by Franca Storm
“Yes, baby? Something I can help you with?”
“Touch me,” she pants.
“Admit it and I will.”
“No.”
“So, you don’t want my fingers in your panties, my tongue between your legs, bringing you closer and closer to the edge? You don’t want my cock thrusting hard into your wet pussy, driving so deep that you can hardly fucking breathe?”
“Stop,” she pleads.
“Stop what?”
“Teasing me.”
“Just say the words I wanna hear.”
A loud slam startles us. The front door. Aggressive footsteps sound, before we hear:
“What’s your problem?” Mitch’s voice.
It’s followed by Chloe’s angry yell. “I told you I don’t want a relationship! Get that through your thick head!”
“So, we can fuck, but that’s it?”
“Yes! God, how many times do we have to have this conversation, Mitch?”
“Tell me why.”
“What?”
“Tell me why. I wanna hear you say it.”
“We’re…too different.”
“You mean, I’m trash and you’re a trust fund brat?”
“That’s not what I said. And I’m not a brat, jerk off.”
“Fine. This is done. I can’t do this anymore, Chlo.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I can’t fuck you, but not be with you. It’s all or nothing.”
“Mitch!”
“I’m serious. What’s it gonna be?”
“We can’t be together.”
“Fine.”
I hear another slam of a door; Mitch’s bedroom door.
“You should go and make sure he’s okay,” Nicki tells me. “I’ll check on Chloe.”
Dammit. Why did they have to pick this moment to act out their drama?
“Son of a bitch,” I growl, reluctantly climbing off her and helping her back to her feet.
She chuckles. “We have plenty of time for us later. Go talk to him, John.”
I know she’s right even though my cock doesn’t agree. I do need to talk to Mitch. Aside from the fact that he’s my friend, there’s also the band to consider. We’re on the verge of our big break. We can’t have this bullshit going on right now. I need to put a stop to it.
“I’m going,” I say, as Nicki pushes me towards the door. “Your hands on me aren’t helping the situation.”
She releases me and laughs. “Horn dog.”
“Me? You’ve been holding that title for the last few weeks. I’m the innocent one here.”
“Shut up,” she says, punching me in the shoulder. “Get going. Move that sexy ass of yours.”
I spin around and cup her perky little tits before leaning in to kiss her hard. I pull away quickly and smirk at her. “Now, I’m good…until later.”
I walk out of the room, leaving her standing there breathless and wanting more. Just the way I like my girl.
***
“I’m bleeding out here/ And the wound belongs to you….”
We suddenly lose the beat and Chloe yells at Mitch, “Are you tone deaf right now?”
“You’re the one who’s off-beat, Chlo. It’s a bit of a bitch to work with.”
“I’m off-beat?”
Uh oh. It’s probably the worst thing he could’ve said to her; criticizing her drumming skills like that. And he knows it too. Not that her bullshit comment was any better.
“Enough!” I thunder, stepping away from my microphone and storming over to them.
“She—” Mitch begins.
I hold up my hand to silence him. “I said; enough!” I snap, harshly.
“Guys, come on,” Nicki cuts in, backing me up.
Despite the two of them assuring us that whatever’s going on between them wouldn’t impact practice, clearly it is. They’ve been at each other’s throats through every song we’ve run through: Twist Me, Fool’s Game and now, Only Burns. And now Chloe’s actually stopping mid-song to deal out her insults. This shit is not flying with me.
“We’re coming up on our big break here,” I tell them. “There’s no room for mistakes and bad blood in the band. I get that you two have issues, but you deal with it on your own time. We’re gonna take a ten-minute break. If you can’t get your shit together by then, then get the fuck out of here. Make no mistake, I will fucking pull one of you if I have to. You got me? Fix this. Now.”
Chloe huffs, pulls herself from behind the drum kit and storms out of the room.
“Sorry, dude,” Mitch says, resting his bass against the wall.
“Ignore her trying to bait you,” I advise him.
“Easier said than done.”
“Focus on the song. Let it pull you in,” Nicki suggests.
Mitch nods. “All right. I need a beer,” he says, heading out of the room.
I blow out a breath and scrub my hand over my face.
Nicki grips my shoulders. “Nice lecture.”
“Really? You normally get on my case about being too harsh.”
“Nah. They needed to hear it. This is Chloe we’re talking about. You know she doesn’t respond to people pussy-footing around her.”
“They’d better get their shit together.”
“It’ll be fine. I promise.”
“How do you know?”
“Because,” she says, kissing my neck. “I know you. You’re a great leader; a great front man. They always listen to you.”
She goes to pull away but I wrap my arms around her. “Uh uh. You’re not going anywhere. Come here and kiss me like you mean it.”
Chapter 34
~John~
“Urgh,” Chloe mutters into her martini as she and I sit up at the makeshift bar in the yard of the sorority house on campus.
We’re here tonight to play at one of their mid-term celebration parties. We’re using this as a test run before our big performance at Eclipse in a couple of weeks. And we’ve been killing it tonight. Right now, we’re on a break. I sip at my beer, scanning the crowded yard for Nicki. She headed off to the bathroom a few minutes ago.
