Blowing out a breath, I scrubbed my hand over my jaw. “Look, I don’t really give a fuck what you do behind closed doors. But when you bring Zen into it, it becomes a band issue. I need to know if things are about to get fucked up or awkward or whatever.”
He laughed. “It’s been a couple of weeks. Does it feel like things are awkward to you?”
“No,” I admitted. “But I don’t know what your plans are.”
“Plans? I don’t have plans. Zen and I are just friends. We shared a girl; he helped me dip my toes back into the land of pussy. And I consider it a fantasy fulfilled getting to share with him. I don’t know if it’ll happen again, but I do know I stopped looking at him that way that night.”
I narrowed my eyes at him behind my glasses even though he couldn’t see them. “Just like that, an attraction you’ve had for years just disappears?”
Maddox pulled the Jeep up to the curb in front of my parent’s house and turned to look at me. “I thought the guy was good looking. I saw him fuck a girl; I got to participate. It was admittedly hot as fuck. But, once it was over, I don’t know. The appeal just… wasn’t there, I guess.”
I studied his face, looking for signs he was lying to himself or me, but I only saw the truth, and I breathed a huge goddamn sigh of relief. “Good.”
He chuckled. “You forgot I actually prefer to fuck girls.”
“Of course, I fucking forgot. I’ve never seen you with a girl, not until the blonde at the party.”
“Emma, yeah. Well, buckle up because shit’s about to get crazy.” He flashed me a wicked smile as I hopped out of his truck and didn’t bother turning around as his tires squealing announced his exit.
Pushing the front door open, I walked to my room and flopped down onto my bed. All the information Maddox had just given me ran through my mind as I considered every angle, every possible way to use it if he could find proof.
And if he did and Sophie lied to True to try and exploit him? I would use every platform to my advantage to tell the world what a lying, manipulative bitch Sophie Watkins was. And with every day that passed, and every fan we gained, my voice got louder and more people paid attention. I was primed to do some epic fucking damage to Sophie.
Now, all we had left to do was wait for the results.
11
True
My fingers itched to play with something, anything, to keep my hands from shaking. I was ninety-nine percent sure Sophie’s baby wasn’t mine, but there was still a lingering doubt, and after the longest week of my entire fucking life, today was the day I’d get answers.
A letter with my name on it sat propped on the kitchen counter, and I eyed it like it was about to catch on fire. I texted the guys to come over as soon as I noticed it because I couldn’t bring myself to open it alone. I was thankful my parents were gone this weekend at some football thing for Hale because I couldn’t deal with their questions.
So I waited.
Maddox’s bedroom door opened, and I heard his heavy footsteps stomping down the hall. “Shit,” he breathed, looking over my shoulder at the letter.
“Yeah,” I agreed, not taking my eyes off of it.
“We waiting for the guys?” he wondered, sliding the stool beside me out and plopping down onto it.
I nodded, finally giving in to the itch and reaching up to twist the small hoop in my nose around. Maddox sat with me in silence another fifteen minutes before Jericho and Zen walked inside.
The two of them joined us around the kitchen island, and all our eyes were on the envelope. “It came early,” Zen noted.
“Yeah. I was going to call tomorrow but,” I gestured at the envelope.
“Fuck this.” Jericho snatched the envelope up off the marble surface and tore into the seal. My lungs ached as I held my breath.
“That treacherous bitch,” he bit out, tossing the letter onto the counter. “You’re not the dad.”
My shoulders sagged, and all the air wooshed out of my body as my head dropped into my hands. Maddox and Zen both patted me on the back.
“Congrats, man.” Zen gripped my shoulder.
I lifted my head. “Fuck. Thanks. I feel like a thousand-pound weight has been lifted off of me.”
Jericho shot Maddox a look. “Do it.”
Maddox pulled out his phone and buried his face in it. “What are you two up to?” My eyes darted between the two of them. When those two worked together, they tended to get destructive.
