by Sian Ceinwen
It was about a minute before his reply came through.
Yup. Chilling with Hayden and Seb. I’ll meet you in room 606. Love you, angel.
Her Uber arrived a couple of minutes after that, and Heather made her way out and got into it. Her driver, this time, was named David, and she warned him that it would likely be a bit hectic at her hotel. He offered to drop her off a block away but backtracked quickly at Heather’s reaction to that idea. No way could she make her way to the hotel on foot, someone would spot her, and it would be just that much further that she would have to fend them off.
As they pulled up to her hotel, David looked awkward, as though he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if he could. Heather placed where she’d seen this look on people’s faces before just as he said his next words.
“Could I, um, possibly get your autograph?” he said quickly.
“What? Why?” she asked him in confusion, and he just shrugged in response.
He held out a pen, along with a random gas station receipt that he’d obviously grabbed from next to him on the front seat. Feeling as though this was some kind of weird out-of-body experience, Heather took the items from him and quickly signed her first name on the slip of paper before handing the items back to him.
“Thanks, Cruise Control is awesome!” He grinned widely at her.
In some ways, this confirmed for her that the world saw her as nothing more than Harrison Fletcher’s girlfriend. Heather wasn’t a part of Cruise Control, but people saw her as that connection to the band. She was working hard on her fashion line, but there were definitely people in the fashion world who were questioning her validity as a designer. She didn’t know if she could ever truly step out of the shadow of Cruise Control.
She smiled at him and quickly got out of the car. “Uh, you’re welcome.”
She’d been so thrown by the interaction with her Uber driver that she had completely forgotten that the paparazzi who had been waiting for her that morning would still be there. Even worse, the guys had arrived in her absence, so the number of people there had, at the very least, tripled, if not quadrupled. There were fans there now as well, all wearing Cruise Control T-shirts and quite a few were holding signs proclaiming their commitment to the band.
Chapter 8
KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN
FUCK. THERE WAS A split second of intense clarity for Heather as she took in the scene in front of her before everyone descended upon her.
“Heather! Why didn’t Gabriel come?”
“Heather, what’s the show going to be like, tomorrow?”
She began to make her way through the crowd, pushing microphones to the side to get past them, but they kept pressing in on her. Video cameras were in her face as well, and she held her hand up in front of her face to block them.
“Heather! Tell Sebastian I want to marry him!”
“Are you having an affair with Sebastian? Do you have any quote on the claims that you’re calling off the wedding to be with him?”
“Is it true that Anna Wintour is coming tomorrow?”
Fuck, she hoped not. She hadn’t heard that rumor before, but Heather didn’t think she could handle the editor-in-chief of Vogue assessing her show. Great, another thing to stress about, she could just add it to the growing list. They had invited her, of course, but Ally said it was beyond unlikely that she would show up. If Vogue sent anyone at all, it would be some lowly fashion assistant. You couldn’t not invite, Anna, though. That would be fashion suicide.
“Heather! If you’re with Sebastian, does that mean I can date Harrison?”
Heather didn’t even look in the direction of the fan who asked this. She had regained her composure now as she neared the hotel doors, and she knew that, as always, everything she said or did right now would be judged by people online.
She was nearing the front of the crowd and was about to break through it to the clear space in front of the entryway, when the hotel manager rushed out to assist her, having noticed what was happening.
“I’m so sorry, Miss York!” he exclaimed deferentially as he took her hand and rushed her inside.
“It’s fine”—she smiled at him, checking his name badge as she did—“I’m fine, Jared.”
“We’ve been trying to get rid of them all day, but it’s gotten worse since…” he didn’t finish his sentence.
“Since some of my favorite people in the world rocked up to ruin your day?” she asked with a grin.
“Well, that’s not how I would have put it, Ma’am.” He was clearly trying to contain a smile.
“Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Miss York. If you need anything at all during your stay, please do not hesitate to ask, and again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience outside.”
“Not a concern”—she gave him a smile—“I’m getting used to it.”
With that, she gave him a wave goodbye and practically skipped to the elevators. Harrison was here. After everything that had happened today and over the last week, she needed to see him more than ever.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, she began running toward her suite. It was at the end of the hallway, and it had never felt further away than it did right now. She swiped her card and pushed open the door, rushed into the room, and stopped just inside. She swung her head around to scan the room, and there he was.
Harrison was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. His back was against the end of the sofa, and his long legs stretched out along its length. She drank in the sight of him. Harrison’s face was more than handsome; it was beautiful—high cheekbones, square jaw, and full, kissable lips. His brown hair was casually messy from his time spent traveling. He was wearing blue jeans and a tight, white T-shirt with the Heart Wide Open album cover on it, emphasizing his well-built upper body. Her heart raced at the sight of him, or maybe it was just from the rush she’d been in to get here, to be with him.
Harrison looked up, saw her, and his face broke into a massive smile. He put his book down on the coffee table as she ran over to him and climbed on top of him. She lowered her face to his and began to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she sighed against his mouth.
