Teacher: The Final Act (A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy #3)

by R. L. Merrill

  “As often as they invite themselves over to my house?”

  Patricia came late in the afternoon and brought me some comfy clothes and two of my new dresses, along with my undergarments and medicine. She said the police cleared the scene and Nora already had cleaners getting to work. Danny called Nora and told her to have them ‘clear the damn room, rip up the fucking ugly carpet, and haul that shit away. When Jesse is feeling better, we’re going to redecorate that room. I’m thinking a home gym sounds great, complete with mats, punching bags, weights...’

  I could hear her laughing on the other end of the phone. She wanted to talk to me so Danny handed me the phone.

  “You alright, sugar? I’m so sorry,” she said.

  I set her straight immediately. “No more ‘I’m sorrys’ Nora. I’m really okay, I promise. I look horrible, but I’m hoping that it will be gone in a few days. Probably not by the time I’ll see Jane, though. I’m afraid she’s going to be really upset.”

  She assured me that she’d talk to her about it and for me to just rest. ”Danny said you guys would be home for dinner tomorrow, so I’ll make your favorite fried chicken.”

  I thanked her enthusiastically and we hung up.

  Bronson had BBQ delivered and Cosmo and the gang arrived at the same time as the delivery guy. We were really lucky any of the food made it into the house. Cosmo was pissed when he saw me. He turned to Danny and I saw him clenching his fist. I got between them with my hands on my hips, ready to put an end to this.

  “Cosmo! It’s not his fault! This guy was nuts, all right? If Danny would have been there, we’d likely be planning his funeral right now.”

  That got the room quiet. Cosmo’s face fell and he held out a hand to Danny, who shook it, his face with the disgusted expression again. Cosmo hugged me tight. I had to tap out as much from the smell as from pain. Cosmo only showered on Sundays, it was his thing, and today was Friday. He was such a handsome guy. It was really a shame. I wondered if he was still seeing Maria and what she thought about his hygiene routine.

  We ate and the guys all sat around talking music. I lay on a couch with my head in Danny’s lap. He ran his fingers through my hair gently. At one point his fingers got caught in a snarl and pulled. I tensed up, which hurt my neck. I had to squeeze my eyes shut to get past the moment. Danny could tell I was in distress. I tried to play it off, but it was icky. I excused myself and went to the restroom, where I promptly threw up my dinner. When I came back out, Danny looked really worried and told everyone he was putting me to bed. I said my goodnights, actually glad to be off the hook for entertaining guests, and Danny crawled in with me.

  “Aren’t you going to go visit?” I asked.

  “Nope. My place is with you. Those fuckers can entertain themselves.”

  I chuckled and settled into Danny’s side. ”Thank you for taking care of me today,” I murmured. He kissed an open spot on my forehead. It had taken some maneuvering and practice earlier, but he’d found places he could kiss me where it didn’t hurt. He started to kiss them once more. I felt myself melt against him.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, honey. Maybe we should...”

  I unfastened his pants and he groaned, his body going tense.

  “No, we shouldn’t wait, if that’s what you were going to say. I need this,” I said, my voice shaking a little. ”I need you to make me feel good so I can forget the way he touched me.” I felt Danny suck in a breath and then his arms came around me tight.

  “Whatever you need, honey, you’ll have. I’ll give you whatever you want. Just please don’t ever leave me. I don’t ever want to lose you,” he cried against my neck. He gently took my clothes off and kissed all of my boo boos. I made sure to point out the ones he may have missed.

  When we were both naked and ready to go, I froze.

  “Let me be on top, Danny. Just this time.”

  He sat back and let me switch places with him. ”If you want to stop—”

  I put my hand over his mouth and sank down, joining us in the closest way possible. We both cried out and I had to stay still for a moment. He was so gentle with me. It was the most tender lovemaking I’d ever experienced with him. When my energy started to flag, he pushed me over onto my side and entered me from behind. It was perfect. I didn’t feel trapped, and Danny’s whispers in my ear kept me grounded. I tried to fully relax, but I couldn’t. Not this time. After a bit, Danny noticed I was getting frustrated, so he rolled me onto my back and laid next to me.

