by Lee Piper
Holy shit.
My fingers trail along the tense, corded muscles of his forearms, trace over his biceps, and come to rest on his pecs. Sweet cherub Gabriel, I could write a sonnet about his pecs. It’s been a long time, too long, since I’ve reveled in the contours of his impressive body. And he feels different somehow—harder, stronger, unyielding. It’s like the loving boy I grew up with has been replaced by his angry older brother. Who can kiss.
Oh, boy. Can he kiss.
With a deep growl, Reid grasps my wandering hands. He wrenches them behind my back, pinning them together. Frustrated, I thrust my chest out, rubbing my girls against his torso and savoring the way he clasps my wrists tighter in response. With one hand still restraining me, his other travels up my side to the nape of my neck. Reid delves his fingers into my hair, grabs a handful, and tugs downward.
I gasp, then moan.
He nips my bottom lip before drawing it into his mouth and sucking on it. Hard.
There go my knees.
Releasing my now-swollen lip, he gently licks the teased skin, caressing it with his tongue before taking it into his mouth once again. It’s highly possible my nipples have worn holes in my shirt. And his. Those babies are rigid.
With a muttered curse, Reid pulls away. I sway precariously, but by the time I’ve righted myself, his eyes are carefully schooled.
I blink, my face undoubtedly a mixture of lust and confusion with a hint of re-emerging fear thrown in for kicks. Without his wall of heat, I register the audience once again. My eyes dart side to side and my heart rate jumps straight to get the fuck out of here levels.
Reid must notice my rising panic because he grabs my hand and pushes his way through the crowd. Once we’re out in the open, I disentangle my fingers, wobble like a twenty-first birthday casualty, then collapse onto the ground. I’ve never been so happy to lie within sniffing distance of a day-old hot dog in my life.
Now that the anxiety-induced arousal has passed, I’m shaking and exhausted, a complete and utter mess. It’s probably why I start laughing.
Reid crouches next to me, his gaze intense. “I know how to fix this.”
Turning to face him, I wipe the tears from my eyes. Reid’s expression is stoic, a mask. He doesn’t seem at all bothered by his tongue’s recent annihilation of my mouth or my current mental state.
After taking a deep breath, I exhale. “Fix what?”
“Your fear of crowds.”
“Yeah?” I don’t even pretend to sound interested. Instead, I turn my attention to the sky, wishing I was scared of something more practical, like rabbits. “That’s nice.”
“It’s gonna work.”
“Sure, it is, Tate. Sure, it is.”
Gazing at the stars, I ponder the big things, like life and how much I suck at it. But there’s no denying a small part of me is curious. Who knows? Maybe Reid does have the answer. Maybe he holds the key to the locked box that is my courage. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s about to open Pandora’s Box.
“Are you bumping uglies with Reid?”
Black coffee is sprayed all over my cooked breakfast. “What the hell?” Grabbing a napkin, I wipe droplets from my mouth. “You could have at least let me take a mouthful of sourdough first.” I shake my head. “It was a rookie mistake to dive for the hot beverage.”
My brother throws his head back, laughing. “And miss watching you ruin your breakfast?” His grin is wide. “Never.”
“You did it on purpose.” Crossing my arms, I glare at him. “That’s it, I’m boycotting our weekly brunch. I don’t care if it’s tradition.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Yes, I will.”
He shakes his head in mock disappointment. “Mom would be so disappointed.”
“So now you pull the guilt card?” I glance at my soggy eggs. “You’ve got no shame.”
Jasper smirks. “Nope.” He takes a bite of toast, considering me. “What about Tobias?”
“What about him?”
“Well, if you’re not fucking Reid, are you fucking him?”
My mouth drops open. “You did not just say that.”
“C’mon, sis, how long is it going to take to put two and two together?”
“Tobias isn’t interested in me.”
He snorts. “That guy’s interested in three things: drums, drinking, and you.”
“He’s been sober for months!”
Jasper waves away my exclamation, his eyes lighting up. “Or is this a ménage situation?”
“Screw you.”
