by Mj Fields
“I want to know if Madison—”
“Storm’s causing delays,” he reads from his phone. “She hopes to be in tomorrow morning and asks that I take good care of you.” He tosses his phone on the bed and lies on his back, linking his hands behind his head. “I’d take really good care of you if you weren’t a virgin or my—”
“Am not,” I snap, then cover my mouth in surprise.
“Really now?” He sits up slowly and looks me up and down.
“It’s none of your business, Memphis Black.” I turn to walk out, and he grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls me back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To get my things.”
“Not without me, you aren’t.” He stands, his hand still on my shirt.
“Because of your friends? You’re afraid they—” I stop, unable to finish saying what I was going to.
“Hell, yes, because of my friends,” he says, taking my elbow and turning me to face him.
“They aren’t acting any differently than you are. Heck, you’re acting worse, so how ’bout you let go of my shirt and let me take my chances out there?”
“You can’t handle them.”
“I lived in New York City for a year; I can handle pretty much anything.”
“Tough girl, yet you still giggle when the word”—he leans in toward me—“fuck is said.”
I thrust my hand up, and it hits his chest, stopping him from coming any closer. He looks shocked. I am shocked, too. There is something else going on, something I have never experienced. I go to pull my hand away, but he holds it still against his hot, bare chest.
“Did you feel that?” he whispers. “That is nothing compared to what—”
“Stop, okay? Please, just stop.” I pull my hand away, and he lets me this time.
“Stop what, Tales?” His gaze drifts to my lips, then back to my eyes.
“Whatever it is you are doing.”
“We. We are both clearly attracted to one another.”
“Apparently, you’re attracted to anything with”—I swallow down the fear that comes with being so … racy—“boobs and a vagina.”
He tries to suppress a grin, then laughs out loud.
“You’re a jerk.”
“Wait!” He grabs my elbow again.
“Nope. I am leaving. I’m going to find a hotel—”
“Come on, Tales. Your face …” He laughs again. “You looked like it hurt to say that.”
“Well, geesh, Memphis, this is completely uncomfortable for me,” I admit.
“You are staying here. Madison will flip her shit if—” He moves, stopping me from side stepping him.
I try to reason with him. “She doesn’t have to know that you were being—”
“Honest?”
“Okay. Uncomfortable again.”
He throws his hands up as if to surrender. “Sorry, Tales. You look good. Hot—”
I scowl. “Very, very uncomfortable.”
He smirks and runs his hand through his sexy black hair. “You think that’s uncomfortable? Hell, you haven’t even said you think I look good.”
“I don’t think you need an ego boost from me. You have a gaggle of groupies to do that for you.” I am feeling a little less uncomfortable now.
He smiles and shakes his head. “I suppose you’re right, but …”
“Of course there’s a but.”
“An ego maniac like me still needs daily affirmation, so look at me, Tally, and tell me what you see.” I shake my head. “Come on. I won’t ask you again.”
I shrug. “Fine. I see what everyone else in the country sees: a tall, dark, fit guy with tattoos up and down his arms who is confident and very talented.”
“I hear a but.” He cocks his eyebrow.
“But”—I shake my head and look away—“if you were so confident, would you need all that affirmation?”
“I love the applause. I put my heart and soul into what I do.”
I smile and nod. “I think your music is brilliant.”
He grins. “Brilliant, huh?”
“I’ve always thought so.” I shrug, feeling my face burning because he is looking at me in that way that makes me uncomfortable. “That’s all the applause you should need, Memphis Black. Not all the other nonsense.”
“Oh.” He smirk. “You mean ass?”
“Well …” I can’t help giggling, and he smiles with his whole face. It’s beautiful. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“Sex is almost better than the applause. Hell, you should know, Miss I’m-not-a-virgin?” He laughs again. “How the hell did you get through it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Getting all sweaty and naked in—”
“I am not having this discussion with you.” I scrunch my eyes shut.
“Sex is sex, Tales. It’s an activity that ends in a rush.”
“Memphis,” I sigh.
He stands up and swats my backside when he walks past me. “You should really try it with me, Tales. It’s not just an activity; it’s a fucking adventure.”
“Oh, my goodness. Do you ever stop?” I giggle nervously.
“My missile is heat seeking and locked on search and destroy mode, Tales. Don’t fucking kid yourself with the emotional bullshit. If you feel up for the challenge, I’ll rock you my way.”
“Do you have no boundaries? I mean, you seem to give them to your band mates.”
“I have no boundaries, Tales, none.” He smirks.
“I do.”
He flashes me a wicked grin, and I feel it; everywhere.
“I need a shower.”
“I’m all—”
“I’ll do it at a hotel,” I threaten.
“I’ll do it anywhere you want.”
“Ugh.” I walk out of the room before he has a chance to stop me this time.
I round the corner and run into Billy.
“You okay?” The sincerity in his voice makes me immediately feel at ease.
“She’s fine.” And the one behind me makes me feel the opposite.
“I am, thank you.” I walk past him and into the kitchen to grab my phone and charger. Ten percent battery. I pull it out of the wall, then walk over to my bag and scoop it up.