“Dealing with the Sophie problem like we took care of the Kayla problem,” Maddox answered, and I narrowed my eyes.
“What do you mean? The Sophie problem is taken care of. I’m not the father of her baby. End of story. Case closed.”
Jericho scoffed. “We’re not letting her get away with trying to pin her baby on you. That shit won’t stand, and we need to make an example of her so no other local girls get the same idea. Already this year, Kayla tried to blackmail me, and Sophie tried to trap you, and hardly anyone outside of LA knows who we are yet. Imagine what this shit’s going to be like in a year? No, fuck that. Sophie has to pay.”
I jumped off the stool and walked around to the fridge, grabbing out a bottle of water. “What did you have in mind?”
“Be right back.” Maddox slipped his phone back into his pocket and jumped up, running back up to his room. I hadn’t even twisted the cap off of my bottle yet by the time he was back.
He slid his laptop onto the counter and opened the screen, bringing up a video. “Come check it out.”
Jericho, Zen, and I crowded around behind him, all of us intently focused on the screen. As the video started to play, my jaw dropped before I wrinkled my nose. “Turn it off.”
Maddox chuckled, and Jericho’s smug smile made my lips twitch. I had to hand it to the two of them. This would definitely make Sophie think twice about fucking with anyone again.
“Mr. Jennings really went for it, huh?” Zen laughed as he leaned closer to the screen. “That looks like the desk in his history classroom.”
“Are we sure we want to do this? The dude knocked up a student of his. It’s probably going to ruin his life, and he didn’t do anything to me,” I tried to be logical about this. I could get on board with their revenge on Sophie plan, but I felt bad about Mr. Jennings.
“Dude, he fucked your girlfriend, his student, and got her pregnant. He’s not an innocent,” Maddox pointed out, closing the laptop.
I propped my elbow on the counter and downed half the water in my bottle while thinking about everything. “Fuck it. Sophie deserves to go down for making me freak the hell out about her baby. Do whatever it is you’re going to do with the video.”
“She already went down, or did you forget what was on the video?” Zen quipped, and I chuckled.
“Going down is only the start of what she does with him on that desk.” Jericho’s eyes narrowed at the closed computer, and his jaw clenched. He lifted his eyes until they bored into mine. “Trust me when I say he deserves to fucking pay just as much as she does.”
Pushing off the counter, I finished the rest of my bottle and tossed it in the recycle bin. “What’s the plan then?”
“I’ve got a contact at the local news station I just sent the video to. I also sent a copy to her parents, the entire school board, and posted it online. Anonymously, of course.” Maddox looked proud as hell. He was incredible at making connections with people, and he had a team bigger than any of us knew ready and waiting to do his bidding. I still couldn’t figure out how he did it, but he was one of those guys who were confident and charismatic as fuck, and it just made people want to be around him, even if he was a total asshole.
“When did Sophie turn eighteen?” Zen’s muscles had gone rigid.
“Why?”
“We can’t just send a video around of her having sex if she wasn’t. Isn’t that like child porn?”
Maddox laughed. “Relax. She was eighteen, and not only that, but I did everything completely anonymously. I have a hacker buddy who
took care of it for me. I just had to give him the okay to send it in.”
I paced back and forth across the kitchen a few times. “I need to blow off some steam. My nerves are fried.”
“Gym then party?” Maddox offered, picking up his laptop and holding it under his arm.
“Hell, yes.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket for at least the hundredth time today. Sophie was relentless, and I had countless voicemails. I was never going to listen to them, so I deleted them as soon as they came in. I was done with Sophie. She used me. I refused to harden my heart, though. Just because Sophie was a lying, manipulative bitch didn’t mean all girls were.
My parents had been married forever, and they were still totally in love. I wanted that someday. Maybe not now, but I wouldn’t limit myself or cut myself off from the possibility of meeting the right person.
Even if I doubted I’d find her here, at yet another house party in Venice. Maddox and Zen both ditched us pretty early to go hook up with people, so Jericho and I sat shoulder to shoulder on a couch, ignoring all the girls trying to catch our attention. Jericho had been nursing a beer all night long as he checked his phone every couple of minutes.
