High Strung (Power Station Book 1)

by Gephart, T

  “Dan, I meant just holding. Maybe some kissing.” She turned in my arms, her back flush against my front. This was not what I had in mind.

  My hands wandered down her body, moving across her hips before cupping her ass. It was so pert and perfect just like the rest of her. “Can I touch your ass when I hold you?” I nipped at her ear.

  “Yes.” She sighed or was it a moan? It was all kinds of fucking sexy and wrapped up in the same kind of need that I had going on. I don’t know why she was fighting this. I wanted her and I know she wanted me.

  “Babe, you have an itch tonight? ’Cause I’m more than happy to help you scratch it.” I licked her neck, pulling her ass tight into my groin.

  “Dan.” I loved the way she said my name. She could ask me for anything right now and I’d probably agree. “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Babe, my erection is poking you in the ass. Please, by all means be fucking honest.” I tried not to laugh because it really wasn’t funny. No girl had ever gotten under my skin like this one.

  “I like you but this is moving way too fast. I’m not like those other girls, I don’t just want to be a lay for you.” She turned to face me, her eyes wide.

  “Ashlyn, you could never just be a lay to me.” My fingers tipped her chin toward me. “Or to any other guy for that matter. You’re different.” I was lost right now. The thought of her with someone else made me want to punch something.

  “Are you just saying that because you want to sleep with me?” She wasn’t convinced. I could hear the vulnerability in her voice. This was her, no bullshit, no attitude, just her. It twisted me in knots so tight my chest hurt.

  I knew how to get a girl into bed. I knew how to make her feel good and come so hard she forgets where she is, but I had no idea how to convince a girl, this girl, that she meant more to me than that.

  “No. I mean yes. I mean, I want to sleep with you but that’s not the reason I’m saying it. Honestly, babe, I have no idea what I am doing here. I have no fucking clue but I know I would rather have no sex and sleep beside you all night than be screwing a whole bunch of random girls. I know it’s not romantic but it’s all I’ve really got.”

  “Dan, that was plenty romantic.” She pressed her lips against my mouth, her sweetness fucking destroying me.

  “Sooo does that mean we’re going to have sex?” I bit back a grin, the throbbing between my legs unrelenting.

  “No, not tonight. Just hold me.” She flung her arms around my neck and nestled up against my chest.

  I groaned as her thigh moved up my body, snaking around my leg. My balls were so tightly drawn up I’m surprised I wasn’t gargling them.

  “Okay, babe. But I’m probably going to have to go jerk off first.” I squeezed her hip. “Unless, you want to do it?”

  She smiled before closing her eyes. “You go handle it yourself this time. I need to sleep.”

  I choked back a laugh. The feel and smell of her on me meant it wouldn’t take very long. I was so hard it hurt, and I wanted inside her in the worst way. Hell, at this point, I wouldn’t even have to jerk off. Just thinking about her would probably be enough.

  ****

  I woke up in a panic, like some really bad shit was going down. I couldn’t work out if it was a dream or something else was going on, like some kind of alarm had sounded. I pushed myself up in bed, trying to work out what the fuck was going on and noticed Ashlyn was gone. I fumbled for my phone to check for a message. I had about ten unread texts but nothing from her, and it was six a.m. I kicked off the covers, my heart beating so hard in my chest I thought it would crash through my ribs. Where had she gone? Why was she not with me? The reasons why taking a backseat to finding her. I flung open my bedroom door and jogged out to the living room. The glow of the TV hit me as I entered the room. The sound had been muted. Ashlyn was sleeping soundly curled in an armchair, the remote control tucked up under her chin.

  “Hey.” I knelt down beside her, brushing the hair away from her face. It’s like someone put my internal organs in a blender. I was so fucking relieved she hadn’t left. “Ashlyn.” I traced her chin with my fingers, wondering why she had left my bed.

  “Hmm.” She slowly opened an eye, mumbling something that made no sense.

  “What are you doing out here?” I pulled the remote from her hand; the stupid buttons had made indentations on her face. I wanted to pitch it against a wall for trying to mess with the perfection.

