Taming Dex

by Zoey Derrick

  As we’re walking toward my door, my cell phone rings. It’s Erica.

  “Hi buttercup,” I greet her as I answer.

  “Hi there, I got your stuff.”

  “Oh my god, thank you, sweetheart. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, totally good, just getting ready to head out of the office.” I look at my watch, it’s only four-thirty in California.

  “I really appreciate you doing that. I just don’t know what he’s going to do.”

  “No, I totally understand. I’ve got your stuff in my car, I’ll keep it with me until you get back.”

  “You’re the best, Reeka.” I open my door and take my bags from Casey.

  “I know, sweet-cheeks. I’ll call you tomorrow?” she says.

  “Absolutely,” I tell her and we hang up. I turn to Casey, “Thank you for putting up with me today.”

  “I don’t put up with you, you’re good company.” He smiles.

  “Thanks,” I grumble and he laughs.

  “Behave yourself. Troy is here tonight. I’m going to bed. Don’t make him wake me up.”

  I laugh. “I won’t.” I hold up the bags. “I have new toys.”

  With that, he leaves me to it.

  Before coming upstairs to the restaurant, I unpacked my new laptop and emailed Cami from my phone letting her know that I’d gotten it and the iPad. I need to be at the office by ten tomorrow morning. She also said that she and Tristan would be heading home tomorrow.

  At ten after eight, I get a text.

  Dex: where r u?

  I sigh. Do I respond? Yes, I probably should.

  Raine: at the hotel, having dinner. Y?

  Dex: Y R U not here?

  Raine: had other business to attend to.

  Dex: Come now.

  Why is it so important that I go to the show? That’s the only question I can think of. It doesn’t make any sense.

  Raine: Going on road, will c many more.

  Dex: Please

  Raine: Tell me y.

  Dex: I like having you here.

  What in the world is so special about my being there? It’s not like I’ve been to dozens of shows. Last night was my first.

  The clock rolls over to eight-thirty and it’s not worth the effort to text him back, he’s on stage.

  While I eat my BLT and French fries, I ponder the meaning behind his texts.

  He wants me at the show - why? I can’t come up with a logical reason for why it is that I should be there. Other than to help Addison, but she insisted it wasn’t important for me to be there.

  Does this mean he actually wants to see me, to talk to me, or does he just want another quick dressing room fuck? If that’s the case, he can find some other bimbo to bang. My heart wrenches into a knot at the idea of him sticking his dick into someone else. Is that what I need to do, in order to keep him from his manwhore ways? Sleep with him every night? I shudder at the thought of being his new receptacle.

  Then again, he’s had sex, or at least orgasms, with me three times and I imagine that’s the most he’s ever had with any one partner. Then again, I get a feeling he isn’t a one hit wonder, so maybe three is nothing for him.

  I send a text to Rusty.

  Raine: Are they going out tonight?

  It takes him a few minutes, so I finish up my meal, sign the room charge and then check my phone again.

  Rusty: Yes, going to a club near the hotel.

  Raine: Forward the information to Troy? I’d like to join them.

  Rusty: Done. See you later.

  I leave the upstairs restaurant to find Troy standing guard. “Casey’s coming for you after the show,” he tells me as I step off the elevator.

  “Great, thanks.” I hand him his sandwich.

  “Oh, thank you,” he says sweetly and with a smile that could light up Manhattan.

  “You’re welcome. Anyone else here?”

  “Nope, just me and you.”

  “All right, I’m going to go get dressed. What time is he coming?”

  “Probably around eleven, eleven thirty.”

  “Okay, great, thank you.” I head toward my room.

  Once inside I contemplate changing my mind, but I might as well. Just because I’m trying to avoid Dex, doesn’t mean I have to avoid everyone else.

  Around ten thirty, after a shower and a change of clothes, I get a text from Addison.

  Addison: You’re coming out tonight?

  Raine: Is that okay?

  Addison: Absolutely. Would love to see you.

  Raine: Can’t wait. Don’t tell Dex.

  Addison: my lips are sealed. See you in a bit.

  I finish up my make-up with purple eye shadow, darker colored lips and a new outfit I bought today.

  All in all, the ensemble is complete. I’m not entirely sure what it is that I’m going for here, but regardless, I think I look fucking hot. Eat your heart out, Dex Harris.

  I tuck my ID and credit card into my bra, not wanting to carry a purse and then finally I clip my phone on my skirt just as Casey knocks on the door.

  Be still my fucking heart. I tap Mouse on the shoulder and point to the beauty that just walked in the door. She’s wearing one of those black tutu skirts over those sexy as shit leggings and a pair of flats. Her back is to me, but her hair is up in a semi-messy ponytail. She’s skinny but curvy at the same time. My dick gets hard in my jeans. “Not bad,” Mouse says as he watches her with me. She’s walking toward the bar, there are more than a few guys smiling, nodding and then watching her as she walks past them. Eventually my view is obstructed.

