The Album: What happens when you fall in love with a rock star? (Cruise Control Book 1)

by Sian Ceinwen

  “Kick his ass!” Heather added.

  Sebastian pouted, “you’re so mean to me, Heather. Nobody ever roots for me to win.”

  “Because we don’t need to,” Heather pointed out.

  “Good point,” Sebastian replied as Gabriel failed to sink a ball, leaving Sebastian set up for his next shot. He proceeded to sink five stripes in a row before he missed sinking a sixth.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” Gabriel said as he took a shot but failed to sink a ball, “I don’t think I’m going to be the one to beat him.”

  “Better men than you have tried,” Sebastian said as he sunk another and lined up his next shot to sink his final ball.

  “Hmph, if you say so,” Gabriel grimaced as Sebastian sunk the ball with little effort.

  “Center pocket,” Sebastian replied while pointing to the center pocket to his left with his cue.

  “Really?” Hayden asked, “why wouldn’t you go for the corner pocket?”

  “That’s why I’m the pool shark, not you,” Sebastian said and leaned over to neatly pocket the eight ball in the center pocket as he’d indicated, “next victim?”

  “I’ll go next,” Ariana said and stood up to take the pool cue from Gabriel’s hands.

  “Good luck, sweetheart,” he told her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

  Ariana immediately looked around the room to see if any of the other patrons had seen, but it didn’t look like they had. Sebastian had racked up the balls again, and Ariana took the first shot. She wasn’t very good at breaking, so she usually aimed to break off as few balls from the triangle as possible on the first shot when she did it.

  Gabriel hated it when she took this tactic because it didn’t set him up for a shot straight away afterward. Sebastian, however, didn’t mind at all. So, Ariana figured a deviation from her usual playing style might be in order. She whacked the balls as hard as she could like she’d seen Gabriel do and managed to sink one striped ball.

  “Way to go, Ari!” Gabriel cheered.

  “You can beat him,” Heather joined in.

  “Once again, so not feeling the love,” Sebastian said and watched Ariana take her next shot.

  “Go in!” Ariana told the ball, but it completely ignored her instructions and bounced off the side of the pocket and rolled back to the center of the table.

  “Too bad,” Sebastian said while sinking a solid that she’d set him up for.

  “Well, there goes my chance,” Ariana told the group as Sebastian sank another one.

  “You never know, you might beat him,” Heather said doubtfully, but as she did, the ball Sebastian had hit bounced out of the pocket.

  “There you go. I’ve set you up, too,” Sebastian said.

  “You’re too kind,” the white ball had rolled perfectly in alignment with the number fourteen, which Ariana sent rolling into the pocket.

  “Come on, Ari, kick his ass,” Gabriel told her as she took her next turn. Her satisfaction at sinking the ball was short-lived, however, as the white rolled in after it.

  “Two shots,” Sebastian said, then turned to Ariana, “unless you want the ball back on the table?”

  “No, just go ahead and take your turn,” Ariana was resigned to a loss.

  Sure enough, Sebastian proceeded to win the game, sinking ball after ball until his were all down, and the eight ball was sunk in the corner pocket he nominated.

  “Well played,” Sebastian told her.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” she poked her tongue out at him.

  “No, you really are getting better,” he smiled at her.

  Ariana took her seat again as Harrison stepped up to play, and Gabriel went to the counter for another round of drinks. She was watching the game when she noticed that Gabriel hadn’t come back with their drinks yet.

  Ariana glanced over at the counter to see Gabriel surrounded by a group of four girls that had previously been playing pool at one of the other tables. He didn’t look like he was flirting with them from his body language, but they were definitely flirting with him.

  One of the girls was talking to him, and he was listening to her. He had their drinks in his hands and had obviously been on his way back to them when the girls stopped him. The girl talking to him had one hand on his arm in a possessive manner. The other girls were hovering, and they kept adjusting their hair or their clothes into what they must have thought would be a more attractive look for him.