  “Honey, I know it might take time for you...”

  I slammed my fist down on the bed and cursed...then the sobs came. Danny held me through it all. My determination to be over it and move on wasn’t enough to convince my body. I was going to need time.

  I woke up sometime in the middle of the night feeling restless. I gently extricated myself from Danny’s grip and used the restroom without turning on the light. I heard music coming from the room past the kitchen while I was getting myself some water, so I peeked through the door.

  Bronson was playing an acoustic guitar quietly and staring out the window. He noticed me hovering and stopped, offering a smile. “Can’t sleep?”

  I shrugged. “Just antsy. What’s your excuse?”

  “The same. I’m like Danny. I don’t sleep much.” He gestured for me to sit across from him.

  “I can’t sleep. I can’t sit still. I’m tired, but I don’t want to go back to bed right now.”

  Bronson strummed a few more chords, and then spoke without looking up. ”Shortly after Julian and I met Danny, I dated a girl who was a bartender at the Roxy. She was drop dead gorgeous and would never go out with anyone. When I say I dated her, she went out to dinner with me once, and I went back to her apartment after. She was a spitfire, you know? Full of spirit. I totally thought sex with her was going to be phenomenal and I was so ready to get it on. When I was ready to make my move, she freaked out. She started screaming and beating the shit out of me. I just held onto her and tried to get her to calm down.”

  He cleared his throat and played a few more bars before he spoke again. ”When she looked up at me, she was absolutely terrified. I thought I had done something, but she was finally able to get a hold of herself and tell me that it wasn’t me. Some jackass had attacked her in the parking lot after work one night and raped her. I never would have known. I never guessed. Anyway, we spent the rest of the night talking about it. She said she’d never told anyone and hadn’t been with anyone since. She hadn’t even called the fucking police, which pissed me off. It had been about six months and she thought she was over it.”

  I took a deep breath and asked, “Did she ever move on? I mean, did she get better?”

  He laughed. ”Yeah, she did. Unfortunately, not with me. She ended up falling for the owner of the bar, who was like twenty something years older than her, and they got married. She’s had babies, the whole thing. I see her around every once in a while and I know she’s happy now.” He stopped and finally looked at me. ”I don’t know why I’m telling you this other than I know you’re strong and you’re going to get over it. But it’s not going to just go away. So don’t beat yourself up, you know? Try to just allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling?”

  I smiled at him and laughed. ”Who’d have thought you’d be the one giving me sage advice?” He blushed a little and looked down at his guitar. ”No! I’m serious, Bronson. Of all of you, I feel like I’ve probably talked to you the least. I’m seeing a whole other side of you tonight.”

  He smiled, strumming softly. ”I know. Danny and I don’t have the best track records when it comes to each other’s ladies. You know what I mean? So I stayed away a little, probably. I respect the hell out of you, Jesse, and I love Danny like a brother. I’m just really sorry that this happened at all.”

  “Thank you, Bronson. But I mean it when I said it’s done. Although…”

  I paused. Thoughts of Stacey’s shooting had been what woke me up. I wanted to talk about it, but I didn’t
want to tell Danny. ”I don’t know how to handle knowing he’s dead, you know? That was my first time seeing a dead person, especially someone that I kind of knew? It was weird. Very unsettling.”

  He looked up at me and his blue eyes were darker than usual. “The way I look at it? It’s better all around. He’s not suffering anymore. You and Danny don’t have to deal with a trial or anything. It’s over. There’s closure.”

  I nodded, relieved I had said something. ”I am happy there will be no trial. I’d hate to have Jane go through all that. This is going to be bad enough. I’m so afraid for her to see me like this.”

  He nodded. ”That’s why I thought it would be good for you guys to stay here. Although, no offense, but it’s going to take longer than a few days for those bruises to fade.”

  I rolled my eyes. ”I know. I look terrible! How the hell am I going to go to work on Monday? My students are going to freak out and I really don’t want to tell them everything.”

