Play Nice

by L. P. Maxa

  ***

  I was lying on the couch with my legs across Dash’s lap. He was absentmindedly rubbing my calves. I had my camera out and I snapped a few pics of Dash’s hands on my legs. Luke was playing Xbox with Jacks on the floor, leaning against the couch near my head. Every once in a while I’d reach over and scratch his scalp. Every time I did it though, Dash would shoot me a look. Not an angry look, more annoyed, I guess. Luke’s words had me distracted all through lunch. I didn’t want to ruin this tour for him by sleeping with Dash…but why the hell would me sleeping with Dash ruin the tour? Yes, Luke had always been protective, but he’d never tried to tell me whom I could or couldn’t date. Not that Dash and I were dating…

  “Dash and Lexi are dating.”

  I laughed nervously, “Uh, Smith, I don’t know if—”

  Smith held up his iPad. There was a picture of me standing side stage at the last show and Dash looking over at me. “It’s on this gossip website I follow. ‘Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Dash Conner is off the market, ladies. He has been seen two nights in a row making eyes at one Alexis Grant. The two met through Luke Matthews, The Devil’s Share’s newest member. It’s rumored that Alexis has even joined Dash on tour.’”

  My whole body tensed up. How would Dash react to that? How would Luke?

  “Don’t tell people you follow a gossip website, dude. It makes you sound like a dumb ass.” Jacks pointed his controller at the TV, furiously hitting the same button again and again. “Dammit! Luke killed me.”

  Smith chuckled, “Luke’s gonna kill Dash next, now that he is officially dating Lexi.”

  “For the love of everything holy, Smith, shut up!” I hadn’t meant to shout that, it just came out. I looked down the couch to find Dash smiling back at me. Holy hell he was handsome—even in jeans and a plain white t-shirt, hair all a mess from me pulling on it last night. Oh wow, now I was having flashbacks to last night—the sight of that sexy head of hair between my thighs. Dash winked at me. Could he tell what I was thinking?

  Luke shrugged. “Why would I be mad because some gossip magazine is spouting bull? Not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last.” Luke glanced at me before looking back to his game.

  Dash sat forward, his elbows on his knees. He was kind of crushing my legs, but the serious look on his face kept me from saying anything. “What is that supposed to mean exactly? Why is it such ‘bull’ to think of me and Lex dating?”

  Luke chuckled, “Come on, you can’t be serious?”

  Dash stared at him, face set in hard lines.

  Luke sighed and shook his head. “I’ve watched you jump from chick to chick for the last six months. You don’t date, Dash. You play and you use and you move on.”

  I thought Dash was going to explode, we all did. Smith, Jacks, and I held our breath waiting for his reaction. We were all shocked when he calmly turned to me and said, “Kitten, do you in anyway feel like I am using you or stringing you along?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  He nodded. “Okay good.” Dash stood and pulled me to my feet. “I am only going to say this one more fucking time so I need all of you to listen real close. I like Lexi. I want Lexi. I want her here with me all the time. I am not using her. I am not playing with her. If anyone questions that again, I’m going to start throwing punches. Understood?”

  Jacks grinned. “Yes, daddy, we all understand how much you like mommy.”

  Luke said nothing. He didn’t even look in our direction. Smith chuckled and closed the iPad.

  Dash cracked his knuckles. “Good. Now we’re going to go take a nap.” He picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. “And by ‘take a nap,’ I mean get naked and fool around.” When we got to the bedroom Dash dumped me on the bed before turning to shut and lock the door. He pointed at me. “You, take off Jacks’s shirt. Seeing you wear another guy’s shirt has irritated me all afternoon. Didn’t I tell you the other day not to do that?”

  I looked down smiling. “I’m so sorry. Next time we sleep through the alarm we set so we could go buy the morning after pill, I’ll try and throw on my clothes instead of Jacks’s.” I tossed the shirt at Dash. He dropped it onto the floor and jumped on the bed. We lay on our sides, facing each other, bodies pressed together. “Are you freaking out? About the condom thing?”

