The Bad Boys Of Molly Riot: The Complete Hard Rock Star Series

by Jade Allen

  CHAPTER NINE

  “What did you do?” I’d picked up my phone the moment I saw Olivia’s contact information on the screen.

  “Huh?” It was ten in the morning—practically the crack of dawn by my normal standards. I’d ended up hanging out with Jules, who always seemed to manage to stay up until about four or five—sometimes until the actual crack of dawn.

  “My editor told me that if I want the assignment, I could be your embedded journalist for the tour,” Olivia said, her voice tight and almost harsh. “What did you do?” I came fully awake and grinned to myself.

  “I just suggested it would be a good idea to Alex,” I told her. “He’s the one who made the call.”

  “Is this—is this some kind of blackmail, or something?” I almost laughed; thankfully I was just awake enough to know it would be a terrible idea.

  “How the fuck would it be blackmail?” I shook my head, pulling the sheet over me and closing my eyes, barely holding the phone to my ear. “What am I threatening you with?” There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

  “I told you that I don’t want to get all invested in you because…I know how you are.” I could hear the desperate self-control in Olivia’s voice. There was a gust of wind over the mic on her phone—or maybe she was sighing. “Is this your way of forcing me to get to know you better?”

  “I’m not forcing you to do anything,” I pointed out. “You were the best interviewer we dealt with, and everyone in the band agreed that if we had to have someone on the bus with us—and the magazine had already convinced Ron to do that—then we’d prefer it was you.”

  “You’re going to let me do my job, right?” Now instead of self-control, there was anxiety in her voice. “Nick, please—if you care about me at all as a human being…”

  “I like you a hell of a lot,” I told her. “I care about you as way more than just a human being.” I paused. I should never answer the phone until I’m fully awake. “I’ll let you do your job.”

  “If you swear to me that you’re not going to like—sabotage me, or something, then…”

  “Then what?” I smiled a bit to myself.

  “Then I’ll do it,” Olivia said with a sigh—I knew it was a sigh that time.

  “You want me to give you some advice on packing?” I opened my eyes under the sheet and stared at the blue and white stripes of the fabric.

  “I think I can manage. Besides, it’s still a couple of weeks away.”

  “Pack light,” I suggested. “Get used to the idea that you’re going to be wearing dirty clothes pretty often.” Olivia chuckled, and I felt more relief than I would have liked to admit to.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Olivia said.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was in the middle of a fantastic dream about being blown while I played the best solo of my life.” Olivia laughed again.

  “Go back to sleep then. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

  “Not before then? Tease.”

  “I never promised to have sex with you again, Nick.”

  “You also didn’t promise not to have sex with me again.”

  “Go back to sleep.” The phone beeped to tell me the call had ended. I closed my eyes again and let the phone fall onto the pillow behind me as I fell back to sleep.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The two weeks flew by for me—like they always did before we left on tour. I went to rehearsals and hung out with the guys and specifically didn’t text Olivia; I knew better than to push my luck with her just then.

  “Fuck,” I muttered as I strode up to the tour bus. It was eight in the morning.

  “Have a hard night, Nicky?” I glared at Mark, who was practically swinging around a street lamp pole.

  “Shut the fuck up. It’s too bright.”

  “No wonder I was able to slip out on you.” I looked up and saw Olivia standing a few feet away, a Cafesito Express cup in her hand. I heard Jules and Dan snickering but I couldn’t make myself look at them; I was too busy taking in the sight of Olivia. She had either taken my advice or knew well enough to pack light on her own: I saw a backpack and a carry-on sized rolling bag at her feet. Her magenta hair was tousled, and I thought she might be wearing a little makeup, but not very much. She was wearing jeans and a Raggy Monster tee shirt, with a pair of beat-up Docs, reminding me of my first glimpse of her. She looked a little sleepy, but way more chipper than I felt.

  “You’re way too awake for this time of the morning,” I informed her, rubbing at my face.

