Rock Star Romance Ultimate Volume 2

by Mankin, Michelle

  “I’d give my left nut to know what the hell you were just thinking.” His voice is thick and raspy.

  “I was thinking you’re going to miss the turn,” I say, pulling my hand away and grabbing those handles.

  He crosses over two lanes to the sound of horns from angry drivers, and he is laughing.

  “You’re going to kill us!” I screech.

  “Fuck that. They have breaks, and I had plenty of time, sweet cheeks.”

  “Have you always been such an awful driver?” I ask in anger as I hold my hand over my chest, thinking any moment my heart is going to beat out of it.

  “I drive just fine. And would you look at the time. Damn near perfect.”

  He pulls up in front of Virgin Air and smiles as he grabs his phone. “Mads is at baggage claim now.” He taps a reply on his screen, then tosses it on the dash before reaching in the back and grabbing something. He turns around and shows me the sign.

  “The Mad Queen’s Ride. You think she’ll like it?”

  “You know she will.” I laugh.

  “Yeah, I do. As much of a pain in the ass as she is, I’ve kind of missed her, Tales.” He hits his hazard lights and opens his door. He quickly walks around the vehicle and opens my door.

  “Come on. I think she’ll be happier to see you than me.”

  I get out and start for the door, but he grabs my elbow.

  “No way, Tales. You’re gonna stand here with me and look like an idiot holding the other half of this sign.”

  “Shouldn’t we go in?”

  “Nah. I can’t be that easy. She’ll think I actually like her.” He winks. “Gotta play hard to get, you know.”

  The way he looks at me makes me think he’s talking about me. The way he’s still staring at me makes me realize I’m right.

  His thumb is running slowly back and forth on the side of my elbow.

  “Memphis?”

  “Tales?”

  “You’re holding my arm.”

  “Shit.” He lets go. “Sorry, sweet cheeks.”

  I turn around when I hear his name behind me and see three girls whispering.

  He grabs me with one arm around my waist and pulls me against his side.

  “What are you—?”

  “Are you Memphis Black from STD?” a blonde with a very short shirt and huge breasts asks.

  “What gave it away?” he asks in a very flirtatious manner.

  “The hair,” a brunette swoons.

  “The ink,” the blonde purrs.

  “The total package,” the other girl with ambrosia hair says, blatantly staring at his crotch.

  “Can we give you our number?” one asks.

  “I am dying for an STD,” the brunette who ends everything in a purr says.

  “Gave her one two months ago,” he says, pulling me tighter. “In about seven more months, she’ll be giving birth to it, so I will have to pass this time, ladies.”

  I look up at him, ready to let him have it, but he pushes my head so my face is buried in his chest.

  “Well,” one huffs as the others … congratulate us.

  I try to pull away, but he holds the back of my head tighter.

  “She’s shy,” he excuses.

  I dig my nails into his chest, and he lets go, but only after a few more seconds.

  “What the heck did you just do?”

  “What the hell did you just do?” He lifts his shirt to see red marks where I dug into him. “Damn.” He smirks. “You need to kiss it better.”

  “Memphis, you just told them I was—”

  “So?” He shrugs.

  “Well, not only is it a lie, but it’s possible it will start a rumor, and my mother …” I cover my face. “Dear God, Memphis, my mother will stroke out. And you, you idiot, you just messed up the whole”—I wave my hand in the air, and somehow it ends up pointing at his, lower half—“rock star, man-whore thing.”

  “First, you can call your mother and tell her I did it to push three chicks away who wanted in my pants, and they were not my type, Tales.”

  “I thought everyone was your type,” I huff.

  “No, Tales, not everyone.” He looks at me.

  “Right. I get it. Fine. But you just screwed that up. Every kinky-haired, thrift store queen is gonna think they have a shot with Memphis Black and—”

  “She’s coming. Do you think you could chill the fuck out for a minute?” He laughs.

  “No. No, I don’t,” I say honestly.

