Wheels of Steel, Book 3

by Pepper Pace

  Robin stared at the synthesizer, her smile freezing on her lips.

  “You know what this is?” Tracey asked happily.

  “Not really.” Robin lied. She knew a lot about DJ equipment.

  “Check this out.” Becca began playing a tune and then she sang into a microphone and her voice was auto tuned which transformed it into an electronic sound with music behind it. “Isn’t that so cool?!” Becca asked happily.

  “We can do some great tunes with this.”

  Robin shrugged and smiled. “You’re not planning to auto tune my voice, are you?”

  Becca and Tracey looked at each other slyly. “Check out what we can play on synthesizer that we can’t on guitar.” Becca began playing out the familiar opening notes to ONE MORE TIME by Daft Punk and Robin immediately came to attention.

  She picked up the microphone and began singing the opening lyrics. The auto tune was amazing as her voice vibrated back to her! She smiled happily. She belted out the chorus and then she was sold on the synthesizer. She sang and went wild dancing, while Tracey tapped out the simple tune.

  “You were right.” Tracey whispered. “We were going to get her on board with this tune.” Becca just nodded while they watched Robin imitate the Snoopy Dance.

  They played with it for most of the evening auto tuning everything from commercials to pop songs. But it got ruined when Tracey began auto-tuning to some T-Pain and Drake raps. Robin and Becca just got quiet.

  They agreed that they wouldn’t go overboard with the synthesizer limiting its use to just one or two songs a set. While Tracey and Becca shared a joint and tried to figure out what to eat for dinner Robin pressed one of the buttons on the device. A tune rang out softly. Robin circled it before reaching out to test more of the keys, but then she pulled her hands away.

  “Hey, look. I gotta go.”

  Tracey peeked her head from the kitchen. “You sure? We were going to catch this band at the Blue Note Lounge.”

  “Yeah.” She headed out the door. “Later.” She went home and sulked.

  On Monday she had a session with her therapist. She didn’t mention Jason or her actions of the previous week. Her therapist didn’t even know about Jason or those friends. She needed to talk to someone, true, but she didn’t need him to tell her that Jason was a big part of why she was there. If he knew, then he would make her talk about it, and that was just something that she couldn’t do.

  Thursday came and Robin looked forward to performing before the crowd where their energy fed her soul. She met the girls at the club, not wanting to get caught stuck there if she needed to make a speedy getaway. But she felt relatively confidant that Jason, nor his friends would be making a reappearance. She felt a little bad at the memory of the things she’d said, but couldn’t figure out why she should. She hadn’t invited them and had accomplished her goal to keep them away! The girls headed for the worn couch backstage and watched the people nervously waiting to go on for open mic. They were in the midst of a heated discussion about whether or not to start with a song done on synthesizer when Robin heard Johnny Cash’s version of HURT. She froze.

  “What the shit…?” Robin said while coming to her feet. She headed up the backstairs with Tracy and Becca following her.

  “What?” Tracy asked. “Not the best singing I’ve ever heard, but not the worse, either.” Robin appeared off stage and stared quietly.

  Becca turned to her. “Isn’t that the guy from last week?” Robin didn’t respond. She watched Jason and Peter as they performed with nothing but guitar. Peter strummed wonderfully as Jason stood stoically, holding his cane before him, and singing the tune to the best of his ability. When it ended there was a pregnant quiet and then the applause was loud and prolonged.

  Tracy turned to her. “What’s wrong with him?”

  Robin grimaced. “He has cerebral palsy.”

  Tracy grunted. “Maybe that’s why he sounded like Johnny Cash.”

  “He sounded great…” Robin replied.

  Becca was watching her closely. “So who is he really? Because it looks like he’s not going to just disappear. So you may as well fess up.”

  Robin turned and headed back down the stairs. “Ex-boyfriend.”

  “Fuck me…” Becca said while following her. “You dated a boy with cerebral palsy?!”

  “Yeah. So?” Robin slumped down onto the couch and reached for an unopened bottle of beer.

  Tracy sat down next to her and watched her closely. Today Tracy was dressed in a tight skateboard shirt and loose jeans that accentuated her boyish good looks. “Why is he coming around?”

  Robin shrugged.

  “When did you two break up?”

  “God!” She stood up. “Why are we talking about this?!” She glared them into silence.

  The next performer began and it wasn’t Jason or Link. And Jason did not come down the stairs. Yet Robin sat there tensely, quiet as the other two goofed around until it was time for them to go on stage. As they climbed the stairs and stepped on stage, Robin didn’t bother to look out into the crowd because she knew that they would be there.

