What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 7)

by Lexi Buchanan

  “Shower time.” Turning, I reach behind my back to grab her thighs and pull her up to give her a piggyback ride. She squeals, and wraps her arms around my neck as I carry her into the bathroom. Setting her down long enough to turn on the water, I take her hand, helping her climb into the shower. As she watches me, I join her under the shower’s steady stream.

  “I thought we were late.”

  “We are. I’m saving time…showering together and making love to you all at the same time. Smart idea, right?”

  “Brilliant.”

  Standing behind her, I wrap my arms around her waist, my cock is pressing into her lower back. Pulling her hips toward me, I then reach for her hands. Entwining our fingers, I raise them up against the wall in front of us. Positioning myself, I slowly slide in.

  It’s way too soon before we climax together, our hands tightly entwined. Our pants are competing with the steady sound of water hitting our bodies. My pounding heart is pressed up against her back while her head rests on my chest. This is exactly where I want to be…forever.

  Fifteen minutes later, as we are hurriedly getting dressed and ready for the shoot, I notice we move around each other like we’ve been together for years. It’s strange. I’m so comfortable with her. I would never have imagined feeling like this with anyone. It wasn’t something I wanted or craved. Now that I’ve experienced this with Leila, I never want to go back to live the way I used to. It sickens me to think about all the women I’ve been with. They didn’t care for me, and I sure didn’t care for them. Except for Trini…she always has my back. I should call her. I haven’t spoken to her besides a few texts since the night of my party. She will be happy that I’m happy.

  Moving toward her, I wrap my arms around her as she tries to get dressed. “Ok…out! Now!” she barks, pointing to the door.

  “You’re no fun.”

  Sitting in her favorite chair, I’m waiting for her to finish getting ready. I’m totally lost in thought when my phone buzzes with Hunter’s name on the screen. I can ignore it, which would probably send him into a panic thinking I’m passed out at some chick’s house sleeping right through our appointment. It’s annoying, because I’ve never given him any reason to have to check up on me or keep tabs on me. Whatever, he’s in manager mode and all.

  I decide it’s not worth the trouble and I answer my phone.

  “Yes?”

  “Just making sure you are alive,” he replies. “Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way.” I know what he meant…he meant, who am I with?

  “Ok, just double-checking. See you there,” he says before hanging up.

  “So annoying,” I mutter aloud.

  “Who?” Leila asks as she walks into the room. She looks fantastic. She is wearing a dress that shows off her tan legs, her hair is loose and down, she looks so good.

  “You look really nice,” I mention, appreciatively. She smiles and comes to sit next to me on the couch. “Thanks. Who’s annoying?” she asks again.

  “Oh…Hunter. He’s checking up on me and it’s annoying.” I kiss her cheek. “Ready?” She nods and we leave her apartment.

  She is very quiet on the drive to the city. I can guess it’s because she is nervous about this photo shoot. Eventually I grasp her hand and tell her to stop stressing.

  “I’m not stressing.”

  “You are an awful liar,” I admit, squeezing her hand.

  At five minutes to nine, I pull up in front of the building to drop Leila off. “I’ll go park your car, this way you can go inside well before I do.”

  Just as she is about to get out of the car I see Dylan walking toward the building. I grab her hand again and she looks over at me confused.

  “Dylan,” I say, nodding toward the building. She gasps and turns her body so her back is to the door.

  “Oh crap. Do you think he saw us?”

  I watch Dylan head through the doors and shake my head. “No, he didn’t. That was a close call though.” She nods with relief. “Go ahead, I’ll see you upstairs.”

  She turns and opens her door. I watch her look left then right, and bolt to the front doors. I hate this…it shouldn’t be like this. I should be able to proudly be with her and not have to hide. I need to convince her that if no one else, our inner circle should know about us. There is no reason we should hide.

  Ok, this fucking sucks!

  We have been manhandled, our hair has been done, our faces made up, and we were forced to try on a dozen different things until the photographer approved. We are all dressed casually in t-shirts and jeans. After an exhausting argument, thank God the photographer finally allowed Trey to keep on his shades.

