“Oh, I don’t know,” she purred, moving across the room to where I leaned against the dresser with my arms folded across my chest. “How about the fact you almost killed me last time we were in this room together?”
My jaw tightened, and I looked away. The guilt of that night had been eating at me for over a month. There wasn’t anything I could do to change it, so the only option left was to move on. And apologize if Kayla would let me, but judging by the nasty glint in her eye, I’d say she’d been making her own plans over the last month.
“I’m sorry about what happened, but you were just as much a participant in that as I was. I took it a little bit too far, but you’re fine.” I pushed off the dresser and put some distance between us, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
She followed and reached out, gripping my chin between her fingers and forcing me to look into her narrowed eyes. “Am I fine, though? Who’s to say I don’t have internal damage in my throat? Or emotional scarring?” she taunted.
“Do you?”
She rolled her eyes but crawled up onto the bed and settled into my lap. I didn’t want to touch her, and I didn’t want to push her off. If I shoved her off of me, she could fall onto the floor and make more of a case that I got violent with her or hurt her. Instead, I leaned back as far as I could to get away from her advancing on me. She settled her hips over mine and shifted slightly so I could feel her heat right on top of my dick. It didn’t even twitch.
“I don’t know. I could.” She ran her sharp fingernail down the center of my chest, leaving a raised red line in its wake. “And if I did,” she continued, “That would be something I should take to the police. Don’t you think?”
I lifted my hand and pushed gently on her shoulder, trying to get her to back off, but I didn’t want to use any force, and she just laughed at my attempts to move her. “What do you want?” I growled out because I was getting frustrated as fuck with this situation. I wanted to put this shit behind me. As far as I could tell, Kayla was fine. She didn’t have any lasting damage.
I replayed that night again and again in my head, trying to figure out how I managed to lose control so badly and how I didn’t notice it as it happened. I still hadn’t figured it out, and until I did, I wasn’t fucking anyone else. I couldn’t risk it happening again. But Kayla was a loose end I needed to tie up.
The pulled her taloned finger away from my body and tapped her chin as her eyes lifted to the ceiling. “What do I want?” She leveled her gaze on me, and that evil glint was back in her eye. “I want to be with you.”
My body went rigid, and my heart raced. No fucking way. “Uh, I must’ve misheard you.”
She shook her head, gripping both of my shoulders and moving even closer. “You didn’t. I want to be your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have girlfriends.” The muscles in my jaw ticked as I tried to figure out how the fuck to get out of this. She had to be demented to want to be with me after what I did to her.
“I know. I want to be the first.” Her voice was almost gleeful.
“But why?” I wasn’t exactly boyfriend material, and my time would only get more limited in the coming months. And even if that wasn’t true, I sure as fuck didn’t want to be Kayla’s boyfriend. There was something twisted about her. I hadn’t figured out what yet, but it wasn’t every day you came across a high school girl willing to let you tie them up and choke them, whip them, or edge them while you fucked with no strings.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she wondered, tilting her head to the side. “You’re up and coming. I’ve been trying to get my own TV show or a part in a movie or anything for more than a year with no luck. But walking around this town on your arm? That’s going to open doors for me. People will recognize me, and I won’t have to try to get parts. They’ll fall into my lap. Can’t you just see it?”
I frowned at her completely unrealistic picture of a future with me. I wasn’t anybody yet. And to become somebody, I’d never be around. “Kayla, I’m nobody. No one cares who I am, and they care even less who my fucking girlfriend is.”
But she wouldn’t be dissuaded. “I’ve heard you guys play. You’ve got real talent, and it’s only a matter of time. I doubt it will take that long. And in the meantime, my daddy gave me a credit card with no limit. I can tour with you guys, pay for nicer hotels and stuff. And all you have to do is take me up on my offer.”
It didn’t sound like a fucking offer to me. It sounded like a demand coated in blackmail. “I already apologized, and that’s the best you’re getting out of me. I’m not fucking doing this with you, Kayla.”
She leaned back and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. The screen illuminated her face as she stared down at it, tapping and swiping until she found whatever the fuck she was looking for. She turned the screen in my direction, and I blinked a couple of times against the brightness.
I sucked in a breath as I took in the details. She leaned forward, pressing the phone closer to my face. “This is how messed up my neck was after that night. And yes, I took pictures of every single detail. And I wrote down everything I could remember, including the fact that your friend Maddox took advantage of my disorientation and got me to agree not to go to the police. So, you might want to think carefully about what you want to do next because I have no problem turning this over to the police.”
I pressed my lips tightly together, holding back what I really wanted to say. Did I mess up with Kayla and take things too far? Yes. Did that make her blackmailing me okay? Fuck, no. I wanted to throw her off of me and get the fuck out. But I needed to tread carefully. My mind raced with possible solutions, but none of them were going to get me out of this without more violence or playing equally dirty.
Which I had no problems with. But to play dirty, I needed to buy time. Mind made up, I opened my mouth to accept her fucked up proposition when the door burst open, and Maddox, True, and Zen pushed into the room, shutting the door behind them.
Maddox looked like he wanted to tear Kayla apart, True looked worried, and Zen was a mixture of the two—concerned and fucking pissed.
