Surrounded By Knight

by A. N. Hennessy

  “What are you doing, Addison?” Her voice was soft and delicate like I imagined her skin would be, with a tremble of irritation stirred within.

  “Their bus broke down and he can’t reach anyone to come get them, so I offered for them to ride to the ranch with us.”

  She did? That must have been what she was sputtering when the country flower stole my breath and concentration. Luck seemed to have mercy upon me; sympathizing its regard with these two as a payoff. Huh, keep trying to get service to find a mechanic to retrieve the bus or occupy my time with these two beauties that literally came out of nowhere? Let’s see, chicks or bus? Did I seriously just ask myself that?

  Fuck the bus, hot babes win every time!

  “You did what? Addie, you—”

  “Good grief, Izzy. Shut up,” Chatty said, interrupting her. “Do you not realize who this is?” The girl looked over at me. Her stunning blues scanned my face, then traveled over the rest of my body. I smiled brightly, enjoying how her eyes just roamed across my torso. She really was entirely clueless as to who I was.

  Why did I find that so hot?

  Turning back to the girl whom she called Addie, she said, “Nope, can’t say I do.”

  I was dumbfounded. Not once since I’d become famous had I met a girl as fine as her and not been recognized for who I was or know me even better after I introduced her to the bed at the back of the Knight Slayer. Shit, even the fugly ones knew me, just not in the ‘better’ way.

  Before Addie could enlighten her, I stepped forward and held out my hand in what I assumed was a polite southern gesture – or did southern people hug?

  Fuck if I knew.

  “I’m Trevelin Knight,” I introduced myself. She placed her dainty hand in mine, still with a blank face. I smiled yet again at how her small hand felt wrapped within mine. Her eyes took on a warmer color at my touch, and a jolt of what I could only describe as a simmering chill shot through me—from hand to chest to dick. “Lead singer of the Knight Raiders,” I offered for further information, hoping it might ring a bell.

  She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard of you.” As she pulled her hand free from mine, the burning sensation left with it.

  “Yeah, you have. Their new song is the one I sing in the shower all the time,” Addie explained, elbowing her as if trying to jar her memory.

  “Oh, that raunchy one...‘bout fucking a girl?”

  I couldn’t stifle my small laugh. Her country slang saying the f-bomb was just too fuckin’ cute. She didn’t see the humor in it though as she glared at me. Damn, she seriously needed to stop looking at me like that before I gave passerby’s one hell of a raunchy show.

  “C’mon, it’s not that vulgar,” I teased, nudging her gently with my shoulder.

  Smiling a smile that did funny things to my stomach, she shook her head, “No, it’s pretty crude.”

  “It has the word love in it. A few times actually.”

  “Pft, as if that somehow makes it a good song.”

  I didn’t miss the sense of bitterness she put into her tone, to which only made the snake in my pants squirm. I wanted to add to the moment so I could see that smile on her full glossy lips again, but the bus door opened causing them both to look and see who it was.

  “Hey, man, you—what the fuck, Trev? You got hot chicks out here and didn’t come get me? I told you to stop holding out on me man. I share,” Reed complained with a sour face. “When possible,” he added, stepping off the bus.

  “There’s a problem with that statement, seeing as how we aren’t anyone’s to share. Someone just wanted to be a good samaritan today,” Country seethed toward Reed, then to Addie. I didn’t know what was hotter – her in those boots giving me that damn smile that made my stomach and chest feel all sorts of weird or her spouting off all pissy to Reed.

  I was going to have to go with both.

  There was something about her that emanated grace, wit, spunk and something else. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

  “Ooh, a feisty one. It’s all right, candy panties, I wasn’t trying to be a douche. I just get a little excited in the presence of beauty.” Reed flashed them both his seductive lip curl that usually made the girls melt at the knees, but these two were different; they weren’t falling for his rarely seen charm.

  “I’m going to start by saying I don’t know who y’all are and I could really care less...so, your I’m in a band crap? Not gonna work.” She shook her head. “Second off, we have somewhere to be. So good luck with the bus and have a Happy Thanksgiving.” Country grabbed her friends arm to escort her away.

