My alarm woke me with a start. I rolled my ass out of bed and into the shower. The hot water worked some magic on my tired muscles and woke me up a little. I scrubbed down quickly as I had set my alarm for as late as possible and needed to move fast to get to the rehearsal hall in Brooklyn on time. I threw on some comfortable clothes, caring more about what I sounded like than what I looked like. I guzzled one cup of coffee quickly and grabbed a second cup for the road, along with a banana. I made it to the hall with ten minutes to spare. Early was on time in our line of work, and pulling the diva card due to lack of sleep didn’t fly in my books.
Beau was already there, sipping his coffee on the couch in the lounge area. He looked surprisingly awake for how little rest we’d all gotten. A minute after I arrived, Ash and Dean came in together with a massive box of pastries for everyone. I grabbed a chocolate donut, starting to feel a little more human with the caffeine and sugar in my system.
The four of us all zonked out on the sofa while we waited to be told what to do. We were awake and functioning but saving our energy for the rehearsal.
“All right!” Cory said loudly to grab everyone’s attention. “What did you guys want to start with today? The song we left off on yesterday?”
“Actually,” Beau started, speaking for the group, “we had some inspiration last night and have some new stuff we want to try.”
The rest of us voiced our agreement.
“Good. What you had was crap. Hope you got your heads out of your asses and this sucks less.” Delicacy was not in Core’s repertoire.
We moved into the rehearsal space itself and took our familiar positions at our stands. I picked up my guitar, my fingers a little tender from overuse on the strings last night, but nothing I hadn’t dealt with before. Beau called out the name of the song, “Lost,” the first one we’d practiced last night and decided would be the single.
“This may be a little rough to begin with. We need to figure out the drum lines still, but it’s a start,” he called to Cory, who nodded at us.
We played through the song once and then stopped so Ash could work through a couple of things on his own. Even last night, with the makeshift setup, it had sounded like something special after we’d fiddled with it. Today, with the full gear, even with some tinkering left to do, it was outstanding. I was as in love with this piece as I was with the songs on the first album (with the exception of Chase’s song, which would forever be in its own category). We were on fire again, for the first time in what felt like ages.
The atmosphere in the hall was noticeably less tense than it had been the past few days. We were joking around a little more, and the satisfaction that we actually had something we were all happy with showed in all of us. We played through the song again, getting the full feel of the drums, the beat coming through like a train and the high hats and cymbals making this the rock piece it truly was.
Cory stopped us at the end. “Holy fuck, guys. Where the hell did that come from?”
“Carter and his boyfriend, Chase, wrote it,” Ash said. “We changed it up a little. But good, yeah?”
“Hell yes, it’s good. Better than good,” Cory agreed. “That’s the single?”
“Yeah, we think so.” I nodded. “There are some others we want to include on the album too, but that’s the single.”
We went through the song a few more times, playing with a few last things we wanted to try before it was perfect. After about an hour or so on the same song, we took a five-minute break. I grabbed the opportunity to text Chase, letting him know Cory was happy with the song and was going to send the cell phone video recording he took to the label for final approval. He was sure they would be as crazy about it as we all were.
Chase’s response was immediate and was just a string of emojis. Some had huge smiling faces, some had stars for eyes, one or two were even crying happy tears. Getting to share this with my guy made the process feel even sweeter.
After our short break, we got back to work and played through the rest of the songs we had agreed to on the previous night. Cory seemed as happy with the rest of the tunes as he was with the first one. He took short video clips of the chorus of each song after we had finished working it. My voice was getting a little rough after a couple of hours, and we took a break with sandwiches we’d had delivered.
About halfway through lunch, Chase texted me to say he was outside and asked if someone could let him in. I headed around back to open the door for him and pulled him into the dim hallway. He had gone back to his place to freshen up and change after class, and damn, did he look good.
He had on these tight heather-gray jeans that made his ass look downright edible. He was wearing a pale blue polo and a lightweight cobalt-colored hoodie. His blond hair was styled the way he normally did it, with just enough product to make it stay where he wanted but still look sexy and disheveled. He had an olive-green canvas messenger bag slung across his chest, probably filled with schoolbooks in case there was any downtime for him to get some studying done. His face had a slight flush to it, as though he had been walking quickly from the subway in order to get here faster.
I pulled him against me in the hall, unable to resist cupping his perfect ass with both my hands. I kissed him firmly, leaving him gasping at my sudden assault. God, I had missed him so much. His mind, his body. Talking with him. Kissing him. It had only been a couple of days since we’d spent time together alone—at least when we were awake—but I was already going crazy needing to be with him.
“Fuck, you look good,” I said before I licked into his mouth.
His response was to kiss me with more intensity, pressing me against the cold wall and rutting into me until we were both hard and panting.
“Don’t wanna stop, but we should get up there before they figure out what we’re doing,” I managed to get out between kisses.
“Mmf,” he protested against my lips, making it more difficult each second to pull away.
He drew himself back. “Tonight?” he bartered.