“Get the fuck off my boy, Kayla,” Maddox ordered. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it stops now.”
Kayla twisted her body so she was looking at him as True took up a spot near the door, leaning back against the wall. Zen moved to the chair beside the dresser, dropping down and leaning back like he didn’t have a care in the fucking world, but his eyes were laser-focused on the girl straddling my lap.
“And if I don’t? What are you going to do?” she provoked with a smirk.
“What’s she up to?” Zen asked me, ignoring Kayla completely.
“She wants to ride my fucking coattails to a movie role or some shit,” I summarized, flicking my gaze up to the ceiling.
True snorted, and a malicious grin slipped onto Maddox’s face, one so much more fucking terrifying than Kayla’s could ever be. “Come down here, Kayla. Let’s talk.” He patted his thigh like he was calling a dog and fire ignited in her eyes.
“Don’t treat me like a fucking dog,” she spat, setting herself even further onto my lap.
“Don’t act like a bitch,” Zen countered, rising out of the chair and walking slowly over to her. “And get. The. Fuck. Off.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, holding her steady as she stumbled off my lap.
“Keep your hands off me!” she shrieked, and she was practically panting with how hard she was breathing.
Maddox nodded once at Zen, who pushed Kayla down into the chair he’d vacated. Guilt gnawed at me for bringing my boys into my mess, but I was glad they stepped in before I could agree to some shit I’d fucking hate every second of. I just hoped Maddox had a plan.
He kneeled in front of her. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. Are you listening?”
She glared at him but said nothing. He chuckled and looked up at Zen, who stood beside Kayla like a sentry. “Think she’ll like what I have to say, Z?”
He smirked.
“I think she better listen real fucking close to the words about to come out of your mouth.”
I stood up and leaned my hip against the bed, folding my arms. I had no idea what the hell they were talking about, but these three guys here? They were the only ones in the whole fucking world I trusted.
Maddox returned his attention to Kayla. “You’re going to leave Jericho the fuck alone. For good. And you’re going to delete those pictures in front of me.”
She scoffed. “Why the hell would I ever do that?”
“Oh, I’m not done,” he continued. “You’re also going to forget whatever the fuck you think happened between the two of you the last time you were in this room together. It never fucking happened.”
“You’re psychotic,” she laughed and tried to stand up, but Zen put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down.
Out of the corner of my eye, True shifted uncomfortably. He pressed his ear to the door. “We’re about to have company.”
“Phone. Now,” Maddox demanded, holding out his hand.
“Fuck you. I’m not doing anything you say,” she snapped.
“Oh, I think you will.” That terrifying fucking smile was on his face again. “Because if you don’t? I’ll send these to your parents. And then I’ll put them out on social media. And then I’ll fucking rent billboard space right next to the fucking 405 freeway and put it on there.” He pulled out his phone, unlocking it and holding it up for her to see.
Her eyes widened, and the color and anger drained from her face at the same time. “You can’t.”
“I wouldn’t say I can’t. I’d say that I won’t, but that’s only if you back the fuck off Jericho, forget what happened, and give me your goddamn phone.” He held his hand out again, and this time, she reached out a trembling hand and dropped her phone into it.
Maddox handed his phone to Zen and scrolled through Kayla’s. Someone tried the door handle, and True yanked the door open, glowering at whoever stood outside. “Get lost,” he growled, slamming the door in their face without opening it wide enough for them to see inside.
Maddox handed Kayla back her phone. “Deleted off the phone and off the cloud. Where are the parts you wrote down?”
She handed her phone back. “It’s in the notes app.”
Maddox navigated the phone while Kayla hung her head in defeat. I didn’t know what the fuck he had on her, but it had to be fucking major for her to give up so easily.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” He handed her phone back for a final time. “Oh, and Kayla?”
She glared up at where he was now standing in front of her. “Try to tell anyone about this? Or your past with Jericho? I will fucking destroy you,” he threatened with that fucking smile on his face.
“Yeah, I got it. Can I go?” Maddox nodded at Zen, and she stood up and ran out of the room without a backward glance.
I puffed out my cheeks as I blew out a huge exhale and sank back down on the bed. “What the hell was that about? What’d you have on your phone?”
Maddox smirked as he leaned against the dresser. “Pictures of Kayla fucking her dad’s business partner. The dude’s like fifty, and into some kinky shit.”
“How the fuck did you get those?” True wondered, pushing off the wall where he’d been standing.
“You remember Aiden Cook?”
“Yeah, that nerdy kid who did your homework senior year?” Zen recalled.
“I hooked him up with this chick who’d been trying to get me to fuck her for months. Told her he was our producer. He spent an entire weekend fucking her brains out, so I called in my favor. When Kayla fucked with you at the diner last week? I knew she was up to some shit. Had him follow her for a couple of days. Didn’t take long for him to get these.” He tilted his phone back and forth before pocketing it.
“You’re an evil fucking genius,” I noted, shaking my head, but a small smile crept onto my lips. “Thanks for handling that. I knew I’d have to play dirty, but you didn’t have to do it for me.”