  “Do you have sick leave? Can you be out? I’m sure your boss will understand.”

  “I’ll call her tomorrow. I don’t want to think about anything else tonight.” I pulled my knees up to my chest and exhaled loudly.

  Bronson laughed. ”I think we need to do something to take your mind off things.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head. ”I don’t mean anything that will get us in trouble. Well, not you anyway.” He set his guitar aside and stood up, stretching his back. He was in a t-shirt and sweats. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. He so didn’t look the rock star when he was rockin’ the sweat pants. He looked like a second string basketball player. Ok, maybe with long hair not quite a basketball player. Maybe a coffee house poet guy.

  Bronson walked over to the far wall, which was covered with shelves holding pictures, knickknacks and books. Looking around the room, I noticed some tour posters, a couple of platinum album plaques, and pictures of his family. Holy shit! He even had his Grammy on the shelf! There were five or six guitars on stands in the corner and two couches in the middle of the room, facing each other.

  “Aha! Just the one I was looking for.” He pulled a large photo album off the shelf and brought it over to me. ”Damning evidence from Blackened’s early days. He’ll be pissed at me for showing you this. I’m not even sure he knows I have it. I’m a total geek when it comes to saving pictures and memorabilia.” He sat down at the far end of the couch, giving me space, and probably trying to be appropriate in case we were discovered.

  I took the album from him, excited at what I might see. When I opened it I had to clap a hand over my mouth. It was a scrapbook, in essence, of Blackened’s beginnings. The cover page had a publicity photo of the band, probably from when they first started in 1997 or ‘98. They were all posed together in leather and denim. Bronson and Julian still looked the same. They were even dressed similar to how they dressed now, in black jeans, thick, studded belts with large buckles, cowboy boots, sleeveless shirts. Alex had longer hair and had no shirt on in the picture and was holding his drumsticks in one hand. Other than looking younger, they looked how I’d expect.

  I could not, however, get over Danny! He wasn’t kidding when he told me his hair was down to his ass. His red hair had waves and curls and so much blonde in it, it almost looked highlighted if I didn’t know better. He was wearing black leather pants and a leather vest. No shirt. He was much thinner. His arms were really cut and tattoo-free. He looked dangerous in a way, but he also looked like such a baby. He had a long goatee and heavy silver rings on all of his fingers. My snickers increased as I turned the pages. There were shots of the guys recording in the studio with Ron, who looked much younger and thinner, not to mention he actually had hair back then as opposed to the dome look he sported now. But the shots on the tour buses and backstage really made me laugh. There was so much alcohol and so many girls all over them. It was comical.

  “So now I have actual proof of the debauchery! You better hide these when Jane comes over. I’m not sure Danny’s ready for her to see this stuff yet.” There were pictures of Danny taking body shots off a scantily clad woman, the guys at a strip club posing with dancers, and Danny passed out in a bar somewhere with panties on his head.

  Bronson chuckled. ”Yeah, some would say ‘those were the days.’ We did have fun, but when we got serious about our music, we didn’t have time for that insanity anymore.”

  I noticed as I got further into the album, about two years later by the dates on the pictures and other items stuck in there, there were no more half-naked women. I saw other changes as well. Danny with a couple of tattoos, Brooke on his arm at an award show, and a very pregnant Brooke posing with Danny and Alex, who both had their hands on her belly. The caption of that one said, “Countdown to ‘Who is the Father?’” It was kind of not funny knowing the truth about Brooke.

  “I think I like the earlier pics better,” I grumbled and Bronson laughed.

  “Yeah, me too. Brooke really put a damper on things. Poor Danny. He really tried to make her happy. The bitch.” His angry tone surprised me.

  “I’ve heard you and she were not huge fans of each other. Care to tell me why?”