“Bitch,” Chloe continues.
I follow her line of sight over to the other side of the yard where Mitch is putting his moves on some brunette.
“You turned him down, Chloe.”
She scoffs. “Please. This isn’t about him, John. It’s about that bitch, Tina.”
“What about her?” I don’t give two shits about the drama Chloe’s currently wrapped up in, but it’s just the two of us, so I figure I need to at least fake an interest in this chick shit until Nicki comes back and rescues my ass.
“Look at her in her tiny black dress that’s basically painted on. She’s all over him. This is her competing with me. She knows he and I hooked up. She always goes after what’s mine.”
I raise my eyebrows. “What’s yours, huh?”
She slaps my arm. “Shut up. That’s not what I mean. I just…she pisses me off.”
“Isn’t she one of your sorority sisters?”
“Yeah. So? She’s always trying to one-up me. Crazy, competitive bitch.”
Wow. The claws are already out. Damn.
“John,” someone calls from behind me.
I turn on my stool to see a blonde standing in front of me. She grins at me and flips back her hair while also making sure to push out her tits that are spilling out of her top. She looks familiar, but I can’t make a positive ID, which probably means I’ve fucked her before.
“Daphne,” Chloe says, in a warning tone.
Daphne. Yeah, I’ve fucked her all right. I can’t remember how it went down, but the name rings a bell. It’s not exactly run-of-the-mill. She ignores Chloe’s warning and wedges herself between the two of us, leaning across the bar and ordering a drink. The bartender takes one look at her tits and quickly gets her the drink she ordered—a screwdriver.
She locks eyes with me as she starts sucking on the straw, her tongue darting out and swirling around. Yeah, wom
an, I see what you’re doing.
“It’s been a while,” she says, winking at me.
“Has it?”
Chloe leans forward on the bar so I can see her and she rolls her eyes at me.
“It has. Remember how hot we were together that night?”
Before I can shut her down, another blonde joins the party, draping her arm over Daphne.
Daphne grins at her and then tells me, “How hot the three of us were.”
Oh yeah! I remember now. The threesome all-nighter.
“Got a girlfriend now. Nothing’s gonna happen here,” I tell them.
“Take one night off,” Daphne urges me, sliding her hand up my thigh.
“Get your hands off my boyfriend!”
The girls spin around to see Nicki standing there, her hands on her hips and looking pissed as hell.
“I’d beat it if I were you. She’s a boxer,” Chloe tells them. “You don’t want her to mess up your pretty little faces, do you?”
The girls take the hint and hurry off.
Nicki glares at me. Her eyes move to my jeans, to the spot where one of the girls touched me. “What’s going on?” she demands. “I’m gone for one second and you’re hitting on other women?”
I hold up my hands. “Uh uh. I was just sitting here drinking my beer. That’s all.”
“They had their hands on you. I didn’t see you pushing them away.”
I look to Chloe for her support.
“He’s right. They just wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Nicki’s eyes stay glued to mine. She’s shooting me daggers now. “And I bet you loved every second of it, Mister-Big-Shot-Rock-Star. This is what it’s gonna be like if we get signed after Eclipse, isn’t it? Groupies everywhere. Me fighting them off you and you sitting there letting them put their hands and God knows what else all over you?”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
I shoot to my feet. “What’s got into you? Why are you so uptight tonight?”
“And, I’m out,” Chloe says, sliding off her stool quickly and hightailing it the hell away from us and what I’m beginning to see is gonna be one hell of a fight.
I don’t get it. Nicki isn’t usually this insecure about anything. Where’s this coming from?
“Forget it,” Nicki says, making a move to walk away from me.
Yeah, I don’t think so. I grab her arm, stopping her. “Talk to me. What’s this all about?”
She blows out a breath. “Everywhere we go they’re looking at you. And some of them are even brazen enough to come right up to you when I’m with you and start flirting like crazy. It’s gotten worse ever since word spread about us being booked as headliners at Eclipse.”
She’s not wrong. It has been pretty crazy lately. “They’re just leeches, Nicki. It’s the possibility of fame. That’s all.”
“It’s the whole rock star cliché, John.”
“I’m not that guy anymore. I’m with you and that’s it.”
“None of them seem to be getting that message.”
“What do you want me to do? Shout it from the fucking rooftops?” I snap, getting pissed. She has no reason to be like this. Since we got together, I’ve done a complete one-eighty. I don’t give a crap about other women, because as far as I’m concerned there are no other women. Not now that I have her. I’ve changed for her and here she is throwing it in my face? I don’t fucking think so.
“I don’t know. You could start by telling them right away that you’re dating me. But you never do. You let it drag on. Why? Because you like the attention.”
“The only attention I like is yours, Nicki! Get that through your fucking head!” I yell, losing my cool.
“Then start showing me that!” she screams, raising her voice even higher.
People are looking our way. Great. I hate public drama like this. Argh!
“You’re making a fool of yourself; yelling in public like this. You look like an insecure little girl.” Oh, real smooth, asshole. Shit. She’s not gonna take that well at all.
“I don’t want girls touching you!”
