Holding on to Us

by A. E. Neal

  My gaze followed the 'v' of his stomach just below his hips. His erection stood tall against his belly and I licked my lips in anticipation.

  "Lay down," I ordered, stabbing a finger into the empty place beside me.

  He crawled over me and rested on his back.

  I pulled my tank top and bra over my head and tossed them to the floor. My breasts had swollen to almost twice their size and the look on his face told me he liked what he saw. I shimmed my thong down my legs and stood before him, completely exposed, naked and wanting.

  Wetness had already begun to pool between my thighs. I straddled him, my belly resting against his. His hands gripped my hips, slowly pulling me forward, so I covered him with my juices.

  "So wet," he growled, taking one of my breasts in his hand and gently rolling my pierced nipple between his fingers.

  "Ahh," I cried out.

  He took the other in his palm, massaging it and pinching my nipple a bit harder.

  "Ahh," I cried again.

  Everything on my body was so sensitive. Every touch, every flick of his tongue sent me closer to the edge.

  I rocked against his hardness, before guiding him into me. He bucked his hips beneath me, filling me, stretching me and claiming me. "Fuck," he groaned.

  I wanted to take my time, enjoying him, every inch of his body, but my body had a mind of its own. I rocked against him, picking up my pace, faster and more rough than I'd ever been before.

  His fingertips dug into my hips as he matched my movements, I felt him grow harder inside me. He slowed his pace, reached up and cupped my jaw, causing my eyes to flutter open.

  "Turn around," he said softly. I eased him out of me and turned, spreading my knees apart before resting on my elbows. With two fingers, he gently brushed them against my swollen sex and around my clit. I tossed my head back and moaned loudly.

  He reached around, placing the pad of his thumb against my clit before thrusting himself into me with such force, making me gasp.

  His thumb moved over my clit, stroking it as the sound of our damp skin filled the air with each animalistic thrust. The harder he slammed into me, the closer I was to orgasm. My eyelids fluttered as I felt it growing, inching closer, begging to be released.

  Another series of thrusts and I screamed out in pleasure, the orgasm pulsing through my body, causing my arms to weaken. I gripped the pillow with so much force that I heard it rip. One last thrust and he moaned, pulling me against him one last time before he released everything he had into me.

  I collapsed against the cool sheets, as did he, wrapping an arm around me as we snuggled against each other, panting.

  "Holy shit, that was..."

  "Amazing. I think my orgasm had an orgasm" I offered.

  He laughed and pressed his lips to my shoulder.

  Chapter 34

  Zac

  It pained me to leave her, knowing she could have the baby any day, but I'd read somewhere that a woman could go beyond her due date and I prayed the baby would wait until I returned home.

  "You got everything?" she asked as she zipped my bag closed.

  "I think so," I said, checking off the mental list of things I needed to bring in my head.

  "I'm gonna miss you," she said softly as her gaze fell to the floor.

  I wanted to reassure her that I'd be back soon, but I couldn't promise anything yet, since I didn't know what the record label had in store for us.

  "I'll be back before you know it," I said, kissing the top of her head.

  "Text me as soon as you land, 'kay?"

  "Promise."

  Alex was waiting in the living room and as I said my goodbyes to Kennedy, she pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and handed it to me.

  "Don't read it until you get settled," she said.

  "Okay," I replied, tucking it into my pocket for safekeeping.

  "Come on, Zac. We gotta go, man," Alex called from the other room.

  I pressed my lips to hers and she wrapped her arms around my neck. "I love you, Skittles."

  "Me, too."

  It was mid-afternoon by the time our flight landed in Los Angeles. The sun peeked through the clouds, and the air was warm and humid. I inhaled deeply as we loaded our gear and luggage into the van.

  Jerry, our driver, was about my height, but much larger than I. He wore a 'don't fuck with me' look on his face and didn't smile the entire trip to our hotel.

  I shot Kennedy a quick text, letting her know we were on the road and I'd call her later.

  "Jerry, do you think you could stop at In-n-Out? I haven't had a double, double in forever," Alex asked as he leaned over the seat.