“Oh fuck yes,” I agreed quickly.
We walked slowly to the rehearsal hall, giving our bodies a chance to calm down before we had to be decent in front of the others. It was going to be a long afternoon.
Chase
“CHASE the boyfriend!” Dean greeted me with a handshake and a bro hug that I was absolutely not cool enough to pull off.
“Dean the bass!” I responded, mirroring his greeting.
“Dude, this guy is the reason why you’re not tearing us a new one today,” Dean said to Cory, pointing down at me over my head.
“Nice to see you again, man,” Cory said with a wave, his mouth full of sandwich. “Hear things worked out pretty good with this one.” He gestured to Carter, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“Yeah, guess they did.” I blushed at Carter.
“Also, these assholes have more than four shitty chords to give me today. So thanks for that. You’re a songwriter?” Cory continued.
Dean, my new biggest fan, bragged on my behalf. “Not just a writer, a composer. Julliard.”
“I’m only a student right now, but hopefully someday,” I said, not wanting to oversell myself.
“Impressive. Well this shit’s gonna be huge, so you’ll be a lot more than ‘only a student’ when it gets out you cowrote Inevitable Thorns’s next Grammy-winning song. Good job, kid.” Cory finished off his sandwich and licked his fingers sloppily. “All right, you lazy freeloaders, back to work!”
The guys went back to their places, throwing away their trash on the way.
“Next Grammy-winning song!” Carter echoed Cory’s words in my ear gleefully before leaning down to kiss me quickly on the cheek.
He headed to his mic stand, grinning at me while I tried to process Cory’s praise.
Holy shit, what if that happened? I had gone from being a mediocre student—at an admittedly fancy school—to a promising rock-music composer with songs about to be on an album of a well-known band, in the space
of less than twenty-four hours. Aspiration and potential swirled in the pit of my stomach. I had been passionate about what I did for forever, but it had always seemed so far away. Keep taking lessons. Get into a good school. Get decent grades and make important connections. Graduate. Spend a bunch of years interning while living in poverty, kissing ass, and keeping my fingers crossed for an eventual lucky circumstance that might lead to a possibly successful break.
It felt like I had inadvertently skipped over a bunch of the bullshit, temporarily at least. I didn’t want to count my chickens, but this was a huge opportunity for me. To think that it came from writing music with Carter the way we had tried to do since we were in elementary school made it even more unreal.
Ash counted the band in with his drumsticks, muting my train of thought. I listened to one of the songs they had been working on last night, and fuck, Cory was right, they did sound fantastic. It was even better with the full drum kit; the song came alive with Ash’s pulsing beat. I relaxed into the couch, listening in awe for hours and watching my man sing the shit out of the lead vocals we wrote together.
Chase
“YOU know what I’m thinking?” Carter asked as we made our way from the subway down the block to my place later that evening. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. It was a beautiful sunset. All the oranges and pinks set fire to the sky. The clouds were fluffy and delicate. The air had warmed a little, and it was turning into a lovely spring. We held hands as we walked down the street, both high off a good day in the rehearsal hall.
“What?” I asked, a smile in my voice. I brought our joined hands to my lips to kiss his fingers.
“Breakfast for dinner. How does that sound?”
“Oh my God,” I groaned, my stomach rumbling at the thought of food. “So good. I think I even have some bacon. Fuck, that sounds amazing.”
“Well, if I had known the suggestion would have made you basically come all over yourself…,” he teased into my ear, chuckling at my reaction.
I reached over and hit his chest playfully with the back of my open hand.
We got to my apartment. I let us inside and tossed the keys into the bowl next to the door. Carter had only been here a few times. We tended to go to his place because it was more convenient when I was coming from school, and well, it was nicer. I liked my place, but there was a big difference between the kind of an apartment and amenities a student could afford versus a successful musician. I was proud of the fact that I lived by myself. I’d had roommates up until this year, but I had worked my ass off last year applying for and receiving quite a few small scholarships, as well as teaching music lessons in my spare time, in order to afford the extravagance of living alone.
“Actually—” Carter picked up our earlier conversation, gripping the front of my shirt and kissing my neck at the collar where I had left the buttons open. “—I changed my mind. There’s another way I would rather make you come than with breakfast food.”
I shuddered at his sexy innuendo. He began slowly planting openmouthed kisses in a straight line up my throat and over my chin. His lips were lush and plump. Each kiss left enough moisture on my neck to make me shiver at the loss of contact when he moved on. He smelled incredible, like the pine aftershave I had grown to associate with him. It made me hard instantly now—like a Pavlovian response.
Before I started seeing Carter, going for months without any sort of sexual contact with another person didn’t bother me too much, but after a few weeks of getting off with him almost daily, a couple of days of abstinence had made me horny as fuck.
Carter knew how much he was turning me on. He was just as hard as I was, our clothed groins lining up and providing a sweet pressure. He shifted slightly to put his thigh in between my legs, giving me something to press against and making my jeans even tighter.