He chuckles. “I never took you for a dark horse, but maybe I’ve misjudged you, sis.”
“You definitely misjudge my accuracy.” A sodden mushroom is launched in his direction. Sadly, my triumph is short-lived because he catches it. In his mouth.
Shit isn’t going my way this morning.
Since kissing Reid, I’ve been in a state of perpetual shock. Despite my best efforts, he refused to elaborate on how he is going to cure my enochlophobia. So of course my mind is going a billion miles an hour trying to figure it out. Are we going to get our freak on? Is he going to threaten me with an abstinence from pork chops? Will he force me to sing a duet with Vivienne? No idea. What I do know, however, is before he said goodbye, his gaze darkened to something positively sinful. It was enough to keep me awake for the rest of the night. Needless to say, I’m less than chipper this morning.
“Who’s got the biggest cock?”
And my brother isn’t helping.
I narrow my eyes at Jasper. “I am not having this conversation with you. We’re at a café for Christ’s sake. Show some class.”
“It has to be Reid,” he continues. “I love Tobias like a brother, but he’s definitely on the scrawny side, which means his dick is too.”
“He’s not scrawny.”
My brother grins. “So it is Tobias.”
“It’s not Tobias!”
“Reid, then.”
I thump my head on the table, narrowly missing a hash brown. “Why do I have to be related to you?”
Jasper snorts.
Righting myself, I half-heartedly poke some coffee-soaked bacon with my fork.
“Well?” Jasper’s expression is expectant.
“Well, what?”
“Reid, Tobias, or both?”
“For fuck’s sake, quit talking!”
He smirks.
Shaking my head, I mutter, “Whatever,” before giving up on the bacon and spearing a hash brown instead. Still crunchy. However, thoughts of crunchy potatoes take me back to last night. I don’t know how he did it, but Reid managed to turn gravy into the sexiest condiment in existence.
“And here I thought you were a nun.” Jasper takes another bite out of his toast.
“No holy orders. I’m just very particular about who I introduce Gwendolyn to, that’s all.”
He pauses mid-chew. “Are you still using that fucked-up name?”
I nod.
“Christ, sis. It’s a miracle you get laid at all.”
“I’ve got great tits.”
My brother holds up his hand. “Don’t wanna know. I don’t want to know about your rack, I don’t want to know about the men you’re fucking, and I categorically do not want to hear about Gwendolyn.”
“Suit yourself.” It’s almost impossible to hide my smile.
We’re quiet for a moment, but Jasper breaks the silence with, “Do you think Bradley Reading will watch our rehearsals this week?”
And now I wish we were back on the topic of Reid and Tobias. Ducking my head, I inspect the ketchup-to-food ratio on my plate. Way too much ketchup. “Dunno.”
“Wouldn’t it be fuckin’ amazing if he does?”
“Sure.” A familiar ball of angst forms in my stomach.
He takes another bite of toast, indifferent to the crumbs hurled in my direction as he speaks. “I’m sick of playing small shows. I’m ready for the big time.”
Dodging the last spit-encrusted missile, I co
unter, “We’ve got to earn it. That’s why I was hesitant to enter Rising Star in the first place. This isn’t a poorly scripted Hollywood blockbuster complete with fools pretending to know their Fenders from their Ibanez. It’s real life. Stardom doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time.”
“We don’t have time,” my brother exclaims. “Mom and Dad’s money is almost gone, and our joined income isn’t enough to cover studio time, let alone recording and production costs. This is our only shot.” He glances away. After taking a deep breath, he exhales. “In fifty years, I want to look back on my life and know I’ve done something extraordinary.” Jasper meets my gaze. “I want to have changed the world in a big fucking way. Music is it for me, you know?”
Sighing, I nod. “Yeah, I do.”
And now I feel even worse. Reid needs to stockpile enough Valium to fell six Clydesdales, because if I don’t get a handle on my phobia soon, I’m going to die of guilt. Or shame. Either way, the image of Satan wiggling his singed eyebrows in a come-hither motion pops into my head with startling clarity.
“Do you want this, sis?”
My head whips up. “Huh?”