  He trailed his hand down the side of my body, gripping my hip and pulling my pelvis more firmly against his. “Not really. Are you?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. With everything going on with Luke today, I haven’t really had all that much time to think about it.”

  “Well, Chase is getting us what we need. But as far as Luke goes…I don’t really know what to tell you, Lex. You’ve known him longer than I have.”

  Dash cupped my breast in his hand, kneading it and making it hard for me to form coherent thoughts. “That’s the problem though, isn’t it? I’ve known him longer. He thinks he can boss me around and tell me what to do and who to do it with.”

  “Lex, are you sure there isn’t more going on between you and Luke? If there is something you need to tell me… There has to be more to y’all’s history.”

  Was there? Did that one memory between Luke and I, all those years ago, really matter? Maybe I was delusional in thinking it didn’t. It was really Luke’s story to tell, but this was my budding relationship with Dash on the line so I took a deep breath. “About five years ago, I went on this small tour with Luke and his band. It was the summer after my junior year and Luke asked me to come. They wanted some pictures of them playing, but mainly it was just an excuse to party. They played smaller venues, bars mostly, but they had a really strong following. The band…those guys all grew up together. They were as much his family as me or Amy. Everything started out fine. They would play; then we would drink and party. But things went south towards the end. The band was more interested in the drugs than the music. They needed coke to get them up and playing and then sleeping pills and tequila to get them to crash at night.” The next part was harder for me to talk about. Maybe that’s why Luke never told anyone the story; it was just too hard. I cleared my throat. “The bands lead singer, Sam, he um…one night he didn’t come down so well. He kind of lost it. He got really angry and went into this crazy rage fit. We were all staying in this hotel suit together. I was the only one home. The rest of the band was still out at the bar. When I tried to calm him down, he grabbed me and threw me against the wall. He was so strong, so strung out. I mean his eyes…I didn’t even recognize him, you know?” I felt Dash’s body go ridged against mine. I closed my eyes, trying to even my breathing, there was no going back now. “Anyway, Luke came in and found him standing over me. Luke beat the shit out of him. The other guys had to pull him off of Sam. He would have killed him.” And I would have let him. The one thing neither one of us has ever told anyone, not another living soul, was that Sam had his pants unbuttoned and had just ripped off my shirt. I was kind of floating in and out of consciousness at that point, but I would never forget the sound of his zipper.

  I watched Dash’s throat work to swallow. “He attacked you?”

  “My head hit the wall pretty hard, and he slapped me around a little bit. Luke took me to the hospital. I was fine. Luke wasn’t though. He blamed himself. He said he should have never left me alone. And for the rest of the tour, he didn’t. Luke barely let me out of his sight. He stopped partying with band, stopped all the drugs. He told me that I saved his life, but the truth was, he saved mine.”

  “Luke kept touring? Even with you being attacked?”

  I placed my hand over Dash’s heart. “Luke wanted to leave the tour, but I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t want one stupid mistake to ruin everything for them. Sam didn’t remember anything the next morning. I was a little bruised, a little shaken up but totally fine. I didn’t think it was worth ruining their futures. In the end though…it didn’t matter. Everyone except for Luke kept doing coke, which turned into heroin, which turned into meth. The band broke up
six months later.”

  Dash ran his thumb along my lower lip. “You are a remarkable person, Lexi. Your heart is so good, so strong. I can see now, I can see why Luke acts the way he does. Why he’s in love with you.”

  I shook my head, “Luke isn’t in love with me, Dash. He thinks I saved his life. He thinks without me he would have nothing, be nothing. He blames himself for what happened with Sam. In his mind, I’m his, to keep safe and to protect.” I shrugged. “He’s just having a hard time letting go.”

  Dash leaned in and pressed his lips lightly to mine. “Well, I’ll just have to convince him that while you are here, on this tour, you are mine…to keep safe and protect.”