  I was glad my hands were in my pockets because I was so turned on that it made it easier for me to conceal my growing hard-on.

  They looked so much alike I guessed the girls were sisters. Country had longer, darker and wavier hair and was very petite with a dynamite attitude where the girl she had been calling Addie was a little taller with straight light brown hair that stopped right below her shoulders. She also had on more makeup than Country and was very talkative. My theory was both girls had a killer-ass body underneath their clothes, and I was beyond hoping that I could turn that theory into fact.

  Addie pulled her arm free when Country tried to pull her back to their vehicle. “Wait, Izzy! They need help. Reed was just joking. Weren’t you, Reed?” Addie looked at him, lifting her eyebrows.

  I choked back a laugh. The girl was clearly a fan, because she knew Reed’s name, and I found it funny that she wasn’t afraid to bite his pompous ass. Jace would get a kick out of this shit.

  Reed seemed flustered, so I nudged him to answer. “Yeah, sure...I was teasing. Ha-ha.”

  I mustered a laugh, knowing good and well he wasn’t and that he was just as affected by this dynamic duo as I was. Not to mention his hysterical shift to Addie’s hasty banter toward him.

  I walked closer to Country, my hands still shoved in my pockets which served multiple purposes. Crouching down when l got in front of her so we were eye level, I pouted. “What about it, Country, can you help us out?” Leaning closer to her face, I added, “Don’t mind Reed. Rumor has it he’s a butthole baby. He doesn’t know the difference between in and out or up and down.” I winked at her playfully.

  She returned my playfulness with a small laugh as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking between me, Reed and back to Addie.

  I didn’t know what it was with her, but she seemed impenetrable to my best boyish charm. I was going to have to kick it up a notch...or two. “Please?” I pouted more, efficaciously rolling down my bottom lip.

  Her face lightened, secretly trying to hide a smile that had my insides furiously battling to comprehend while it enticed girly fuzziness to inhabit, one that hinted a wink of a dimple by her chin.

  Girly fuzziness? You may now call me a pussy!

  “Fine! But Momma ain’t going to be happy.” She looked at Addie when she said this. I was just glad to see she couldn’t resist my sad face. That shit just may come in handy.

  “Whatever, she’ll freak in her pants. This is like bringing home four really hot stray dogs to her.”

  Country’s lip turned up like she either smelt something bad or was trying her best to impersonate Elvis. I found it strangely adorable as hell.

  “Five, Country. Can’t forget our driver.”

  Without a smile or a sparkle in her unnatural blue eyes, she turned away from me and headed to the passenger side of the SUV. “I don’t care, just get y’alls crap. I have things I gotta get done today. And my name’s Izzy,” she shot back, getting into the vehicle. I tried not to smile. I didn’t want Reed to see that this chick was getting to me.

  “She always like that?” I turned to Addie as I pointed back at the SUV that now contained the most beautiful, sassy, puss-in-boots I’d ever encountered.

  “She’s temperamental, hotheaded and likes everything to go as planned. She also thought y’all were the Hannibal Lecter types and were going to chop me into
tiny little pieces,” Addie laughed.

  Shifting my feet, I chuckled. “Yeah, we get that all the time,” I joked, grazing my bottom lip with my teeth. Addie’s eyes watched, mimicking my action. I laughed inwardly, knowing I had her in the bag if I wanted her, but I was revved and riled for the challenge sitting in the SUV. I was tired of all the fake-n-shake whores – no offense to Addie.

  “Get what y’all need and pack it in the Expedition. I’ll have my Uncle Marvin come pick up the bus. He should be able to fix it for ya.”

  “Your uncle’s a mechanic?” Reed asked, perplexed.

  “No, he’s a ballet dancer,” she barked sarcastically. Yep, they’re definitely sisters. “Just kidding,” she laughed, smacking Reed across the shoulder. “Yes, he’s a mechanic, and I’ll give him a call. Snap-snap, better hurry before Izzy blows her top.” Addie opened the back hatch of the vehicle and then went to the driver’s side and got in.

