by R. C. Martin
“It’s like I said, you do your part, I’ll do mine. But this is just the beginning, guys, and you’re about to love me a whole fuck-of-a-lot more.”
“You always do this,” Maddox mutters from where he sits, slouched on the far end of the couch. Derrick occupies the other end while Alex sits between them, her feet in Derrick’s lap as she leans back against Maddy’s shoulder. For a second, I can’t help but be amused by the way the guys have adopted Alex into the fold. Especially Maddox. He was the most apprehensive about her; now, I swear, she’s like the little sister he never had.
“I always do what?” asks Stefany innocently, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You dangle big news in front of our faces without coming out and telling us what it is. Spit it out, woman!”
“Do I?” she asks, playfully scrunching her nose.
“Totally,” JJ laughs from where he sits, propped up on the kitchen counter, eating cereal right out of the box.
“Okay, well—if you’re in hiding, get your asses out here, ‘cause this news isn’t big. It’s huge.”
I jump down from my bed just as Knox rolls out of his, and we both make our way toward the front of the bus. Once she has all of our attention, Stefany bounces on her toes, clapping her hands together in front of her before she speaks.
“I found a label that wants to take on Mountains & Men.”
No one speaks. The only sound in the cabin is that of the bus’s clicking engine as it sputters to rest. Stefany looks at each of us expectantly, and I shake my head, trying to conjure up a single word.
“What?” I manage.
She laughs before she repeats, “I found a label that wants to take on Mountains & Men.”
“Are you shitting us?” asks Maddox.
“That would be cruel,” she states, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m not cruel—I just kick ass at what I do. Lucky for me, you kick ass at what you do, too. I told you in the beginning, it’s all about the music—and your music is fantastic. You might be the new kids on the block, but I’ve been screaming your name from every rooftop imaginable over the last few weeks, and I finally got a bite.”
“Holy shit,” Knox murmurs beside me.
“Who are they?” asks Derrick.
“All right, this is where I need you to hear me out,” she says, holding her hands out as if to brace us for what’s to come. “They’re called Potential Records. They’re pretty new themselves, located in Boulder, Colorado. They’ve got, like, five bands signed to them right now. But here’s the deal, they’re all about keeping the integrity of your sound. They’ve heard your stuff, they love your stuff, and they want you to do you. You define Mountains & Men and they won’t change that or manipulate it into whatever the industry thinks you should be.
“They’re an independent label that’s willing to take on the risk of producing your record and getting it out there. The thing is, you have to earn your keep. They’ll front the cost of everything that goes into creating your first album. I, of course, am going to keep doing my thing, and together we’ll make it profitable. When your album makes money, as soon as production costs are covered, they get a cut, you get a cut, and we go from there.”
Another moment of silence passes as we all let her words sink in. I tug my eyebrows together, trying to stay level headed. Truth be told, I don’t give a shit how small they are. The fact that they’re willing to take a chance on us is outrageous. I’m ready to go all in. I also know that I’m still so fucking green. I don’t want to dive into the deal without asking questions.
Then again, Stefany hasn’t steered us wrong yet.
“Should we take this deal because it’s the right fit for us? Or is this about taking the only thing that’s been offered to us?” asks Derrick.
I breathe a small sigh of relief, glad that someone knows what to say. Until Stefany came along, he was our business guy. I suppose I can’t be surprised that he’s thinking one step ahead.
“Honestly? This is your first offer, but I think it’s a great offer. I could shop around some more. We could wait, sit on this deal—but if we do that, not only would we potentially lose this opportunity, but we’d lose the momentum we’ve been building the last five weeks. If I get you boys—and girl—home, and we spit out a single to your new record the first of the year, it’ll keep this train moving, full speed ahead.”
“Sounds to me like the worst thing that could happen is—we record an album and it goes flat. Potential Records are the ones taking the hit if we suck,” says JJ.
“We won’t suck,” Alex pipes in, rolling her eyes.
