Player of Life (Perception Book 4)

by Shandi Boyes

  ****

  Slater’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flare in anger the instant I walked into Marcus’s garage. Noah had called a band meeting to try and settle down the tension I had caused three weeks ago. I knew I had fucked up the instant Noah said I might need to start looking for another band. I practically begged him that night to let me stay in the group and I even promised that I would never sleep with another band mate’s girlfriend or significant other ever again.

  I am surprised when I notice Noah’s mate Jacob standing in the middle of the garage we practice in. Even though I have seen him a few times at gigs, he never normally shows up during rehearsals.

  “I asked him to come, in case I needed to pull you two apart” Noah informs when he notices my confused gaze staring at Jacob.

  “He won’t be able to fucking stop me” Slater interrupts angrily as his eyes narrow even more and he crosses his arms across his chest. If you could die from a death stare, I would be fucking dead right now.

  Jacob chuckles loudly at Slater’s dismissal while shrugging his shoulders, he then moves over and sits down next to Slater.

  “Who said I was here to stop you, I’m here to watch the beat down” he chuckles, causing me to swallow harshly. I really needed to start learning to think with my head occasionally, instead of my dick.

  Noah’s dark eyes look over and narrow at Jacob and Slater. Slater doesn’t lessen his angry glare, but Jacob mumbles a quick apology at Noah before he turns his blue eyes back to mine.

  “We just signed last month to play at Mavericks every Tuesday. This is the stepping stone we have been waiting for and from here we will only continue to grow. I don’t think either one of you want to give up on the opportunity of making it big with our fucking band” Noah states firmly while his eyes flick between Slater and I.

  “You already know what I think about this Noah, I want to stay in the band” I inform as I move a step closer to him. I would do anything to stay a part of this group as I know it is only a matter of time before we hit it big.

  “You know the deal I’ve agreed too” Slater responds immediately, while he stands from the speaker box he was sitting on and takes a step closer to me.

  Noah’s gaze flicks between Slater and I, before they eventually settle on Slater’s.

  “One hit” he instructs firmly. Slater smiles while nodding his head at Noah’s instructions.

  My nervous gaze looks between the four sets of eyes staring at me. Marcus’s looks concerned, Jacob’s are shining with excitement, Noah’s are as dark as normal and Slater’s looks like a kid who just entered a candy store.

  When Slater takes a step towards me, my gaze flicks up to Jacob, silently begging for him to grab Slater before he gets too close to me, but he doesn’t move a fraction of an inch. I swallow harshly as Slater slowly walk towards me.

  Then suddenly, all I see is blackness.

  My head is pounding and it feels like something is running out of my nose. I am currently lying on my back on a cold and dirty concrete floor. I rub my hand under my nose while I hazily attempt to sit up. When my eyes look down at my hand, I notice that it is covered in blood. When my gaze flicks up, all of the band members and Jacob are staring at me.

  “What the fuck happened?” I question confused, triggering Jacob to start laughing loudly.

  “Class that as a warning, if you ever pull shit like that again, you will not only be out of the band for good, I will also let Slater unleash more than one punch” Noah informs as he offers me his hand to assist me off the floor.

  Once I’m on my feet, I notice that I’m extremely woozy. It feels like I have had a few too many beers even though I haven’t had one alcoholic drink today.

  “You weren’t supposed to knock him out” says Marcus while looking at Slater. Slater shrugs his shoulders as he looks over at me with a smirk on his face.

  I ended up spending the rest of rehearsal playing my guitar with a thumping headache while trying to look at the song sheet through my one eye that wasn’t sealed shut. I never once turned back to look at Slater playing on the drums, but I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. If this was the punishment I had to accept to remain a band member of ‘Rise Up’ then I was willing to cop it on the chin. Does that mean I regret my decision to fuck Nikki? No, not really. I think one-day Slater will eventually realise that I did him a favor.

  Chapter 2

  Jenni

  “Please” Emily begs as she does her best puppy dog eyes.

  “I told you I’m not interested in dating anyone Emily, let alone someone like Christian!” I reply while trying not to cave to her pleading light brown eyes.

  “It’s not a date” she informs as her eyes continue to beg for me to change my mind. I have always been a sucker for Emily’s puppy dog eyes and I can already feel my defensiveness starting to lessen.

  “Fine, I’ll come but you’re going to owe me big time Em!” I reluctantly inform. Emily squeals before she comes running over towards me, engulfing me in a huge hug that we end up stumbling onto my bed.

  “You’re the best Jenni, thank you so much, it’s going to be so much fun!” she screams in excitement.

  I hug her back while trying not to let on to the fact that I’m about to go on a double date with a guy that I absolutely despise….

  “Wow, you must be new in town as I am certain I have never had the pleasure of meeting you before” says an attractive blonde haired guy standing directly in front of me.