  Inside the bus, Reed slapped me on the back. “Dude, don’t call me a pussy or anything but...I think I may have just met my future ex-wife.”

  He looked out the large expansive windshield at the SUV parked in front of us.

  “Which one?” I asked dryly. I couldn’t understand why, but an unexpected jealous surge hit me at the thought of him saying Country. “I don’t think either one would give you the time of day, especially the country flower.”

  Reed narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Why the fuck not? She’s more like a wildflower. Or a hellcat is more like it if you ask me. But shit, it’s so fuckin’ hot. I could fuck her so hard she’d scream my name for days.” Without hesitation my fist slammed into his arm. “Ow! What the hell, ass-crack?” He clasped his arm, glowering at me.

  “Just leave her alone, Reed,” I hissed, walking past him to get my stuff and to tell the other guys what was going on.

  “Don’t act like that, Trev. I know that look. You want to make the hellcat purr like a little kitten. I know the rules – first dibs. You saw her first. I’ll fuck the other chick. She’s just as hot but without the fire.”

  Fire was definitely the right terminology, because something burning in that girl passed through her and shot straight into me. Now my insides felt like they were smoldering. It was a nonnative feeling that I’d never felt before.

  It was probably just indigestion or something.

  I did eat six tacos last night.

  Yeah, that’s what it is. I need to lay off the spicy shit. I’ll pop a few antacids and be just fine. Good as new.

  I found Bryson and Jace in their bunks and told them about the phone calls to Randy and Tucker which lead to no avail. Reed popped out of the bathroom and piped in about the two girls waiting in the SUV for us. Neither of them had any complaints, as long as they had something better to sleep on tonight beside the cramped bunks. We all scurried about stuffing basic essentials into our bags. I put fresh water in Rowdy’s terrarium—my pet snake—to keep him content while the bus was being repaired and grabbed my bag.

  I couldn’t exterminate the nervous, uneasy feeling that kept intensifying. There wasn’t an explanation for where it was coming from or why I felt it, but it was certainly out of the ordinary for me. I have never been nervous or uneasy a day in my life. I perform in front of a crowd of thousands daily for fucks sake. I shouldn’t be feeling like this.

  And it wasn’t like chicks made me nervous...far from it actually. I had conquered and mastered the playing fields of landing tasty, horny sex-pots whenever I wanted one. All it took was an enchanting smile on my behalf and their panties dropped like deadweight to the floor. Now my celebrity status bagged them left and right with ease, so there was no way this one girl had taken control. I was born to be in control, and with the way I grew up, you had to be. You quickly learned to replace your feelings and emotions for awareness and quick wit, along with a quick fist. She wasn’t getting to me.

  No way!

  Tomorrow was Thanksgiving, and by the way it looked, we were going to be spending the holiday with a strange family in the middle of what seemed like Hicksville, USA. Being with a strange family was nothing new to me, I just hated the holidays. They tended to bring up dark, lonely memories—memories I wished I could burn. Holidays were for those cute, close families that loved spending time with one another. Holidays were for people who...actually had a family.

  Chapter Three

  Izzy

  I pretty much stayed silent the entire ride to the ranch, even though the guys kept trying to engage me in conversation. All but the one who introduced himself as Trevelin Knight. However, I was grateful for his silence, because the voice on that man was enough to drive a saint to sin. I hadn’t felt the urge to speak, but Addie had been very forthcoming. She was her regular chatterbox self. No sooner did we get back in the vehicle had she started in on me about being a bitch to the Knight Raiders. I was still fuming at her for stopping on the side of the road in the first place. You just couldn’t pull over and help complete strangers anymore, especially women.

  That was called asking for trouble.

  Yeah, so what, they were a famous band. It didn’t mean they weren’t evil, corruptive sinners in some possible way. No matter your status in life it didn’t mean you were beyond committing a heinous crime.