“She’s right. You won’t,” replies Stefany. “You’re right, too, JJ. You lose nothing if we can’t make your album a hit.”
“That doesn’t sound very business savvy of them,” Knox mutters suspiciously.
“The owner—he’s a kid who’s got money to blow; but he’s also got a good ear. I’ve talked to him, he’s a smart guy, and he knows the industry.”
“Stef’s right,” I jump in, too excited to listen to anymore. “Fuck, guys—a label wants to give us a chance. I think we can do the same. I say we do it.”
“I’m with Sage,” states Maddox, lifting his chin in my direction.
“Shit,” says Derrick, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Are we really doing this?”
“Aye,” I reply, casting my vote.
“Aye,” Knox and Maddox add in unison, chuckling when they do.
“Aye,” Alex and JJ chime in.
All eyes fall on Derrick, silence settling in the cabin once more. He laughs, shaking his head before he agrees, “Aye.”
“Yes!” Stefany cheers, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’ve got a call to make. We’re celebrating after the show!” she demands, pointing back at us as she steps out of the bus.
Maddox hoots before he cries, “Hell—fuckin’—yeah!”
HOURS LATER, AFTER we all freak out with excitement, we play one hell of a show and then we party our asses off. We don’t get back to the bus until three in the morning, but I’m still buzzing from the adrenaline of being on stage and the alcohol that I guzzled down all night. I’m so hyped, I feel like I could howl at the moon—so I do.
“What are you doing?” Alex giggles as she clings to Adrian’s arm. I smirk at them, wondering the same thing about their flirty shit.
“So, what’s the deal with you two, anyway?” I blurt out, walking backwards across the lot.
“Now that is a fucking fantastic question,” Maddox slurs, draping his arm around my shoulders as he leans against me. “We can’t boink the church mouse—but Adrian can do as he pleases. So?”
“Maddy! Did you really just say that?” Alex gasps, trying and failing to deliver an intimidating frown. She’s unbearably cute when intoxicated.
“Hey—don’t call me that!” he grunts.
“I thought we agreed, no speaking of my kitty cat!”
We both burst out laughing, falling against each other as we do.
“Fuck, why doesn’t that ever get old?” asks Maddox as he tries to control his laughter.
“I’m going to be her boyfriend,” Adrian announces, silencing us both.
“You are?” she asks, halting her steps.
“Yeah, babe,” he replies with a shrug, smiling down at her.
“You haven’t even kissed me yet.”
“We’ve been on the road for almost six weeks, and you haven’t kissed our church mouse? You’re doing it wrong,” I tell him, shaking my head in reprimand.
“Trust me—I’ve wanted to. We’ve got a good thing going; I didn’t want to be a dick.”
“Well, right now you’re being a pussy!” announces Maddox.
“You’re gonna be my boyfriend?” Alex whispers, as if she didn’t hear Mad Lips at all.
“Babe…” He chuckles, grabbing hold of each side of her face before he leans down and kisses her. I watch as she leans into him, another smirk tugging at my lips.
“’Bout
fucking time!” hollers Gabe as he and the others catch up to us.
“Ow, ow!” Knox yells, making us all laugh. Adrian and Alex laugh too before they pull away from each other, Alex melting into his side.
“You know your girl plays circles around you, right?” says JJ with a grin.
“I do not!” Alex protests bashfully.
“It’s okay, Ali. No need to lie about it. He’s a man, he can take it. Right, Adrian?” asks Derrick, clapping him on the shoulder as he passes.
“Ain’t no shame in my game.”
“And then there were three,” Knox declares, throwing his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Mountains & Men are coupling off, droppin’ like flies. Gotta hold strong, lil’bro.”
“Shit—ain’t no shame in my game, either. There’s plenty of Maddox to go around.”
Listening to them talk makes me think about Millie. It’s then that I realize I haven’t spoken to her all day. After we got news about Potential Records, we were too excited to think about anything else. I have no fucking clue what time it is in Colorado, but I don’t care—I need to hear the sound of my girl’s voice.