  The said photographer is named Pierre and is very eccentric. He has a small army of staff at his beck and call. He keeps fiddling with my hair and I want to slug him. We are now sitting in a studio waiting for Leila, and I’m done.

  “That chick put lipstick on me. This sucks ass.” Hunter says wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

  “It’s necessary for the camera to capture your faces properly,” Jennifer explains, as she paces the room again. She is getting on my nerves.

  “Can you please sit down? You’re driving me crazy.” She scowls and sits in a chair.

  I don’t mean to be so harsh, but I’m in a bad mood and I’m not hiding it well. My day started out great, until we were almost seen by Dylan. Then as I’m parking the car, distracted by thoughts of hiding my relationship with Leila, I answered my cell without checking to see who was calling. Big mistake!

  Jessa, my high school girlfriend was calling to let me know she would be seeing our first show. She asked to see me afterwards and I told her absolutely not. She said one way or another she would see me. We were on the phone all of two minutes, when I wanted to put my fist through a wall. The phone calls and texts have been coming daily, and I’ve been ignoring them. I can’t stand it anymore. I have no doubt that she wants something.

  Hearing a commotion in the corner of the room, I snap back to reality and remember where I am. What is taking so long? We are sitting here for almost an hour and we are all getting really cranky.

  The door finally opens and my mouth drops.

  Holy shit!

  Leila stops at the door and she doesn’t look happy at all. Every person in the room is staring at her and it’s making her uncomfortable, as well as me.

  I slowly walk over to her and ask, “What’s wrong?”

  “I look ridiculous,” she agonizes.

  She doesn’t, of course. She looks fucking hot. They have her in a dark, red leather lace-up thing and the tightest pair of jeans that leave nothing to the imagination. On her feet are black fuck me pumps. Her hair is wild and looks like she just had sex. Her eyes are smoky grey. He lips are red, but not a trampy red, more like she has been kissed for hours, red. I am completely turned on.

  I shake my head and refute, “You look unbelievable Leila…trust me.” Even so, her expression says that she wants to die.

  Dylan comes over. “Leila, you look great.” He says rubbing her back to comfort her. I clench my jaw at the sight of his hand on her bareback.

  Jennifer stalks over without sympathy. “What is the problem here?”

  “Sorry, they kept changing my outfits and hair until they were satisfied.”

  “Relax Jennifer, we’re ready now.” Thankfully, Jen walks away in search of Pierre.

  Looking at Leila, I tease, “Stop biting your lip.”

  As Pierre makes last minute lighting adjustments, my band-mates openly gawk at the girl I’m in love with. This is not helping my mood. Her pants are so tight that you can see the smooth curve of her ass. Instinctively I stand between Leila and their line of sight. Trey has the balls to look around me.

  The photographer arranges us in front of the backdrop. He takes dozens of shots, moving us and facing us in different directions. I look down at Leila at one point when he is adjusting his lights and ask if she’s ok.

  “I will be whe
n this is over. My boobs are sweating.”

  I am so surprised by her comment that I let out a loud snort, prompting the entire room to look at me. I turn toward her and she shrugs nonchalantly.

  The last picture, Pierre had me remove my shirt. The guys are behind me to my right. Leila is pressed up against me on my left while whispering in my ear, and my head is turned away from her seductively.

  Pierre yells “Perfection. That’s a wrap.” At once all his minions scatter in different directions.

  I feel Leila visibly relax next to me. “You did great.” I say rubbing her arms. Then I bend to whisper into her ear, “See if you can keep this outfit.”

  I move over to Jennifer, before I can get myself into trouble and pretend I have questions regarding this week’s schedule. From the corner of my eye, I see Dylan walking up to Leila, causing my hackles to rise. Watching from across the room, Leila smiles at something he says. They stand and chat for a few minutes, when he leans in and says something to make her laugh. She quickly glances over at me and turns back to Dylan before he walks out. Giving me a shy smile, she then turns to walk out of the room herself.