He grinned. “I like playing dirty. Besides, no one is fucking with any of you. We stick together and do what we have to do to keep it that way. Now that we’re on the brink of something huge, there’s going to be more of this shit, and the only way we’re gonna make it is if we don’t fucking doubt each other and we protect each other like the brothers we are.”
It was the most poetic and emotive I’d ever heard Maddox be, and I doubted he’d be sharing like that again anytime soon. “Fuck, I’m glad you’re on my side.”
“Same,” True echoed.
Zen nodded, and as if an agreement had been made, we all stood and left the room. The place I’d fucked up so bad weeks ago, I could’ve lost everything. Lesson fucking learned. It was time to move on.
9
True
I couldn’t remember what it felt like to do nothing for an entire day. To just be still. To jump on my surfboard and spend every second of daylight bobbing up and down on the waves. It took more than three months to get here, but today nothing would interrupt my downtime.
The guys must’ve been desperate for a break because I managed to convince them to hit the surf with me. None of them really knew what they were doing, but I could teach them easily enough. With four boards strapped down on the top of his Jeep, Maddox sped toward the ocean with all of us in tow.
The music was turned up so loud it hammered at my ears, but I didn’t mind. It was a relief not to have to think or to plan. To not be expected to be anywhere or be doing anything. I shut my thoughts down, focusing instead on the hint of salt in the air as we got closer to my favorite surf spot.
I’d been dumb to think that things would slow down once we finished in the studio. After the party where Maddox got Kayla to leave Jericho the hell alone, life had only gotten busier for the four of us. We’d been playing small-time show after small-time show while our management team got our name out there. We took any gig we could get, and my fingers had the calluses to show for it.
But we were gaining ground. We just got invited to play on a local daytime talk show, which in LA was a pretty big fucking deal. And our first ever single was climbing its way up the charts. Despite the exhaustion, we were having the time of our lives.
My attention snapped to the old stereo on the dash as familiar notes started to play. “Holy fuck!” Zen yelled next to me over the music. Our music. Our single was playing on the radio, and laughter bubbled up inside me. I gripped the back of the passenger seat in front of me where Jericho threw his hands up in the open air where the Jeep’s top normally sat and sang along to Zen’s gravelly voice.
All four of our voices belted out the lyrics together over the music blasting from the speakers, and I took a second to commit this moment to memory. There’d never be another time in my life where I’d hear my music on the radio for the first time. This, right here, was just the start of what we’d been working for.
“Holy fuck. Did that just happen?” Maddox wondered as he glanced sideways at Jericho with a lopsided grin on his face.
“About damn time.” Zen punched me in the arm, and I had to agree with both of them. It was surreal hearing our music play on the radio, hearing the DJ say Shadow Phoenix before he played it. We’d been doing smaller appearances on local media and a shit ton of shows around LA. We were starting to gain a following, and now our single was hitting the national airwaves.
It felt like a turning point.
Maddox pulled up to the beach, and it was more crowded than I liked, filled with sunbathers and surfers. This was why I mostly came when the sun was just coming up, because I liked the quiet. But with our schedule the way it was? I’d take whatever I could get.
I jumped over the open side of the truck instead of waiting for Jericho to climb out in front of me. I reached up and started unstrapping the boards from the frame, and Zen followed my lead, working the straps on his side loose. “Man, I can’t believe this is our life,” he noted as he moved closer to me, tugging the top boa
rd down.
“I know. It doesn’t feel real, does it?”
He shook his head, setting his board against the side of the Jeep.
Maddox popped up beside me, grabbing the board out of my hands. “I need to hit something or fuck someone. What a fucking rush.” Zen and I both laughed as he took off jogging toward the water with the board slung under his arm. Jericho watched him go, shaking his head.
He moved around the Jeep next to Zen and pulled the last board down. “He’s so goddamn obnoxious.”
“Yeah, but he’s also fucking terrifying when he wants to be. It’s a double-edged sword,” I noted, plucking some board wax out of the tote bag I stashed in the back seat. I tossed a chunk to Zen, who caught it before adjusting the sunglasses that’d slid down his nose.
“Fucking truth.”
The three of us hauled our boards down the sand toward the water, and behind my dark sunglasses, I noticed a couple of people pointing in our direction and whispering. I nudged my shoulder into Jericho’s right before he sank onto the sand to wax his board. “You seeing that?” I tilted my head in the direction of the group of people, but I couldn’t see whether he checked them out because his eyes were hidden behind his shades.
Zen lifted his board over his head and walked toward the water, where Maddox was already splashing and paddling out across the break. I sat down next to Jericho, the hot sand burning my skin, but I lived for that feeling. It meant I was here, in my favorite place on earth, and the water would cool my heated skin in a couple of minutes.
Jericho and I sat in comfortable silence, prepping our boards. He finished before I did and stood up, dusting the sand off of his trunks. “See you out there.”
I nodded and bent my head back down, focused on what I was doing. Fingers lightly tapped my shoulder, and I whipped my head up and around, looking for their source. A girl about my age stood next to me with a shy smile on her face. “Are you True? True Easton?”
Shadow Phoenix: A Rock Star Romance Prequel Page 7
