Breaking the Storm

by Sedona Venez

  “Wait a minute. Isn't that Stalker Luke talking to Kaydee?” She pointed to the other side of the club.

  I looked over with shock at Luke, a.k.a. Stalker Luke. There he was, standing against the wall with his friends, the Ivy League squad, and Kaydee practically climbing him like a tree. It was strange because he wasn’t her type. He was what I called a chameleon. He was anything he thought you wanted him to be in order to snare you. A point I found out the hard way when we first met in psychology class.

  I was intrigued; he was funny and smart. We became fast friends until he made a point of letting me know that he wanted more than friendship. Three months later, it was glaringly obvious that we really had nothing in common. Then I had to have the awkward talk with him, letting him know. My idea of fun was clubbing late into the night with all walks of life. His idea of fun was downing a couple of kegs at his fraternity house party. He was vanilla, boring like a dry slice of bread. And when I met Knox and made it clear—again—he had to leave me alone, he still pursued me with an eerie stalker-like focus. I just didn’t understand why.

  “What the hell is he doing here?” I hissed, trying not to make further eye contact. He was like a dog. Any hint of acknowledgment would be construed as an open invitation to come over and play.

  Light leaned forward on the stage. “Dude is scary persistent.” She gave him a disgusted stare.

  I slapped her arm. “No! He'll come over.”

  Light sighed. “It's too late. Stalker Luke is sauntering this way.”

  I sipped my beer while pretending to be absorbed in the flickering stage lights, trying to ignore the look of obvious interest in his creepy eyes.

  Luke greeted me cheerfully. “What’s up, Storm?”

  I glared at him. I was in no mood to be polite. He was here to start trouble. I saw it in his deranged, beady little eyes. “It's Stormy. Only my friends and family call me Storm.”

  He smiled, making sure to flash his bleached-white teeth at me. “I thought we were friends.” He leaned against the stage, trying to trap my escape with his body.

  Light laughed and stepped back when she saw the look of death in my eyes as I pushed his arm that was preparing to wrap itself around my waist in the most inappropriate way. I cocked my hip, looking him up and down. “Why are you here, Luke?”

  This wasn’t amusing. This was the second time he followed me to one of Knox's gigs. The first time wasn't pretty and ended with Knox backing him into the wall and almost choking him to death with a deadly look in his eyes that I never wanted to see again.

  “I was invited.” He looked over at Kaydee, who waved over at me mockingly. “Kaydee thought I would enjoy the show.”

  I snarled. “Didn’t get enough of an ass kicking last time?” I shoved him. “Go away, Luke. This isn’t your type of crowd. I know how much you despise the working class.”

  He touched my hair. “Knox is playing you, Stormy.” He cut a sidelong look at Kaydee. “They’re still sleeping together. And I’m going to be here to lean on when you find out.”

  My heart thudded. Shit, something in his voice rang true. “You don’t know shit. If you're listening to Kaydee, you're listening to a bad source. Just leave—I don’t know why you’re so fixated on me, but you can forget about it.”

  Light’s eyes clouded with concern. “Step off, Luke. Can’t you see that you’re upsetting her?”

  Luke glared at her. “You know what’s going on, Light. He’s playing her. Why don’t you tell her?” He looked at me with sympathy before storming away.

  My eyes narrowed on Light as she looked away guiltily. “What’s going on, Light?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  My hand gripped her with biting intent. “Tell me. Now!”

  She licked her lips with an anxious stare. “I already told you… rumors, just stupid rumors about Knox and Kaydee still being together.”

  I leaned into her face. “And?”

  “Luke called me, saying he saw him kissing her at some club, and it wasn’t a kissing-my-sister or friend kind of kiss.”

  I felt like I was physically being kicked in my stomach over and over again. “And you’re telling me this now?”

  “First of all, Luke is crazy and bitter. Secondly, it’s not serious between you two.”

  I was seething because no matter how many times I lied to myself, in my heart, I wanted what we had to be serious. “That’s beside the point, Light.” I slammed my cup to the ground. I felt like I was about to faint.

