by S. Ann Cole
“Ugh!” I ground out. “If I said I’m staying the weekend why would I suddenly renege on it?”
“Size of my cock?”
I rolled my eyes at his unsubdued arrogance. “Yes, Xavi, your dick is huge and intimidating and, yes, my sex feels a little abused right now, but it’s not enough to make me run from you. The sex was groundbreaking, my orgasms were earth-shattering.” I bit my lip, feeling strangely uninhibited. “Your lips, fingers and tongue make up for the ruthless brutality of your dick.”
“She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol…” This was from Tex, who was staring at me and Xavier as he crooned the offensive lyrics.
“Dude,” said Mark, “that sounds like bad high-school poetry.”
Glaring at Tex, I asked, “Did you just call me a she-devil?”
Instead of answering, he just repeated the lyrics, “She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol…” then lowered his head to jot the words down on his pad.
Xavier pulled me away from near the guys, arms circling around me. “So, just to be sure, you’re coming back, right?”
“Your band-mate just called me a she-devil, Xavi. Why would I want to be here anymore?”
Xavier sighed. “Tex…he’s got issues.” He pressed me up against him, making me well aware of his inappropriate hard-on. “Don’t punish me for his shit.”
“What about our sexes? They’re incompatible.”
“You too tight me too big?” He shrugged. “They’ll have to learn to sing together.”
Grinning, I crushed myself into him, needing to get as close as possible. “You are my favorite rock star. That is why I’m coming back. You. Rock. My. World.”
I tipped up in my boots and kissed him swiftly, then spun to leave, but he swung me back in like we were doing the tango. “Touch it before you go?”
“What?”
He thrust he pelvis forward. “Touch it.”
Reaching down, I palmed him.
With a flowing sigh, his eyes closed down. “Now squeeze it.”
I squeezed him, but he still wouldn’t let me go, and I really needed to go. Bending at the waist, I went face to face with his crotch, puckered my lips and kissed his hard-on three times, then cooed, “Bye-bye, Big X. Suck you later.” Then I turned and skipped off without waiting to see anyone’s reaction.
As I hurried down the stairs, I heard Mark say, “Shiiiiit, man. Would it be un-cool if I told you that right now, at this minute, my cock’s wrestling zipper for your girl? Markie boy wants inside her. Yeah?”
Two seconds later I heard a thump, a thud and a groan. Next I heard Leo howling with laughter. And in the midst of it, I heard Tex singing, “She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol….”
Goddamn rock stars.
I decided I wanted to look fresh for Davi—er, Jake’s party later. So as soon as I was through with my appointments, I showed up on Danni’s doorstep and demanded he assist me in finding an outfit for later.
We stopped at my apartment first so I could pack a small pull-along and retrieve my gift cards, then we went wild on Rodeo Drive.
Although Danni was gay, it wasn’t obvious until he opened his mouth. At twenty-seven, he stood under six feet, had well-groomed hair, an urbane style, and always debonair. At first sight, if you’re a woman, no doubt about it, you’ll drool. But once he spoke, the effeminate curls and drawls to his words made it clear what team he batted for.
It took no time for Danni to find me an outfit in Versace. A super-classy white suit: skinny capris with gold zippers along the sides, and a single-button jacket that clung perfectly to my form.
When I reminded Danni I was going to a club and not an awards show, he said, “You’re here to be a model, dearest, and in order to be noticed in L.A, you’ll have to start dressing to turn heads. You’re gorgeous, honey, no denying that, but L.A is packed with beauties just like you and even better. You got to stand out. Now, at this party, all the regular chicks gonna be wearing regular shit. Sexy doesn’t always mean short dresses, cleavage and ass cheeks.”
With great care, he peeled the jacket off me, pinkies cocked. “Trust me, if you wear this tonight, the next morning everyone’s gonna be asking about ‘the girl in the white suit’.”
I took his advice. He was the stylist, after all. I knew nothing about fashion, which was the reason I brought him.