  “Tally, Memphis! Eek, hugs!” Madison runs up and hugs us both. “Tales, you’re too damn skinny. What the hell happened to the freshman fifteen?”

  I feel tears filling my eyes. I have missed her so much. She is and always has been what balances me.

  I sniff back the tears, and she pulls back and looks at me.

  “Don’t you do that, okay? We cried too damn much last time I saw you.”

  I feel my lips tremble and I hug her more tightly.

  “Aw, Tales.”

  “Just missed you,” I whisper.

  “I missed you, too.”

  I pull back and plaster a smile on my face, and she wipes the tears off my cheeks as two women approach Memphis.

  “Aren’t you the lead singer from—?”

  “Not right now,” he says in a gruff voice, and I look up at him. His eyes are locked on me. “Come on, Mads. Let’s get sweet cheeks something to eat. I think she’s probably hungry.”

  “But you’re Memphis Black, right?” the girls ask as he opens the door to the Escalade.

  “Right now, he’s a brother and a friend,” Madison says as she hops in the back seat and pulls me in behind her.

  “And apparently, Queenie’s driver.” He shuts the door and grabs her bag.

  “Talk to me,” Madison says as she buckles up, then grabs my hand.

  “Just, just …” I don’t even want to have this conversation.

  “Just what, Tally? You can tell me anything, you know that.” Her eyes are like his; brilliant blue and inviting.

  The door opens and Memphis gets in, turns around, and holds up the sign. “Did you even notice this?”

  “Nice.” Madison flashes him a smile, then turns back to me. “Spill it.”

  I expect Memphis to start up the vehicle, but he doesn’t. When I look up, his eyes are slightly crinkled, and he looks to be trying to figure something out.

  “Tales got shit-faced last night.”

  “You did not!” Madison gasps.

  “Fireball. By the fucking glass. One after another.” Memphis winks at me.

  “You’re shitting me,” Madison says, and I smirk.

  “I wouldn’t shit you, Mads. You’re my favorite turd.”

  “Shut up and tell me everything.” Madison grins and looks at me.

  I shake my head. “Wasn’t really my best day.”

  “Fucking whiskey? You chose to get drunk the first time on whiskey, Tales?” She laughs. “How do you feel?”

  “Surprisingly, not as bad as I should,” I answer.

  “That’s because she fucking ralphed all over me.” Memphis smirks at me through the rearview mirror.

  “No way,” she gasps.

  “Yes way. And more than once.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “She turned green, and I snatched her up before she tossed it all over in front of the band and some friends. She’d have never lived that shit down.”

  “Did you feel better after? I always do,” Madison says.

  “She got hosed down in the bath tub and passed out.” Memphis snickers as he pulls out onto the road.

  “No way. Who …?” She pauses. “Did you hose her down?”

  “Hell yes, I did, right after I hosed myself down. She smelled awful.”

  “Aw, my brother can be a gentleman.”

  “A perfect gentleman.”

  I sit back and listen to the two of them talk back and forth. I have always loved watching how they interact. They may have driven each other
crazy growing up, but they love each other immensely.

  Then I realize how differently he is driving.

  I shake my head and look up. He is staring at me in the rearview. He looks forward and grabs his sunglasses off the dash and puts them on as he cautiously drives us back to the house.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  THE WOODSHED

  Memphis

  Once Mads and Tally are in the house and settled in their room, I call and order brunch. I’m starving. Everyone is still asleep, but I know, once they smell steak and eggs, they’ll come running like the dogs they are.

  While I wait for the food, I decide to take a shower since I didn’t get to it this morning; my bed was too damn comfortable. Mmm-mmm.

  What the hell am I going to do about this little obsession with POW!? I need to tap that ass, but she’s—well, she’s fucking Tales.

  I kick off my slides, pull my tee shirt over my head, and shed my shorts.

  I look down and shake my head, looking at my cock. “You need to take a fucking break right now, anyway. Tour time, you’ll be well fed and exercised. You won’t be frowning forever.”

  Freshly showered and feeling like a million bucks, I hop out and towel off before dressing.