Jasper looks at me, really looks at me. It’s unnerving. “You’re going through the motions rather than living in the moment. The deeper we get into this competition, the less you want to be there.”
Deny, my head screams.
“Nope, not distant. I’m totally living in the moment. See?” Picking up some cold, flaccid bacon, I take a large bite. “I’m here, I’m present, I’m—” No matter how many times I chew, the gristly leather-impersonate isn’t going anywhere.
Jasper grins as I grab another napkin. The charade is over, it’s time to tap out. I spit out the bacon.
“Fuck, this tastes worse than your minestrone.”
“What’s wrong with my minestrone?” he asks.
“You put avocado in it.”
“I’ve got advanced taste buds.”
“You’ve got issues, that’s what you’ve got.”
We’re so busy arguing, neither of us notice the two girls sidling up to our table until one of them breathes, “Hi.”
They’re younger than us, maybe nineteen or twenty. They’re either loving the balmy weather or are very comfortable in their own skin. I’m pretty sure I see nipples.
Jasper’s eyes bulge out, but he quickly recovers before turning the dial from Dickwad up to Ultimate Sleaze. “Why, hello there.”
Figuring these girls need to come with a public service announcement, I cough. It sounds uncannily similar to herpes.
The blonde simpers, her gaze locked on Jasper. “We don’t normally do this, but we wanted to come over and introduce ourselves.”
I snort before unsuccessfully covering it up with yet another a cough. The brunette sizes me up like a lioness about to take down a wildebeest. Blessedly, the blonde is determined to speak to my brother, so she refuses to be waylaid.
“My name’s Sandy, and this is my best friend, Sarah.”
Brunette turns her attention back to Jasper and gives him a coy wave.
“Nice to meet you, Sandy and Sarah.”
Thank fuck my breakfast congealed before I had a chance to eat it. Watching my brother in action makes me want to hurl.
“Are you one of the bands on Rising Star?” Sandy asks.
Oh boy.
“We saw on social media you guys are from around here. You’re performing tonight, aren’t you?”
Jasper’s smile is beyond self-satisfied. He glances at me then back at the Barbie twins. “Yeah, I am, and yeah, we are.” He gestures to me. “This is my sister. She’s the lead singer.”
The girls don’t even pretend to look my way.
“Are you both fans of our music?”
If gushing was a sport, Sandy and Sarah would be dual world champions. They nod, giggle, and possessively run their fingers along the contours of Jasper’s arm. The entire time they purr about how much they love his dick—I mean, his music.
My brother is in his element. As I watch him talk and laugh, the ball of tension in my stomach morphs into something much, much bigger.
Reid needs to be either a magician or a miracle worker to get me through this competition.
It takes an eternity to disentangle my brother from the half-naked girls. By the time we make it to Rising Star, we’re lucky to have enough time to tune our instruments, do a sound check, suffer through Vivienne’s pre-production meeting, and avoid the makeup-wielding Stephanie. It’s safe to say I’m freaking the hell out when we eventually step into the greenroom.
My eyes scan the space. Empty. Oh hell.
Reid isn’t here.
“Where the fuck is he?” I murmur.
Heavy drums herald the start of the support band’s set, and Reid isn’t freaking here. Rubbing clammy hands down my thighs, I pace the greenroom. My eyes flick to the open door every few seconds.
Tobias looks at his phone and scowls. “Tiffany’s a fucking nightmare.”
“Dump her.”
“Sis.”
“What?” I spin to face Jasper, who is gaping at me. “Now you’ve grown a conscience? Only this morning you said—”
“I was fucking around.” His gaze darts to Tobias’s stony expression. “Christ, sis.”
I throw my hands in the air. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You know it, I know it, everyone flipping knows Tiffany is the equivalent of a hairball coughed up by a rabies-infected stray cat.”
Tobias jumps to his feet. “What the hell is your problem?” His gaze takes in my clenched fists and squared shoulders. “Look at you, you’re itching for a fight. What’s got your panties in a wad?”
Nope, not going there.
