by Thia Finn
I pulled my shorts on and grabbed my shirt while she folded the blanket. No more words of significance passed between us that night. We had nothing more to say.
Chapter Thirteen
Present
I rolled out of the bed and opened the door. Someone played the guitar softly, and the music strains drifted down the aisle. Damn, I didn’t want to do this, but I might as well face the facts and the sooner we got this out in the open, the better.
Halo picked at her guitar while leaning over a score in front of her. She heard my footsteps. I didn’t try to hide.
I stopped at the fridge and pulled out another bottle of cola, unscrewed the lid, and drank down half. Finally, I turned to look at her. She was even more beautiful than I could possibly imagine on my own. Her brown hair cascaded down her back in soft curls. She used to gripe about it since that stick straight mess commanded the style then, and she fought the curls daily. Her teenaged body obviously gave way to that of a woman in all the best places from what I could tell.
“Quit staring at me and say something, Carter.”
“Ahhh, now she chooses to speak.” I couldn’t help myself. Smartass took over too often.
“I speak when I need to.” She shot me a glare through those violet eyes saying she would fight this battle. Well, that’s just fucking great because so was I.
“Where is everyone?” The tone of my pointed question made me think she knew it, too.
“Cash and Hayden went over to the venue to look it over. They thought it might be better if we talked alone.”
“Oh really? I don’t have anything to say, Halo.” I pointed my finger at her as I moved closer to her. “You, on the other hand, have a shit ton of explaining to do.”
“I have nothing to explain to you. You’re not my boss, Carter.” She stayed seated holding the guitar on her lap.
“That’s where you are partially wrong ‘Halo’.” I air-quoted her name. “Why don’t you start with Victory. What’s up with that little gem?”
“Halo didn’t feel right for the stage. Sounded too childish and Victoria too formal.” She strummed across the strings. “I thought Victory sounded kinda badass.”
“Badass? There’s nothing badass about you, Halo. And yes, you’ll always be Halo when we’re talking.” I sat down on the chair across from her. I wanted to be close to her. I needed her to feel as uncomfortable as I did.
“Whatever, Carter. Again, I don’t have to justify anything I choose to do with my life to you.”
“Why are you here, Halo?” I wanted to be an asshole to her badly, but if a harp sat across her lap instead of a guitar, she’d look like an angel sitting there.
“I’m here because Hayden and I are perfect together. Both Cash and Hayden think so. The mix of our voices works on so many levels. If you’d only listen to us, you wouldn’t have to ask that question.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Sorry, but this is my gig, and you can find your own.” Annnddd just like that, my dick-self was back.
“I don’t want your ‘gig’,” she said using air quotes, too. She always had the smartass gene inside her, exactly like I did.
“I’ve got one of my own already, thank you very much.” She put the instrument down and stood. “I earned it all by myself since I was never good enough according to you and your little band to play or sing with y’all.”
“My little band? Girl, did something big hit on that hard damn head of yours? We’re rock gods now compared to when I left.”
“Well, okay, Mr. Rock God. Let me bow down in your presence, oh great one.” She bent over with her arms stretched out to offer praise and worship.
“Stop being a damn smartass. You fucking know what I meant.” I took her hands and stood her upright.
“You stop being an over-exaggerated, conceited, condescending prick, and I will.” She stretched her five-foot-five frame as tall at it would go.
“Wow, your vocabulary has improved. What did you do, go to fucking college or something?” I smirked right in her face.
“As a matter of fact, I did and graduated, too. If you’d ever taken the time to listen to me, you would’ve known I’m capable of many things, and I’m damn smart. Of course, you should’ve figured it out when I didn’t bother chasing after you, begging you to take me with you after you dumped me.”
We breached each other’s personal space. “I did not fucking dump you, Halo. You knew the damn plan all along. Sitting around your last year in high school waiting and hoping I would return to you wasted your time. That was never going to happen.”
She stood on her tiptoes to get closer to my face and yelled, “You conceited piece of shit. If you think I ever contemplated sitting around waiting for someone like you to come back for me, you’re totally delusional. The thought never once crossed my mind. You left, and I quickly moved on. As a matter of fact, I moved on and on and on, if you’re smart enough to catch my meaning. I dated who I wanted and did what I wanted with whomever I wanted without giving you a second thought.”
I had no comeback to that little tirade. I just stared. Finally, she picked up her guitar and notes and moved back to her bunk, closing the curtain behind her. While it wasn’t a real door, it offered privacy and separation. I think I might’ve needed it worse than her. What she said came across loud and clear. She didn’t need me any longer and had lovers I could only wonder about. Thinking about that would get me in trouble. I knew it and so did she.
Back in the bedroom, I pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt, dressing quickly. I stomped my way to the front of the bus and pushed the button to open the door while I spoke into my phone. “Get me a car. I don’t give a fuck how much. Get me a motherfucking car now.”
I stepped off the bus and pushed the button closing it behind me. I would not be staying on this fucking bus. Women and liquor called my name and not the one on this bus. I’ll have a whole fucking penthouse full. I dialed Peri’s number. “Get me a penthouse for tonight and tomorrow night. I’m not staying here. Text me the location.” I ended the call.