  “Lucky for you that I am,” Olivia said. She bent over and picked something up from off the ground: a takeout tray with paper coffee cups. “The other tray’s in the bus already,” she told me with a shrug.

  “Ah, sweet!” Mark lunged forward and claimed one of the cups, returning to his apelike swinging.

  “I’m already really liking this ‘embedded journalist’ thing,” Dan said, plucking another one of the cups.

  “Alex is on board saying goodbye to Mary,” Olivia said. She held out the tray to me.

  “I thought you hated me,” I pointed out, grabbing for one of the last two coffees on the tray. “Black?” Olivia nodded. I took a careful sip from the hole in the plastic top; the coffee flowed into me like fucking manna from heaven.

  “I have never said that I hate you,” Olivia countered. “Just that I’m not interested in trying for a relationship with someone who sleeps around.”

  “Technically you sleep around too,” I said, pointing at her with the hand holding the coffee cup. “You had a one-night stand with me.” Olivia’s cheeks flushed pink-red. I saw her look at Mark and Dan and then scowl at me. “Oh please.” I gestured to Mark and Dan. “You didn’t think they’d know?”

  “Naïve, I guess,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes. “Sleeping with you was a mistake.”

  “Was Nicky that bad?” Mark smirked at me.

  “Get on the fucking bus,” I told him. Mark shrugged and he and Dan gathered up their things and jogged around to the entrance of the tour bus. “Sleeping with me was a mistake? Are you sure about that?” Olivia shrugged.

  “I don’t regret the actual sex itself,” she said slowly. “I regret the fact that I threw caution to the wind and had sex with you because I knew it would be great sex. I compromised on my principles.”

  “And now you’ve got a juicy assignment following a band on tour, which will look great in your portfolio.” Olivia’s eyes glinted in the morning light as she glared at me.

  “Yeah, and now also everyone is going to figure out that the reason I got this assignment was because I slept with you and you wanted to toy with me some more and probably get in my pants again. Really fantastic for my career there, Nicky.” I laughed.

  “Did you really just call me Nicky?” Olivia’s cheeks lit up with an even deeper blush than before.

  “Do you have a problem with me calling you that?” Olivia raised an eyebrow in challenge, and I grinned. Fuck she looks so cute like that. So goddamn cute trying not to smile, trying to look tough.

  “Nope,” I said. I shifted my backpack straps on my shoulders. “I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.” I saw the blood leave her face and then return in a flush that crept up all the way to the roots of her hair. I took another sip of my coffee and walked past her, heading towards the entrance of the tour bus. I grinned to myself as I climbed up the stairs, picturing the look on Olivia’s face. It probably wasn’t the best thing I could have said in the moment, but I couldn’t help myself. Oh yeah. Whether or not she ever has sex with me again, this is going to be a fun tour.

  I threw my stuff onto one of the bunks and carried my coffee into the lounge. “Alex, the longer you take to say goodbye to her, the longer it is before you get back,” I said, throwing myself onto the couch carefully.

  “How does that math work out?” I shrugged at Dan’s question. “You didn’t already scare Olivia off, did you? Dude—she brought coffee!”

  “Yeah, and she’s
never going to have sex with you again. It’ll be nice to watch Nicky actually have to try to get in a girl’s pants.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I didn’t scare her off,” I said. “If she scares off that easy she wouldn’t last a week on tour no matter what I did.”

  “Oh, are there wagers on how long I’ll last on tour?” Olivia appeared at the entrance to the lounge.

  “Who told her?”

  “I did,” Jules said, coming in behind her. “It only seemed fair, man.”

  “Can I get in on the betting pool? It’d be a nice bonus.”

  “Nicky isn’t in the pool,” Mark said. “Is it fair for you to be in it?”

  “You didn’t bet?” Olivia looked at me sharply. I took my pack of cigarettes out of my pocket and lit one.

  “Didn’t seem like the right thing to do,” I said. “Besides, if it ever got back to you, no matter what I bet it’d make me look bad.” Olivia continued to stare at me for a moment longer.

