by K E Osborn
I smile and nod. “It’s okay, Raoul, it’s not your fault. We’ll figure it out as we go. But for now, I need a bit of alone time with my man. Is that okay?”
Raoul smiles. “I thought you spent the last two days with him?” His cheeky smirk makes me want to giggle. It’s a rare side to Raoul and something I don’t see often.
Mercs grabs the keycard from me and swipes to open the door, obviously seeming impatient.
“Not completely alone. His Gran and sister were there the entire time, so no alone time for us. We get more alone time on tour if you know what I mean.” I wink at him.
“Take care, and if you need anything just holler.”
“Will do,” I reply as a door slams further down the hall and Andi storms toward us. Her hair color which was flaming red has now changed to jet black. The color changes usually depict her mood, so the black she’s sporting tells me something’s very wrong. She spots us, her eyes have dark circles under them, and her face is slightly pale like maybe she hasn’t been sleeping. Andi glares at me, giving her head a slight nod when she sees me, but keeps storming past.
Raoul stiffens his posture and spins. “I better go after her.”
I peer over my shoulder at Mercs.
“Go.” His voice is low, I realize he’s disappointed, but she’s obviously crying out for someone to talk to.
“I don’t have to—”
“Effa, I’ve waited two days, what’s another couple of hours. Andi needs you. Clearly. Please go… work your magic. I’ll get the room set up.”
Andi presses frantically on the elevator button as Raoul takes off after her.
I lean in giving Mercs a tender kiss on his cheek. “You’re amazing. You’re the best. And I owe you the greatest orgasm of your life,” I whisper in his ear then lean up tugging on his earlobe with my teeth, before spinning around and rushing off toward the elevators and just making it inside the doors before they shut.
Andi lets out a loud huff as she folds her arms over her chest. I simply move in to stand beside her as Raoul stands on the other side of her.
She looks from him to me and groans. “What is this? An intervention?”
“No, just me wanting to catch up with my favorite bassist. That’s all. And Raoul’s coming with us, ‘cause he’s cool as shit.”
Raoul’s lips turn up slightly as Andi rolls her eyes and leans back onto the railing.
“What a crock of shit. You’re babysitting me. Did Luke send you? That son of a bitch.”
I shake my head at her tone. “No. I saw you in the hall and thought I’d catch up with you after being away. Maybe we can go to the hotel bar and have a drink?”
She groans. “I was on my way there anyway, so join me if you want. I honestly don’t give a fuck anymore.”
My heart leaps into my throat, and my stomach sinks a little. Those are some serious words from Andi. I mean she’s always a little grumpy, but never this deep. The elevator pulls to a stop, and we all walk out. Raoul stands by us both the entire time as we make our way to the hotel bar. I’m in a little bit of shock. Something’s obviously happened, and I was under the impression that it was Tank, but maybe there’s more to it. We traipse into the bar and take a seat right at the counter.
The waitress looks to Andi and smiles, and Andi simply nods, then the waitress goes about getting a drink ready. Andi’s apparently been here a lot if the bar staff already know her order.
Scratching my head, I swivel to face her and let out a heavy breath. “So, you wanna talk to me?” I figure I’ll just get straight to the point.
She shrugs. “What’s there to talk about?”
I tilt my head and decide to tread carefully. “Well, you’re holding a lot of anger... or maybe resentment about something… or maybe… someone. Have you tried talking about the problem?” I ask, and she chuckles.
“See this is the problem. People come in here thinking they know all about my crap. Thinking they can try to help me with my issues. When in reality they have no idea. No fucking clue what’s going on. Why would talking fix it? It’s not that fucking easy, Effa. Not everything can be magically fixed by incantations and fucking kumbayas. This is the real world. Not hippy land, you little fucking pixie joke.”
I swallow hard as I try to hold myself together. I’ve never once thought Andi pictured me that way. I know she knew I was different to everyone else, but I never imagined she thought I was a joke.
Attempting to hold back my tears because that comment hurt more than I like to admit, I flare my nostrils and huff. “Well, I’m sorry if Tank liked the blonde more than you or some shit, and that’s why you’re so fucking pissed right now, but fuck girl, get your head out of your ass before you piss us all off and cause a rift in the band. You’re being a jerk. Andi… sort your shit out.” Standing, I turn just as the waitress brings Andi’s drink over. She picks up her whiskey tumbler and throws it back in one fell swoop without even looking at me.
I curl up my lip and shake my head walking away.
I can’t believe her.
I was only trying to help.
To talk to her about her problem, whatever it is. But she’s so freaking angry.
I have no idea what the issue is. All I know is she’s obviously not ready to talk about it just yet.
As I storm toward the elevator, someone slides into my side, and I glance to my right to see Cooper smiling wide at me. I grin and wrap my arm around him.
“Hey Coop, where did you appear from?” I ask, and he chuckles pulling out his cell.
“Got a text from Raoul saying he was with you and Andi, and that if anything happened and you split up, one of you might need a security escort and bam… he was right.”
“He’s a smart guy our fearless leader… so things have been tense, I hear?”
We make our way to the elevators.
