Surrounded By Knight

by A. N. Hennessy

  There was one blonde I saw in pictures with Trevelin on more than one occasion, they seemed especially friendly. You could see it all in her eyes that were focused adoringly on him in every photo. Some of the pictures were even taken at the Playboy Mansion, and frankly, I didn’t expect differently. She looked like centerfold material.

  I also convinced myself one day to download their albums to my iPod and listen to their songs so I could get a sense of their style of music. I already knew that Trevelin could sing, but listening to it through the speakers of my iPod whenever I wanted made it pretty close to magical. Then when you entwine his voice with Jace’s and their vocals melded together, it was dang close to life altering.

  There were even several songs where Bryson rapped some of the verses. I thought they were amazing, with a unique sound quality, like if you were to mix Rock, Punk, and a sprinkle of Hip-hop in a blender then poured them out, you’d have the edgy, alternative sound of the Knight Raiders.

  Someone rubbed against my side. I looked over to Trevelin sitting back down beside me with a salad in one hand and a basket of rolls in the other. “Did someone say she was hungry?” He smiled brightly, sitting the salad and rolls in front of me.

  “Is this why you went to the counter?” I asked him, hiding my puzzlement.

  “Yep, couldn’t let my favorite girl starve to death, could I?” A twinkle in his uniquely colored eyes made my breath catch. “I told the waitress she better get me some food and quick because my girl was growing fangs and foaming at the mouth. Hope you like extra ranch on your salad.” Oh my god, I do!

  I was speechless to the point of tears, and I was also a moron. He wasn’t flirting with that girl. He was thinking about me—his favorite girl, whatever that was supposed to mean.

  I didn’t care. My heart began to strum against my ribs at his thoughtfulness. His whimsical eyes that were a misty green in this light studied my face and his full pink lips curled at the corners. “Do I need to feed it to you too?” he asked, reaching for the fork. I’m sure he thought I was stupid, sitting there staring at him as wordless as a mime. Heck, I felt completely stupid.

  I opened my mouth to the leafy greens, not able to take my eyes from his, and letting him feed me. I think I even moaned when the soft lettuce touched my tongue.

  One thing was for sure – the more I was with the rock star, the more I was seeing the real him.

  Trevelin Knight wasn’t some bad boy rocker that thought of no one but himself. He was a soft, gentle, caring person that had a rough start at life and now had a rampant reputation from all the partying and women his lifestyle threw at him.

  It was a shame that everyone didn’t get to see the Trevelin Knight I saw—for if they did, they’d love him a million times more.

  Chapter Ten

  Trevelin

  I watched in amazement as Country devoured her bacon cheeseburger and fries like she hadn’t eaten in days. I enjoyed the fact that she actually let me feed her most of the salad I’d gotten for her. The girl could seriously put some food away when she got hungry.

  I would like to see what else she could devour with that delightful mouth of hers when she was hungry—for something other than food. I knew for a fact her lips were beyond soft, and probably so was the rest of her flawless skin. I ‘bout creamed my jeans when the waitress delivered our food and Country let out a soft moan of approval when she took her first bite. That sexy as fuck sound was still repeating in my head.

  We were all finished eating and just sitting and enjoying talking to one another and getting to know the girls more when Country’s phone started ringing.

  “Who is it?” Addie asked her, trying to look over her shoulder so she could nosily see the screen of the phone.

  “Noneya, nosy pants,” she teased her playfully as she answered the phone. “Hello? Hey...No...I was on there this morning. Why?”

  She waited while listening to the other person on the line as I grew curious as to what the person was saying. In seconds, her smiling face turned to a hideous frown and she looked toward me with the phone pressed firmly against her ear.

  “What?” I shrugged, taking a drink from my beer. She had this look that she was stabbing me with, carving through my insides like I’d done something wrong. She started viciously chewing on her bottom lip, shaking her head at me.

  I had come to believe Addie was a very nosy chick, because she leaned into her sister, eavesdropping on the conversation on the other end.