“Tales.” I look up at Memphis. “Go shower. Then you can head to the beach with us.”
“I think I am gonna—”
“Go shower and stop being a punk,” he says as if he’s joking, but I see a glint of annoyance in his eyes.
“You can use the guest bathroom if you’ll feel more comfortable, Tally,” Billy says, pointing to a hall across the room. “Third door on the right. There are two beds in that room, too. Madison and you will like it, I’m sure.”
“Thank you.” I glance at Memphis, whose jaw is squared and the muscles are popping in it, before walking down the hall.
“You better watch it, Billy,” I hear Memphis growl.
“You were making her—”
“No, man, I wasn’t making her anything. I’ve known her all my life, and I’m telling you to watch it.”
I shut the door behind me and lean against it as I take in a deep breath.
Memphis Black wants to rock me. Thousands would kill to be in this position, but I am not thousands. I am just me.
I look around to find the guys are all looking at me like I have three heads.
“That goes for all of you.”
“What, are we supposed to stand around and let you make an ass out of yourself and make our guest feel uncomfortable?” Billy asks.
“My guest,” I snap, “and you’re supposed to mind your damn business.”
“Reel it in, man. Shit, didn’t you get enough last night?” River pats my shoulder before he shoves his hand in his pocket, feeling around for something. He pulls out a pipe. “One toke and you’ll chill.”
“Not in the fucking house, River.” Finn shakes his head.
“Fine. Out by the pool, then. Come on,
Memphis, you need to hit chillz at least once. She’s got you wound up tighter than,” he pauses, “a preacher’s daughter.” He laughs as he walks to the French doors leading outside. “Suit yourself.”
I couldn’t agree more with River. I am wound so fucking tightly I’m going to snap.
I walk out and see River around the corner, toking on his one hitter. His lips curl up as he taps out the ash and shoves the pipe into the snuff box, then taps it a few times, packing it tight. He hands it to me with the lighter.
“Easy. It’s pretty bad ass,” River warns.
I nod but don’t listen. Pot never affected me in high school. That’s why I rarely touched the shit.
“You like that chick?”
I suck in a deep breath and hold it, even though my lungs are on fire immediately. Exhaling slowly, I say, “Sister’s”—I pause so I won’t choke—“best friend.”
“And your reason for having a mad-on.”
I exhale and look at him like he’s nuts because, let’s face it, he kind of is. “What?”
“Mad-on, bro.” He takes the one hitter and taps the ash out before packing it up again. “You can’t tap that ass, so instead of a hard-on resulting in a set of blue balls, you get a fucking mad-on.”
“Mad-on.” I lean against the white stucco wall and shake my head. “Not mad at all.”
“You wanna tap that, though,” he says, before sparking up the tiny pipe and inhaling.
“Her ass is nice.”
“Yeah, it is,” he says as he inhales deeper.
“You steer clear.”
He coughs out the smoke and laughs as the door opens. He shoves the one hitter deep in his pocket and smirks as Finn and Billy walk out.
“You ready?” Finn hisses.
“Let me change,” River says, then looks at me and laughs, and hell if I don’t laugh, too. “Black, you’re in your underwear still.”
I look down and laugh harder. “Looks good, though, right?”
“Looks really good.” He winks.
“Fuck you.”
“Good enough that I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind tapping in the front, and you in the back of—”
“You may not want to finish that sentence. I don’t do double rainbow,” I say as I walk inside to change.
“Daisy chain.” He chuckles, following me inside.
“Shut the hell up, man.”
“The four of us, DVDA,” he says, still laughing.
“DVDA’ing your mother.” I push him.
“She likes that shit, man.”
As soon as we walk in, I see Tally standing at the end of the counter with her back turned.
“Three blocks, thank you.” She continues, “How much a night?”
I haul ass in front of her, take her phone, and hang it up.
“What are you doing?”
I grab a quarter off the counter. “Heads, you go. Tales, you stay.”
“Memphis, it’s—”
“Heads, you go. Tails, you stay,” I repeat,
She shakes her head then says, “Fine.”
I flip the coin, and it lands on tails. “Go get changed.”
“Memphis—” She looks around and stops as she spots River out of her peripheral.
“I’ll back off. Shit, Tales, I thought you were all badass now, being a New Yorker and all.” Fuck, I hope she bought that.
She looks skeptical, and I know damn well I fucked up. And, well, I’m buzzing pretty hard now, but I feel much less wound up, kind of chillz.
“Promise me.”
“Damn, girl, I was fucking with you. Not like I really need to work at gaining panty access, Tales. Women throw that shit at me.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” What the hell does okay mean?
“Yes, but I’m not going to the beach with you guys.”
“Like hell.” I laugh, but she’s not having it.
Her shoulders square up a bit, and she stands taller. If I push any harder, she will be at a hotel, and that will land me on the shit list with Mads. I am being fucking ridiculous. There are hundreds—hell, thousands—of women I can have in my bed without issue.
“Fine. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and if you need anything, I’ll send the boat back to give you a lift to the beach.” I grab a pen and the pad of paper, then write down my number and hand it to her.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah.” I stare too long; I know I do because she gets squirmy, so I take off to my room to dress.