“Yeah, with the fans and Andi going haywire. It’s like you left and the ecosystem failed. We need our little bubbles of effervescence to keep us all working properly,” he adds. I smile as the doors open and we step in to see Jett, who’s about to step out. He smiles that devilish smile and continues on his way. I walk out of the elevator back into the lobby, grabbing hold of his elbow to stop him. He peers at me through his lashes—it’s almost sexy the way he does that, but I know that’s all part of his charm.
“Stop… talk to me,” I express.
He pivots and faces me as I let go of his arm. With a sigh, he straightens his body as Cooper steps back leaning against the wall to give us a bit of space, but not too much as I drop my hand from Jett’s elbow.
“So the queen cupcake is back from her romantic getaway,” he sneers.
I roll my eyes. “Stop it. I’m sorry.”
He tilts his head and raises his brow like he’s either slightly amused or slightly confused. Possibly both. “Okay…. aaand what are we sorry for?”
“Mercs told me what happened between you and him, and why you’ve been avoiding me the last two weeks.”
“Ahh… the infamous standoff. Yes, your man told me to back off… or else. Not sure what the or else would be, but Luke came in the nick of time to save the day.”
Sighing at the fact that this happened even though he’s being completely sarcastic in his tone right now, I feel bad it came to this. “Well, you don’t have to avoid me. You could’ve come to talk to me.”
He smiles wide, almost a mischievous grin as he leans in close, so close his usual smell of tobacco and aftershave flood my senses. “But this was my plan all along, cupcake. To have you come crawling back to me. I knew you couldn’t resist staying away. The pressure of me teasing you and not paying you any attention would build until you caved and asked Mercs what happened. He would tell you. You would get angry at him for forbidding me to talk to you, and you’d do exactly what he didn’t want… which is what you’re doing right now…” he tilts his head with a sly smirk, “… caving and talking to me. So you see, cupcake, he won that battle, but this little victory goes dir
ectly to me.”
He leans in and presses his lips to my cheek, kissing me hard. The bristles of the light smothering of his beard grates on my face, causing me to jolt back with so much force I almost fall over. Cooper rushes over and catches me, wrapping his arms around me from behind and pulling me away from Jett as I glare at him in anger.
He casually smiles, licks his lips then swallows. “Tastes delicious.” He saunters off like he owns the damn hotel lobby.
As I stand in Cooper’s arms, he holds onto me tight, probably more for comfort as he spins me to face him. “Are you okay?” He bends down to eye level with my face, which I’m sure is pale white from shock.
Nodding, simply because my words have left me, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and edges me toward the elevator, pressing the button rapidly. It opens and we walk in. When the door closes I relax into Cooper’s side.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
“That was messed up. Mercs is gonna blow a gasket,” Cooper mumbles.
I look up to him with fear in my eyes.
Shit!
Telling Mercs is going to cause a commotion of epic proportions.
Fucking Jett.
He might have won that battle, but he’s just started a mother fucking war.
Chapter Twenty-Five
MERCS
“I wonder if I can get rose petals in here on time,” I murmur to myself as I light Effa’s favorite juniper and jasmine incense to have the room smelling the way she likes it. We’ve held out for a long two days, and right now I want to make her feel special. I want her to know how much she means to me. When she gets back from dealing with Andi, I’m going to make love to her slowly, until it’s time for tonight’s show.
The unmistakable click on the hotel door alerts me that someone’s entering our room and I spin around. She’s only been gone—I look at my watch—all of twenty minutes, and I’m not prepared. I’ve only lit the candles and incense, and haven’t finalized nearly as much as I wanted to have done.
Effa storms into the room along with Cooper as I blow out the lit match in my hand and place it on the bench next to the incense. Her face is hard as she walks in.
Well, that’s not the excited taken back look I was going for.
Cooper glances around the room then at me and smirks. “Right, well, I… ahh… got you back to the room. I can see this is going to be a really awesome chat so I might head off.”
Effa throws herself onto the bed with a huff and runs her hands over her face still seemingly oblivious to the state of the room.
I furrow my brows and look to Cooper. “Everything okay?”
Cooper draws in a deep breath then blows it out, letting me know something’s definitely not right.
“I’ll… ahh… leave you to it. Call me if you need me, Effa,” Cooper offers and turns heading for the door.
I don’t bother to watch him leave, but rather make my way to the bed where Effa seems to be caught up in her own world. I sit down beside her, and wrap my arm around her back, pulling her to me as her body goes limp.
“Effa, what’s wrong?” I murmur, as I run my hand up and down her back trying to soothe her like she does me all the time.
She sniffs and peers up at me. “I don’t even know where to begin…”
I nod and gnaw on my bottom lip. “Okay… is Andi all right?”
“She’s a bitch, but she’s not the one I’m the most concerned about right now.”
Furrowing my brows, I’m confused. “Effa, will you just talk to me?”
She lets out a groan, stands abruptly, and walks to the other side of the room. Then she starts pacing the floor and running her hands through her hair. “Okay fine. But I need you to stay calm. Promise me.”