  I giggled, “The broken condom probably didn’t do anything to help your case.” He kissed me again, harder this time. My whole body responded to his kisses. My heart raced, my core clenched, my nipples peaked. I had never felt like this before, never felt this type of desire. I loved it. I wanted more. “Dash.”

  “Lexi.” I could feel him smile against my neck.

  “I want you.”

  He chuckled close to my ear, “Of course you do, Kitten.”

  I reached between our bodies and stuck my hand down his pants grabbing his cock. I slowly began to stroke twisting up and down. He groaned and nibbled his way down my neck. I smiled. “I want you to fuck me.”

  Dash pulled his mouth from my breast and looked at me, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dash

  I couldn’t sleep. My mind wouldn’t let me. The things Lex had told me about her and Luke, it brought everything into perspective. Everything made sense now. Of course he was trying to save her from me; he would always try to save her from the things that could hurt her. My track record wasn’t so great, as he liked to point out in front of her as often as he could. And Luke had no way to know that I would rather die than make her feel one ounce of pain. How could I express it to him when I barely understood it myself? Lexi had told me her truth. She was so open so trusting with herself. She made me want to give her everything, tell her everything. I ended up unloading all my stress on her. About life, about the past, about the future. Smith was becoming such a damn pain in the ass. The drummer that Luke replaced was his cousin. Smith and Jared had both gotten deep into speed. Smith had cleaned up and Jared hadn’t. We couldn’t have an unreliable band member. We were too big for that. Everyone would notice. But since he and Jared had been so close, Smith was acting out—as passive aggressively as he possibly could. I knew Jared still talked to Smith, still called to give him shit and ask him if he needed any speed. Jared was bad for Smith, and if I didn’t watch him closely, Jared would pull him back under. Their family history was so fucked up it wouldn’t take much. I couldn’t get Jacks to take life seriously for more than five minutes at a time. I was almost positive that he had a gaming problem. I was constantly having to watch him and keep him out of trouble. Well, me and Luke. No wonder Luke was so good at watching Smith and Jacks; he didn’t want history to repeat itself. And the cherry on top? The one fucking time in my life that I hadn’t pulled out, the condom exploded. I looked down at Lexi. She had fallen asleep on my chest, and I adored it. I was turning into a sappy romantic bastard, but oddly enough, I didn’t mind. My phone vibrated on the nightstand. Chase was calling. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Dash, it’s Chase.”

  “Yeah, what’s up? Please tell me you got what I needed.”

  “Uh…actually man, it’s proving a little difficult to find the morning after pill in Mississippi.”

  “What? Why? Isn’t it like a nationwide thing?”

  “I thought it was, but it turns out that if a pharmacy is locally owned, which most of these are…then they don’t have to carry it.”

  “Okay. Okay. Wow. I am really trying not to freak out here, man.”

  “There is one more pharmacy that I’m going to try. It’s about an hour outside of Starkville. It’s on my way to you guys. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Thanks, Chase. Be safe.” I hung up and then proceeded to squeeze my phone so hard I was surprised it didn’t crack. Then, to continue my silent fit, I punched the air a few times. Once my little tantrum was over, I realized I wasn’t even all that upset. This must be how a two-year-old feels. React first, think later. A two-year-old, or a twenty-seven year-old Jacks.

  “I can feel you freaking out. What’s wrong?” Lex mumbled against my chest without opening her eyes. “Was that Chase?”

  I took a deep breath. “Yeah, it seems that he is having a hard time trying to procure our little pill here in the Deep South.”

  Lexi smiled against my chest. “Why don’t you just let me take a car and drive back to Texas? I can get it back in Houston.”

  I shook my head. “Absolutely not, Kitten. Our relationship is all over the Internet. People would recognize you. Either they would think you and I needed the pill—and again the ‘Deep South’ would judge me and the band—or they would think you were having some kind of affair or something. They would blow this up and it would end up being a big to-do. Plus, there is no way Luke, let alone I, would let you make that drive alone. So we’d end up having to cancel the show.”

  “I could call my doctor’s office and see if they could call in a prescription.”