“God, you were driving me crazy today,” he said. “Watching me. Wearing those fucking sexy-as-fuck pants. Please tell me you’re ready. I need to be inside you tonight.”
He attacked my neck again, off to the side this time. I was sure he was going to leave a mark, considering how deeply he was sucking and biting me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care even a little. Let him mark me. I was his either way.
“Oh fuck. Yes. Carter. Please.” I tilted my neck for him to abuse further.
His hands on my hips guided me into the bedroom. His lips never left my neck. He was working that impossibly good spot behind my ear that turned me on like nobody’s business when our legs finally hit my bed.
We scrambled to undress each other, our limbs flailing as the need to get skin to skin overwhelmed us. When we were finally naked, I was close to unraveling. His skin was hot to the touch, almost feverish. His hands were glued to my ass, kneading and stroking the muscles. He kept moaning my name like a mantra. His cock was flush with mine, rocking against me over and over. At this rate, I had no idea how he would ever get inside me before we both came. I was so turned on that coming from no more than this was a real possibility. But I didn’t want that. I needed to finally know what fucking felt like with him.
Since my last boyfriend made me realize how much I actually loved having something up there, I had been getting off regularly with a couple of toys I’d bought, but it had been so long since I’d had an actual dick inside me, my ass was already clenching with eagerness.
Carter caressed my body, touching every part of me that was sensitive to him, awakening all my nerve endings. He sucked on my nipples, making me pant and my cock leak. His hands found my abs, and he drew little circles over them with his fingertips. He kissed the inside of my wrist, right on my pulse point. When I finally couldn’t wait any longer, I reached over to my bedside table to grab the lube and a condom; the latter I had fortunately had the foresight to buy a week or two ago. When he saw the supplies, I felt his heart rate shoot up, and then he attacked my mouth with vigor and intent.
“God, C, please!”
I was getting close to shooting already, and I needed him to pick up the pace if we didn’t want this to be over before it began. His body was tense, his hands trembling slightly.
He wet his fingers with lube and brought them slowly behind my ballsac. His eyes locked with mine as he lowered his fingers, millimeter by millimeter. When he brushed my hole for the first time, fireworks shot behind my eyes. My skin became oversensitive, and I thought for a terrible second I was going to come right then. I thankfully managed to get myself under control and hold it off. I inhaled deeply, and his chest rumbled above me to match the humor in his eyes, despite the intensity of the moment.
“That sensitive?” he asked with reverence.
I nodded, biting my bottom lip. “So good,” I moaned.
His fingers circled my ring for a minute or two, teasing the hell out of me and reducing me to noises instead of words. His eyes never left mine, like he was in a daze from watching how turned on I was. His middle finger finally pushed in slightly, breaching my entrance. I did this enough to myself that it didn’t feel foreign or uncomfortable, even at the beginning. It was just a mind trip that it was him finally touching that part of me.
I’d lost track of the number of times I had gotten off to the thought of having sex with him, both when we were in high school and since we had reconnected. He was my go-to fantasy, and I was about to learn if the reality measured up to my many vivid imaginings.
His agile finger worked its way deeper, relaxing my muscles and getting me ready for him. I was about to complain that he needed to move faster when the first finger slid all the way out and was joined with a second. My body sucked in the two digits easily. He groaned, watching his fingers disappear inside me.
“Fuck, Chase. You’re so fucking hot, baby. You’re doing so good. So damn sexy.” His babble soothed me.
He worked the two fingers inside me farther, fucking me with them faster and faster. He opened them wide to stretch me. My cock was throbbing with want against my stomach. I didn’t dare touch it, or I would absolutely come in
stantly.
“C, I’m ready, please. You need to fuck me. Please,” I begged him, not caring how needy I sounded.
He pulled his fingers from my body. I almost wept at the loss of the pressure. He grabbed the condom from the table and struggled with it for a second. I took it from him and quickly opened it, slid it over his thick waiting length, and added some more lube.
“Gaahh!” He exhaled when I touched his unbearably hard erection. “Don’t touch me too much or I’ll come. Need to be in you.”
“Yes, now. Please, C,” I whimpered.
I lay on my back, opened my knees, and he slid in between my legs. He guided his cock to my waiting hole, holding it there and taking a shaky breath as if to steady himself. The pressure of his dick against me was driving me insane. I needed him to move. He pushed slightly, tentatively. I reached around and grabbed his ass, encouraging him to push harder and keep going. His cock slid through the first ring of muscles, the head popping in easily.
“Oh fuck!” he cried out. “You’re so tight. Fuck!”
“More. Keep going, please. I need more.”
He slid inside me, inch by glorious inch. The pressure was amazingly intense. He was so thick I felt stretched more than I ever had been. I wanted to weep at the fullness when he was finally completely seated. God, he felt so perfect. The need to move was overwhelming. From the sounds he was making already, I knew he wouldn’t last long either, but Christ, I needed him to fuck me before we both lost it. He pulled out a little and made a couple of shallow strokes, testing what felt good for both of us.
Next to Me Page 11