  I need to talk to her. I haven’t heard a word Jennifer said for the last five minutes. She finally shuts up and says, “I’ll see you tomorrow. I have a meeting with Bobby.”

  I walk over to Hunter and ask, “Jennifer has a meeting with Bobby, are you heading over to the studio?”

  He grabs his jacket. “Yeah, Scott has his van. Are you coming?”

  “I’m going to drive down with Leila so I can talk to her,” I say innocently.

  “Ok. See you later.” He pats my back and leaves me dumbfounded. What? No words of wisdom?

  I leave the room in search of Leila, and finally find her in a small dressing room by herself. “Can I come in?”

  She is sitting in front of a vanity staring into space. She is back in her regular clothes, her face is clean, and her hair is brushed. She must have bolted to this room and stripped down immediately. As hot as she looked earlier, this is who she is, and she is beautiful.

  “Sure,” she says, looking over at me in the doorway.

  “Did your boobs cool off?” I ask as I close the door behind me and walk over to her. I put my hands on her shoulders and look at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She glances up at me in the mirror. “Well that was a bit embarrassing. I guess I need to get used to people gawking?”

  “Based on how you look, prepare for lots of gawking.”

  “Yay. I can’t wait,” she says with sarcasm dripping in her words. Nodding toward a bag that sits on a chair, she adds, “They said I can keep it.”

  “Well yay for me.”

  She suddenly gets serious and frowns. “Um, Dylan asked me out to dinner tonight.” She looks up and starts biting on her bottom lip.

  “Why?”

  “Because he had fun the last time we went out?” she responds with a question. I immediately start pacing, and she comes closer when she notices my clenched fists. “Listen, he’s just a friend. It would look weird if I refused his invite. You said yourself to act like I normally do. The Leila I was a week ago would have said yes.”

  “Remind me why we are keeping us a secret?”

  “Because you want to make me happy?”

  She’s right.

  Fuck.

  “Oh, yeah…I forgot.” I pull her into my arms and kiss her head. “Its just dinner, right?” She nods quietly.

  “Ok. Its just dinner…nothing else,” I repeat, more for my own sake.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Leila

  Life has been a whirlwind since our photo shoot. The album cover has been chosen, the track order has been set, and the songs are cut and mixed. Our tour kicks off in a few days and I’m a bundle of nervous energy.

  Jack and I have stolen time together whenever we could, but it’s been very hard since we’ve been so busy. He has continuously voiced we could spend nights together if we just told Hunter. I almost caved a few times during the throws of passion, but I’m just not ready. I don’t know what’s keeping me from going public.

  Actually I do know. I don’t want to be judged…especially by Hunter or Evan. Jack had a very active sex life before I came along. He promised he hasn’t been with anyone else and I believe him. I just can’t process in my brain why he would want to go from having a hot girl almost daily to stolen moments with me. That’s just what they are – moments.

  I try to tell myself that’s a stupid mentality, but unfortunately his track record speaks volumes. What if he gets bored and moves on? If our relationship was common knowledge, even if just to Hunter or the guys, and he was to end it to go back to his philandering ways, the humiliation at this point in our success would be fatal to me.

  As far as going public to the rest of the world, again it’s stupid, but if I read one negative comment on the Internet claiming I got job because I was screwing Jack, it would be even worse. That’s not why I got the job and I know the truth, but reviews like that could kill my career before it even got started.

  That being said, I love being with him. I love everything from having a quiet dinner, to rehearsing, to having sex…whatever it is we are doing. Our time together goes way too fast, and it always leaves me wanting more.

  Dylan and I have been have gone out to dinner a few more times during these past few weeks. It’s only platonic. I assured Jack that we were just friends. I did not mention that Dylan alluded to wanting more than friendship. That little tidbit wouldn’t help matters.