  He scoffed. ”Let’s just say that she tried to get between us. Before they were exclusive, she showed up at my house a couple of times. I wasn’t really that interested in her, wasn’t interested in Danny’s leftovers, and she didn’t like being told no. She turned around and told Danny I’d been stalking her, basically, which led to him and me getting into a huge brawl. It was almost the end of the band. He totally kicked my ass. But I think she realized her meal ticket was going to be gone if we didn’t continue as a band. By then her career was stagnating. She’s three years older than Danny, did you know that?”

  I shook my head, a little shocked.

  “She kind of lies about it. Not many people know. We were a huge success from the start. As soon as our album came out and went platinum, and the tours and shit... Danny came into a lot of money fast and she was close to broke. She did a few more decent films in the meantime, don’t get me wrong. But if it wasn’t for him, she’d have been a nonentity.”

  Another piece fell into place. I wondered about something. ”Bronson? Danny said he thinks she’s using. Is that something that was an issue before?”

  He frowned. ”I don’t know. We were gone a lot and Danny didn’t always share what was going on with us when we were off the road. It wouldn’t surprise me. Nothing about her would surprise me.”

  I tried not to fuss at my lip with my tongue. My forehead was itchy from the stitches and my eyes were getting heavy. And all this talk about Brooke had me a little unsettled. I was nearing the point of finding out more than I really wanted to know, even though my curiosity wouldn’t let me shut up.

  “Jesse, can I say something?”

  I frowned at him. ”Of course you can.”

  He pulled his hair back and re-wrapped a hair tie around it. ”I just hope you don’t let Brooke get between you two. I know they’ve been divorced for a long time, but she still has a hold over him sometimes. About Jane. I just see how happy the three of you are together, and I know she’s gone off to New York, or whatever, and is supposed to be getting married. Just don’t turn your back on her, you know? She’s manipulative.”

  I really appreciated him for saying that. It was nice to know that my hunches about her were correct. “I can see that. You’re right, thank you. He and I have been through a lot and I don’t intend to let anything else get between us.”

  He smiled slyly. ”That’s my girl. Now why don’t you go back to bed? I can see you trying not to yawn over there.”

  I laughed. ”I think you’re right. Thanks, Bronson. For everything.” He nodded and I stood. ”Can I borrow some of these pictures sometime? I owe him a really good payback in the near future. I’m hoping he’s forgotten and I really want to make it a good one.”

  He barked out a laugh and stretched his back. “Absolutely. There’s plenty m
ore where that stuff came from, too. Anything to make that dickhead squirm.”

  I said goodnight again and crept quietly down the hall. When I entered the room we were staying in, Danny was frowning in his sleep. I tried to slide in without waking him, but he grabbed for me, pulling me close.

  “Jesse,” he muttered.

  I kissed him and he opened an eye. ”Oh good. I was dreaming you weren’t here.”

  I snuggled closer and sighed. ”I was up for a little while. I’m sorry I disturbed you. Go back to sleep.”

  He mumbled some more about loving me and keeping me safe. Poor guy. I knew he would do everything in his power to make that happen. I just hoped I didn’t have to strangle Mr. Bossypants in the meantime!

  Chapter - Five

  Saturday morning Bronson suggested we all stay with them until the work on the house was done. Nora came over and cooked us all breakfast, and then the three of us sat down and talked over plans. Nora and I overruled Danny’s plan to turn the whole living room into a home gym.

  “Seriously, Danny. It’s a huge room. What if you moved your office into the library and turn your office into an exercise room if you’re so concerned? It’s big enough.”

  He shrugged. ”What do you think, Nora?”

  She laughed. ”Sounds a hell of a lot better than you turning that huge room into a sweaty, gross mess! I’m with Jesse on that one, and I think it would be good for her to have some room to work in the library, too.”

  Danny smiled at me, kissing me on my unaffected cheek.

  Nora had cringed and gotten teary when she saw me. I assured her I was fine, a word Danny rolled his eyes at every time I said it.

  “I know you’ll be fine, sugar, but I hate what he did to you.” She held me for a long time before Danny started whining that he and the boys were hungry. She grumbled at him, cussing under her breath. I knew he’d done it to save me from further inquisition when he winked at me behind her back. I so loved this man and was grateful for him.