  Gabriel said something to the girls, and Ariana was horrified to watch a couple of them grab the rest of the drinks and follow behind Gabriel as he led them over to their table. Heather followed Ariana’s gaze and hissed like an angry cat.

  “He is not doing that, surely,” she grumbled to Ariana.

  Ariana shrugged, “it looks like he is.”

  They didn’t manage to say anything else before Gabriel arrived with the girls in tow.

  “Hi, guys,” Gabriel said casually, “these lovely ladies are fans and asked if they could possibly join us for a game or two of pool.”

  “We would love to have you join us, ladies,” Sebastian said with a salacious glance at all the tanned, exposed flesh the girls had.

  “Of course you would,” Heather muttered to Ariana.

  “Hi, my name’s Kylie,” one of the girls said, “and this is Lisa, Sarah, and Kaitlin.”

  The girls all waved as Kylie said their names.

  “Well, I’m Sebastian—”

  “Of course,” Sarah interrupted with a giggle, and Ariana couldn’t help but glare at her.

  “—and this is Hayden, Harrison, Heather, and Ariana. You’ve met Gabriel, obviously,” Sebastian finished.

  With the introductions completed, the game resumed so that Sebastian could finish beating Harrison. Gabriel began to walk over to stand near Ariana, but he caught her gaze, and she glared at him, so he froze and moved to stand over to the side.

  Kylie and Lisa quickly rushed over to stand on either side of him while Ariana seethed internally. In his defense, Gabriel had probably just been trying to be nice to his fans. She watched his interactions with them, and he really didn’t seem to be flirting.

  They were still practically slobbering over him, however. Ariana felt slightly ill watching them touch him or giggle sycophantically at anything he said. Knowing exactly what they wanted from him was making her feel sick.

  Ariana didn’t play pool again. She just sat in the corner with Heather, and they exchanged bitchy remarks here and there. Surprisingly, Heather was right. The girls didn’t seem at all interested in Harrison.

  Ariana supposed that the fact they weren’t going after a man they knew was taken while his girlfriend was sitting right in front of them was something of a positive. Somehow she found it hard to think kindly of them when they were practically drowning in their own drool while looking at Gabriel, though.

  Ariana gritted her teeth as she watched Sebastian showing one of the girls, Kaitlin, how to play pool. He’d put his arms around her as Gabriel has done when teaching Ariana.

  “Can you show me how to play?” Kylie purred at Gabriel.

  “It’s pretty straightforward; just do what Sebastian told Kaitlin to do,” Gabriel said politely, not moving from his spot.

  “Yes, but couldn’t you show me?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

  “Not really, I’m not the best player, Sebastian probably could,” Gabriel shrugged.

  “Never mind,” Kylie sulked and took her shot.

  “So, I know that Heather is Harrison’s girlfriend,” Ariana overheard Sarah say to Hayden, “but who’s that Ariana chick?”

  “She’s…” Hayden trailed off, and his gaze locked with Ariana’s, and he seemed clueless as to how he should answer her question.

  A part of Ariana desperately wanted him to tell her that she was Gabriel’s girlfriend. She wanted to walk over to Gabriel, place her arms around him, and kiss him passionately to stake her claim. He belonged to her, not the random girls hanging over him now. Ariana knew sh
e wouldn’t do that, though.

  Even though she couldn’t imagine leaving, even after all this time, and even while secure in the knowledge that he was in love with her, a part of her still felt as though this was transient. It was something she was trying to get past. Her need to be unknown made life difficult at times, like tonight, when she was watching girls throw themselves at her boyfriend.

  “Sorry, who is she?” The girl repeated her question.

  “She’s just a friend of ours,” Gabriel called out to Sarah.

  Ariana hadn’t realized that he was listening to their conversation. She caught his eye, and he shrugged at her, looking annoyed. Even though it was the answer that she’d asked him to give, it stung hearing him say it that way—just a friend.

  “Excuse me,” Ariana mumbled and strode off towards the bathroom.