I fumble for my phone and waste no time calling her up. When I don’t reach her the first time, I hang up and dial again.
“Sage?” she finally answers, her voice raspy and sexy as fuck.
“Hey, doll face.”
“Sage—it’s almost midnight. I’m sleeping. I have to teach in the morning,” she says shortly.
“Uh-oh. I’m in trouble,” I mumble. She doesn’t reply and I reach up to run my fingers through my hair. “Baby?”
“Are you drunk?”
“Fuck, Millie, just hearing your voice is making me hard, baby.”
“You’re drunk,” she deadpans.
“Doesn’t make it any less true,” I reply, looking down at my crotch, my jeans barely hiding my semi.
“You didn’t call me today…” she whispers.
“I’m calling you now, doll.” Another moment of silence passes between us and I try again. “Got some pretty big news today, baby. Mountains & Men is putting out an album. We’ll be signing with a label when we get back home.”
“What?” she breathes. “Really?”
I smile, pleased as fuck to hear the excitement in her voice. “Yeah. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. Three more days, Millie—I’m comin’ home, gorgeous.”
“I miss you.”
“Oh, yeah? What do you miss?”
“Sage…” she groans, the sound going straight to my dick.
“Shit,” I sigh, dropping my chin to my chest as I reach for my hard-on through my jeans. I hardly pay attention as all the guys and Alex mingle just a few feet away, still rowdy and carrying on. My focus is elsewhere—in a bed, thousands of miles away. “Miss your pussy, baby. God—I need a taste.”
“Sage,” she whispers, her tone more inviting than it was before.
“Miss hearing the sounds you make when you come,” I murmur. A crooked grin curls my lips at the sound of her breaths, increasing in speed. “Will you come for me right now, doll face? Hmm? I want to hear you.”
“Sage, I should—”
“What are you wearing?”
“What?”
“What are you wearing? Tell me.”
“Sweatpants and a t-shirt,” she replies dryly, as if that’s supposed to deter me.
It doesn’t.
I know my girl.
“Are you wearing panties?”
She hesitates and I grin wickedly. “No,” she finally answers.
“Take off your t-shirt.”
“It’s cold,” she protests.
“Fuck, Millicent, take it off—you won’t be cold in a minute, I swear.”
“Christ…I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Her words are muffled, as if she’s set her phone aside, and I listen to the rustling sound of her sheets. “Sage?”
“Put me on speaker.”
“Okay.”
“Take your pants off, baby, spread those legs wide for me.” I hear more rustling before I ask, “Millie?”
“I should be sleeping.”
“You’ll sleep better when I’m through with you. Are you naked?”
“Yes,” she replies quietly.
I bite my lip, hard, wishing I was there with her.
“Are your nipples hard?”
“Yes,” she breathes.
“Play with them, baby.”
“Sage,” she sighs, my confirmation that she’s done as I’ve asked.
“Are you wet for me?”
“God—I wish you were here.”
“Pretend I am, doll face. Close your eyes and slide your fingers through your pussy. Are you wet for me?” I repeat, my voice husky as my mind fills with the image I’m sure she’s creating right now.
“I am…”
“Touch yourself, Millie—make yourself come. I want to hear it,” I grunt, my dick now completely hard. I give myself another squeeze as I hear her sigh. “Do your fingers feel good, baby?”
“Yes…”
“Mmmm,” I hum, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth again as my eyes seal shut. “Bet you look so sexy right now—your fingers pumping in and out of that sweet pussy. Love the way you taste, baby doll. You’re my favorite fucking candy.”
“Sage,” she moans.
“Could eat you every day, doll—lick that pussy and bite that clit before I suck on you until you start to shake.”
“Oh, baby—I’m so wet.”
“You wet for me, gorgeous? Are you going to come for me?”
“Yes. Shit, yes,” she says on a groan.
“Let me here you come. Fuck, my dick is so hard for you, Millie.”