  “I woke up and I couldn’t sleep.” She yawned, stretching out in the chair. “I didn’t want to wake you so I came out to watch TV.”

  “I don’t care if you wake me.” She didn’t fight me as I lifted her into my arms and pulled her off the chair. “Just don’t go leaving my bed in the middle of the night.” As strange as it sounded, I hated the thought of her being out in the living room alone. It pissed me off, which made no fucking sense. Feelings are just plain weird. “I’m taking you back to bed.”

  The remote was still in my hand so I hit the power button and tossed it on the now vacant chair. Ashlyn’s body was limp in my arms, allowing me to pull her closer to my body.

  “Dan,” she mumbled into my bare chest, the vibrations from her words kind of tickled as her head rested against me.

  “Yeah?” I carried her from the living room back into my bedroom.

  “I had an itch while you were sleeping.” She had a dopey grin on her face as her sleepy eyelids closed.

  My dick jumped in my boxer shorts, all of sudden very interested in the conversation we were having. Yeah, you and me both buddy.

  “Fuck, babe, now I’m really pissed you didn’t wake me.”

  “It’s okay. I scratched it myself.” She laughed to herself as I gently laid her on the bed. Well that sure as hell got my attention. The thought of her touching herself made me both hard and jealous. Jealous I had missed out on seeing it.

  I slid into the bed beside her, pulling her body back onto mine. “That’s kind of hot. Did you think of me?” Hoping like hell she did, ’cause if it were any other fucker I would be hunting him down and ripping off his balls. No shit. I would tear his sack right off.

  “Oh yeah. I came hard, too.” She mumbled against my chest as I hooked her leg up on my hip.

  “Ashlyn.” I swallowed, imagining her hot, wet pussy being teased by her fingertips, her body shaking with pleasure, as she got closer to climax. I’d only seen her come once and it killed me to know I missed it. Fuck, it killed me to know I wasn’t the one who was making her come. The only consolation was that she’d had me in her head while she was doing it.

  “Yeah.” She opened one eye slightly, the slash of bright green searing me.

  “If you won’t wake me can you at least film it for me next time?”

  “Maybe. You’ll have to wait and find out.”

  “So you guys are dating?” Megs hobbled over to her refrigerator. “I need more peas for this foot. The Physiotherapist said I’m so lucky I didn’t tear anything. I can’t believe I needed to take a sick day.” She barely took a breath as she hopped back to the couch.

  Megs rarely took a personal day and when she did, she was usually dying. Not literally, but really sick. So when I called her this morning and she told me she wasn’t going to work, I thought it was the perfect time to spend the day with her. Monday was my usual day off and the only plans I had was more fruitless job searching on the Internet. Which was depressing. Plus, I needed to tell someone what the hell was going on.

  “I guess we’re dating. It’s so weird, we didn’t really talk about it. I swear I lose IQ points when I’m around that man. I can’t think straight.”

  Only I would be stuck in a situation where I wasn’t exactly sure whether or not we were actually dating. I mean, we hadn’t agreed on anything and he hadn’t exactly asked me out, he was just there. All the time. I had spent the last three nights with him. And I was seeing him again tonight. And despite him being a manwhore, he hadn’t slept with me yet and was still interested. If
I was compiling a case, the evidence surely pointed to the beginnings of a relationship.

  “Just go with the flow, Ash, have some fun with him. No one said you have to marry him. I for one, think this is amazing news. Dan Evans. He really is hot.” Megs piled the peas on her bandaged foot. Those shoes had a lot to answer for.

  “Yeah, well don’t go patting me on the back just yet. I’m probably just a phase for him or something. By next week he’ll be interested in someone else. I’m not getting ahead of myself just yet.”

  By his own omission I wasn’t his type - big tits and blowjobs. Big tits I didn’t have and as he hadn’t experienced my blowjobs, the jury was still out. I think I was okay. I hadn’t exactly had a lot of practice, but of the guys I had blown, none had ever complained. I needed to keep perspective. Like working at the bar, it’s for now not for always.