  Robin perched herself on to the stool. They sang several popular tunes including the one that they had been working on; A Hard Rain. And though she wasn’t animated in her performance, the selections were more gentle and introspective and the crowd loved them no less, including the new use of the synthesizer.

  The hour ended very quickly and after their performance the girls headed backstage, Becca and Tracy leading the way so that they could put away their instruments for some much needed relaxation. Robin wasn’t the least surprised when she saw Jason waiting for her down in the lower level, but it still didn’t prevent her palms from sweating and her heart spiking. Becca and Tracy got quiet, flashing her sly looks and then hurried up the stairs leaving them alone.

  “You came back.” She stood uncomfortably with her arms crossed before her, trying to look mean but failing. He just looked too damn good for her to think about anything other than that.

  “Yeah. I came back.” He leaned on his cane. He wore all black. It was very Johnny Cash.

  She tilted her chin. “I didn’t think I’d see you again after last week.”

  A shadow fell across his eyes, but it was so fast that she wasn’t sure that she had seen it. Then his expression was completely unreadable. “That…was not enough to keep me away.” He pointed to the ceiling with his cane. “As a matter of fact, Peter and Belinda are both upstairs now, and words are not enough to keep them away, either.” He looked at her again. “When Belinda was crashing and burning did it make you want to reach out to her or did it push you away?”

  “Is that what you think is happening here? I’m crashing and burning?”

  “What else would you call it when you’re suddenly smoking pot and drinking too much?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I do those things because I just like smoking pot and drinking.”

  He took a step toward her and she gave him a wary look. “I see you got inked,” he said, staring at her neck. “It’s nice. What does it say?”

  She shrugged, looking at the ceiling in feigned boredom. “I don’t speak Japanese. I just liked the looks of it. Look, Jason, what are you doing here? I thought I made it clear last week that I don’t want you here; none of you here!” He just gave her a blank stare which was very unsettling. “What? Do you think that we’re just going to…fall back into each other’s arms and forget about all of the shit that created the problem in the first place?”

  “No, Robin. I don’t think that at all. I think that with some work and commitment, honesty and love…then we could fall back into each other’s arms.”

  She sneered despite the jolt in her chest that his words brought. “I didn’t hear the word trust in there.”

  “That is where the work comes in…and the honesty.”

  “I’m not the least bit interested in rekindling our relationship.” She gave him a hard stare. “And furthermore, not only am I
not interested, but I also--I could never EVER trust you-”

  “Robin…” He groaned, “do you think that I don’t know that I destroyed that? I fucking think about it every single day! Every day I miss you and I think, ‘well she’ll be back today because she couldn’t stay away another minute, not if she feels the hell that I feel!’ Every day is like hell!”

  A laughing couple came down the stairs, eyeing them curiously before quickly heading for a locker and grabbing their things. They hurried back up the stairs glancing behind them at the couple that was obviously fighting. Jason waited for them to leave before he spoke again. “Robin…can we just…go somewhere private? Please?”

  Her body stiffened and her eyes narrowed. “What? Take me to some private place? Maybe so that we can have a screw?”

  “God! No. I just want to talk to you, Robin. I just want to say all of the things that I didn’t get a chance to say before and to tell you how wrong I was about everything! I want to tell you that I know that I handled everything so badly! And I get why you walked away, because I made you leave, I PUSHED you away!” He was breathing fast, watching her closely.

  His words were dredging up emotions that hurt too bad to face. She hadn’t allowed herself to experience the hell that he described, because Robin had buried that emotion deep into the dark hole within her soul that she kept all things that could not be faced. Robin felt close to panicking.

  Annoyed with herself as much as she was with him for allowing his words to hurt her, Robin spoke calmly. “Jason, I don’t want an apology, a contract, royalties; I just want to be left alone. I didn’t come to you, my life is good the way it is. I’m good; I’m doing things that I never did before; college, singing, making friends. I’m doing good, okay? I don’t want you coming around here—”

  A shadow fell across Jason’s face and he finally looked away.

  “-I don’t want to look over my shoulder and see you lurking like a…a STALKER! Just leave me alone!”

  Jason stepped forward suddenly, dropping his cane as he gripped her roughly by the shoulders, pulling her forward. Then he kissed her while she watched him with wide eyes, his strong grip holding her in place. Robin didn’t have time to object, her body just reacted. Her lips parted and her tongue sought his. Immediately, Jason’s mouth opened to receive her and as their tongues met Robin’s hands clawed at his hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Her body felt as if it was filled with electrical currents! Jason pulled her toward him until she was standing on her tiptoes, his kiss insistent, as though he had to catch up on all of the lost kisses that he had missed. His tight grip eased and then his hand moved to her neck, his fingers closing around her throat gently. It was strange and it made Robin’s heartbeat speed up even more. Jason could caress her there with gentle fingers but if she moved away, his hands could also tighten and she knew that it was a very real possibility that he might do just that. And that knowledge made everything scary and yet strangely enticing.