“Sage! Baby—I’m—” she sucks in a breath and then frees a whimper.
I open my eyes, a sly grin pulling at each corner of my mouth as I mutter, “That’s my girl.”
“Come home,” she whispers.
“One more show. Three more days.”
“One more show. Three more days,” she repeats, as if she’s chanting a mantra that’s meant to keep her sane.
“Love you, doll face.”
“I love you, too.”
“Get some sleep, yeah?”
“M’Kay.”
“Stay naked,” I demand before she can hang up.
She giggles groggily before she agrees and we say goodnight. As I slide my phone into my pocket, I look up at the moon and chant—“One more show. Three more days.”
“HEY, IT’S LATE. What are you still doing here?”
I look away from my computer screen, where I’m submitting the last of my grades, and spot Lindsey in the doorway of my office. She’s already in her coat and gloves, her purse and an extra bag slung over each of her shoulders. It’s almost six o’clock on a Friday night, the last Friday of the semester. Most of the campus has been deserted already, students fleeing happily after the completion of their last finals.
“I was scheduled for a late exam slot. Three o’clock. I just finished grading and wanted to get these scores in the system before I left.”
She smiles at me mischievously, leaning her shoulder against the doorjamb. “You mean, a certain someone is due back this weekend and you didn’t want to have any last minute work to do.”
“That, too,” I admit, not even attempting to hide my smile. “He texted a little while ago. They were crossing the Colorado state line.”
“I’m happy for you. You know what? No—it’s more than that. I’m proud of you, too.”
I scrunch my brow at her in confusion, shaking my head as I start to say, “Lindsey—”
“I’m serious. I won’t claim to know you particularly well, but I know enough. I’ve been across the hall from you long enough to know that what you have with Sage? It’s outside of your comfort zone. Yet, even so, you’ve stuck with it. I’ve had my eye on you over the last couple of weeks, and the difference between now and when he first left is night and day. He makes you happy
, and it’s really good to see. So, Millie Valentine, I stand firm on what I said. I’m proud of you for letting yourself enjoy him.”
I’m not sure why, but when she’s done speaking, I have to take a breath to help ease the tightness in my chest. No one has ever said anything like that to me before, and it makes me both sad and incredibly encouraged. Once I know I’m not going to start crying, I open my mouth to speak, not even thinking about the words that fall from my lips before I say them.
“I love him. I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone before. I’m not sure how it happened.”
“In my experience, it’s not so much the how that matters so much as the why. I’m sure that if he’s earned your heart, he’s deserving—which only makes me like him more,” she says with a wink. “I’ll leave you to it so you can get out of here. You have my number. Use it, especially if your hottie is playing a show during the winter break.”
“Okay, I will,” I promise. She waves at me and then I watch her leave, feeling surprisingly disappointed to see her go.
She had it right earlier, when she said that she didn’t know me particularly well. I don’t know her particularly well, either—my tendency to guard myself against any and all relationships keeping her at arm’s length. Now, though, I feel as if something has shifted in our friendship. I like it, and I decide here and now that I fully intend to do as I promised and call her up a time or two over the course of the next month that we have off.
I’m at my desk for another hour as I tie up any and all loose ends. By the time I bundle up and head out to my car, the sun is long gone, and the chill of the night bites through my coat. I don’t mind much. I’m too distracted by the excitement I feel knowing that my man is only a few hours away. I’m sure it’ll be pretty late when he makes it back to town; I also know how much he’s looking forward to being in his own bed. He made no promises that I’d see him tonight, but I won’t lie. I hope that I do.
Driving through town on my way home, I sigh heavily as I pass countless displays of Christmas along my journey. Wreaths hang from city street lamps; lights scale the selected clusters of trees, illuminating the landscaping at neighborhood entryways; and at least one house on every street is decked out in decorations. I’ve never really been a big fan of Christmas, so I don’t appreciate most of what I see. Honestly, for as long as I can remember, the holiday has hardly been more than any other ordinary day.