We chose a pair of nude pumps to complement the suit, then headed to Cartier to get jewelry.
As we were leaving the jewelry store, I caught sight of a killer black and yellow-gold bracelet, with sharp cut diamonds embedded around the top and bottom gold rims. In the center was a deep carved lion head, spectacularly detailed with black and white diamonds.
I could see that bracelet on no else’s wrist but his.
Tapping one freshly polished fingernail to the glass housing the jewelry, I told the clerk, “Ring that up for me.”
“Uh…” Danni murmured from beside me.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” said the well-adorned blonde clerk with cheekbones like Maleficent’s and a fake smile, eying me up and down like I was a wannabe with struck-of-luck gift cards, “but your gift card won’t be able to cover the price for that piece.”
Women. They could be so catty and hateful. Even when they didn’t know you and had absolutely no reason to hate you. Something was seriously wrong with this world.
Fishing out one of my black cards from my purse, I humbly thrust it toward her. “No. But this card will.”
Danni stopped me as we left the store, waving a hand dramatically in front of my face. “Hell-O? Is there something you forgot to tell me?”
“Like what?” I asked, dipping into my handbag to fetch anything that would shut him up. Everyone loved freebies.
The gift cards, I told him I got them from Saskia Day, who everyone knew I was associated with. He’d bought it.
But the black card scene, I hadn’t been thinking clearly, and now he was being nosy.
“Uh, I don’t know, that you’re, uh, loaded?!” he exclaimed.
Giving him a dismissive wave off to indicate his assumption was inane, I said, “I’m not rich, you idiot. Just screwing someone who is, okay? I just bought him a gift with his own money.”
Danni’s eyes went wide as he leaned in, licking his lips, hungry for gossip. “Name. Now. Spill. ”
“You’ll know soon enough.” I captured two Starbucks gift cards and held them up. “In the meantime, will this shut you up?”
He clapped his hands in delight, twinkling eyes fixed on the cards. When he made a mad grab for them, I quickly drew back. “Tell no one what you saw in there. Deal?”
“What did I see?”
I laughed and let him have them.
I studied Xavier in the dresser mirror as I poked gold earrings through my lobes. I was all dressed and ready, but he was just getting out of the shower, towel-drying, abdominal muscles rippling with each movement.
His casual outfit was laid out the bed, and I watched as he bypassed boxers and donned his jeans, looped in his studded belt, attached a scull-head chain wallet to one of the loops and slid the wallet in his back pocket. It amazed me how men could dress so quick and easy without hassle.
I held my breath when he picked up his T-shirt—but still hadn’t noticed the box beneath it—and his whole upper body muscles flexed when he went through the act of pulling his light-brown shirt over his head. It was one of those burnout, paper-thin long-sleeved T-shirts, almost see-though, which made his abs near visible and his taut nipples poke against the flimsy fabric. Small buttons ran down to the center of his chest, but he popped all of them open to show off his definition.
Sexy beast.
Then, he paused, fi
nally spotting the red box I’d hidden under his clothes on the bed when he was in the shower. Hesitantly, he picked it up, and his gaze shot across the room to meet mine in the mirror. He raised a brow in question and I nodded, then turned around to watch him open it, heart racing.
Xavier stared down at the bracelet for a long while, before turning his back to me and sitting down on the bed.
I released a deflated breath. He didn’t like it. Maybe he wasn’t a jewelry person. Or maybe women buying him gifts made him feel emasculated. Whatever. Rock stars had issues. And I wasn’t in the mood to feed into it right now. Or ever. I had my own issues.
I bought the bracelet for him simply because I liked it, I liked him, and I was the kind of girlfriend who got off on doing nice things for her man.
Turning back to the mirror, I selected a bronzer from my make-up kit and dusted a little over my cleavage. The suit jacket was deep cut with a single button just above my navel and Danni instructed me to skip wearing a bra so the swells of my breasts were on display, along with a sexy little peek of my lower abs.