  “So enjoy it while it lasts.” Megs was constantly chasing that silver lining. She leaned forward to whisper despite us being the only two people in her apartment. “Is he…as good as they say?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I haven’t slept with him yet but I’ve seen it and felt it and it’s huge and I’m not sure how the hell it’s going to fit.”

  By it, I meant his penis. I had taken a peek on the second night while I was giving him a hand job. Not that I’d seen it in its entirety, more like I surmised what it would be like from the sum of all parts. It was long and thick. It was definitely a two hander. Far from average. I could only imagine how spectacular it would be in the flesh. Flesh. An appropriate word based on what I was thinking.

  “It will fit. I’m sure it will be fun working out the logistics.” Megs laughed.

  Sure, it was funny for her; she wasn’t the one who would be attempting to insert that into her vagina. Although, I really wasn’t sure I would be either. Now, there was this heavy expectation around the sex. What if it sucked for him? And I don’t mean in the oral sex kind of suck, I mean just really average sex kind of suck. It was all too hard. No pun intended.

  “I guess I’ll find out. Eventually.” Or at least I hoped. Maybe I didn’t. Gah! I was impossible. Things were easier when he was just some sexy, cocky musician I’d never sleep with.

  “Hey, you should invite him to your birthday party on the weekend.” Megs sat up, prompting the bag of peas to spill off her foot. She was wearing her up-to-no-good face, the one that could only mean trouble. No doubt the trouble would be meant for me.

  “Megs, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I mean, I just met him,” I said, trying to rationalize.

  I need to gain control of the runaway train that was playing out in Megs’s head. Oh I know I didn’t know what she was thinking, unfortunately I did not possess mind-reading abilities, but I knew where this was heading. The trouble that I spoke of. Right here. Alive and well in Megan Winters.

  “Not sure I want to subject him to something as personal as a birthday party. Besides it’s hardly a party, just a couple of our friends getting together for drinks. Introductions to the friends is a pretty serious step. He will think I’m trying to show him off and it will make his ego bigger than it already is, or think I’m pushing the relationship issue.” Solid argument. She could hardly argue with that logic.

  As much as I wanted to celebrate my special day with Dan, it just didn’t seem likely. Firstly, I’d known him for less than a week. It was too soon even if I was dating a regular guy—assuming what we were actually doing was dating—and secondly, it’s Dan freaking Evans. The last thing he probably wanted to do was hang out with a bunch of my friends.

  The other thing was the whole pressure of the occasion. I didn’t want him to feel obligated to do anything. Best solution was to let it go. Just not mention it and if we were together next year…yeah like that would happen. Welcome to Delusionville, population one. Let’s face it - we wouldn’t have to deal with it next year.

  “Well I still think you should ask him. So you’ve only known him a few days, big deal. He made you come without putting his cock in you, that alone deserves an invite.” Megs was not buying my solid argument. While Megs liked to banter around idealism, I preferred realism. As in, I am really not going to embarrass myself by asking him and being turned down or worse, him saying yes and being bored. Nope. No chance. End of story. There would be no sexy Power Station bass player helping me ring in my special day.

  “Nope.” I folded my arms defiantly across my chest. “I’m not asking and neither are you. Besides, I assume that because they aren’t touring right now means they are probably recording, so I’m sure he has better things to do.”

  “Fine. Kill joy.” Megs pouted. “You know it wasn’t just for your benefit you know. You could have invited that sexy best friend of his too so I had some entertainment. Has Troy Harris mentioned me?”

  “I haven’t seen Troy. Like I said. We haven’t really done anything much other than be in bed together.”

  “Sounds like a fling to me. Minus the no sex part. In that department you are letting yourself down.”

  “You’re impossible, you know that? This didn’t start out as a fling. I’m not sure what it started out as, all I know is I’m now in it and still none the wiser as to what it actually is.” Saying it out loud didn’t actually clarify it either. Hell, was I going to have to ask Dan?