  “Well, it’s not true, Dustin, and you should know that! Were you not there that night?” She paused again, listening some more as her cute frown increased. “Are you kidding me? I can’t believe that. I wasn’t even wearing that color... Well, it’s not true, so shut up before I come back to Oklahoma just to kick your ass... You know I can,” she warned firmly. And I had no doubt she could kick some major ass. It turned me on just thinking about it. “Yeah, you too, bye.” She hit End Call, and her blue eyes darkened as they locked hard on me.

  “What did Dustin want?” Addie demanded, shaking Country’s arm.

  “What’d I do?” The way she stared at me I knew it was something to do with me. I instantly started brainstorming, trying to figure out what I could have done that her cousin Dustin would know about and call to tell her.

  Fuck! He must have found out about the forget-her-fucks in the storage room. It wasn’t a secret that something happened that night, but it didn’t mean I wanted her to know in full detail.

  “I know what you have done. Or should I say what the world thinks you’ve done. Tucker just sent me this to show you,” Jace said, scrolling through his phone.

  I looked at him funny. “What the hell did he send you?”

  “Here, see for yourself.”

  He handed me his phone from across the table. I took it while everyone watched. Focusing on the small screen, my eyes popped open to a picture of me and Country on the stage at Buck’s. It was taken at the end of the song we sung together, right when I had leaned in to kiss her. And it was zoomed in so close you couldn’t mistake the red lipstick that was smeared all over my mouth. Below the picture, it read:

  The rumor mill is buzzing up a storm over lead singer of the Knight Raiders, Trevelin Knight. Sources say he spent his holiday weekend nestled in a small southern town in Oklahoma with a certain unknown lady.

  The source has confirmed the pair was spotted together and gave one helluva performance at a local bar. And by the looks of the photos and videos that are pouring in by the dozens, the duo got hot and heavy with a secret performance of their own before wowing the locals with their duet. By all the lipstick painted on Trevelin’s face, we would say the tatted rock star seemed to be enjoying his stay with this unknown brunette beauty.

  At the end of their duet, the sultry mystery girl gave Mr. Knight a not so private lap dance on stage that we are sure the hard-core party animal loved. Rumor also states that the angelic vixen has a voice that could open up the heavens, and she and her sister, who has a blessed voice of her own, are now on tour with the wild bunch of sex-craved, booze sucking, tattooed covered Knight Raiders.

  This has yet to be confirmed by the band, but we are certain we will find out soon enough. So what’s going to come from this new trending, unlikely pair? We are unsure, but they do say opposites attract.

  We just can’t figure out if this is the real deal or just another one of Trevelin Knight’s flavors of the week. Stay tuned to find out more about this developing couple.

  I could feel Country’s eyes boring into my flesh like a razor sharp knife, twisting and turning to make the pain more horrendous as I read the article again and again.

  I figured as much that there would be pictures and videos of our little surprise performance, though I never expected a whirlwind of rumors speculating Country and I to be an item. For some damned reason the newly untrue rumor didn’t faze me in the slightest. Actually, I fucking liked it.

  A hard, tight smile spread across my face as I read it one la
st time. The thought of people thinking Country was mine had every part of my body swimming with need. A need to make her exactly that.

  Mine.

  I hated that I wanted her so damn much. I hated the loss of control she made me feel, and I hated the way she was looking at me right fucking now. It made me want to shove my tongue down her throat and taste the mouth that I guaranteed was the sweetest dessert out there.

  I kissed her last night, though I didn’t get past her tender lips. Thinking about it made me want to caress every inch of her body. Lavish every sweet, soft area with heated warm kisses that would drive her wild. I wanted to hold her, press her tight against my chest, and tell her she belonged to me and no one else.

  Since when did I become such a damn pansy-ass? Never ever had I wanted to claim someone as mine. But that never ever wanted to hit the goddamn high road. And this new feeling in me had me wanting to do some crazy shit.