  "Sure," was all Jerry said.

  "He looks like an assassin," Chris muttered under his breath. "Probably don't wanna provoke him, Alex."

  "Nah, he looks like a decent dude. Kinda like you, there's a big ole teddy bear hiding under there, somewhere," Alex joked, but Chris didn't laugh.

  After we'd ordered two of everything on the menu at In-n-Out, Jerry ushered us back to the van and told Alex we had a meeting a five o'clock with the record company's agent.

  Jerry parked the van outside of the motel, yes, motel. We'd all been under the impression that we'd be staying in a five star hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, but instead, we were in a shady area of the city, just off Third Street.

  We piled out of the van, unloaded our bags and Alex entered the office to check us in.

  A few minutes later, Alex returned looking almost defeated.

  "You'll never believe this shit," he said, holding up an actual key to the room. "We're sharing a room. She said it was a suite, but by the looks of this place, I'd say we're S.O.L."

  I laughed. Typical. Wasn't like we were some big name group or anything.

  Jerry waited patiently next to the van as we lugged our stuff up two flights of stairs. The room was big, but definitely not a suite. There was a tiny kitchenette, two double beds and a pull-out couch. The dingy scent of mildew and age, stung my nose. The walls were tinted yellow and the blankets on the bed looked older than the city of LA, itself. Cigarette burns covered the arms of the couch and one of the curtains looked like it had actually been lit on fire.

  "Home, sweet home," I joked, opening my arms wide to take in the sight of our crappy room.

  "This is bullshit, man," Alex scoffed, flipping the air conditioner unit in the wall on. It clanked and clattered, spitting dust out of the vent before the cool air finally came.

  We all waved our hands in front of our faces, coughing.

  "Sweet deal, you got us here, Alex," Chris joked.

  "I'm calling Brantley first thing in the morning. This is such BS."

  Chris and I laughed. We knew Brantley, could only do so much, and considering the record company offered to pay our expenses over the next two weeks, I was sure this was as good as it was going to get.

  Once we'd unloaded everything into the room, Jerry drove us into the city. The skyline hadn't changed a bit since the last time we'd been in LA, but the traffic seemed worse and the people ruder. It took us about twenty minutes before we arrived at the recording studio.

  A large metal sign in the shape of a guitar pick adorned the outside of the thirty story building that read, "Lucid Paper Production Studios" in bold black lettering.

  "Here goes nothing," I said in a hushed tone as Jerry slid the van door open.

  The three of us stood as we waited to meet with the label's rep in the lobby. Several gold and platinum records hung from the clean white walls and I scanned them carefully. Most were from artists or bands I had never even heard of.

  "Ah! The boys of HashTag," a male voice said, and we all turned to face him.

  Alex reached out and shook the short, bald, stocky man's hand, who was in his late forties, dressed in a grey suit with a green tie. "David Hillberger," he offered.

  "Alex Harper," Alex said, pointing to himself before introducing us. "Zac Monroe and Chris Detwiler."

  "Nice to meet
you, boys," he said, waving us along to follow him. "Come on, we've got a lot to discuss."

  We exited the elevator on the twenty-third floor and followed David as he chattered on about how great it was to finally meet us. Something I assumed he said to all prospective clients.

  "Delia, hold my calls," he said to the beautiful brunette sitting behind the desk as we passed.

  "Of course, Mr. Hillberger," she said sweetly and shot me a half-smile.

  "Have a seat, boys," he said as he rounded his desk and sat in an oversized leather chair. His office was quite large and a floor to ceiling windows overlooked the city behind his desk. He had framed pictures of him shaking hands with some pretty impressive artists and a large family photo of him, his wife and two kids hung on the wall next to us.

  "Mr. Fisher sent over the contract late last night and I apologize for not having time to look it over, yet," he said, skimming the stack of papers on his desk.

  I glanced at Alex and I could tell something was on his mind. I hoped he wouldn't say anything about our roach motel and just keep his mouth shut.

  "Your accommodations are alright, yes?" David asked and looked right at me.

  "Yes, everything is fine. Thank you," I said, nodding.