  Light bit her bottom lip. “Does it even matter if something is going on between them?”

  I swallowed over the lump of emotions. My heart was screaming over and over that it did matter. But my mind refused to acknowledge the truth for fear of breaking down in a fit of ugly tears. This wasn’t me. I was tough, sloughing off the hard knocks of life like dead skin. But disturbingly, here I was on the verge of tears in public of all places, all because of the stupid fear that Knox was going to hurt my feelings. This was why Credence women never fell in love or got attached. Getting your heart broken just hurt too fucking much.

  Light hugged me tight, whispering in my ear, “I don’t have a good feeling about this. Cut him loose… now.”

  I nodded because I wasn’t feeling warm and fuzzy about this either. This was the fork in the road and I wasn’t built for this type of hurt. It was time for me to pick up my toys and go home.

  We both looked up when a man strode onto the stage, smiling like a game show host. The crowd roared and cheered. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the New York Battle of the Bands finale. A big thank you to the three major record labels for providing record executives to judge tonight’s Battle of the Bands.” He grandly pointed over to the side of the stage. “And please don't forget that the judges will be taking into consideration the crowd’s response for each band. So after the last band has played, the judging will begin. And this year, we really have a lot of very talented bands waiting to rock for you tonight. Each band is hoping to win top band and the grand prize of a record contract with one the major labels. So let’s rock!” He walked off the stage and the lights dimmed.

  I tried to get excited as I listened to the thumping sounds and vocals of the first band, which was an all-female band. They were good, really good, but still not good enough, in my opinion, to win. By the time the third band played, I was on my way to being totally buzzed on alcohol, so I stopped drinking and just danced like I was starring in a music video. Half an hour later, they announced Knox and his band. I screamed at the top of my lungs, happy to see him perform for the last time. So when he stepped onto the stage with his black denim jeans, black T-shirt, and black leather, studded boots, my heart stopped like it was my first time seeing him. Hands down, there’s nothing hotter than a rocker. Beauty is truly a tattooed front man who is sexy as hell.

  He grabbed the microphone and looked directly at me. “Tonight, we’re performing something new. It's a song that I wrote for the Storm that blew into my life, changing everything about me for the better.” Then he began to sing in that sexy, seething way that made me melt.

  “There was no me before you. You brought me something I didn't think I ever wanted. The roar of the Storm. The thunder. The lightning. And when the clouds rolled in, all I could think about was the Break in the Storm. My Storm. Breaking the Storm.”

  I just stood mesmerized by the emotion in the song. A song that laid open everything he couldn’t relay except through music. Music was his therapy. His journal. His expression. By the time he was finished hitting the last note, I was an emotional mess. I didn’t even realize tears were streaming down my face until I tasted their saltiness on my lips. I dashed my tears away, clapping and screaming so loud that my throat and hands hurt. He had to win.

  The man stepped back onto the stage, looking at the crowd. “All right, time to judge.” The crowd was a rowdy mess when he called out each band’s name. Everyone had his or her favorite, stomping and yelling like crazy. The judges delib
erated for nail-biting forever before passing an envelope with the winner to the man on stage. He opened the envelope and smiled. My heart dropped when he didn’t announce Knox’s band as the winner. It was crazy. Light looked at me with shock. The crowd booed the winning band, shouting Knox’s name over and over. The mayhem was deafening. Cups of beer flew onto the stage and security stepped up to stop a near riot.

  I looked at Light. “I’m going backstage.”

  She nodded. “Go. He must be furious. This was his. His was the best band tonight.”

  I pushed through the crowd, making my way backstage. I didn’t know what to say. This was another setback for Knox and his band. I pinned a smile on my face. We had something good and I refused to let fear of the Credence Curse ruin it. I was going to lay my feelings out on the table, give us a fighting chance. I turned the corner feeling lightheaded but relieved to be pulling my big-girl panties up and letting my feelings for him finally be known. I skidded to a stop when I saw Liam stumbling around wickedly drunk.