Once I was pleased with my appearance I picked up my clutch and walked to the door, paused to look over at Xavier, who was still staring down at the bracelet, and asked, “Are we leaving or what?”
Without raising his head, he asked the box, “You gonna explain how you’re able to afford this?”
Ohhhhhh…
From the moment I bought the bracelet until now, I’d never thought about the fact that he might be curious of how I was able to afford the thing. Nope. Didn’t think. Except that he would love it, kiss me and express how much he appreciates it, take me to the party, then give me an even bigger, orgasmic, tongues and fingers “thank you” when we returned.
“The bracelet is five thousand, Xavi,” I nonchalantly replied. “I have a credit card with a ten thousand limit. I saw the bracelet, thought it would look wicked on your wrist, so I put it on my card. Now can we go?”
Lifting his head, Xavier gave me a look that had nothing but disappointment written all over it. “I look like an idiot to you? This piece, I know it. Coveted it. Know how much costs, Chino. Nearly a hundred thou.”
“Well, now you have it,” I snapped, growing impatient. “Put it on your wrist and let’s go.”
“You seeing someone else, Chino?” he questioned, standing up and throwing the box down on the bed. “You got like…a sugar-daddy or something?”
I tried to hold it in, I really did, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t help the strangled laugh that left me. “Are you serious?”
Do people even use the term “sugar-daddy” anymore?
If I could see thunder, I’d use it as comparison to what Xavier looked like right now. “First it was the penthouse. Then it was the personal driver. Then you left me on your day-off and returned with gold and diamond jewelry and that suit. You might have switched the bags, Chino, but that’s not Forever 21. Know Versace when I see it. Said nothing. Let it slide. But now this bracelet?” He combed angry fingers back through his hair. “You so caught up in yourself that you think everyone around you is dumb?”
Sighing, I pressed two fingers to my forehead. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this relationship crap yet. Relationships meant truths and loyalty, and I wasn’t certain how much of those ingredients were in my veins.
This badgering thing was irritating me. Why did I owe anyone any kind of explanation? All I wanted was to live my life how I wanted to live it without people in my face asking me goddamn questions all the time.
Another reason why I stayed locked up with Jacob over the past two years. People were just…eww.
“Sask—”
“You dare try using Saskia or Dancer Douche or Tmar’s name to lie to me again Chino, I’m walking out of this room.”
I threw my hands up. “I’ve been suggesting we do that all along. We should go.”
“Chino!” he barked at me, taking a step closer. “Tell me if you’re seeing someone else! That where you went today? To see him?”
“You do realize that by asking me that you’re calling me a whore, right?” I said evenly. “Even though I told you last night that before you I’ve only ever been with my son’s father.”
Backing up from me, he scrubbed his hands down his face, apologizing, “Sorry.” He made a low, throaty, sound of frustration and sat down on the bed. “You just…make my head hurt.”
“Why stay with me then?”
Lurching forward, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me to him and down on his lap, knocking a squeal out of me. “’Cause I like the pain,” he confessed to my cleavage.
“I paid for the bracelet from my trust fund.”
Heated gray eyes left my cleavage and landed on my face. “Got a trust fund?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fourte—Sixteen million.”
The disappointed expression from earlier returned. “Which is it?” His voice was tight, biting. “Fourteen or sixteen?”
Why did I lie about that just now? I could hear Saskia’s voice in my head: always check for toilet paper before you squat and blow your load, Ally, so you’ll have something to wipe all that shite from your arse.
“Twenty. It’s twenty million,” I compulsively lied again, then winced.
Xavier gently pushed me off his lap, and I stumbled a bit at the suddenness of it. “Can’t do this.”
“What?”
He stood, depriving me the courtesy of eye-contact. “Dunno if it’s really fourteen, seventeen, twenty, or if you even have a damn trust fund. But what I have discovered in the last few minutes, Chino, is that you’re a liar. Starting to question everything you’ve ever told me.” He brushed past me to the door. “Hate liars, Alina. Can’t be with one.” He wrenched the door open and slammed out of the room.