  I shrug her off and start talking with the guys. Addison makes her way toward the bar and Talon and Kyle watch over her until she disappears, but Rusty, ever the chameleon, is watching her dutifully. I quickly lose sight of her and the guys go back to talking to each other. With Addison gone, the girls approach in waves. Jesus, she’s not that intimidating. But regardless, there are more than a few honeys coming this way and finally my eyes land on one gorgeous chick. She’s got strawberry blond hair, a beautiful rack and a decent set of hips. She comes over and sits down next to me and we start to talk.

  “Hey.” I turn to see Addison approaching me. “What are you doing over here?” she asks.

  “Just getting some liquid courage.”

  She laughs, “Oh, I miss those days.”

  “How’d it go tonight?” I ask.

  “Great. Wish you would have come.”

  “I know, I just needed to get some stuff taken care of.”

  “You mean you were avoiding him.” She leans against the bar. I just shrug. “You’ll be on board a tour bus with him in less than a week. What will you do then?”

  Her voice is soft, genuine concern can be heard. I shrug. “I’m hoping I’ll get over him by then.”

  She just smiles as if she knows more than I do about Dex. Which is totally okay. “How’d your day go, with the shoot and stuff?” I ask, trying to change the subject away from Dex.

  “It was amazing. I wish you’d have been there,” she tells me sadly. Then she shows me her left hand. “The guys proposed.”

  “Holy shit.” I smile wide and look up at her. “Holy shit, Addison that’s awesome.” I hug her. “Now I wish I would have come.”

  “Oh, there’s video and a whole array of pictures. I’m surprised no one told you.” She laughs. “Everyone else seemed to know but me.” She blushes.

  “Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters,” I tell her and the bartender finally brings me my drinks. I down the shot of Crown, throw the glass back on the bar and grab my Cosmo.

  “Come on,” she says and she leads me back to where the guys are. She’s in front of me and since I’m wearing flats, I can’t see past her. She’s taller than I am.

  She finally finds a break in the wall of people, it’s Friday in New York after all, but when she moves out of my line of sight I damn near drop my drink when I stop dead in my tracks. Someone bumps into me and I slosh my
drink all over me and look up just in time to see Dex pull his mouth away from the lips of some strawberry blonde chick sitting on his lap. He has a semi-satisfied smile on his face and his eyes lazily open, then they land on me and his smile fades away.

  “Shit,” I hear him say, but I turn on my heel and duck back into the crowd of people, heading for the door. I down my drink and place the glass on someone’s table. They’re shouting after me because I just dumped it there. I nearly slam into Casey.

  “Where’s the fire?” he asks.

  “Move. I’m leaving,” I tell him and I skirt around him, headed for the coat check. When I get there, I hand them my ticket and throw my thigh length pea coat over my shoulders and the hood over my head. Hoping like hell that it’s hiding my outfit and making me less recognizable.

  I step out into the street, catch my bearings quickly and turn left as I slide my arms into the sleeves of my jacket, buttoning it up and walking back to the hotel. Casey is hot on my heels, I can feel him. I stop, turn toward him. “Leave me alone,” I snap.

  “I can’t. It’s my job.”

  “Not anymore, it’s not. I quit,” I snap and turn back around.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Addison scolds me.

  “What the fuck did I do?”

  “You must seriously be kidding. You can’t possibly be that stupid, Dex.”

  The strawberry blonde that I was making out with quickly makes herself scarce and I don’t blame her. I’m so fucking furious. “I didn’t know she was coming,” I say in my defense but it’s weak and feeble at best.

  “That doesn’t fucking matter. If she meant anything to you at all, it wouldn’t matter if she was coming or not.”

  I put my head in my hands. She’s fucking right. Not four hours ago, I was actually missing her, I wanted her at the show and she refused to come. Now, sitting in a bar, I grab on to the first thing that walks up and don’t even think twice about it.

  “Well, go after her,” Addison tells me.

  “What’s the point? She’s pissed.”

  “She’ll be more pissed off if you don’t go after her,” Addison says matter of fact. “Trust me.”

  I stand up, and all eyes are on me. “What?” I snap. They all just shake their heads. I take two steps forward and I’m met with the wall of Casey and Rusty.

  “Where you going?” Rusty asks me as Beck joins them.

  “I’m going to go find Raine. Wait, why aren’t you with her?” I look at Casey.

  He shrugs.

  “Is she still here?” That’s the only logical explanation I can come up with so I start to look around, hoping to see her, to spot her in the crowd, but it’s futile.

  “No, she’s gone.”

  “Then what the fuck, Casey.”

  “I told him to let her go,” Mills says from behind me. “She’s not our responsibility anymore. She quit and Cami told us to back off.”

  “She what?” Addison says from behind me. “What do you mean she quit?”

  Mills just shrugs.

  Addison pounces on me like white on fucking rice. “I warned you about this shit when I climbed on board the bus. Now you’ve…Ugh! I can’t even talk to you right now.” She looks past me to Rusty. “Take me back.”

  “Addison, wait,” Kyle says. “Maybe we should give her a chance to cool down.”

  “She’ll be on her way to the airport,” Addison says.

  “You don’t know that, baby girl.”