When I come out, she is on the phone again.
“You’re staying, right?”
She pushes mute and whispers, “My mom.”
There is sadness in her eyes, and I feel even more like a turd. I can’t imagine losing my old man, but if I hang out, she will think I’m trying to fuck her because, well, I would really like to be between her legs, but it’s Tally. Tally all grown up, and Tally hot as hell, and Tally—fuck! Note to self: chillz is evil with a capital E.
“You need something?” she asks.
“No, but we’ll be right—”
She nods. “I know.”
I give her a nod then pull my shades down, covering my eyes before forcing my sorry ass out the door. I must seem like that one guy with the gun and red shirt, the one who hates books and hunts and is all hot over that chick in the blue dress and white apron. I laugh because I’m fucked up, wondering why they didn’t make the douche sport wood in the cartoon while chasing after that beast—Beauty and the Beast. Yeah, that’s the movie.
“You ready yet?”
I snap back to reality when I look up at Finn.
“Fuck, yes, I’m ready. When am I ever not ready? Hell, I’m always ready.”
“You shouldn’t touch that shit, man. Makes you act like him.” He thumbs behind him at River.
“Fuck you, Finn,” River snaps.
River hands me a beer. “Chaser?”
“Don’t remind him that he already almost drove that poor girl out of here,” Billy says, only half joking.
“Back off, Billy. She’s a good girl.”
“I’m a good boy, the best behaved one—”
“I swear to God above, man, if you touch that—” I step to him, and River slaps my chest, stopping me.
“You calling lead on her?” River smirks.
“I’m calling, if you touch her—any one of you—I’ll kill you.” I look them all in the eyes. They are a little taken aback—okay, a lot taken aback. “She’s my sister’s best friend.”
“That you went all caveman on and—”
“I was fucked up,” I defend.
“Not this morning you weren’t,” Finn points out as we walk down the beach.
I ignore the comment. So I’m an ass, but I will not be concentrating on her ass. As fucking perfect as it may be, I will focus fully on the ones sprawled out, soaking up the Florida sun.
The boat is on the dock, waiting for us. Talk about service; we get to ride in style.
We take off and pass the other yachts and boats anchored in the bay.
“Look around, men. There is a lot to take in right here and right now. Fuck this morning.” Don’t need the drama, anyway. It’s not like she’d want it any different than I give to the rest of them. I’m a fucking experience… My leather is not made of the boyfriend material, girls like Tallia want.
Ten minutes later, we’re docked, and River dives in.
When he pops up out of the water, he laughs. “Let’s go.”
None of us follow his lead; we all take the short walk down the dock right to the white sand and hot as hell chicks. River is walking out of the water, and all eyes are glued to his crazy ass. Leave it to him to take the path much less taken.
“Damn, check out that little peach,” River says when he meets up with us, running his hands back and forth through his hair, ridding it of some of the Atlantic. He points to a chick laid out on a beach towel, all oiled up, top already undone, and she is turning around to lie on her back.
>
“Oh, fuck no.” I almost laugh as we get past her, heading for the volleyball net.
“Sascrotch,” Finn mumbles under his breath.
We all bust up laughing.
“She’s hot and all, but who the fuck doesn’t look in the mirror and see they need a fucking trim before—”
“That’s more than a trim, man; that would require a bush hog.” I laugh.
“She’s a moped,” River chimes in. “I’d ride the hell out of her for fun, but I sure as fuck wouldn’t want any one of you to see me on her.”
“Hair grows there for a reason,” Billy says.
“So does facial hair, man, but you trim that shit so you don’t look like a mountain man or a—”
“Bah, bah.” River laughs. “Billy goat.”
As soon as he leaves the house, I uncover the phone, hoping Mom didn’t hear him.
“Tally, was that Memphis Black I heard?”
Well, I guess that cat was out of the bag.
“Yep, he is here, Mom.”
“How is he? Has he changed? Has the—?”
“He’s the same, just older,” I lie, hoping she doesn’t notice.
“Can you ask him why on Earth a nice boy like him would agree to a band name like,” she whispers, “STD?”
“I’ll ask,” I say to appease her, but there is no way I will ask him that question. “Okay, Mom, I’m going to the beach now. I love you and will call in a couple days.”
“Love you, too, Tally,” she says before hanging up.
I grab an apple off the counter and a bottle of water, yawning. Exhausted, that’s what I am. Totally exhausted. I decide to go back in the guest room and message Madison to see when she’ll be in, and then I need to search online to see what tomorrow holds for me.
I eat the apple as I sit down on the bed and grab my phone, and it’s … dead. Of course it’s dead. I shove the charger plug into the wall, throw the now eaten apple in the wastebasket, and give it ten minutes. My phone is shot. The battery life is horrible, but I don’t have the money to spend to get a new one, not now.
I lie down so I can use it while it’s plugged in then send Madison a message.
When will you be here?
She replies immediately.
Tomorrow at ten a.m. Make sure you and my brother pick me up at ten on the nose. I am so fucking excited to see you!