  I shrugged. “Same deal there. People would recognize your name. It’d be all over the news. We have like, what, sixty more hours? Let’s just see if Chase can get this done.”

  “Doctors can’t share patient information like that. It’s against the law.”

  I chuckled. “Doctors can’t, but that doesn’t stop their employees from talking. Ask Jacks about The Clap Incident of 2012.”

  Lexi wrinkled her cute little nose. “The Clap, like the band?”

  I shook my head, “Nope.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lexi

  Dagger and I were sitting in the band’s dressing room. I was under strict instructions to wait here for Chase. Dash had tried to call him a few times before he went on but he couldn’t get a hold of him. I was using the time to take some pictures—the line of shot glasses on the bar, Jacks’ vintage Aerosmith t-shirt draped over a chair, Smith’s chewed on pencil lying in his guitar case. All these little things made up this band, gave insight into who they were and how they lived. I loved how the right picture could make something as simple as a spilled bottle of Jack Daniels look like art.

  The concert was playing over a speaker in the room. I smiled when I heard Dash address the stadium. “So I heard a rumor today that I have a girlfriend.” There was a pause. I could imagine him winking at the crowd. “It’s true.” I collapsed into the nearest chair. Dash just called me his girlfriend. He just announced to the world we were dating. Holy freaking hell. I pulled out my phone and called Amy.

  “Did you know your picture is all over the Internet?”

  “Hello to you too, Ams.”

  “Sorry, hi. Did you know your picture is all over the Internet?”

  “Yes, Smith brought that to our attention earlier today. Caused a little argument between Dash and Luke.”

  “I take it Lukey doesn’t approve of you and Dash?”

  “His irritation with the situation ebbs and flows…. Dash actually just announced to the stadium that the rumors were true and he did have a girlfriend.”

  “He means you?”

  “Well I would hope to God he means me. I’m the one sleeping with him.”

  “Mmmmm…how was it? I need details.”

  “It was mind blowing. We literally had sex for hours last night, and twice again this afternoon. He is every fantasy I’ve ever had.”

  “I imagine. And when I say I imagine, I mean I’m literally sitting here with my eyes closed, imagining it.”

  “You are such a spaz.” I wanted to tell Amy about the broken condom and the yet-to-show-up morning after pill. But I couldn’t do it. I was starting to get nervous about it and telling Amy would make it all too real. “I miss
you Amy, so freaking much.”

  “I miss you too, Lex. Have fun with your new rock star boyfriend.”

  “Oh I will.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I love you, Amy.”

  “Love you more.”

  Just as I was hanging up the phone the door to the dressing opened and Chase walked in. His hands were empty. But before I could calmly and rationally ask him if my pill was in his pocket, the band filed in. Luke headed to the bar and poured himself a shot; no doubt Dash’s little confession had set him off. Smith grabbed his jacket and headed next door to a room I was almost positive was filled with willing and able girls. Jacks came in and grabbed Dagger’s face, “I will see you later tonight my little cuddle buddy,” before grabbing his stuff and following Smith out the door.

  Dash was the last one in the room. “Hey, Kitten.” He put his arms around my waist lifting me up for a kiss. “Did Chase come by?”

  I pulled back and pointed to the corner were Chase was standing, still empty handed. “You walked right past him.”

  Dash turned, smiling. “Hey man, sorry, I didn’t see you there. Did you get our stuff?”

  “Don’t freak out but I couldn’t get it.” Chase held out his hands, like he was trying to warn off a wild animal. “The last place I checked had it, but would have required Lexi’s ID to purchase it.”

  I watched Dash’s smile fall slightly. “Okay…and why are we not supposed to freak out?”

  “I called my sister that lives in Dallas. She’s going to go pick one up and overnight it to the hotel where we’re staying in Tennessee. It should be there waiting for y’all tomorrow afternoon.”

  Dash walked over to Chase and pulled him in for a hug. “You are a fucking genius!” He pointed to both Luke and me. “Let’s take a shot.”