  “Hey, Liam. Sorry about tonight. You should’ve won.”

  He rubbed his red, blurry eyes. “Yep, the story of our lives.”

  I looked around anxiously. “Where’s Knox?”

  He took another swig from the bottle of alcohol that he was desperately clutching. “The manager’s office.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I moved to walk past him.

  Liam grabbed my arm quickly. “You and Knox… it will never work.”

  I shrugged his hand off, looking at him suspiciously. “Why don't you like me, Liam?”

  He sneered at me before saying, “I can't let you destroy something you don't understand.”

  “Whatever.” I walked away, stopping in front of the door marked Manager. I didn’t have a good feeling about this and was about to turn around when I heard urgent whispering. Turning the knob, testing to see if it was locked, I pushed the door open slowly. A sob caught in my throat when I saw Kaydee on her knees between Knox’s long legs.

  From the angle of the red leather couch, I had a full view of her back as her hands worked frantically to unzip his jeans. My knees buckled. I quickly braced myself against the doorjamb. It was like an X-rated movie in slow motion.

  “She’ll never be as good as me,” Kaydee hissed.

  My body trembled with rage. Adrenaline coursed through my body as everything seemed to move in slow motion. My hearing muffled and heart pounded… damn near hyperventilating. Knox grabbed Kaydee’s hands. His voice roared out something that I was too damn pissed off to comprehend. Blinded by rage, I slammed the door open. Knox’s eyes widened with shock. Kaydee looked over at me deviously.

  I was proud of the coldness in my voice when I said, “So sorry for interrupting your consolation prize for losing the B.O.B.” No emotions. That’s what I felt as I watched him push Kaydee away, jumping up to zip up his jeans. This was a fucking hot mess.

  “This is not what it looks like.” He stumbled toward me.

  My stomach cramped as the most sickening awareness sank in. How in the hell did I almost let someone like him into my body? “Really? Because it looks like you were about to get a blow job from a notorious whore.” I cocked my head to the side. “Bye, Knox. Have a good life.” Turning on my heels, I stormed away. The sad part was that he didn’t even try to stop me. I felt stupid and duped. I actually fell for him. I would never allow myself to get close to another man. I steeled my heart, searching through the crowd for Light. It was time to get the fuck out of here.

  My eyes locked on Luke who was leaning against the wall, waiting. I knew he was waiting for me. He strode in my direction, his eyes filled with an I told you so gleam.

  I held up my hand in his face. “Not now, Luke. I just want to get out of here.” I looked around desperately for Light and caught sight of Knox marching toward me with a thunderous expression on his face. Something snapped inside of me, mentally short-circuiting all rational thinking, when Luke wrapped his lean arms around me and kissed me. I don’t know whether it was the shock of Knox’s betrayal or plain old spite, but I allowed the momentary intrusion of his tongue before I heard what sounded like a pissed-off animal snarl. Then all hell broke out. Luke's body was snatched away and thrown into the crowd like a bowling ball knocking down pins. The crowd cleared as Luke’s body skated across the floor like blades on ice.

  I was frozen with shock, staring at Knox. He was angry, bordering on feral. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my life. It took a lot to rattle me, but the expression on his face made my knees almost wobble.

  He looked at me like a deranged man. “You, don't move,” he demanded with barely concealed rage before storming over to Luke and twisting his arm behind his back in a painful-looking angle.

  “Don’t touch her ever. Storm belongs to me,” Knox hissed.

  I watched in horror as Liam and Aiden struggled to pull Knox off a laughing Luke. Finally, when they did, Luke stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “You did it to yourself, asshole. Thank you for making my job much easier.”

  Knox lunged at him, but Aiden and Liam grabbed him tight.

  Light ran over to me with wide eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

  I was paralyzed as Knox strode over to me, looking like he was going to strangle me. I turned on my heels, practically running toward the club’s entrance. I was done with this circus. I made it all the way to the sidewalk, breathing in a lungful of spring air, before Knox grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me around the corner.

  “Get the hell off me.”