  She shut herself in a stall and felt tears flow from her eyes. Why couldn’t she take the easy path? Why couldn’t she sacrifice her privacy for her relationship with Gabriel? It would make her life much easier in the short term, but she had to think of the long run—would it really be easier?

  What if they broke up, and the entire world knew her as Gabriel Knight’s ex? It would be too difficult, too painful to deal with. Ariana was still struggling with herself when she heard someone open the door to the toilet and come inside.

  “Heather?” Ariana assumed her friend would’ve followed her to check on her, and she wiped her face as she opened the stall door.

  “Who are you, really?” Sarah was standing at the sink in front of Ariana’s stall, touching up her makeup, and she caught Ariana’s eyes in the mirror.

  “I’m friends with the band,” Ariana replied automatically.

  “I bet you are; that’s why you’re in here crying. Do you have something with Sebastian?”

  Ariana assessed the situation. She could see how Sarah could come to that assumption. Gabriel’s behavior had been impeccable, and nothing that she, as his girlfriend, should have a problem with.

  Hayden had definitely been flirting with Sarah before she’d come in here, but he had nothing on Sebastian, who was absolutely incorrigible. Ariana would absolutely have been jealous and crying in the toilets if she and Sebastian had been together. Sarah had finished with her makeup and turned to face Ariana, waiting for an answer.

  “No, I don’t have any kind of relationship with Sebastian,” Ariana replied as she walked to the sink next to Sarah and washed her hands for something to do.

  “Hayden, then? You were eavesdropping on our conversation, I saw you,” her words had an accusing edge to them.

  “Yes, I guess I was. I apologize, but no, I don’t have anything going with Hayden, either.”

  “Gabriel? Oh my god, you’re the girl everyone’s been talking about,” Sarah’s eyes widened as she came to this realization.

  “No.” Ariana couldn’t manage to say anything else.

  “Yes, you are. Oh my god, that makes total sense, normally any guy would be drooling all over Kylie no matter how famous they are,” Sarah informed her.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go,” Ariana stammered.

  She rushed to the door and left the bathroom as quickly as she could. Striding quickly over to where Heather was still sitting, Ariana ignored the looks everyone was giving her.

  “I’m going back to the hotel,” she mumbled at Heather as she snatched up her purse and turned to leave.

  “Wait, darling, I’ll come with you,” Heather said.

  “No, Heather. You stay here; I’ll be fine,” Ariana’s voice trembled as she walked away.

  “Ari, don’t go,” Gabriel said in a low voice to her as she walked past him to leave.

  “Don’t, Gabriel,” she hissed and continued walking.

  Ariana walked out the front of the pool hall and looked around. It was a fairly busy area, and she spotted a taxi stand out the front of a restaurant across the street where a line of taxis waited.

  Ignoring the limousine they came in, Ariana crossed the street and got into a cab, directing the driver to take her to the hotel. She paid the driver and thanked him when they arrived. Ariana walked into the hotel and cursed when she realized that her room key was in Gabriel’s room. Her mind was a mess as she headed over to the Concierge’s desk and requested a new key for her room.

  She walked over to the elevator bank and pressed the button for the eighth floor, waiting for the elevator to arrive. When the doors finally opened, she got in, traveling quietly up to her floor. She walked to her room, swiped her card, and entered it.

  She slotted her card into the space near the door, turned the lights on in the room, and she looked around. None of her belongings were in this room; they were all up in Gabriel’s suite. In fact, she hadn’t even bothered coming to this room at all before now.

  Ariana placed her purse on top of the cabinet that was under the LCD television hanging on the wall, sighed, and went to sit down on the bed. She felt horribly alone, and she knew it was her own fault.

  Aside from the fact that he’d invited the girls over to play pool with them, Gabriel hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Although he would have to be completely and utterly clueless if he didn’t have any idea just how that would make Ariana feel.

  She hadn’t been sitting there long at all before there was a knock at her door. Ariana was under no illusions as to who would be waiting for her on the other side of it. Ariana walked over to the door and opened it to see Gabriel, looking heartbreakingly beautiful.