  When I walk into the kitchen, the food is spread out on the island, and no one is eating. I grab a piece of bacon and shove it in my mouth before grabbing a croissant and heading down the hall to tell Ta … Mads that it’s time to eat.

  The door is cracked, and I hear Mads chewing off Tally’s ear.

  “No fucking way,” she gasps, and I can picture Tally’s face turning pink. “The senior? Tall, dark, and smoking hot?”

  “Handsome, talented, and kind,” Tales corrects her.

  “Throw a ball cap and some ink on his arms, and he’d be hot as hell, just sayin’,” Mads says.

  “He isn’t that kind of—”

  “Fine. I get it. So tell me; how was it?” Mads interrupts.

  I’m leaning in closer to hear because I want to know, too.

  “It was sex, Madison,” she whispers.

  “Like hot, sweaty, all night long, ass smacking—”

  “Dear God, Madison! No, of course not. Gross.”

  “No, not gross at all.”

  I’m ready to bust in and demand a name, an address, and all that shit from Madison.

  “I don’t want to hear about you and what’s-his-name.”

  “Well, sometimes it’s what’s-his-name and sometimes it’s what’s-his-name.” Madison laughs.

  I grip the door jamb and hold myself back from kicking the door open and demanding to know all that information when I feel a tap on my shoulder and jump back.

  Finn is standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a shit-ass grin on his face, shaking his head.

  “What?” I whisper in a hiss.

  “Don’t do it, man.”

  “Do what?”

  “Go in there, ready to be the white knight for little sis when you wanna go dark knight all over her friend.”

  I glare at him, and he shakes his head, steps around me, and raps on the door.

  “Chow time.”

  I storm down the hall, and he follows. Annoyed, I look over my shoulder at Finn chuckling.

  “Laugh it up, asshole,” I snap, which makes him laugh louder. “Why don’t you…?”

  “Don’t I, what?” He laughs.

  “Go shave your fucking beard or something,” I snap as I grab a plate.

  “Fuck that. Ladies love it.” He smirks as he strokes it.

  “Especially those whose beaver curtains are bare,” River comes in and says with a wink.

  “How the fuck do you know?” I snap at him.

  He sticks his tongue out slowly, then pulls it back in. “Most rode tongue in the state.”

  “If you read the Internet gossip pages, that would be my brother. Lead singer with the tongue made for her pl—”

  “You clearly mean the drummer,” River says with a perma-grin on his face.

  River’s high. I know it, Finn knows it, and Billy … Yeah, he doesn’t know it. I laugh to myself.

  I’ve dabbled in some heavier stuff. When we first started playing together, River and I got fucked up a couple times, but a couple times of doing a line or two wasn’t enough for him. No, fucker would go on a binge, and then he’d crash. As a result, I only take a couple hits of chillz once in a while when I am feeling froggy, like yesterday. I didn’t want to put that temptation in his face again.

  Finn doesn’t touch shit. He smokes cigs, drinks like a fish when he’s in a mood, but he hates drugs. I knew there was a story behind it the day I had to pull him off River. He spilled it about someone OD’ing and told River he was a selfish fuck. When I asked him later if he wanted to talk, he simply said no.

  Billy walks in. “Good morning.”

  We all say it back, and as we load our plates, I see him and Tally exchange a look that pisses me the fuck off. Mads notices the exchange, too, and she elbows Tally and giggles. Tally looks at her with a clueless confusion, and I can’t help smirking. Tally sees me, shrugs, and continues placing bird-sized portions on her plate. She is clearly uncomfortable, and it pisses me off.

  “Tales, you have got to eat more than that, girl.”

  Billy smiles at her. “She ate well last night.”

  She ate well last night, I mock him in my head.

  “Then she threw up. Eat, Tales.”

  “Memphis.” Madison looks at me like I’m crazy. “She’s a grown woman. I think she can handle herself.”