  “So, you seeing him tonight?” Megs was fishing. Not that she really had to, I would happily volunteer everything I knew. Which we had already established wasn’t a lot.

  “Probably. He knows I have the night off. I told him I might see him around.” I tried to sound casual but in fact I was an internal mess. I wanted to see him but that would mean I had seen him every night since I met him. I’m sure that wasn’t smart. Better to leave it as a possibility. Maintain some control over this situation.

  “Might see him around? What are you planning a date or a drive by?”

  I had been at Megs’s most of the day. Well, all of the day. The subject of Dan had featured heavily in the conversation, as had the consumption of Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked. We had moved on to Chunky Monkey, and I was glad I was wearing my old jeans and Bruins jersey. That kind of indulgence was bound to end up on my ass. The ice cream I meant, though I’m sure if Dan had the chance he’d take a shot at my ass as well.

  “You are supposed to be supportive. What happened to being on my side?” I took a spoonful and shoved it into my mouth.

  “I’m supportive of you getting some. Stop playing it safe. Just turn up. Surprise him.” Megs dug in with her spoon. We should probably stop before we finished another pint. Should was a word I seemed to be having a problem with these days.

  “His apartment has a heap of security. I need like a retinal scan just to get in the door.”

  I was exaggerating. I had no idea what I needed to do to get in his building but I assumed I wouldn’t be able to just walk in off the street.

  “So surprise him at the door. Turn up.” Megs stopped eating. She was serious. Like I could just turn up on his doorstep unannounced.

  “What if he is doing something, or someone else?” Even though we hadn’t explored the boundaries of what we were doing, I was hoping this wasn’t a possibility. He had said things last night, things I hoped just weren’t for my benefit. There was still I had a tiny bit of doubt. Okay, more than a tiny bit.

  “Ash, he wouldn’t.”

  “Do I know that?”

  “Well, one way to find out. Go there and see for yourself.” Megs pushed her spoon into the half-eaten pint, hopping to her feet. “Go, then report back.” She yanked on my arm.

  “I can’t just go. I need to change or something.” I glanced down at Jersey and jeans. I wasn’t even wearing makeup.

  “Ash, he won’t care what you’re wearing. Stop making excuses and go.” She tugged on my arm again.

  “I’m going, I’m going.” I rolled my eyes, lifting myself from the couch. “Sit back down and elevate the foot. I can see myself out.”

  “’Bye. Call
me,” Megs called out from behind me. I knew she would start burning up the phone if she didn’t hear within an hour.

  “’Bye.” I grabbed my purse and phone and headed out the door.

  Megs was right. I needed answers or at the very least some kind of definition as to what we had going on.

  ****

  I paced in the front of Dan’s building; the wind tunneled through the high-rises and it was freezing. I needed a strategy. I had been partially right about the security. While no retinal scan was required, you did actually need to be a resident. Though the whole element of surprise would be gone if I called him and told him I was here. If he had anyone up there then she could easily be shoved out a back entry. Think Ashlyn, think. I paced. My Vans padded softly against the concrete. It came to me. Brilliance. Pizza.

  I called a local pizza delivery and gave them Dan’s address, paying for it on my sad and overused credit card. It’s not like the pizza charge was going to make a huge difference in the big scheme of things, I was already skating on the poverty line. Besides, it would be worth it for my peace of mind.

  I waited, hoping my brilliant plan would work. See, I’m sure I wasn’t the only girl who had thought up the whole order-a-pizza-and-get-into-meet-the-band idea but my version had a twist. While ordering said pizza and making payment, I tipped them an extra ten bucks to deliver it with a message. I wanted credit for the pizza so when the delivery guy showed up he would tell Dan I had sent it as a gift. Which of course he would accept because, it’s not like I was going to send him flowers. Then the second part of my plan would spring into action but this was largely dependent on the delivery driver. This was one time I was hoping for a bored stoner who didn’t care about job integrity.

  I waited. And waited. Finally after thirty agonizing minutes, a car with a pizza box mounted on the roof came into view. Thankfully no one had called the cops to report the redheaded loiterer who was talking to herself in the street.