“Did you miss me, angel?” he asked her with a smile, looking into her eyes.
“More than you will ever be able to imagine,” she said dramatically as she leaned down and kissed his neck, feeling his laugh reverberate against her lips.
“I can imagine quite a bit. You know us creative types.” He winked at her.
“And what are you imagining right now, Harrison Fletcher?”
She could feel his physical reaction to her and was pleased by it. Her body was craving his; she needed him to satisfy the ache she was feeling between her thighs right now.
“Nothing. There is nothing better than you, here, on top of me. Why would I bother imagining anything else?”
“Good fucking god, man! You sure know how to get a girl wet.”
“Hmmm, I’d better check if that’s true. You know, just to see if my skills are up to par.”
His hand slid down her side to find her hip bone before he slipped it between their bodies and pushed it further down until his hand was cupping the place between her legs, and she groaned. There were too many layers of fabric between her and his hand; she wanted his flesh on hers, and she told him so.
“Oh, I’m getting there, angel.”
Her head was raised as she ground her hips on his hand, and he lifted his head to lick and kiss her neck while he used his other hand to pull her dress up over her hips. He slipped his fingers under the band of her underwear, and she moaned loudly as he found her wet slit. He pushed two fingers inside of her, easily sliding them in and out.
“You’re so wet,” he told her as she bucked her hips back and forth on his hand.
She couldn’t stop herself; she needed an orgasm so badly right now, and she would take it from him if she had to. Harrison didn
’t seem to mind at all; he kept finger-fucking her and started playing with her breasts as well. Heather felt her orgasm approaching as Harrison tweaked her nipple. He pulled his fingers out of her and began to quickly rub them back and forth over her clit. That did her in. She screamed as her orgasm overtook her, unable to hold it back. Heather collapsed on Harrison, breathing heavily.
“God, you’re so beautiful when you come,” he said into her hair.
After a few seconds, he kissed her again, slowly and leisurely. She enjoyed it; he was rubbing his hands all over her body, touching her everywhere he could get to. He was so hard beneath her, and she ached to have him inside her.
She broke their kiss, climbed off him and knelt on the floor next to his crotch, inadvertently licking her lips as she did so. He unzipped his jeans and pulled them down, along with his boxers, to release his erection for her pleasure.
As she stroked, sucked, and licked him, he groaned, and his breathing became ragged. She watched him as she continued what she was doing; he had his head back, and his eyes closed, clearly enjoying her efforts. Heather loved giving him head and hearing the reactions she could elicit from him. Harrison was such a reserved person in general, but that all fell by the wayside when they were having sex, and she loved that about him.
“Fuck me, angel. I need to be inside you.”
He groaned again, and she slowly removed her mouth from his cock. She stood up and peeled off her dress before throwing it to the side. She unclipped her bra and let her breasts fall free as she pulled it off and dropped it beside her, before sliding her underwear to the floor as well. She straddled him right there on the sofa and eased herself down on his erection. They groaned in unison as he filled her completely.
“I missed you, honey.”
He reached up and cupped a breast in each of his hands, rubbing her nipples with his thumbs as she rode him. He twisted one of her nipples with his right hand, and she felt a shock rush straight to her sex. Harrison pulled her down to kiss her again as he used his left hand to twist her other nipple and the multiple sensations that she was feeling all at once sent Heather over the edge again.
“Harrison!”
She screamed his name even louder this time as she came. He watched her coming, a smug grin on his face. After her orgasm ended, Harrison dropped both hands to her hips and held her steady as he pumped in and out of her, seeking his own orgasm now. She could barely hold on; all her nerve endings were on fire, but she could tell that it wouldn’t be long for him now. His eyes squeezed tightly, and she felt his cock jerk inside her as he came, and she smiled. She really had missed him, missed this.
“All my tension this week, I probably just needed a good fucking.” She collapsed on him, feeling utterly relaxed, as though every muscle in her body had turned to goo.
“Damn. I should’ve been here,” Harrison said, “I would happily fuck you every day of the week. Just to help keep your stress levels down, of course. I’m nice like that.”
“Best fiancé I’ve ever had, that’s for sure!”
Heather climbed carefully off him, grabbed her underwear, and put it on to try and minimize the mess as she headed to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and got in to clean herself off. Harrison joined her after she’d been in there for a few minutes.
He kissed her and held her in his arms. She loved this feeling, the feeling of being home that she got whenever he held her. Heather didn’t think she would ever tire of it. They stayed there for quite some time, Harrison just holding her to his chest under the warm spray. It was incredibly soothing, and Heather felt herself unwinding. Her stress was draining away like the water around her.
“What’s the plan now?” Heather asked after they’d finally finished their shower and gotten dressed again.
“I thought we could go to Seb’s room, and we’ll decide what we want to do from there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She took his hand in hers as he led her out of their room into the hallway. He turned right and walked to the next door along the hall, stopping in front of it.
“Seb’s next to us?” Heather laughed as Harrison knocked on the door.