  “Yeah, you’re both all sorts of grown up now, aren’t you?” I sneer, then walk to the door with a full plate. I decide to eat outside because I already want to kick Billy’s ass, lock up Mads, and tie up Tally and show her a thing or twenty about sex.

  I sit at the outdoor high top where the sun is already blazing. There is a breeze that feels really good, but even as beautiful as this place is, nothing is distracting enough to un-hear your kid sister talking about banging his or his.

  “What’s your problem?”

  I look up to see Mads walking out and shutting the door behind her.

  “How’s school?” I can’t help the irritation in my voice.

  “Great.”

  “Learning a lot?”

  “Why the inquisition?”

  “Why avoiding the question, Mads?”

  “Okay, I love it. I get up and finish my classes by one in the afternoon. Most of the time, I am done with my homework by four or five, and then I hang out with friends.”

  “What kind of friends?”

  Tally walks out now, sets her plate on the table, and pulls her shades down.

  Mads and I stare at each other. She’s clearly pissed, and so am I. Neither of us says a word.

  “Should I go?” Tally thumbs behind her toward the door.

  Mads says no, I say yes, and Tales sits, looking down.

  “Don’t be a dick, Memphis,” Madison snaps at me.

  “Or what? You’ll tell Mom?” I snap back

  In true Madison form, she dramatically shoves her chair back and storms back into the house.

  “Why are you fighting with her?” Tally asks in an even tone that kind of infuriates me.

  “I heard you two. She’s banging all sorts of boys at school and …” I stop when Tally starts to smirk. “I said bang, not fuck, Tales. Jesus, keep it together.”

  “It wasn’t the word, Memphis.” She scowls. “I’m kind of used to them by now. It was the fact that you’re judging her, yet live the life you do.”

  “Me, judging?” I gasp. “This coming from the preacher’s daughter.”

  Her mouth forms a straight line.

  “I didn’t mean it to hurt you, Tales.”

  “Well, just so you know, I don’t judge. There is a huge difference between being religious and being a Christian.” She’s pissed, but so am I.

  “So what would Jesus say about you fornicating in th
e dorms, Tales?”

  She pushes back and stands. “That’s none of your business. Who are you to judge me or her?”

  “Wait just a damn minute. I’m not judging—”

  “It’s okay for you to sleep with everything with two legs and boobs?” She blushes immediately.

  “You just wait a minute, Tales. I’m a little bit pickier than two legs and tits—”

  “I find that questionable when you’ve been trying to get me in bed.”

  “Tales, I don’t try. I do. Don’t kid yourself. If I wanted to fuck you, I would. Then your little dorm indiscretion that, I assume, left a bad taste in your mouth would be like fucking crack, and you’d be all but dry humping my—”

  Without warning, she slaps me across the face, and hard, too. Then she runs into the house.

  Angry is not a strong enough word to describe what the hell I’m feeling right now. I storm toward the house and see the guys looking out the window. They saw everything.

  Embarrassed? I probably should be, but I’m not.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Finn asks, and he’s not laughing, either.

  I don’t answer. I go to my room and grab a duffel bag.

  “I asked you a fucking question, man. Don’t disrespect.” Finn’s voice is low and angry.

  “Tell them motherfuckers, if they touch Mads or Tally, I will quit this fucking band.” I throw a change of clothes in my bag and walk past him.

  His voice booms behind me. “Where are you going?”

  “To the fucking woodshed,” is all I say.

  He steps back and gives me a nod. “Any idea when you’ll be back?”

  “Two days, tops,” I answer.

  “Work it out, bro. I’ve got this covered.”

  ***

  I crawl out of the bed and look down at the chick from the hotel bar. She’s hot, blonde, tall, has big titties, and a nice ass. I worked it out, all right, for three hours, and she took it like a champ. I will definitely be giving her a VIP pass if we tour down here.

  I look at my phone lying on the floor next to my shorts. It has fifteen missed calls and ten text messages, all from Madison.

  I shoot her one back.

  Mads, I will see you in a day or two. Stay put and enjoy.

  Her reply is immediate.

  Where is the woodshed?