  Her determined scowl staring me down caused a deep, choked laugh to erupt from my chest. I had to bring some humor to the situation. “What’s wrong, babe? We can’t keep us a secret forever.”

  She exhaled so forcefully the air from her mouth blew around my face. The sigh even came with a small grumble that plainly said she didn’t find this funny in the slightest. “There is no us, Trevelin. Everyone assumes...that me and you... They think that we...”

  She couldn’t bring herself to say it. A small ache grew in my heart at the fearful look that was now imprinted on her beautiful face. Shit, are those tears in her eyes? I don’t want her to cry. Please don’t cry!

  “What, Kitten? They think it was you Trev fucked senseless in the storage closet at Buck’s?” Reed asked with a mouth full of his food.

  He might as well as punched her in the face, because that’s the reaction he got from her. Her mouth gaped open, and she looked from Reed to me with knowing eyes. Addie was about to die from anticipation with what was going on, so she leaned around Izzy and snatched Jace’s phone from my hand.

  Country suddenly pushed back from the table, the legs scraping across the floor created an awful noise as she abruptly stood. I caught a glint of sadness in her eyes when she jumped from her seat and stormed out of the restaurant.

  “Seriously? Can you not keep your fucking mouth shut?” I snapped at Reed.

  “Addie, why don’t you go check on her?” Jace suggested.

  Addie got up, and handed him his phone while giving me a grave look. Before passing me, she gravitated toward my ear, heatedly whispering, “She isn’t like all your other frequent flyers, Trevelin. Izzy is different. She has respect for herself, and as much as I wanted to hear she fucked your brains out, I don’t want her to be made out as some trampy fling to the goddamn world!”

  As cheery as Addie usually was, this was one time her voice wasn’t so peppy, with no sign of the smile that normally resided on her face. Instead it was full of unquestionable anger. She walked out the front door after Country while I turned my own anger toward Reed.

  He was lucky I didn’t come across the table and make him eat my damn fist.

  “Whatchya lookin’ at me like that for?”

  “Because I want to pound your fuckin’ face in, that’s why.”

  He held his hands up in mock innocence. “Sorry, bro, I didn’t know you didn’t want her to know about the slip-and-slide fun that went on with you and those two bitches at that stupid bar. Call me a goddamn lunatic, but I think you’re starting to develop something more for our little Kitten than a purring good time.”

  “Shut up, Reed,” Bryson barked, sounding pissed himself.

  “Why should I? Trev is the one that’s becoming all possessive over some stray piece of pussy,” he said. “He is totally pussying out on us. She is just a wet hole you’re having trouble sinking your balls into, and it’s turning them blue as we speak.”

  I literally jumped from the table, lunging for the bastard. Unfortunately Jace caught me, holding me back from pounding the fucking hell out of my best friend.

  “I’m going to kick your ass, Reed. You better sleep with your fucking eyes open tonight!” I shouted.

  “Trev, clam down man. You’re causing a scene.”

  I took a few deep breaths and looked to my left to see people from the other tables watching us, and caught the funny stares of Big Mac and Double-D.

  I didn’t give a shit. Reed talking about Country like she was worthless made my blood boil. All I could see was red. I felt like a raging bull ready to plow anyone over who stepped in my path. I didn’t even care that it was my best friend holding the red flag who I wanted to beat into a pile of mush, someone who I had considered a brother since I was a kid. All I knew was that I didn’t care who it was, they better not talk shit about Country like she was some sautéed primed piece of meat splayed out for anyone to take a bite out of.

  Pain lurched in my chest as awareness of why she ran out of here so upset hit home. I didn’t want Reed or any other man thinking of her that way, but that was exactly how she was feeling right now over a photo of me and her. Her devastation was my fault.

  If there was ever a moment I wish I could go back in time and take something back, it was now. I’d go back and I would have never touched those forget-her-fucks. Instead, I would have swallowed my pride from watching her sing with some other dude on stage and sat there like a good friend would and tell her how fucking awesome she did afterwards.