  “What did everyone else bet?” she asked, looking around the lounge.

  “One month for Mark, two weeks for Jules, the whole tour for Dan, and six months for Alex,” I told her. “Alex thinks that you’ll fall in love with me and we’ll last for two months after the end of the tour.”

  “Dan’s going to get the money,” Olivia said. She glanced at everyone else in the lounge and then looked at me. “Which bunks are open?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “You’re playing me,” I told Olivia. It was sometime between one and three in the morning; the rest of the guys had mostly wandered off to the bunks. Olivia was busy working on something on her laptop.

  “Excuse me?” She didn’t quite look up from the screen, but one eyebrow rose.

  “You want me; I know you do,” I explained, licking my lips and taking another sip of the beer in my hand. “And I know you had a good time before. But you don’t want to get attached to someone who’s just going to wander off.”

  “I think I said that pretty much word for word,” Olivia said. “How exactly is that ‘playing you’?”

  “You’re testing me,” I said. “You didn’t text me once after you found out about coming on tour. We’ve been on the road for two days and you barely even acknowledge my existence. You want to see how hard I’ll work for this—for you.”

  “Or—and here’s a crazy thought—I want to put the sex behind us and focus on doing the best job I possibly can so that I get more work at the magazine.”

  “Do you really want to put the sex behind us?” I grinned. “It was pretty fucking awesome sex, you have to admit.”

  “I don’t have to admit anything,” Olivia said.

  “It was awesome though. Has anyone ever told you how hot you look when you come?”

  “Guys say things like that all the time,” Olivia said with a shrug. “They say it to everyone. What’s hot isn’t the girl coming; it’s the fact that she’s coming. Makes you feel all badass and manly.” I laughed out loud, nearly spilling my beer before I could get it onto the fold-up table next to the couch.

  “Okay. Okay, that’s fair,” I said once I could breathe enough to talk. “But some women look hotter than others. You look like—a fucking nova, it’s so hot.” Olivia snorted.

  “Not going to work, Nicky,” she said. I heard the keys rattling.

  “It’s just the truth,” I said, shrugging. “You’re hot as hell—whether you’re coming or not.”

  “I’m not testing you,” Olivia said. I finally got what I wanted: she looked up, meeting my gaze. “I just don’t want to risk getting feelings for you, and then finding out that I’m nothing more than a notch on your bedpost.”

  “No bedposts on a tour bunk,” I pointed out.

  “If I have sex with you on the bus, everyone is going to hear it.” I smirked.

  “So, you’ve thought about having sex with me on the bus.” Olivia closed her eyes and I watched her tits straining at the fabric of her tee shirt as she took a deep breath.

  “Of course I’ve thought about it,” she said finally. “You’re hot, and yes the sex was great. But it would be just as much a mistake to have sex with you on the bus—or anywhere on the tour—as it was the first time. More of a mistake, really.”

  “First of all,” I said, picking my beer up again and taking a drink from it. “Play some music loud enough and no one’s going to pay much attention to the moans going on underneath. Second: how can getting off possibly be a mistake?”

  “Getting off with the guy who helped me score this assignment is a mistake. Getting off with a guy who’s never been interested in a serious relationship is a mistake.”

  “Why does it have to be a serious relationship?” I took another sip of my beer and lit a cigarette to go with it. “Why can’t it be a—a comedic relationship? Or a fun relationship?”

  “I’m not really into casual sex so much these days,” Olivia said. “You’re about three years too late for that.”

  “You’re a busy, involved reporter,” I pointed out. “I’m guessing you don’t really have much of a dating life in general, right?” Olivia scowled at me and then pretended to go back to her work. “I get it—you’re putting career first. So am I.” I shrugged and took another sip of beer. “But obviously, I look at you differently from how I look at other girls,” I said.

  “I guess,” Olivia said. She caught up her bottom lip between her teeth; it sent a little tingle through me just to see it.