Sitting up taller, I straighten my shoulders as I look at her, my chest tightening already knowing I’m not going to like whatever she’s going to say next. “Effa?”
“Jett… he… I saw him in the elevator, and I approached him about how he’s been avoiding me for the last two weeks.”
My jaw clenches and I haven’t even heard what he’s done.
“So… he told me about you two having your little argument, and that he was staying away because you told him to. That Luke was there to ‘save the day,’ but… that it was all part of his bigger plan. That he knew if he stayed away from me, I wouldn’t be able to resist staying away from him. That I would do exactly what you didn’t want me to do… which would be to talk to him. And that it would basically be his way of winning the next battle, the one where I would go to him, defying you. I think it’s his twisted way of thinking it means I want him or something, Mercs…” She pauses. “Because he leaned in and kissed my cheek so forcefully it made me extremely uncomfortable.”
Anger builds inside me as I listen, and I detest the rage that’s flowing through me caused by that useless asshole. I despise Jett for trying so hard to take what’s mine.
“He can’t have you,” I yell loudly. I’m infuriated and need to calm down.
“I’m yours, Mercs, you know that,” her soft voice echoes over to me.
“Did you tell him that?” I squeeze out.
Her silence is deafening.
Turning around, I face her. “Damn it, Effa. Why didn’t you tell him that? He needs to hear it from you.”
She sniffs, her tiny frame somehow seeming even smaller as she wraps her arms around herself. “I just wanted to get out of there… to get back to you. He was right, I did play straight into his hands, and all I wanted at that moment was you. I… I should have said something to him. I should have told him that it’s you. It’s only you. It’s only ever been you. And it will be you for as long as you want me.”
“You’re damn right. But don’t worry, I’ll tell him for you. Right now… With. My. Fucking. Fist,” I threaten and swivel to head for the door.
Effa gasps and bolts to me, her small hand gripping my bicep in an attempt to stop me. “Kaden, no. Please. Stop.”
I pause, glaring at her. “Why?”
“You c-can’t hit h-him, Mercs.” Her voice is breaking like she’s on the verge of tears, and the thought that she actually cares about what happens to this grade-A asshole is starting to grate on my last nerve.
My jaw clenches as I look down at her. “What the fuck, Effa. Why do you want to protect him?” I ask, taking a step back from her.
Effa’s eyebrows furrow as she slumps her body, her face contorting in pain. She steps closer to me, but I step back.
“Kaden, stop. Take a deep breath,” she rasps.
I realize I’m panicking, I can fucking feel it. The thought of losing her is so painful, so incredibly excruciating, it’s making it hard to focus and I’m swamped with fear. Fear of losing her.
Turning, I move off to head for the door. But I can’t do it, she means too fucking much to me. So I turn to face her, and she brings her hand up to cup my cheek.
“Kaden… stop!”
“Why… why should I when you want to protect him like this?”
She shakes her head, holding her grip on my cheek a little firmer. Somehow her touch seems to be calming me down.
“Because… asshole… I’m falling for you.”
I take a deep centering breath and look directly into her glistening eyes.
She’s falling for me?
My brows crease as I tilt my head. “Then why are you protecting him?”
She leans her forehead against mine. “We have a show tonight, and I don’t want to see you arrested for some shit that goes down between you and him. Also, that ass needs to be able to perform. That’s all. I don’t need his teeth knocked out or his nose broken so he can’t sing. He needs to be in one piece because we need our fucking opening band, Mercs.”
Taking a deep breath, I’m flooded with relief as I reach out, wrapping my arms around her and hold her to me tight. Feeling her warmth wrap around me so lovingly it fills me with hope. “You’re falling for me?” I ask again for confirmation forgetting about everything
else she’s said.
“I am… have been since I met you.”
Leaning in, I press my lips to hers. She tastes of berries, and I love that Effa always tastes the same.
“I’m falling, too,” I murmur against her lips. “But there’s something I need to do first before we discuss this more,” I add as I pull back and head for the door.
She sighs and nods. “Please don’t get into a fight, I like you in one piece.”
I turn back to look at her and nod. “No physical ones, I promise.”
She winces but nods.
“Thank you… and thank you for the room, it smells delicious. I’m sorry our time together is delayed, yet again. But I love that you made all this effort. Honestly, it’s gorgeous.”
A slow smile creeps on my face and calmness washes over me. “We’ll have our time. Even if it’s tonight after the concert.”
She nods and smiles. “I’ll make sure of it.”
I step toward the door without a second thought, heading right for the man I need to have a few choice words with.
Effa… is mine.
And Jett’s going to realize that fact, plain and simple.
Storming down the hall, I hope like hell he’s in his room when I get there. I know exactly what I’m going to say, and I swear to God if he doesn’t do what I want, I will take action into my own hands.
I won’t have a choice.
Arriving at his door, I thump on the wood. I need to assert my dominance from the get-go. Let him know who’s boss. So I thump hard and fast three times. There’s no mistaking someone’s angry at his door by the tone of the banging. Standing back, my heart is thrashing in my chest, my blood coursing through my veins. I’m tense again, and I hate it.