“It was nothing, Nicki! You’re overreacting big time! Get a fucking grip!”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “Fuck you, John,” she spits out.
The next thing I know, she’s turning from me and hurrying away into the crowd. It takes mere seconds before the crowd swallows her up and I lose sight of her.
Dammit!
Chapter 35
~Nicki~
“How about this one?” Chloe asks, holding up yet another outfit she just pulled out of her closet. I’ve lost count of how many she’s shown me so far. This one is a backless black leather dress with a plunging neckline.
“That’ll definitely garner you all of the spotlight at the show.”
“Yeah, I hear you. Maybe too much, right?”
“A little. What about pants? Wouldn’t they be more comfortable sitting in at the drum kit rather than a dress?”
She rolls her eyes. “Please, Nicki. I can make anything work.”
“That’s true. Maybe something with more of a rocker edge to it then?”
She nods and delves back inside her closet. I slump onto the edge of her bed and brush the duvet cover absently as I try to summon my patience. I’m not a girly girl and spending hours helping her pick out an outfit is my idea of torture, not a good time. But I’m sucking it up because she’s my friend and she needs my help. Least I can do.
“So, what’s going on with you and Mitch?” I ask. Anything to distract me from this boredom.
“Oh, yeah. We screwed around a couple of times.”
“I knew it! How did that happen? You guys have never been—I mean—you’re always fighting. It’s all you’ve ever done.”
She laughs. “Sexual tension, babe. Plus, the first time it happened we were both drunk. But…no…never mind.”
“But what?”
She looks over her shoulder at me and winks. “It was so fucking good. He’s a monster in bed, Nicki. And when we came together….wow…we did things that I’ve never done before. Dirty stuff. Hot stuff. He likes it rough and—”
I hold up my hand quickly. “Details not needed. I get it.”
She laughs and turns back to her closet. “Right, he’s in the band and John’s roommate. Awkward.”
“Just a little.”
“Well, it’s over and done with anyway.”
I can hear the sadness in her voice. “Why don’t you just talk to him?”
She turns around and leans against her closet, blowing out a breath. “I’ve tried, but he’s made it clear. All or nothing. I just want it to be a casual thing. Sex with no strings. But he wants more. There’s nothing more to say.”
“Well, what’s wrong with more?”
“He’s not the kind of guy I should be dating.”
“Cuz he’s not rich?”
She shakes her head. “He thinks I care about that, but it’s not about that. It’s just…he doesn’t get my world, what’s expected of the men I do date and bring into my life. He’s not made for that. It would just rip us apart, Nicki. He wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“You’re already apart. Why don’t you just give it a try? He’s a good guy. You have a lot in common. The band. The same sick sense of humor. You’re both headstrong and incredibly arrogant.”
She laughs. “Thanks for the compliments.”
“Sorry. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. It’s not worth it, Nicki. We’re done. I was a little jealous at the party the other night when I saw him flirting. But I got over it and ended up hooking up with a guy myself. We’re cool now. Back to normal. It was just a good time.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am.”
“You seem sad, Chlo?”
She shakes her head and flashes me a devilish grin. “Sad about losing the mind blowing sex. Now I have to wade through a bunch of losers to find a man who can hold his own again.”
Well,
it’s clear she’s made up her mind about her and Mitch calling it quits. And when Chloe makes a decision, it sticks. There’s no getting her to change it.
She grabs another outfit from her closet and drapes it across her arms as she perches beside me on the bed. “You’re deflecting big time, Nicki.”
“What?”
“Focusing on my love life to avoid thinking about your own.”
“I am not,” I say, folding my arms across my chest.
She smiles at my obvious defensive gesture. “He wasn’t flirting back, Nicki. I was there. He looked really uncomfortable.”
My eyes narrow. “Why are you defending him? You know what he’s like.”
“I’m just telling you what happened.”
I haven’t spoken with John since we played that sorority party a couple of days ago and I saw those girls all over him. He still hasn’t bothered to apologize, so there’s been nothing more to say.
I sigh heavily. “He’ll always be like that; drawing women to him like moths to a flame. He loves it, too. He’s an attention whore.”
“So what? He’s not gonna take it any further.”
“You don’t know that. A little too much to drink and a groupie who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer and voila!”
“He wants you, Nicki. Just you. You told me he said he loved you, right?”
“Yeah. Words, Chloe. Just words.”
“Words that a guy like John isn’t gonna throw around lightly. If he said them, he meant them.”
“Until he doesn’t. Until he gets bored of me. I’m just something different for him. And I’m not all put together and model-worthy like the women he’s used to messing around with.”
Chloe studies me closely for a moment, clearly trying to figure me out. Her eyes flash and then she says, “You’re scared.”
“What? Scared?” I scoff. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re in deep with him and it’s freaking you out. So, you’re using this groupie thing to put up a wall and withdraw from him.”
“I…no I’m not.” Am I?
“Babe, you are.”
“No, I’m just sick of him allowing those women to throw themselves at him, to hound him. It’s been out of control since word spread about us playing Eclipse. And it’s pissing me off. He never pushes them away. Never tells them that we’re together.”