“Yup, we figured it’ll make it easier for you two to have whatever crazy fuckfest it is that you’re planning now.”
“Makes sense.” Heather nodded, putting a very serious look on her face as she said it, and Hayden opened the door to the room so he could let them in.
They walked into Sebastian’s sitting room, and he started applauding as he stood up from where he was seated in an armchair. Hayden joined in as well, and both of them were grinning wickedly.
“Great performance, guys!” Sebastian announced.
“Thoroughly enjoyable,” Hayden agreed as he followed Heather and Harrison over to where Sebastian was.
“Oh, fuck.”
Heather said this as she looked from Sebastian’s laughing face in front of her, over to the wall to her right—the one that was shared with the living area of their own suite. She had the horrifying realization that the guys would’ve been able to hear everything they’d just done as Harrison followed her gaze, put two and two together as well, and burst out laughing.
“Did you enjoy the show, then?”
“Well, I mean, Heather seems to have forgotten how to say my name mid-orgasm, but other than that, yes. Very entertaining, guys. You should take it to Broadway!”
“Stop laughing,” she chided Harrison but started laughing herself as well, “fucking hell. How embarrassing. Hi, darlings.”
She managed to compose herself as she gave Sebastian and Hayden each a hug. Sebastian dropped back into the armchair he’d been sitting in previously, and Hayden sat on the other one, leaving the sofa free for Heather and Harrison.
“How was the flight?” she asked them.
“Not bad,” Hayden replied, “the press was insane, though.”
“I swear to god, somebody grabbed my junk when we were trying to get in here. It was fucking crazy.” Sebastian frowned.
“Not everybody is after your junk, Seb. It was probably an accident,” Harrison said with a laugh.
“You don’t think everybody is after my junk? Tell that to my lover!” Sebastian winked at Heather, and she laughed.
“But seriously, though. If that really did happen, Seb, that’s not okay.” Heather was concerned that the situation with them going out in public seemed to be escalating rapidly, “It was pretty bad for me, too. Ally thinks that we should get some kind of permanent security.”
All three of them frowned. Heather could tell they were having the same gut reaction that she’d had. It felt as though they were trying to be more important than they were. Heather knew that Cruise Control was famous and that their lifestyle was no longer normal; she also felt like they were totally normal, though. They’d been together so long and had really only exploded almost four years ago.
The idea of being the focus of enough attention to warrant bodyguards was extremely odd to her. It highlighted the fact that their lives really weren’t normal anymore, even if they still were.
“Are we sure that it’s not going to die down, though?” Hayden asked them. “I mean, it’s not that bad at home; maybe it’s just because we’re here for Heather’s show and everyone knows where we are?”
“I don’t know that you’re right about that, Hayden,” Harrison said slowly, “Gabriel and Ariana have been followed around a bit, lately. Someone even had Ariana showing them houses; she’d seen them three or four times before she realized that they kept asking too many personal questions and figured out it was a reporter.”
“That’s disgusting!” Heather exclaimed. “Poor, Ariana. That must have been awful.”
She, Sebastian, and Hayden were all wearing equal expressions of disgust. To have someone infiltrate your life like that was so intrusive. It made her feel squeamish to think about.
“How come none of us know about this?” Hayden asked him.<
br />
“She only figured it out the other day. I don’t think you’ve seen them since, Hayden, and Sebastian and Heather…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence; they all knew that lines had been drawn in the sand.
“I may not be her biggest fan,” Sebastian said, “but I would never wish that on her. That’s fucked up.”
A somber silence fell over the group, then. They had accepted this would be a part of their lives as they’d gotten more fame. The being photographed in public, the being talked about online by both the media and the fans, it was all to be expected. This kind of intrusion felt different, though, it was calculated and cruel. Ariana had been one of the sweetest people Heather had ever met, back when she knew her.
Maybe she had been right to be as scared of their lifestyle as she was. Heather hadn’t been able to see it at the time, but Ariana was apparently being proven right now. She distinctly remembered discussing this exact topic one day as she and Ariana were in Gabriel’s dressing room backstage while the guys were doing a soundcheck.
“I still don’t get it, Ariana. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen if someone found out about you and Gabriel? Spades are trumps.”
They were sitting at the table in Gabriel’s dressing room, playing Euchre. Heather picked up the black jack card from the top of the pile and put the nine of diamonds down on the deck, face down, so Ariana couldn’t see what she’d thrown out.
“I know you don’t get it. Everyone knows about you. There’s no harm in anyone seeing you with Harrison.” Ariana shrugged as she put the ace of hearts down on the table.
“Exactly. No harm has come to me, even though the world knows who I am.” Heather cringed as she put the king of hearts on top of the ace, and Ariana took the trick and placed it in front of her.
Ariana looked through the cards in her hand, then put the king of clubs down on the table as she said, “It could, though. You have to be so careful, Heather. People get crazy. They get desperate. They do insane stuff; they’ll dig through your trash and do all sorts of things to try and get close to you.”