  To top it all off, the crazy hussy invited all five of them to the ranch without even informing our parents. Dad was already extremely intolerable of the guys that came to the ranch, and Mom’s hands were full enough with preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t know how she would react to five strange men showing up at the house unannounced that she now had to feed.

  Technically our parents couldn’t say crap. We were adults and lived on our own...well, in the farm house located on the property, but still. Dad was going to go ape-shit when he finds out we picked up not one, not two, but five strange men off the side of the road whom could all be potential murderers.

  My mom liked to rescue abandoned animals; Addie liked to rescue broken down rock stars. To me, one was just as bad as the other. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Where the heck did she plan on keeping them anyways? I knew their bus wasn’t going to be fixed today or tomorrow, so unless someone picked them up they had nowhere else to go. There wasn’t a hotel for miles.

  Wow, this is going to be one great Thanksgiving. Addie’s a hoot, what can I say?

  Sweat dampened my palms when Addie pulled into the driveway and started the long haul down the fence-lined drive to the big two story brick house where we grew up. Nervous jitters took over, and I could feel the eyes of a certain tatted man boring into the side of my face.

  Seated behind Addie, he had a perfect view of my profile. Uncomfortable was what I was feeling at that exact second. I tried my darndest to not be fazed by him and his good looking band mates, but it was proving hard to do.

  The one that Addie had called Reed had a mouth nastier than a landfill, and I found it a pity for someone that handsome to be so crude. The dark hair he had maneuvered messily to the side did nothing but hide his rude personality within. In the end, he had that edge that most rock stars possessed, with colorful arms and a lip ring that accentuated his full bottom lip. His dark blue eyes seemed to gleam mirthfully, and only helped to conceal the crude edge I’d unfortunately heard the whole way home.

  The guy seated behind me was Jace, Reed’s younger brother from what I gathered, and he was just as equally attractive. They looked very similar in appearance, but Jace had shorter, spiky hair with a piercing going through his brow and a more tolerant mouth. There was no doubt their mother had gotten hell out of them both as teenagers.

  The last member was Bryson, and he seemed to be the most laidback one. I didn’t get a good look at him because he was in the very back with the driver, Jim, who had me laughing on numerous occasions for telling one of the guys to shut up because ladies were present or smacking them in the back of the head when they said something vulgar.

  Needless to say, Reed’s head was very acquainted with Jim’s hand,
and I found his childlike whining over the top and funny considering his ribald, obscene language. I realized on the short ride to the ranch that my dad was going to thoroughly love him – not.

  Did I mention how stupid Addie is?

  “Addie, this was all your idea and I had no part in it. Got it?” I turned to face her when she parked the vehicle.

  “Fine with me,” she openly stated. “I’m not afraid to take all the credit for my brilliance of bringing the Knight Raiders to the house for Thanksgiving.” She smiled at me cheekily.

  “We’ll be on our best behavior, Country, scouts honor.” Trevelin leaned between the seats, holding his hand up in what I assumed was the hand gesture for the Boy Scouts. I considered that funny, seeing as he probably had never been in the boy scouts.

  “Very comforting words, and my name is Izzy.”

  “Don’t like it. Country fits ya better. Izzy sounds...I don’t know, gross,” he snarled and quickly got out of the vehicle.

  Gross? What?

  That ass!

  Slinging open my door, I marched as fast as my short, boot-clad legs could carry me to the other side of the SUV where the ass – Trevelin – stood.

  “Gross? I’m gross?” I emphasized, pointing to myself. “I just got a darn pornographic show seared into my head no thanks to your friend and his obscene obsession with big breasts and really gross wet areas,” I spat at him, gesturing to the vehicle where his gross friend was located. “And Izzy is short for Isabel, you rude impudent jerk.”

  Him insulting my name had completely wreaked havoc on my temper. I didn’t even know the vandal and he was making tactless remarks to me. To add to my anger, he had a smug expression on his face, and I didn’t know whether to scream at him or slap it off.

  So I did neither and turned to walk away, livid with myself for the swooning flutters taking place in my stomach. Violence never solved anything.