  “This is my fuck up, let me fix it,” I say firmly. I turn to Beck. “Take me back.” Beck hesitates but nods. Mills lets us go and it takes us all of a few minutes to get out of the club and on the street. We walk back to the hotel, it’s only two blocks away.

  We head straight for the elevator and wait impatiently for it to show up. When it does, we climb in and I nervously watch the numbers tick by until we reach the seventeenth floor. The doors open and Troy is standing there. “How long ago?”

  Troy scowls at me. “For what?”

  “Since Raine came through here.”

  Troy shakes his head. “She hasn’t been up here, not since she left with Casey. You mean she’s gone again?”

  “She quit,” I tell him. “Mills made Casey back off. We assumed she came straight here.”

  “No, she hasn’t come up here.”

  “Fuck.”

  Sometime before I managed to get falling down drunk, Casey found me and Cami convinced me to stay. Why, I haven’t a fucking clue. Though there may have been job threats involved. Cami has always said it’s fine until a job suffers because of it and frankly, I really didn’t want to quit. I’m not here for Dex. I’m here for my fucking job.

  I threatened bodily harm to Casey if he told Dex that he’d found me. He agreed to let it drop, but not before telling me that Dex was freaking out. Good, the bastard deserves it.

  Finally the elevator reaches the seventeenth floor, it dings and the doors open. I’m fascinated by their movements and annoyed at what I see down the hall. Beck is on duty and he gives me a look. It looks like concern but with Beck you just never know. I smile sweetly at him and momentarily entertain the idea of taking Beck to bed, just to piss off Dex.

  That’s when I see him, down the hall, leaning against the wall by my door. He looks like he’s passed out.

  I put my finger to my lips and ‘shh’ Beck who rolls his eyes as I stumble my way down the hall. When I come up on him, I hear him snoring softly. I very carefully step over him, hanging on to the wall so that I don’t fall. When I get to the other side, I look at Beck who’s shaking his head back and forth more in annoyance than anything. I shrug and slide my keycard into the door, turn the knob quickly and slip inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

  Slam.

  I bolt awake, sitting upright and I can hear someone, Beck. I look down the hall. He’s laughing and I realize quickly the source of the noise. She fucking snuck past me. God damn it. I scowl at Beck who slinks back into his chair. He doesn’t want a fight and neither do I.

  I pound on her door. That’s when I hear the deadbolt engage and the chain flips home. “We need to talk,” I say through the door.

  “I’ve got nothing to say.” Her words come back jumbled and almost incomprehensible. She’s drunk.

  “But I do.”

  “Forget it, Dex. You had your chance, you fucking blew it. Go to bed.”

  She says from a little further into the room.

  I fucked up royally tonight. I was stupid to think that Raine wouldn’t show up. I was stupid to even entertain the idea of another woman and it was fucked up for me to see her the first time, get a hard-on and not even realize that it was her I was drooling over. Though Mouse had no fucking clue either. He was equally as intrigued.

  I pound on the door again. “Open up, Raine.”

  I hear the chain and the deadbolt. I’m winning, she’s going to open the door for me.

  What a stupid fucking thing to think.

  She opens the door. She’s naked as a jaybird, and my cock hardens instantly. She steals my breath away. “I’m sorry,” I breathe out.

  “You forgot these a few days ago.” She throws something in my face, blinding me, and the door slams shut once again. I pull whatever it is off of my head. It’s my fucking underwear. Fuck.

  I bang my head against the door.

  “If you were truly sorry, Dex, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place,” she says through the door. “If you were truly sorry, truly wanting what it is that you’re apologizing for, you wouldn’t need to apologize because there wouldn’t be anything to say. I told you to prove it and all you’ve done is break my fucking heart, one tiny piece at a time.”

  “I told you I was a manwhore. You’ve known that from the beginning.”

  “And I was stupid enough to think that maybe, just maybe, I might have been enough for you. Good night, Dex.”

  “You are enough,” I say softly against the door. So quietly that I don’t know if she can even hear
me. But I word vomited and I can’t take it back. I puked them out and I realize that it’s true. She is enough. She’s what I want, what I need. I can’t keep doing this to her. “I will,” I say aloud as I decide right then and there that I intend to prove to her that I need her, that I need to be with her.

  I pound on the door one more time. Hoping that maybe she might let me in. That’s when I hear music coming from her room. It’s a softer piece. It doesn’t take me but a minute to recognize the song. It’s a song that defines my life and me. It’s a song that she is listening to because of me. I fall to my knees.

  Saturday dawns, and I’m exhausted. I didn’t sleep for shit last night. I kept having visions of Dex sleeping outside my door. With Saturday comes a nasty as hell hangover which I deserve like nobody’s business. I manage to get myself together enough to risk the walk down the hall.

  Hoping like hell that Dex is still passed out, I make my way with Troy to the office.

  I’m there for just over an hour and leave with a programmed laptop and iPad.

  When I return back to the hotel, I order room service and climb into my comfy as hell pajamas and curl up on the bed. Working with my laptop to get everything set up and in working condition.

  I also woke up this morning with a new resolve. I will do my job. I will go about my life, and I will not let Dex Harris stand in my way anymore.