  I nervously turn to look behind me, assuming that he must be speaking to someone else and I am surprised to find that there is no one directly behind me. When I look back at him confused, he smiles a dazzling bright smile that makes my heart flutter. As he walks over towards me, I decide to start my perusal of his body from the bottom to the top. He is wearing a pair of flip flops, black board shorts and printed surf tee. His body is a cross between athletic and scrawny, but his face is boyishly handsome, making up for his lack of muscles. He has long blonde hair that has a little bit of a wave to it and it sits just above his shoulders. His hazel eyes are light in color and appear a little hazy like he has either been drinking or smoking something. When he smiles, his whole face lights up and his confidence practically beams out of him. I assume that he is a little older than my fifteen years by maybe a year or two.

  “I’m Christian” he introduces whilst leaning against the wall I’m standing next to.

  “Hi, I’m Jenni” I reply nervously. His eyes stare into mine as he leans in closer to me.

  “What are you doing?” he questions, triggering my eyes to nervously dart around the surroundings.

  “Waiting to use the bathroom” I answer while cringing.

  Emily and I are currently attending our first ever senior party. It wasn’t that we were personally invited, but it was an open invitation and anyone could attend. Phillip Rochester just turned eighteen and his extremely wealthy parents decided to throw him an elaborate celebration. Unfortunately for Emily and I, the main beverage choice was beer, which meant we were left drinking the cheap cask of wine Emily had snuck out of her parents’ house. It tastes nasty, but we felt the need to at least have some kind of alcoholic drink at our first official senior party. After I had managed to guzzle down a couple of glasses, my bladder decided to protest to the excess amount of liquid. Which lead to me standing in the queue to use the only guest bathroom on this floor.

  “I can take you to another bathroom” offers Christian kindly. My eyes dart to look at the long queue and I do a quick head count. There are seven people still in front of me to use the one bathroom and the person that is currently using it has been in there for ages.

  “Okay” I reply, accepting his invitation since my bladder feels like it is about to burst.

  Christian smiles brightly before he offers me his elbow. I wrap my arm around his and we commence strolling down the long hallway until we arrive at a room at the very end. He removes a key from his pocket and places it into the
lock. Once it is unlocked, he walks us inside the massive room that appears to be the master’s suite.

  “It is the door on the right” he advises as he points to a large white double door in the far right hand corner of the room.

  I quickly make a beeline for the bathroom and my bladder is grateful at finally being emptied. As I wash my hands in the sink, I roam my eyes around the expansive bathroom. There is a large Jacuzzi tub sitting in the middle of the room. A double headed shower is hidden behind a tiled wall and they not only have a toilet, they also have a bidet. Once I finish washing my hands, I walk out of the bathroom and spot Christian sitting on the edge of an extremely large black bed.

  “Do you feel better?” he questions. My cheeks instantly heat over his question.

  When he notices my flushed look, he smiles brightly again, causing me to blush even more. His hazel eyes roam over my body as I stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, trying my hardest not to fidget.

  “You can come over here” he advises seductively.

  “Umm…I have to get back to my friend Emily, she is waiting downstairs for me” I reply nervously. Christian stares at me and I suddenly start to feel a little uncomfortable being in this large room alone with him. He stands from the bed and slowly strolls towards me as I take in several smalls breaths. Once he is in front of me, his eyes roam over my body seductively.

  “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do” he whispers, his cool breath fanning my flushed cheeks.

  “I will only touch you after you beg me” he continues while his hazel eyes stare deep into mine. I swallow harshly while a tingling sensation starts to build between my legs. He does a slow and seductive wink, before he lowers down his pouty lips to kiss me. The kiss starts slow, but rapidly gains in intensity that my legs start to buckle.

  “Are you ready to beg yet?” he questions when he pulls away from our embrace, making me whimper at the loss of contact of his well-trained lips.

  When I open my eyes and I notice the smirk on his face, my defensive wall starts to form. I might look like a shy wallflower but I have learnt a few lesson in my short fifteen years and I can easily spot a player from a mile away.

  “Not even close” I reply. His face morphs into shock from my reaction. I wink while smirking and making my way out of the room with a new found spring in my step, not once looking back at the player that just got played.

  I quickly make my way past the toilet and notice that there are still six people lined up. Thank goodness Christian had kindly offered the use of his personal bathroom. Once I walk down the stairs, I peer my eyes around the room seeking Emily. There is a band playing Fall Out Boys hit song ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ on a stage against the far wall of the sitting room. I stand on the bottom step, enjoying the view of the good looking guys who are performing, before I eventually spot Emily standing in the back far corner. As I make my way towards her, a guy with blonde shaggy hair blocks my path, playing a guitar that is wrapped around his shoulders. My confused gaze looks between the stranger playing his guitar in the middle of the sitting room, to the band that is playing on stage. His eyes suddenly lift and he catches me staring at him confused. I quickly divert my eyes, causing him to chuckle. He continues walking towards the stage, never once faltering on his performance.