“So, Glendale, Arizona, let’s see what you have to offer.” I walked to the sidewalk and there was a brand new Corvette pulling to the curb.
“I need you to sign these papers, please,” the porter said.
“Bang on that fucking door of that RV. Peri O’Connor will sign them.” I slid down in the low-slung seat, adjusted it to my long legs, and left half the tires ground into the pavement.
I didn’t have a clue where I planned to go. I’d never been to Glendale before. Hell, I hadn’t driven in Arizona before. I pulled up a map on the car’s navigation system and typed in bars. The first place that popped up was a strip club which suited me just fine, so I pushed destination and followed the voice to the spot.
Xplicit looked like it sounded. The cool darkness lured me in. I needed a drink, and I wanted to forget. Forget I’d ever seen Halo. Forget we were ever together. Forget I used to love her.
Big tits greeted me over the top of the bar. I looked up into a nice face to go with them. “What can I get you doll?” Hmm, older than I expected. Fake tits were everywhere these days, though.
“Jack. Just bring me the bottle.”
“Starting a little early, aren’t ya?”
“Is that a problem? I can go elsewhere.” I sounded like a douche to myself. Fuck it, I didn’t care.
“No, not a problem for me unless you plan to drink and then drive.” Her hard look told me she wouldn’t back down.
“Okay, just give me Jack, neat.”
“Sounds better.” She placed the short glass in front of me and poured it close to full.
“Figured we’d compromise and have a double.” She winked at me, and I had to smile.
“You here to talk or just be pissed off?” She wiped down the bar on each side of me probably out of habit.
“I don’t know yet. Let me give that some thought.”
“Good enough.” She left me alone to my drink.
; I couldn’t believe what had happened. How did Halo get mixed in my personal life? How did I feel about seeing her once much less every damn day? The possibility of this turning into a cluster fuck grew with every thought.
I drained the glass and banged it on the bar top to catch the lady’s attention.
“I’m not a dog, boy. Don’t be banging the glassware. My name’s Cat. Call me when you’re ready. I’m guessing that would be now?”
I nodded my head, and she swiped my glass. “What time do the women start dancing here?”
“In about thirty minutes, but if you’re in a real hurry, they’re already here. Probably could arrange a lap dance already.” She sat the filled glass back in front of me.
“Sounds good. Can you take care of that for me?” I saw the look she shot my way. “Please.” She kinda scared me. Please helped, though, because she picked up the phone behind her and spoke softly into it.
“Go sit over there against the wall. She’ll be out shortly.”
I nodded at her and picked up my whiskey. The bank of oversized chairs and small side tables ran the length of the wall making it easy access for the dancers. I heard a noise and saw a tall dark-haired girl strut her stuff out from the back of the room. The little top and bottom were a waste of money since it basically covered nothing on her nicely-shaped body. Her “fuck me” heels had to be six or seven inches tall. How could she dance in those things?
“Good morning. You look lonely out here all… by… yourself.” She started right in on her grinding when I sat my drink down but not taking my hand off of it. I knew the rules. No touching on my part. Obviously, this didn’t stop her, though. She was all over me. Her long legs squatted down in front of me as she slid her hands slowly up my thighs all while gyrating her hips on those fucking heels.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Passion, what’s yours?” She smiled at me without missing a beat.
“Cash.” I laughed when I said it. Cash would shit if he knew I used his name, but in her case, I’m sure she thought I meant “as in made of”.
“Ohhh, I like that name.” Yeah, she thought it. I gifted her with a twenty beside her left tit.
This earned me a real smile from her. I liked this girl already. She snaked up between my legs making sure to rub the crotch of my jeans, and then turned her perfectly rounded ass cheeks and bent to push them toward me. This time I ran the twenty across the g-string creasing her. Each side of the bill touched skin, and it caused a slight reaction. When it got to the band at the top, I slid it under the blue spandex making sure I made some contact with her cheek while doing so. I needed to touch her.
I took a drink from my glass and before I could finish, she pulled on the ties on her back to let the bottom of the top go free. She stood and turned around and undid the tie at her neck. Two naturally beautiful tits spilled out from the material which surprised me since I expected them to be fake. I wanted to get my hands on them but knew better so I gripped my drink with one hand, the chair arm with the other.
“You want to touch them, don’t you?” She flipped her long curls over her shoulder so my view of them was spot on.
I nodded trying not to appear overly eager. “How do you feel about that?”
She glanced at the bar and didn’t see Cat. “It’ll cost you.”
“How much?”
“Hundred.” A little steep but what the fuck.
I peeled off two fifties closer to the middle of the stack and tucked them in her bottoms, and she straddled my lap. The grinding never stopped. Her tits were so close now, and then she bent back over my knees and put her hands on the ground. Damn this girl had some moves. It stretched those luscious tits out in front of me. I shot a look in Cat’s direction and then walked my fingers up her body until I reached the desired destination.
Wrapping my hands around them, I knew for a fact they were real. No implants in these sweet babies. Passion pulled herself back up to sitting with my hands still molded to the generous mounds. I teased the pink buds to hard peaks. This had to be exciting her, didn’t it?