  “Can I come in?” he asked her.

  “Of course,” she moved aside and gestured at the room beyond.

  He walked to the middle of the room and seemed at a loss as to where to sit. Instead, he turned to face Ariana. She walked over so that she was facing him; they were standing about five yards apart.

  “What the hell, Ariana?” Gabriel demanded, “you just left, and you wouldn’t talk to me or even let Heather come with you.”

  “I needed some time alone, Gabriel, was that too much to ask?” She frowned at him.

  “That’s fine, you can have your alone time, but you could at least wait until you’re safe to get it.”

  “I was perfectly safe. I caught a taxi, it was fine,” Ariana shrugged.

  “You might not have been, though, you didn’t think I would worry about you being on your own in a strange city?” Gabriel’s whole body was coiled like a spring, and Ariana could feel the waves of tension rolling off him.

  “I thought you’d barely even notice me leaving. I thought you were sufficiently distracted with the half-naked girl practically lying back on the pool table yelling ‘fuck me!’ at you,” Ariana said through gritted teeth.

  “That is not fair, Ariana,” Gabriel’s hands balled into fists, “you know that’s not fair.”

  “Why? Because you didn’t do anything with her? It didn’t mean she wasn’t trying it on with you,” Ariana shrugged and turned away, unable to face his glare.

  “Exactly!” Gabriel exclaimed, “I didn’t do anything with her, Ariana, because I love you. Something I would’ve quite happily informed them of, but you won’t let me tell anyone about us. This is what you wanted, remember? You don’t want people to know about us, so I didn’t clear anything up with them.”

  “Is that why you brought them over?” Ariana yelled at him, whirling to face him. She felt a surge of fury flow through her like she’d never felt before in her life.

  “I brought them over because they were fans, they were nice, they were polite, and I appreciate them liking our music, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there are times that I am tired as fuck of hiding our relationship and yeah, maybe there was a part of me that did think this was the consequence of what you’ve asked me to do.”

  Ariana was hurt to hear the confirmation that even if he hadn’t done it entirely on purpose, some part of it had been spiteful.

  “That was pretty fucking shitty, Gabe. They were flirting with you before you even brought them over, surely yo
u knew how I’d feel?” Ariana echoed her earlier thoughts out loud.

  “Ari, girls always flirt with me, but I don’t think anything of it because I don’t want them,” he took a slow step towards her and spread his arms wide, palms up to gesture for a truce, “I only want you. I crossed a line by bringing them over, and I’m sorry that I hurt you by doing it.”

  Ariana sighed heavily. She knew how much easier everything could be for them if she just gave in to this and let it be known that they were together but that life came with its own challenges. It had been obvious to her how much hiding their relationship had started to grate on him, but now he’d openly told her. The truth was, though, that at the core of it all, the only thing she really wanted was him.

  “I want you, too, if you don’t hate me for the way I sometimes act,” tears began rolling down her cheeks as Gabriel took another step forward and wrapped his arms around her.

  “I could never hate you, Ariana. I thought you knew that by now,” he said into her hair.

  “I know,” she whispered.

  There were still so many unresolved issues between them. Things were left unsaid that perhaps should’ve been discussed, but, as usual, Ariana couldn’t hold her anger around Gabriel. She couldn’t keep any doubts about their relationship or the situation they were in at the forefront of her mind when all of her thoughts were erased by his touch.

  They collapsed onto the bed together. Ariana was exhausted physically and emotionally, but she needed to be with Gabriel. She needed to know this one thing between them could never be spoiled by anything around them. They fell asleep together an hour later in Ariana’s hotel room, all the unsaid things whirling around Ariana’s mind as she slept fitfully that night.

  The Tenth Song

  She was sitting in Gabriel’s dressing room after a morning soundcheck and writing her novel when he burst in and told her to follow him.

  “Where are we going?” She asked as she trailed behind him.

  “Shhh, keep your voice down,” he put a finger to his lips.

  “Why all the cloak and dagger?” She asked quietly and laughed.