  Alex shot me a wary glance and I shrugged.

  "Well, boys, looks like everything is in order. And I understand you're expecting your first child any day, now?" he asked me.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Congrats. I've got two girls, eleven and eight. Quite the handful. What're you and your wife having?"

  "Girlfriend," I corrected him. "A boy."

  "Very nice. Wish I would've had a couple of boys, girls tend to think your wallet is bottomless."

  I laughed.

  "I guess the only thing I need from you boys is your signatures here," he said, pointing at the bottom of the page he slid in front of us. "Just states you have two weeks access to the recording studio to complete fifteen songs. Once they're finished, we'll go over what comes next. Sound good?"

  "Yes, sir," I replied, reaching for the pen.

  Alex had been our manager for as long as we'd been a band, and he'd never been so excited to finally sign with a record company. But today, he was quiet and the sense of excitement had disappeared since we'd checked into the motel.

  "Actually, Mr. Hillberger," Alex spoke up.

  "Call me, David, please."

  "Okay, David. We...uh...checked into our room this afternoon and I can't help but to think there's been some mistake." Oh crap, here we go. Don't say another word, Alex. Shut up.

  "Is that so?" David asked.

  "Yeah...uh...it's kind of a dump."

  Damn it! Should've kept his mouth shut.

  David's mouth drew a hard line and he fiddled with the pen in his hand as he looked over our paperwork again. "I like you boys, so I'll tell you what, let me see what I can do for you and I'll give you a call in the morning. Sound alright?"

  "Yes," I said quickly before Alex could embarrass us again. "Thank you, David. Really. We appreciate everything you've done for us."

  He stood, shook our hands and showed us to the elevator. I caught Delia winking at me as we passed, but I just ignored her.

  Once the elevator doors closed, I turned to Alex and punched him in the arm.

  "What the fuck was that for?"

  "Couldn't keep your mouth fucking closed for two minutes, could you?"

  "Seriously, Alex. He's probably going to move us to the La Brea Tar Pits, now," Chris said.

  "Fuck you both, I came to LA to indulge in everything this city has to offer."

  "He means the girls," I said to Chris.

  Chris laughed.

  "Dicks," Alex scoffed and threw up his hand.

  "Already turning into a diva and we haven't even left the building," I said in a hushed tone and Chris laughed again.

  Chapter 35

  Kennedy

  "I'm sorry it took me so long to call you," he said and I heard the sounds of a busy street in the distance.

  "It's okay. You guys were busy, I understand. How's the hotel?"

  "Ugh," he groaned.

  "Oh no, what?"

  "It's a shit hole and ironically, it's called the Five Star Inn."

  I couldn't help but laugh. "Shut up, it can't be that bad."

  "Oh, it's that bad, trust me. It looks like the room from Pulp Fiction, you know, the part where Bruce Willis takes what's-her-name back to the motel? Yeah, it's pretty much just like that, only a little bigger."

  I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh.

  "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

  "I'm sorry, I can't help it. It's kinda funny."

  "Yeah, yeah, I'll just suck it up and think of your naked body rolling around in those four hundred thread-count sheets of yours."

  "Ours," I corrected. "And it'll be lonely and cold without you."

  "At least you don't have to share a bed with Alex," he scoffed.

  "I'm sorry, babe."

  "It's okay. The guys wanna go out for drinks, so I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

  "Sure. I miss you."

  "Miss you, too."

  "Behave yourself," I warned.

  "I will. Love you, Skittles."

  "Love you. Bye, Zac."

  "Bye."

  The call ended, but I held the phone in my hand wishing it hadn't. Ally was coming over to watch movies, eat exorbitant amounts of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and give me a pedicure, since I couldn't even see my toes, let alone reach them.

  She offered to stay with me until Zac came home on Saturday morning and since it was only Sunday night, I thought I might have to take her up on that. It was too quiet and lonely without anyone around and I didn't really have any other friends besides Ally and Wren to hang out with, anyway.

  Ally: Got the goods. OMW.

  I loved her.

  Me: Yay! See you soon.

