"You all remember this guy, right?" my father asks and the team lets out a string of catcalls and whistles. "Looks like he's headed to the big leagues. Los Angeles, am I right, son?"
Beau nods to indicate that he's correct and I can't help but butt in with a few fairly assertive coughs.
"And of course, this is my daughter Quinn. I didn't forget you sweetheart. I was going to reintroduce you right after your husband, I promise."
He's likely not telling the truth but I let it go as he continues.
"Beau, want to practice with us a little?" my Dad asks and though I beg Beau not to (he could get injured after all), Beau is already grabbing a glove before my father finishes speaking. The players all surround him and I'm left only to watch and let him do what he's gonna do.
"Grab a helmet, son," my Dad says to Beau. "And a cup."
Beau does as he's instructed without questioning anything, which is just like him.
"Boys," my Dad addresses the crowd, "as some of you may recall, I made it explicitly clear to all my players that they had better stay far away from my only daughter."
Before Beau can figure out what's happening, two players are holding his arms, preventing his escape. They carry him towards the fence behind home plate as he playfully kicks his legs.
"Well, as you can see, Beau didn't listen," he announces to his players and though everyone knows the story, the crowd lets out a scandalous "oooooh," like a bunch of gossiping teenagers. Knowing my father's stubbornness and fondness of revenge, I worry for Beau.
"Mr. Tillman," he announces as the players press Beau up against the fence and hold him to it. "Before you leave for the pros, I wanted to give you a chance to meet your replacement. Beau, meet Chuck..."
A giant of a young man stands and his shadow looms over us all. He has his glove on and is throwing a ball into it as he chews the side of his cheek.
"Dad...I," I try to interject but my father puts his hand up.
"Now, this young man has provided my daughter with my grandson who shall be arriving soon..."
"Dad we're not telling people yet!" I'm furious. "We only told you because..."
My father quickly realizes his mistake. "Well, he's also heading off to a big career so we will make sure he doesn't get hurt...too much. Beau I just want you to see Chuck's fastball, see if you can give him any pointers."
Beau is squirming something serious now and I weigh whether or not I should go and dive in front of him to save him the pain of taking the fastball as punishment. Chuck starts his windup and I head towards Beau to help, my father's arm prevents me from getting too close. Beau squeezes his eyes closed in anticipation for the penance he's about to make, ready to accept the pain. I watch as Chuck pretends to throw a ball and two players suddenly appear behind him with big, blue buckets raised. Relief washes over me as cold water is instead poured over Beau's head.
"But if any other of you even think of attempting to put one over on me..." my father tries to say but the team isn't listening. Instead they've all grouped around the soaking wet and freezing Beau, giving him playful punches as he's still restrained and having a laugh.
"Ready for lunch?" my dad asks me and holds out his arm for me to hold on to.
"You're out of your mind, you know that, right?" I ask but he doesn't respond. The two of us head towards his car and I can only hope poor Beau joins us eventually.
*****
The end.
<<<<>>>>
Green
A Rock Star Stepbrother Romance
by Pfeiffer Jayst
© 2016 Pfeiffer Jayst
All Rights Reserved
All lyrics printed herein©2016 Pfeiffer Jayst under exclusive license to 7IB
No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, places, events and characters are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or any actual events is coincidental. All characters in the following story are consenting adults over the age of eighteen.
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Dedication:
To SW, CS, LC and BR – your friendship means the world to me. I love you all dearly.
To NP – I think about you every day and wish I could go back in time. You were right and I miss you. I put your gym lock on the Brooklyn Bridge and whenever I cross, I check to see if you've come to get it. Like me, it's there waiting for you.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Two
BONUS CONTENT
Prologue
ALLIE
Our naked bodies pressed against each other, our bare skin having been inseparable for several days. Despite knowing the end was near, we each tried to believe that this could last forever.
“Allison...Allison Green...” Finn mused as he stroked my head nestled under his arm, “Al...Allie...say, anyone ever call you 'alligator'?”
“Yeah, I've never heard that before,” I teased.
We both let out a laugh because he was being ridiculous. The hotel sheets and covers had been kicked around plenty during the weekend but some still managed to cover part of my body as I launched myself upright and swung my leg over Finn's hulking body. Landing on top of him, I delivered my most intimidating glare.