  With a groan she nipped his lips lightly and then bore forward, returning his aggressive kiss. Jason’s arms quickly moved around her body, now lifting her from her feet and as Robin’s feet left the floor a part of her was in awe that his legs could support himself and her! And another part of her felt the cracks in her resolve, her desire chipping away at her armor. Robin’s arms went round his neck and she clung to him tightly. Jason groaned in misery or joy as he held onto her. Her face was buried in his neck, the silky curls familiar against her cheek as she squeezed her eyes closed; breathing in his scent which was a balm against her anxiety.

  Jason’s body felt wire tight as he held tightly onto Robin, feeling her yielding form molded against his hard one. He could barely breathe, his chest and lungs felt frozen. And then Robin’s legs suddenly went around his body and with a low growl his lips sought out hers again, his hands moving to her bottom where he supported her.

  Robin whimpered as they kissed, her lips not enough, her legs wrapped around him not enough, not even her hands gripping his hair was enough. Jason moved towards the couch but stumbled, releasing her to land lightly on her feet, their lips still not parting. As he caught himself, his hands immediately went to her ass again, caressing and pulling her against his body, against his pelvis.

  Robin groaned into the kiss, his hardness familiar against her soft yielding form. She reached down to stroke him through his pants. Jason paused, frozen in place before the repeated groans gushed from his lips. Aggressively he lifted her, his hands gripping her ass and he stumbled again towards the couch, dropping down onto it roughly. As soon as his body covered hers his pelvis began to grind into hers simulating the sex act that they hadn’t shared in so long that to him it felt like years and not months. He couldn’t stop humping against her and her wild movements beneath him was an indicator that she, too, was lost in the sensation.

  Robin’s breath came out in deep shudders. Every time Jason’s hardness pushed against her pelvis, he also pushed into her clitoris which swelled filling her with an unbearable desire. She pushed back, rocking and rolling beneath him. The two of them kissed wildly, and humped and groaned and clutched until several sets of footsteps coming down the stairs halted them. Jason lifted his head and peeked at the stairs. Several men came down and then paused when they saw him lying on top of Robin. They poked and snickered and Jason quickly pulled himself up. Robin blinked at him in confusion, taking a long time to come to the realization that they were no longer alone.

  Jason licked his lips and stood, sweeping back his hair as he reached for his cane. Robin sat up and adjusted her top, trying not to meet the eyes of the chuckling invaders. Jason held out his hand to her and she looked at him curiously before placing her hand in it.

  “Did you drive?” He asked, still panting from their dry humping session—or mostly dry humping.

  She nodded while standing.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  Without hesitation Robin stumbled to retrieve her purse and jacket. She couldn’t believe that her legs were like water and she was falling over herself like a drunk! Jason moved quickly up the stairs. The erection in his pants was so evident that if he didn’t move quickly, everyone would see it!

  Robin followed close behind him, something that he periodically checked, glancing over his shoulder. He wove through the crowd of dancing bodies and right past Belinda and Peter that were on the floor dancing as well. The two friends looked at him in surprise but he didn’t even glance in their direction as he led Robin out the door. Once outside he gripped her hand and waited for her to show him where to go. Her grip on his hand was tight as she led them up the street where she was parked curbside. Jason’s pronounced limp was in no way an inhibitor for how quickly he could walk, his painful erection was more of a hindrance, yet they reached the car very quickly.

  Inside, Jason waited for her to get settled and to shut the door before he leaned toward her and resumed kissing her. Her hand clutched at his hair, pulling him roughly to her.

  “Touch me,” he commanded between kisses. Robin pulled back enough to run her tongue along his lips which caused him to blink and shudder, and then he felt her fingers tracing the outline of his erect cock. “Take it out.” He said. This time she roughly tugged his pants open and reached inside. Jason lifted his hips from the seat to hike down his pants until she had his stiff cock in her grip.

  Robin’s senses began to fracture and crumble as she became overwhelmed with need. Her hand moved up and down his shaft, not believing how humongous he was. He was so big that she couldn’t conceive of a time when all of him had gone into her!

  Jason’s lips parted and he gasped and grunted as his head fell back onto the seat. He couldn’t see anything because of the stars that had flashed before his vision! Robin worked his cock quickly as he pumped his hips into her fist. It was like fucking; except that he was fucking her hand. Her lips were there on his again and he captured her mouth.