  As soon as Ally arrived, I snatched the carton of ice cream from her hands like a hungry cheetah. "Good thing I bought two," she teased.

  Cookie dough ice cream was my vice, I couldn't get enough. Other women seemed to experience weird cravings like ice cream and pickles, but the smell of pickles made me nauseous, as did fish, milk, and bananas. I could however, eat an entire block of cheddar cheese and a bag of pork rinds in one sitting, with no remorse. My poor child would probably come out looking like Jabba the Hut.

  I snuggled onto the couch with my fleece blanket, ice cream and turned on Catching Fire, while Ally painted my toes.

  "Can I just say how much I love Gale?" Ally said as she applied another coat of nail polish to the toes I couldn't see.

  "You know they don't end up together, right?"

  "What?" She jabbed her fingers in her ears. "La la la la, I can't hear you."

  "Sorry, I thought you read the books," I said loudly.

  She removed her fingers and frowned. "Damn it, now I don't wanna watch."

  I laughed and she pouted.

  Once our bellies were full, mine a little more than hers, I promised not to spoil the rest of the movie and she promised to pretend she hadn't heard my spoiler. According to her, my toes looked fabulous and all the nurses would be jealous, which made me laugh.

  "If I ever have a girl, I wanna name her Katniss," Ally said.

  "Really? It's a little odd, don't you think?"

  "Nah, I like it. Brody would probably hate it, though. He likes boring traditional names like Gertrude and shit."

  "Shut up! Gertrude? Can I call her Gertie?" I teased.

  "Yeah, he's a weirdo," she shrugged. "So, do you guys have any names picked out yet? You know I'm dying over here not knowing what to call my nephew."

  "We have a couple in mind," I said slyly. "But we're keeping it a secret."

  "Jerks, both of you are jerks."

  Truth was, Zac and I had discussed names. Actually, we argued over them. He wanted something edgy like Jet or Jax and I was leaning more toward something simple that
held a lot of meaning. Needless to say, my pick wasn't very popular, but I was positive I could change his mind.

  "I'll get it out of you before the week is over," she said, batting her long lashes at me and smiling.

  "My lips are sealed, not gonna happen."

  "Jerk," she mumbled again and I laughed.

  At some point during the movie, I'd fallen asleep, waking to see the final credits on the screen. I couldn't stay awake to save my life these days, I was exhausted and achy.

  My neck had a kink in it from sitting in the same spot for so long. "I'm going to bed," I said sleepily.

  "Okay, I'm gonna stay up for a little while longer. I'll just sleep out here if that's okay."

  "Sure, but if it gets too uncomfortable, you can always share the bed with my fat pregnant ass."

  "You are far from fat, friend. You can't even tell you're pregnant from the back, I swear."

  "Good to know, I'll just walk backwards from now on."

  "Dork."

  "Goodnight," I said, holding up a hand.

  "Night."

  Monday

  The morning sun peeked through the blinds and I blinked a few times until my eyes focused on the clock next to the bed. Seven o'clock, exactly. I'd slept soundly through the entire night, which was huge for me. No nightmares, leg cramps, back spasms; nothing. Just peaceful sleep, and I needed it.

  After a huge breakfast, consisting of waffles with melted cheddar cheese and bacon on top, a side of Pop-Tarts and a big glass of orange juice, Ally and I headed down to the pool for some relaxation time.

  I'd been warned about Braxton Hicks contractions, and I wasn't sure if I'd been getting them, but I did know the muscles around my belly would tense every now and again, but it wasn't anything to rush to the hospital over.

  The pool always felt amazing, I'd made a makeshift floating apparatus I could lay under my butt using a pool noodle and an old mesh laundry hamper. It was heaven.

  That night we ordered pizza, I talked to Zac briefly, who was still at the recording studio and I fell asleep on the couch, watching reruns of CSI.

  Tuesday

  The nightmare returned. More bloody and gruesome than it had before. Zac's hands were covered in blood, my blood and I was still frozen in place, not able to go to him or ask what was wrong. I woke up drenched in sweat, my back killed and the contractions had returned.