“Nobody, and I mean nobody,” my finger made contact with his nose as our most delicate parts began to merge yet again, “calls me 'alligator'. Got it?”
Our lips met for another passionate kiss but neither of us were able to restrain ourselves and hold back from a fit of giggles. We laughed close together as he gently moved himself inside of me in welcome, gentle thrusts.
It was nearly impossible to not marvel at who was pinned beneath me. Only a few days earlier I had gone to the only rock club in town and expected to see more of the same: boys in glasses singing about girls who didn't call them back. Instead I saw him, a giant among mortals, wielding his guitar like Thor's hammer. His aggressive brand of rock wasn't normally my thing but from the second he started to play, I was mesmerized. It was like watching a madman single-handedly wrangle a massive runaway train and bring it under his control. There were onl
y a few of us in that club that night but he had us all in the palm of his hand.
“What's wrong?” he asked me suddenly while continuing to guide my hips back and forth on his body.
“Nothing, sorry,” I lied to the man who was the first, second and third person I had ever slept with.
“C'mon alligator, I can tell something is wrong.”
Finn sat upright, slowly pulling himself out of me as his arms held me tight. His deep, brown eyes met my worries and instantly made me feel comforted.
“This has been fun, these past few days have been great, but I guess I'm just sad that it has to end.”
It was impossible to look him in the eyes at this point as I wanted to shield him from the worry and sadness I was carrying. Reality was going to be a cold slap soon and one I wasn't sure I could handle.
“Listen,” Finn's hand found my chin and guided my eyes back to his, “I've never felt this way before. I wish I could relive these past few days forever for the rest of my life. I've got a new label though so I have to tour. But I'm coming back, you mean something to me. I think I...”
That moment I hung on every word he was saying, not able to believe the hot rock star I had seen on stage was about to melt my heart. In the relative darkness of the hotel room, the one we had been closed off in for days, I waited for him to speak the words he seemed unable to stop. The deep inhale through his nose sounded loudly as I held my own breath, silently begging for him to spit it out.
“I think I might, um, love you,” he stuttered as my pulse quickened.
Swaths of goose-pimples dotted my entire body as I pulled him in closer, our bodies tighter than ever as I prepared to tell him what I had never told anyone else before.
“I think I may love you too, Finn.”
Our lips pressed firmly against each other as my hips pushed forward and took him inside of me again. As I rode him towards perfect satisfaction, Finn came close to my ear to lend a whisper.
“Wait for me.”
*****
Chapter One
Allie
The summers in New York City are so oppressive; too many people moving in all directions as the heat pushes everyone down onto the scorching pavement. Us city folk push through the pain to continue to move about as though the thick humidity and stench doesn't bother us, as if everything is the way it's supposed to be. There's a point where you learn to forge through just about anything and to do so with a smile.
Some relief and salvation can be found by passing close to the wide open doors of the environmentally ignorant stores who blast their subzero air conditioning out onto the sidewalk. Many a sweltering morning I would hop from entrance to entrance, letting the frigid air wash over me like they were my own little city oases.
Of course standing there and bathing in the breeze didn't come without a cost; close proximity to the store would require one to be overwhelmed with the music pumping from the store's PA. Almost always it was some top 40 drivel. One particular July morning the song playing at every single store was the one I so desperately tried to avoid. The pounding bass mimicked my own increasing heartbeat as my face grew flush. I had accidentally come across the song a week earlier while searching blogs for some new music. The second I heard the vocals, his voice, I almost threw my beloved laptop out the window. It didn't take long for SharkFin to take over the radio and become absolutely impossible to avoid.
Having to choose between braving the heat or hearing the sound of that devious lowlife, I pushed away and left for the far side of the sidewalk, the heavy heat and symphony of taxi horns way more appealing for my walk to the office.
“Sorry I'm late,” I offered to the staff meeting already in progress. A few heads turned but none with any looks of disapproval; I had proven myself at the rapidly growing start-up and had earned the right to be a few minutes late every so often.
“Allison, would you join us once you get settled?” the famous Mikki Marlow asked from the center of the meeting. Not only was she my boss but also somewhat of a hero. Mikki's records were the soundtrack to my youth, the sound of her voice ushered me through all of the anger and confusion of puberty. This woman turned punk music on its ear and didn't compromise for shit. Months before graduating college I started to send her many emails begging for a chance to be a part of any of the several business ventures she had going on. Lucky for me, she was in the process of starting what would one day become one of the most influential music blogs ever and she liked my writing. Now, less than a year later, I was one of the head writers and more importantly, I had Mikki's ear. She trusted me and believed in me.