  “I didn’t sneak out of your house the morning after. I made an effort to get you on the tour bus, on the tour, to spend more time with you.”

  “I’m still puzzling through that,” Olivia said. She looked at me once more. “I swear to god I’m not just—like—playing hard to get, Nick.”

  “If you were, you’d have encouraged me along the way,” I said, shrugging. “Just enough to keep me coming back.”

  “And I haven’t; yet you’re still pursuing me.”

  “Maybe I just like you. Maybe sex with you was insanely awesome and I’d like to try it again.”

  “That’s not your M.O., though,” Olivia said. “Why are you doing this?”

  “I want to be with you,” I said with a shrug. “Whether it’s for the duration of the tour or something longer.”

  “Why me?” Olivia frowned. “I mean—I’m not fishing for a compliment here. I’m just wondering what it is about me specifically.”

  “It’s not just you,” I said. I pressed my lips together. “It’s Alex.”

  “That’s…not the answer I was expecting.”

  “I’m not gay for him or anything like that,” I said quickly. “Not that I have a problem with people being gay. But I’m not.” Olivia snickered. “It’s fucking dumb, but I see what he’s got with Mary, and…” I shrugged. “I kind of envy him.”

  “You can screw around with any girl you want,” Olivia said.

  “Just because I can doesn’t mean I have to,” I pointed out.

  “But why wouldn’t you?”

  “You’re not screwing just any guy, right?” Olivia rolled her eyes. “You’re hot, smart, funny, and an incredible lay—and believe me, guys can practically smell that in a girl. But you’re not just tumbling into bed with any guy you feel like sleeping with.”

  “That’s not where my head is at,” Olivia said, shrugging.

  “And now it’s not where mine is at either,” I said. On instinct I sat up and rose to my feet. “Right now, my head is on the subject of having as much sex with you as I can—as you’ll let me have. I’m not going to fuck up the chance to have you around just because there’s a cute girl.”

  “That sounds nice,” Olivia said. I walked the few steps from the couch to where she sat, at one of the tables along the other wall of the lounge. “What are you doing, Nick?”

  “Just coming closer,” I said, smiling a bit. “You’re not scared of me, are you? You already know I won’t bite.”

  “There was a hickey on my neck that says otherwise,” Olivia murmured
.

  “I didn’t break the skin. I didn’t even hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you.” I reached out and tousled her hair. Olivia stiffened, and then relaxed. “Come on, Liv. I can’t be the only one who’s spent the last three weeks horny as fuck.”

  “How is it my fault you’re horny?” Olivia’s lips twitched in the start of a smile.

  “Because you’re the reason I’m horny.”

  “Lots of other women out there.”

  “There’s also my hand,” I pointed out. “Neither of those options is the same as getting what I want.” I let my hand slip to the base of her skull, cradling the back of her head. I leaned in and just barely kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her lips. Olivia didn’t stiffen, didn’t resist in any way; as soon as my lips touched hers, she gave into it, kissing me back, and I felt her move; I heard the muted clink of the laptop on the table.

  I pulled her up out of the chair and pressed her body against mine; she was every bit as soft, as warm as she’d been the first night we’d hooked up. I moaned at the feeling of her tits crushed against my chest—she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her nipples hardened almost instantly. I deepened the kiss, sliding my tongue past her lips, letting my hands wander all over her body. I cupped her ass cheeks and gave them a squeeze, and Olivia moaned against my lips, her hips pushing back against my hands. I brought them up and around and kneaded her breasts through the thin fabric of her tee shirt, and felt her shiver against me, letting out a needy little noise from the back of her throat.

  I broke away from her mouth panting. “Tell me to go away and I’ll stop right now,” I said. It was the stupidest thing I’ve probably ever said in my life—my cock was like hot lead in my jeans—but I meant it. I knew I couldn’t just push Olivia into it again. I had to make it her choice—I had to give her the power to say no. I let my hands fall to my sides; I took a step back, giving her some space. “Say the word and I’ll leave you alone.”