  But no. I was a selfish piece of shit that only thought about what I wanted. And what I really wanted was outside suffering because of my mistake. My mistake that now had everyone thinking I fucked her in the back room like some meaningless hookup. She would be anything but meaningless, and there was no way I would’ve taken her in a back room at some bar like a cheap hooker.

  I glanced over to Reed, who was standing there looking at me stunned. He might be built bigger than me, but that had never intimidated me. I made my voice as calm and collected as possible and pointed right at him. “Don’t you ever talk about her like that again. Do I make myself clear?” He only nodded with astonished, deep blue eyes. “She isn’t some stray piece of pussy to me, and I’m not going to sit back and let you, or anyone, talk about her like she’s trash,” I said. “Grow the fuck up, Reed. She’s a good girl. A little high-strung at times, but she doesn’t deserve you always acting like she is a fuckin’ pocket-pussy.” I made sure my glare was stern. “I don’t know what it is about her, and all three of you can call me whatever the fuck you want...but I like her. And I will ram my fist down your throat if I catch you so much as looking at her with wild, horny eyes. Got it?”

  When I finished my rant they were all looking at me like I had done lost my mind. And the truth was they’re probably right. My mind was all kinds of fucked up when it thought about Country.

  “This shit is insane. Trevelin Knight doesn’t settle for one chick. He bangs ‘em all. I swear if you ever say you can’t make a show because it’s your turn to carpool, I’m stomping your bitch-ass.”

  I tried not to, but between the crazy look on Reed’s face and his true words, I laughed. I believe he was in denial. It’d always been us. Bryson has had Jade since high school, and Jace would score around with a few different girlfriends now and then. They never worked out, of course, since he could never keep his dick to himself, but Reed and I had always stuck together. Two single guys who weren’t afraid to fuck around. Parties, alcohol, pussy, weed; you name it, Reed and I lived it.

  “That won’t happen, bro.”

  He looked at me rubbing his face, seeming to realize the gist of the moment. “Sorry, schnookums, I didn’t know you felt that way.” Smirking, he walked around the table and pulled me into a bro-hug. Our spitting match had ended and now that he and Jace knew how I felt, the stiffened mood that was looming between us lifted. He pulled back and pinched my cheeks. “You know I would’ve never said half that shit to her if I’d known you liked her like that, right?” I nodded. “This doesn’t mean you’re going to start wearing tampons a
nd shit now, does it? Since you’re going to be like...all emotional and crap.”

  I laughed but threw a punch that landed hard against his arm to let him know what I thought of his comment. “I’m not some sissy ass little bitch just because I like a girl, you twat. And no one better tell her anything that just happened in here either.” I looked between all of them, then over toward our security. Big Mac crooked his lips at me.

  “We won’t, dude,” Bryson assured. “Go talk to her. We’ll settle the check.”

  Outside it had started to snow. A chill crept up my spine that made me shiver as I looked around for Country and Addie. I spotted them on a bench by the diner. Shoving my hands in my pockets for warmth, I made my way to them. Country was shivering and her head was looking down with her forehead resting on her hands. I sat down beside her, pulled a hand from my pocket, and placed it onto her back. She stiffened at my touch and rose up. When she saw it was me her lips pressed flat.

  “Addie, can I talk to her please?”

  “Sure,” she said, getting up to go back inside.

  I could feel Country’s little body shake from the biting cold under my touch. I wanted nothing more than to wrap her in my arms and give her all my body heat, but I knew I couldn’t. So I offered the closest thing to actually being wrapped in my arms—my leather jacket. Taking it off, I draped it around her small frame. The jacket swallowed her tininess, making it the hottest damn thing I’d ever seen her in.

  “I don’t need this, Trevelin. You’ll freeze.” She tried to shake it off, her voice small yet caring.

  “Leave it. I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about you.” I let that sink in a moment, and then said, “Listen...about what Reed said—”

  “No, you don’t have to rationalize what he said. I understand. I’m not stupid,” she interrupted. “I know you sleep with tons of women.”