Didn’t know much about relationships, but I was certain he just broke up with me. And my only invitation to Jake’s party was through him. I had to find another way to get into that club so I could see Davian.
Fetching my cell from my clutch, I rang Mel and asked her to come get me, then hustled around packing up all my stuff.
If Lion was in L.A., he’d indubitably be attending Jake’s bash. If not, I’d have to ring Saskia and have her check if any of her L.A. contacts would be attending.
I picked up the Cartier box from the bed and popped it open, diamonds winking. Walking to the nightstand, I set the box down squarely. I bought it for him. He should keep it regardless of our abrupt ending. I had no use for it.
I grasped the handle of my pull-along and wheeled out of the room. Xena was pacing downstairs.
“Finally you’re read—oh, wow. I lurrrve your outfit. Girl, you could be on the red carpet! You look gorge!” she exclaimed when she saw me. “But anyway we need to go. Ice Steam left with our limo because we were taking too long. So we’re all piling up in Xavi’s Humm—” As if belatedly spotting my suitcase, she changed tact mid-sentence, asking, “What’s that for?”
“Xavi broke up with me.”
Her face fell. She looked authentically disheartened by this despite her attitude the day before. “Ah…wha—okay. So…you can still come, you know.”
I shook my head. “Nah. It’s okay. I’ll just wait outside for my ride.”
We walked outside in awkward silence, and I parked my pull-along and sat down on the low bench outside the door.
The Hummer’s head and taillights were on, engine running, and I could see smoke swirling out of the tinted windows which were powered up halfway. The smoke was on either Tex or Mark’s account. Leo and Xavier weren’t smokers.
Xena closed the front door and hesitated. “Are…are you sure you don’t want to wait inside?”
“Nope. I’m good.”
As she started down the steps, her cell chirped and she paused to read the screen, then turned to me. “Xavi wants you to know you’re still invited to the party and that you don’t have to leave tonight.”
Giving her a sweet smile, I shook my head to decline. “I don’t like being where I’m not wanted. Yesterday you threatened me. Earlier Tex labeled me a she-devil. Fifteen minutes ago your brother dumped me. I think my welcome at Beach Rock is worn.”
She opened her mouth as if to refute that, thought better of it and resumed her descent down the steps. But when she got to the bottom, she turned again to ask, “Did you even like my brother? I’m not trying to be a bitch or anything, but…you don’t seem to care he broke up with you?”
I should have seen that question coming. I got them all the time, with tilts of the heads and puzzled expressions as if I were an alien doing the Gangnam Style in black shades.
Did you love your parents? You don’t seem to care that they were murdered in your home. Do you even love your son? You don’t seem to care that he’s in pain from his umbilical hernia. Do you like your cousin? You don’t seem to care he’s never around. Do you even care about Saskia? How could you let her flip a couch after witnessing her suffer through two painful miscarriages?
“I don’t know what’s in my veins,” I told her. And that was the honest truth.
Xena nodded slowly, studying me, a crease between her brows. “Well, I guess this break up is the best thing for the both of you, then.”
She continued to the Hummer and climbed in the passenger side. Even then, the vehicle didn’t move for a good three minutes, and I could hear Xena’s high-pitched voice above the men’s deep grumbles.
In my lap, my phone buzzed. I glanced down at the screen to see an incoming text message from Xavier. Without even opening the text, I deleted it. If he had something to say to me, he needed to get his big ass out of the vehicle and say it to my face. We weren’t in high school.
I made a show of putting my cellphone into my clutch and snapping it shut.
Seconds later, the Hummer screeched off.
The minute the taillights were out of view I took out my phone and hit up Lion on Whatsapp.
Alina: Heard Ninety Mile’s throwing a bday pawty 4 Jake @ SiTo. U going?
Lion T’mar: How you know about that?