“What are y'all listening to?” I asked innocently once I joined the rest of the staff, with trusty yellow notepad in hand. The interns weren't much younger than myself but they all looked like such innocent babies, their eyes glued to Mikki as they hung on her every word. She had designed the office to be comfortable yet stylish but she might as well have built herself an altar, whenever she walked into a room, the unpaid yet happy interns would practically drop to her feet to just to be near her.
“Have you heard SharkFin yet?” Dakota, one of the more vocal interns, jumped up in my face and pointed at the monitor mounted on the wall. Who did this perky robot think she was showing up? Little did she know that I was at one of SharkFin's first shows. She most certainly wasn't aware of the days I spent holed up alone with the lead singer. I would do almost everything in my power to make sure nobody ever found out how naive and foolish I was to let that rock star do what he did to my heart.
“Don't you think it's a little bit played out?” I offered, “I mean, this song is everywhere.” My hope was that talking over the music would help to obscure the sound of Finn's voice from digging into my ears. Dakota the fucking intern decided to turn up the speakers over my criticism.
“No way! Song of the summer!” the bold intern declared to the sea of nodding college student heads. I was outnumbered and risked being seen as out of touch by my idol.
What came next was almost unbearable. As the song faded out, the interns with their carefully chosen yet cliché jeans and Chucks, their eyes bulging behind passe black framed glasses, took turns loudly announcing just how hot Finn was. They were swooning like schoolgirls which I guess they were but that was no excuse. Just when I had had enough and wanted to go escape to the safety of my office, Mikki stopped me.
“Allison, this is the hottest band out right now, we can't ignore it. An interview with the head guy, what is it, Finn? That would get us the traffic we really need.”
All of the eyes of the powerless interns turned towards to me, for some reason under the impression that I had the connections to make that happen.
“Sorry, I don't really know anyone at his label. Maybe ask Cindy?”
It was a hail mary I knew wouldn't work. Cindy, while sweet, usually picked up the pieces I didn't want. She most certainly didn't have the pull with the labels and managers that I had. If anyone was going to make this happen, it would have to be me and Mikki knew that. I needed a new plan to get this off of my plate.
“I'll see what I can do.”
I had barely left the semi-circle of hipsters piled on office furniture before I heard that stupid song start up again. It was clear this whole situation was going to be completely unavoidable.
My office was my sanctuary inside of the crazy city. Virtually soundproof and certainly much roomier and comfortable than my tiny apartment. It was here I was able to find my peace and escape from the world for awhile. At least it was until Finn found a way to infiltrate.
Not one month after Finn and I had spent those days locked in the hotel room, 30 days after he told me he loved me, his band suddenly became the biggest in the world. Everyone else had seen what I saw on the stage that night and almost instantly, SharkFin was on everyone's lips. At first I was really happy for him. Though I hadn't heard from him, I figured he was crazy busy. Every day I held out hope for a goofy text or something and was crushed when it never came. It
wasn't until I happened upon an article that practically stopped my heart.
“ROCK STAR POWER DUO CLIMBING THE CHARTS” the Billboard headline read. The picture accompanying the article confirmed it; there was Finn smooching some really pretty, pink-haired chick on a red carpet. The article made it clear that 1) they were apparently the best songwriting duo that ever existed and 2) they were very much in love.
The sadistic side of me read and re-read the article to learn about how she was his "muse" and how he had never met anyone like her. Was I to believe that he walked out that hotel and just immediately found the real love of his life? Or maybe she had been around much longer and I was nothing but a tryst for him.
So many emotions stirred up in me whenever he gets mentioned; anger, sadness, jealousy and overall a very dirty sensation that I had never felt before. I had been used and forgotten and the worst part was that it wouldn't stop being thrown in my face. My deepest secret was that I had been so naive. Every website I visited proved that there was no escaping his hypnotic eyes, his high cheekbones, his ability to make his guitar howl. He was the biggest sensation to hit the rock scene in quite some time and all I could do was stew in my bitterness.
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