  He backed me against the side of the building, caging me in. “Explain!” he roared. Those gorgeous sea-green eyes that once looked at me with something close to love were now angry, hateful, and disgusted. “What the fuck, Storm? Luke?”

  “Explain?” I looked at him coldly, pushing him unsuccessfully. “Are you out of your damn mind? After seeing you with Kaydee, I don’t have to explain shit to you. Get out of my face.”

  “Has it ever occurred to you that you saw exactly what she wanted you to see?”

  “I saw her between your legs with her hands all over you. I saw enough to get the point of what was next.”

  He sighed. “This is my fault for not working on our trust issue. I thought we had time to figure this shit out.”

  I was mentally exhausted by this conversation and just needed to go home to bawl my eyes out. “Are you honestly trying to deny what I just saw?”

  His eyes clouded. “I fucked up. I should have stopped it when I saw where it was heading, but I was too fucking caught up over the stuff she had just told me about you.”

  I arched a brow. “What?”

  His eyes actually looked hurt and angry. “That you were still seeing Luke and that I was nothing but an item on your wish list before you settled down with him.”

  My mouth dropped open with shock. “So instead of coming to me and asking a question like a rational person, you decided that getting a blow job was a more viable option?” I pushed against his chest. “We're done.”

  “What the fuck do you mean done?”

  I looked at him like he lost his ever-loving mind. “Done. The kind of done where you leave me the fuck alone. The kind of done where I walk away and you have a nice life. That kind of done.”

  He pounded his fist against the brick wall. “Fuck! Storm. I really don't need this shit right now.”

  I pointed at his face. “You selfish ass.” I pushed against his steel arms. I hated the feeling of being caged in. “Move, Knox. Now!”

  He stepped back, allowing me to sidestep him. I straightened my clothes, turning on my heels to find my car and get the fuck out of here.

  He grabbed me, pulling me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me with gentleness. I almost sighed contently as my back pressed against him in a most familiar way. “Don't leave like this,” he whispered into my ear with a husky voice filled with emotion.

  My body and mind wavered for a second before gu
lping down the pain of loss. “I really don’t know what type of women you’re used to dealing with, but I can’t… No, scratch that—I won't get past this. You and Kaydee have fun.” I pulled away with pointed finality. My heart was racing as I pulled out my car keys. With a muddled mind, I looked around the dark side street for my car. I couldn't even function as I heard his pounding footsteps behind me.

  “Storm, don’t walk away. Kaydee means nothing.”

  Please don't cry, I chanted over and over under my breath. A sob escaped before I could stop it. Spotting my car with relief, I felt my fingers tremble, cold and fucking uncoordinated. I fumbled to open the door with no success. Knox stepped behind me, the heat of his body pressing against me as he closed his fingers firmly over mine and turned the key. Shoving him, I scrambled inside, attempting to slam the door, only to have him hold it firmly.

  He just stared at me, eye-fucking me successfully. Even upset as hell, I still felt the warmth spreading between my legs. My body was screaming yes—yes—yes—and my mind was fighting to follow. I yanked my gaze away. Nope, that was not happening.

  “Look at me, Storm.” His voice was like steel.

  I looked at him with disgust. “What do you want from me, Knox?”

  He trapped my gaze, saying softly, “Everything.”

  I swallowed the tears when I saw the stern set of his jaw and confident posture. “You had that, Knox… That's why what you did hurt so fucking much.”

  His gaze softened. “I'm dealing with a lot of shit right now and then losing tonight didn't make things any easier.”

  No apology, just fucking excuses. Who was this man? I stopped and hardened my heart as I stared at him with dead eyes. “Fine. You want the truth? Kaydee was telling the truth. It was just fun, something to look back on, another checkmark on my bucket list.”

  He pounded heatedly on the roof of my car with such force that I jumped nervously. “You’re a fucking liar.”

  “And Luke… we decided to get back together.”

  The vein along his jaw pulsed frantically. “Luke is not an option. You and I have something, Storm. Don't let that go.”