell you exactly why I didn’t. It was because when I do fuck you—and I will—I want it to be memorable for both of us. You’ve never been just another girl to me, Naomi. Surely you know that.”
I suck in my breath. “What? What about the band?”
“You just said you quit the band.” My breath catches as I’m drawn into his eyes, his hair falling forwards as he tilts his head like he’s about to kiss me.
My heart goes crazy. I even lick my lips in preparation, but when his mouth nears mine, when the gentleness of his breath tickles my lips, I place my shaking hands on his chest and push away.
“Then why is Theo so angry?” I ask.
“What?” He blinks like I just snapped him out of a daze.
“If we didn’t sleep together that night, why is Theo angry about it?”
He alters his stance and drops his gaze, once again rubbing at the back of his neck. “Because I might have let him believe we did.”
“Fucker.” I lift my arms, ready to shove him but I stop when he holds up his hands in defence.
“You’re the only girl I ever wanted to date,” he blurts.
“What?” I let my hands drop to my sides.
“Ever since I saw you at school, I had a thing for you.”
Now I’m confused. “Why didn’t you do something about it? You had to know I’d say yes.” I would have done anything for him back then.
“Yeah. But I also had a habit of losing interest once I broke a girl in.”
“You’re a pig.” Breaking a girl in. How crass.
“Hey, I’m just telling the truth. I knew myself well enough not to mess up a good thing. You were so fucking sweet. So fucking…pure. You know? You looked at me with those big brown eyes and I felt like a king every time. I didn’t want to lose that.”
“So you just fucked every girl I knew and kept me as your favourite little groupie.”
He chuckles at my use of his old name for me. “I guess I figured we’d grow up and one day the stars would align. I’d be ready to quit fucking around and everything would work out.”
“Because everything works out for Marcus Bailey.”
He shrugs. “Usually. But then you showed up at that party, and you and Theo were just… on each other.” He uses his hands to express his words, bringing them together like they’re grasping at a ball. “I couldn’t stand looking at you making out with my brother. But I still stood there like a creep, watching the two of you go at it while I drank far too much rum. When I saw you drag him into a room, I nearly lost my shit. I was all ready to charge on in there and defend your honour, but he came out pretty quickly, so I knew he hadn’t done anything with you. I mean, he’s a jerk, but he wa
sn’t going to take advantage of a drunk girl. So, I don’t know, I guess drunk me didn’t want to risk him changing his mind and going back to you. So I went in there and got into bed. Nothing happened. I promise you that. Although, Theo thinks something did. When he came back in, all he saw was me on the bed and…” he mumbles the last part.
“And what?”
“And you naked. He thought we’d”—he threads his finger through a circle made by the fingers on his other hand—“and I let him believe it. I didn’t want you and him to… you know?” He makes the same gesture then rolls his eyes.
“At what point did I get naked?”
“I honestly don’t know. You were naked when I got there,” he explains, before a grin creeps over his face. “Nice body by the way.”
“You jerk. Why didn’t you just cover me up and take me home? Everyone thinks we slept together.”
“I don’t know. ‘Cause I was drunk too?”
“Jesus Christ, Marcus. This is a mess. You need to tell Theo the truth.”
“No way. He’ll punch me in the face for it. Besides, I thought you quit the band.”
“If you tell him what really happened, he’ll have no reason to hold it against me.”
“And?” He’s lucky he’s pretty. Smarts obviously aren’t his thing.
“I won’t have to quit.”
“You were never going to quit. I won’t let you.” He steps close again, looking at me with a growing intensity in his eyes. “But if I tell him, he’ll think he can touch you.”
“That’s stupid. He doesn’t even like me. Besides, he’s the one who made the no fraternising rule.”
Lifting his hand, he brushes his knuckles along my jaw. God that feels good. “He made that rule for me. He doesn’t want me to touch you either.”
“So you want him to keep treating me like shit while you string me along forever? No, thank you.”
“That’s not what I want.” He shifts closer again, backing me against the wall.
“Then what do you want?”
He dips his head low, and I feel his hair brush against my cheek as his lips touch lightly against my ear. “I want it all,” he murmurs, sending chills down my spine as his voice vibrates through me. “I want success. I want legions of fans, screaming my name. And I want you screaming the loudest; in my bed at the end of it all.” Holy quivering clitoris.
Beautiful Boxset: Beautiful Series, books 1-4 Page 96