I raise my chin. “Your girlfriend is a bitch. She is the mother of all bitches, the uberbitch of Bitchtopia. Get rid of her already. She’s a dead weight holding you back.”
Tobias gapes. “Holding me back? From what? From the thousands of women breaking down my door?” He looks around the almost empty greenroom. “No one’s fucking here.”
“So you’re gonna pass up any chance of happiness by settling? She threatens to cheat on you if you don’t send her a text every half hour.”
“That was one time.”
“One time too many. Kick her to the curb and move on.”
“I hate to say it, bro, but my sister has a point.”
Tobias glares at Jasper. “You stay out of this.” He pins me with a fierce scowl. “When are you going to get it through your head? She’s it for me. You don’t know her like I do.”
Moving forward, I poke him in the chest. “Oh, I know her. And when are you going to get it through your head? She’s chuck steak dressed as filet mignon. I don’t care how many times she says you can’t do better, you fucking can.”
We’re nose to nose by this stage. Even though our conversation escalated quicker than either of us anticipated, I’m relishing the adrenaline coursing through my veins. And judging by the way Tobias is sucking in gallons of air, I’d say he is too.
Jasper stands. “Time to cool it, you two.” He moves to where we’re glowering at each other and clamps a hand on our shoulders.
His touch snaps me out of my rage. I blink.
Look at us, what a pair.
Tobias’s eyes soften. “You’ve got something in your teeth.”
I groan. “You let me scream at you with food in my mouth?” Crossing my arms, I huff. “Some friend you are.”
The irony is not lost on Tobias. He shakes his head at me, lips twitching.
“It’s parsley, isn’t it?” He grins. “Stupid burger. Why they garnished it with a geometric ton of the stuff, I’ll never know.”
After picking at my teeth with a fingernail, I give him a strained smile. “Is it gone?”
He nods, chuckling.
“Shut up.”
“Come here.” Tobias pulls me in for one of his world-renowned hugs. If it wasn’t for the audience cheering the end of the first song, and his hip
flask digging into my stomach, I might have relaxed into it.
Jasper loses interest now that the fireworks are over and moves back to his seat.
Tobias rests his cheek on the top of my head. “What’s got you all fired up? Something tells me it’s not my choice of girlfriend.”
Damn it, why is everyone so observant lately?
“Is it Bradley Reading?”
“Um, yeah.” I’m a horrible person.
“You know you’re going to rock it tonight, right?”
Ah, platitudes. If only they worked.
“I hope so,” I say.
“I know so.”
We’re silent for a moment. After taking a deep breath, I murmur, “I’m sorry for what I said about Tiffany. I’ll try to shut up about her. Can’t guarantee it’ll work, mind you, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Thanks.”
“You give great hugs, by the way.”
A laugh rumbles deep within his chest.
“They’re cozy without being suffocating, there’s the perfect amount of connecting body parts without it being weird, and”—I inhale—“you smell nice.”
Tobias kisses the top of my head. “You do too.”
A deep rumble sounds.
I freeze. “Did you hear something? It sounded like a”—turning around, my voice fades to a whisper—“growl.”
“Reid, how’s it going, man?”
My eyes almost bulge out. He’s wearing a loose black tank. A goddamn tank. It hangs off his broad frame, exposing muscular shoulders and both sleeve tattoos to panty-melting perfection. If that nipple ring peeks out from behind the thin material, I take no responsibility for my actions. None. I’ll blame the war cry and frenzied groping on a lust-induced psychosis or something.
I think the boys are talking. I see Reid’s mouth moving, so words must be being said. But I can’t get past his worn Converse shoes, dark jeans, tan belt, and that wretched tank. I gulp, hiccup, then sneeze.
Fucking A.
Tobias rubs my back. “You okay?”
Reid’s gaze locks on Tobias’s hand. His jaw ticks. Reid then shifts his attention back to me. Whoa. Tobias, the room, the roar of the crowd, everything fades into silence. The only audible sound is my manic breathing. It occurs to me that nothing screams crazy like a heavy breather, and inwardly, I groan. When it comes to this man, I’m screwed. So very, very screwed.