“Why do you keep checking your phone?” I finally asked him after he pulled it out again for at least the tenth time.
“I’m waiting for the news about Sophie to hit.”
Sophie wasn’t here tonight, but some of her bitchy friends were, and they were huddled in the corner, shooting daggers at us all night. Maybe the news hadn’t hit the media yet, but based on the number of missed calls from Sophie I got today, I had no doubt she was dealing with the fallout of her epic fuck up.
Over the thumping bass of the music, chimes and dings sounded around the room as people pulled out their phones. Shocked expressions played out across people’s faces, and Sophie’s group let out a collective gasp before fleeing for the door.
Jericho smirked. “Looks like the news just dropped.”
I thought I was free of Sophie before, but now I was sure of it. No way would she fuck with me again, and the way my boys had my back left me feeling light and hopeful. Maddox stepped in front of me, his unlaced black boots creating a heavy thud I felt through the soles of my shoes.
“Brought you a present, True.” He stepped aside, and a pretty girl in a short skirt and crop top stood behind him. Her eyes scanned me from head to tie, and when she looked back at my face, she did it with lust in her eyes.
“Thanks, but-” I started to protest. One pregnancy scare was enough for a lifetime, and I wasn’t so sure I was ready to tackle that newfound fear just yet.
“Blowjobs only, bro. I already talked to her.” My eyes drifted from Maddox back to the girl. She was hot.
“Let me take care of you,” she purred, holding out her hand. I didn’t know where the hell these chicks came from, but the more popular we got, the more of them there seemed to be. They hung around us anytime we partied, and Maddox and Zen weren’t shy about taking advantage. It was rare for me to indulge in the girls and even more rare for Jericho to do it.
But tonight? Tonight I wanted to fucking celebrate. I was an eighteen-year-old man with my entire future ahead of me, one that didn’t include diapers or screaming babies. At least not anytime soon.
“Fuck it.” I took her hand and let her pull me up off the couch.
“Enjoy,” Maddox chuckled, clapping me on the back as I followed the pretty brunette out of the room. I had no idea where anything in this house was, but she seemed to know where she was going, stopping in front of a door halfway down the hall. She pushed it open, and I let her pull me inside.
She hadn’t said anything to me, but I was fine with that. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I wasn’t trying to fuck this girl or get to know her better. I was here for one thing and one thing only, and we both knew it.
She moved me in front of the bed and stepped into my space, pushing until I fell backward. I caught myself with my hands, leaning my weight back on my arms. My eyes focused on her red lips, and my cock started to harden as I pictured what they’d look like wrapped around it.
She wore a knowing smile as she dropped to her knees in front of me, running her hands up my thighs and pushing my legs further apart. A surge of excitement rushed through me as she pulled her hands back and reached up to the thin strap of her tank top. Her eyes were locked on mine as she slipped one strap down her shoulder with agonizing slowness, and I groaned as she repeated the process on the other side.
She gracefully pulled each arm out of the straps and pushed her shirt down and over her hips until it fell at her feet. Her tits sprang free, and they were mouth-watering. More than a handful but perky with nipples that were dusky pink and stood up at attention under my heated gaze.
She let out a throaty laugh as she leaned forward, dancing her fingers up my thighs and brushing along my erection until she got to the button of my jeans. She expertly flicked it open, and I sighed softly as she pulled my zipper down, savoring the relief on my dick.
I lifted my hips to help her pull them and my boxers down, and she stared at my cock, licking her red lips.
Those fucking red lips were going to kill me.
My pulse picked up as she wrapped her fingers around my shaft, sticking her soft pink tongue out and licking the tip once. A strangled gasp escaped my lips as she wrapped her lips around the head of my cock and sucked gently. While she sucked, she swirled her tongue around, and the sensation made me want to explode. I bucked my hips, trying to push deeper inside her mouth, and she laughed, pulling back.