  I bolt towards Emily in the corner of the room.

  “Oh my god, did you see the band, they are hot!” I exclaim excitedly while grabbing a hold of her arm.

  “What band?” Emily slurs, making me realise she had managed to sneak in a couple of extra glasses of wine while I was away. When she steps towards me, she starts swaying and nearly loses her footing. I quickly wrap my arm around her shoulders to try and keep her standing upright, making her softly giggle.

  “How many glasses did you have?” I question while giggling.

  “Just a few” she mumbles as she leans in closer to me.

  “I bub ya Jen Jen” she slurs, making me giggle.

  “I love you too Em, but I think it’s time for us to go home” I reply while trying my hardest to keep her on her feet.

  “Not yet, I wanna see the band of hotties” she murmurs as she removes herself from my embrace and starts stumbling towards the living room.

  “Not today” I reply, quickly catching up with her and spinning her around to head towards the front door.

  “Party pooper” Emily pouts before she starts giggling. She was giggling so hard she would occasionally snort, which would make her giggle even more.

  Just as we made it out of the front of the large mansion, a small white car pulls directly in front of us. A pretty girl sitting in the passenger seat winds down her window and smiles brightly at us.

  “Did you need a lift?” questions the red head in the front seat.

  “I was just going to call a taxi” I advise as Emily mumbles something incoherent.

  “It could be a while; we really don’t mind giving you a lift” she offers kindly.

  I look down at a heavily intoxicated Emily attached to my side, then back towards the house we had just left, where I notice Christian standing on the front step smirking at me.

  “Okay, if you don’t mind” I accept. The pretty red head jumps out of the car and opens the back passenger door to assist me in getting Emily into the back seat. Once we have her safely positioned, snoring on my lap, the car pulls away from the curb and I turn to face Christian, giving him a condescending wave as we drive down the street.

  “My name is Nicole and this is my sister Peta” the pretty redhead introduces. Nicole has gorgeous long wavy red hair and her skin in Alaska white in color. But the most alluring feature of Nicole is her stunning green eyes.

  “I’m Jenni and this is my best friend Emily, it’s her first time drinking” I explain. I don’t want them to think this is something Emily does often. I have been her friend for more than half my life and this is the first time she has been this drunk.

  The rest of the drive is made in silence and once we arrive at my house, Nicole assists me in taking Emily upstairs and into my room. Thankfully for me, my parents are heavy sleepers.

  “Thank you so much for everything you have done tonight”

  “It was my pleasure” Nicole interrupts as she hands me a business card.

  “I hope to see you around” she states kindly, before she turns on her heels and starts walking out of my room. I follow her down the stairs and farewell her and her sister. Once their taillights are no longer visible, I look down at the business card in my hand.

  “D.S.D – Designated Sister Driver – Nicole Reed” I read off the card. It also has a cell number attached to it. I slip the card into my pocket and make my way back to Emily.

  The next morning, Emily woke up a little worse for wear while swearing she only had four glasses of wine. She had no recollection of how we had arrived home and I ended up telling her about Nicole. Emily borrowed the business card and sent Nicole a message thanking her for her help. We then spent the rest of Sunday hanging around my room discussing the excitement of attending our first ever senior party. Around three pm, my phone received a text message from an unknown number.

  Are you ready to beg yet?

  My first thought was, how the hell did Christian get my number? Then my second was, I thought I was the one that was supposed to be begging, but he seems to be doing all the chasing.

  Yes, I am….

  Name the time and the place baby.

  Now would be great….

  Now? I can organise something.

  Ok great. Did you want me to beg you to leave me alone via text message or would you prefer if I called you directly?

  Suddenly my phone starts ringing and my sassiness starts to become foiled.

  “Hello” I answer apprehensively.

  “I would much prefer to hear you begging” Christian informs seductively. I roll my eyes at his statement and remain quiet on the line.

  “Come on baby, beg to me” he whispers seductively,
causing me to giggle.

  “I don’t know what I want to hear more now. You begging or you giggling. I think I might like them both the same” he informs, making me smile brightly. I know he is a player, but what girl doesn’t like a confidence boost.

  “Go out with me” he requests. I stay quiet while I consider his request. “On a real date, I promise I won’t try anything.... unless you want me too” he continues, making me once again giggle.

  “Please” he pleads seductively, making my heart start to beat faster.

  “Okay” I eventually whisper, my heart flipping in excitement.

  Christian and I ended up talking for nearly an hour before we organised to go on a date the following weekend.

  Now today, I have just agreed to go on my second date with Christian. Emily doesn’t realise the favor she is asking as I never told her or anyone what had happened between Christian and I.