  Friends or not, I truthfully enjoy his company. It’s easy and comfortable between us. During the times I’m left with nothing but my own thoughts, I can sometimes visualize a relationship with Dylan. If Jack weren’t in the picture, Dylan would absolutely be someone I could be with. It’s not fair to any man I meet from here on. As long as Jack walks on this earth, he is and will always be my weakness.

  I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad and some time with Evan these past weeks. On rare occasions, Evan would join us for brunch. There is still a strain between them but it’s definitely improved. I hope Evan will make the effort to become closer to Dad again, while I’m gone.

  Evan has seen Lizzy a few times. He gushes about her and I’ve never seen my friend acting this way over a girl. I asked Jack if Lizzy has mentioned Evan, and he said that it seems she is into him as well, but Lizzy has priorities and her career means a lot to her. She has worked hard and will not have anything interfere with that. Evan mentioned the same information to me as well, so I was glad to hear she is being honest with him.

  Cliffhangers have been playing bars in the city one day almost every week. Lori has been booking them on nights the guys are off from The Zone. She said she wants to pick her battles with Sal and only when a once in a lifetime opportunity presents itself, will she insist on having the weekend off for the boys. Lori has proven to be perfect for them.

  According to Lori, she and Trey have been having a “fucking fantastic time”. She isn’t looking for a relationship at this point in her life. Her obsession with Matt helped her to realize that. She wasted too much time on him. She wants Cliffhangers to be a success, and she wants to prove this is her purpose. Trey has been a nice distraction. The orgasms are off the charts…again, Lori’s words. She said they both decided to end things during our tour. She feels it’s best not to pine away for a rock star while he is off crossing the country and she’ll be too busy with her career. I agreed with her. Besides, I have no doubt that she will find someone else in a heartbeat, especially now that she has moved past Matt. I also feel if it’s meant to be with Trey, it will happen once he gets back.

  Dylan’s assistant Cathy has been a godsend. Since exchanging cell numbers, she and I have been chatting often. I love the fact that the guys have to go through Dylan, but I just need to call my newfound friend Cathy to get what I need. She requested a list of must haves from all of us so she could properly
stock the bus. She also has my personal list and said not to worry about anything and she would take care of it. I sent her a large bouquet of flowers to thank her for all she has done for me these last few weeks. She argued that she hasn’t even begun to help me yet, but I quickly told her she has tremendously already.

  Yesterday we were taken to the tour buses so we could get an idea on living conditions and storage space. This was quite an experience. We were in the bus all of ten minutes and the four hulking men I’ll be living with were making me feel claustrophobic.

  There is a living area in the front of the bus, directly behind the drivers. It contains a u-shaped booth that could seat four. Directly across is a long couch with a TV mounted on the wall in the opposite corner. The kitchen area has a small sink, a microwave, coffee maker, and four cabinets, two above and two below. I opened one of the cabinets to find it filled with boxes of Fruit loops.

  “What’s with all the Fruit loops?” I asked Jack who was sitting watching me explore.

  He shakes his head and says “Friggin’ Hunter has the diet of a five year old.” I laughed out loud as I opened another cabinet to reveal Pop Tarts and Blow Pops. I do thankfully see my pretzels, yogurts and Diet Cokes in the fridge. These are my only must haves in life. There is a single serve coffee maker on the counter, and at least ten boxes of coffee k-cups squeezed into one of the other cabinets. I look over at Jack and he shrugs.

  The bathroom could be compared to that of an airplane bathroom, only with a small stall shower in the corner. Under the sink is a cabinet with removable bins that are labeled with our names. This is where we could store our personals. When I took a look inside the cabinet, I cringed. I wasn’t off the mark when I worried where I would hide my tampons.

  A curtain separates the living space from the bunks. There are four on each side, each containing a little nook to hold personals, a drawer below the mattress, a built in light above, and a very flimsy curtain for privacy. At the back of the bus is one small bedroom. The whole room consists of a full size bed and a built in closet on one side. We will all have to share this one closet. Our suitcases would be stored under the bus in the luggage compartment.