“You just sit there looking pretty and let me take care of you,” she repeated, and I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. She continued to toy with the tip of my cock, licking and sucking and nipping until I was desperate to have her take me all the way into the back of her throat. But she wouldn’t be hurried.
Her teeth ran lightly down the underside of my shaft, making me shiver. Her warm mouth was all over my balls as her hand stroked up and down my dick. No one had ever sucked my cock like this before, and I never wanted it to end.
She pulled her mouth away, pressing a soft kiss right to the slit on the tip of my dick, and I shuddered. “Hold on, baby. You’re going to like this next part,” she declared before wrapping those red lips around the head of my cock and sucking me into her mouth so deep that her lips hit the skin at the base of my dick.
My eyes rolled back into my head at the tight, wet feel of her mouth wrapped around me. She massaged the underside of my shaft with her tongue even as she bobbed her head up and down. I tangled my hand in her hair and tilted my hips to make the angle better, and her low moans vibrated down my cock and into my balls.
She took me even deeper, and I couldn’t fucking hold on anymore. Her hand stroked along my cock in the same rhythm as her mouth, and I lost it. My breathing became erratic as I let out a low moan. “Fuck, I’m gonna come,” I choked out, and she clamped down even harder, wanting to take whatever I was willing to give her. I’d never come down a girl’s throat before, but I always wanted to. My cock was impossibly hard as I thrust up into her mouth and shot my load down her throat, letting out a low growl as I came.
She took every drop and didn’t pull her mouth off of me until I was already softening. “Mmm. That was fun.” She grinned at me before standing up and pulling up her shirt. I tucked myself back into my jeans and followed her out of the room without another word.
As I made my way back to the party to find my friends, I felt lighter. I didn’t want to start hooking up with random girls all the time or anything, but there was no use denying the fact I needed that release. Maybe taking advantage of a few perks of this life wouldn’t be so bad.
No matter what was coming, my boys would take care of me like I’d take care of them, and that was all that really mattered.
12
Zen
I still couldn’t believe so much had changed so fast, and my mind raced as I shoved clothes into my suitcase
.
“How many bags are you packing?” Maddox yelled from my tiny living room. I didn’t have much worth anything here, so everything that mattered was going in this bag. I’d never step foot in this place again after today.
“Just one.” I stuffed my last hoodie into the bag and zipped it closed. Lifting it off the bed, I dipped down to grab my guitar case and walked out to meet Maddox in the living room.
“Took you long enough. We’re going to be fucking late.” I dropped my guitar just to flip him off and he grinned.
“Don’t offer unless you plan to do something about it,” he taunted, and I laughed, hefting my case back up off the floor and shoving it into his chest. “And why the fuck didn’t you have Elijah ship your guitar yesterday with the rest of the equipment?”
“This baby is priceless, my first ever guitar. I don’t want to risk letting it out of my sight.” I patted the side of the case. “Now make yourself useful and carry this down so I can lock the door.” We left the dingy apartment, and the only reason I turned back was to lock up. I’d drop the keys in the mail on our first tour stop.
Maddox was already loading my guitar into the back of his Jeep when I stepped outside, and I followed his lead, tossing my suitcase in. A group of girls walked by, turning their heads when they spotted us and whispering excitedly.
That shit was happening more and more now that our first single had hit number one nationally. We filmed a music video a couple of months ago, and our popularity had been skyrocketing. Climbing up into the passenger seat, we took off toward our destination.
“Are True and Jericho meeting us there?”
Maddox nodded. “Our flight leaves in two hours, so I sure as fuck hope traffic isn’t bad.”
I scoffed. “Dude. This is LA. Traffic is always bad.” He stepped on the gas, and we flew toward the freeway, getting to the airport in record time. Maddox’s driving scared the shit out of me, and I pried my aching fingers off the frame I’d been clinging to the entire ride here.
Shadow Phoenix: A Rock Star Romance Prequel Page 9