“Hands to yourself, big boy.” I got my warning from Cat, loud and clear as she pointed to the sign. “No touching the dancers.”
Passion shrugged her shoulders, and I removed my hands. It also removed my growing chub, too. She finished the dance while momma watched, while I added some more twenties along the way. A girl’s got bills, I’m sure. Now she had quite a few of mine, too. I thanked her when she walked away, and she nodded over her shoulder at me.
“You through playing over there?” Cat interrupted my daydream of what I could do with the hot body returning through the door it appeared from.
“Yeah, I’m done,” I said with disappointment.
“Don’t look so sad, big boy. What happened, the old lady catch you doing something wrong?”
I shook my head as I moved back to the bar. “No, nothing like that.”
“It sure must be something for you to be all hang-dog looking.” I laughed at her expression. Hadn’t heard that in a long time.
“My ex showed up unannounced and wants, no needs, to stay. I’m not having it.”
“That is some bad news. Why does she need to stay?”
“She got hired to do a job where I work. They like her for it so now she needs to stay with it because it’s a great opportunity, but it’s my gig. She needs to find her own.”
“I’m sensing you don’t play well with others.” Cat laughed at her own joke.
“Oh, I play really well but apparently so does she.”
“But you have seniority, right?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely, I do which is why she needs to be gone.”
“Are you in a position to make demands?”
“Hell yeah, I am.” Her comment brought my anger back. “And that’s exactly what I’m about to fucking do. Thank you, Cat.” I threw a fifty down on the bar and headed to the door.
“Anytime, big boy. Anytime.” She put the fifty in her bra and wiped the bar off.
Chapter Fourteen
My determination to not let him get to me crumbled the second I closed that curtain. He would never see me cry again. Tears remained unanswered the first time around, and I felt like this would be a repeat performance. I laid back on my pillow, then rolled over facing the wall. If he had the balls to open my curtain and continue talking, he could damn sure talk to my back.
That didn’t happen. I heard him yelling for a car when he walked out the door so he was leaving. Good, no, great, in fact. Go the fuck somewhere else and leave me alone. I didn’t need him or any man to make myself happy. I’d been down that route with him the first time and look where that got me. Abso-fucking-lutely nowhere. So fuck him.
I heard the door to the bus close, and I whipped the curtain back to make sure he was gone before I screamed. “Go fuck yourself, you fucking dumbass. I don’t need your fucketty fucking rock-star life, and for damn fucking sure don’t fucking need you.”
With the tirade behind me, exhaustion took over. I pulled the curtain closed and cried until I drifted into a fitful sleep.
Movement on the bus woke me. My head pounded like a hangover. Crying did that to me. I looked at my mirror. I hung my head. God, I looked like shit. I heard someone move down the hallway and stop outside my curtain.
“Halo? It’s me, Peri.” I knew who it was when she said my name, but I didn’t want to open the curtain and face her.
“Halo, are you awake?” she spoke softly.
“Yes.” That’s all I could dredge up.
“Can you open the curtain?”
“No.”
“I would like to talk to you, but this is kinda weird, honey.”
“I know.”
“Will you please reconsider opening it? It’s just you and me. I’m all alone.” Her soft voice calmed me.
I slid the curtain along the track enough to see her standing there looking down at me.
“Hey,” she barely said aloud.
> “Hey, yourself.”
“You want something to drink? Coffee, tea, water?”
“No, I’m good. I’m not feeling well. My head’s hurting badly. Must be the dryness or something.” I could live with that lie, but she knew better.
“I bet if you got up and had some caffeine and ibuprofen, you’d feel better.”
“Where’s Hayden and Cash?” I didn’t care about Carter, but the other two were important to me.
“They went to get something to eat after they came back from the venue. They didn’t want to wake you.” I figured they told her what happened from the look on her face.
“I guess they told you about Carter and me, huh?”
“Yeah, they gave me the brief version, but you know men. They rarely get the story right or complete most of the time. I hoped you might trust me enough to tell me the truth. I’m a great listener. And no judging here. Promise.” Peri’s personality shined through her words. The pin-up girl style she always wore with her beautiful tattoos and jet black hair cut with short bangs, made her look honest and true.
A barely-there smile touched my lips. “I guess I’ll have a cup of coffee if you’re having some too.”
“Come on girl. Let’s be besties and lounge in your elaborate kitchen.” She laughed and made her walk the three steps to it. I swung my legs out and stood beside my bunk, head in hands. It really did hurt.
“So what did Cash tell you?” I asked as she joined me at the small dinette. She placed the pain reliever bottle in front of me with a bottle of water.
“He said you and Carter had some history, and he wasn’t sure of the details, but Carter’s super pissed behavior shined through when he left here.”
“Yeah, I heard the tires spin all the way back here inside the bus when the ass left.”
“Don’t worry about him right now. He’ll get over his mad. The man’s like a big kid most of the time or an overgrown teenager.”
“Tell me about it. He said hurtful things to me. He questioned my reasoning for being here, accused me of trying to latch on to his fame for my own gain, and made a lot more insinuations.
