Diary of a Rocker's Kid (D.O.R.K. Book 1)

by Haley Despard

  “Yeah, I’ve heard W3 in a lot of places lately,” Gio says. “I think people are getting nostalgic now that your dad’s back in town.”

  “Excellent,” I say, grinning. “Looks like my missions are right on track.”

  “Missions?” Gio asks, confused. I briefly explain to him about my missions on the way over, and at the end of the explanation, he’s laughing a little. “Why am I not surprised by this?”

  “I dunno, I guess you’re psychic,” I say.

  “Nah, you just give off a general evil-mastermind vibe,” he replies jokingly.

  We arrive at Santa Monica Beach, where the park on the pier is closing and the sun is just starting to dip toward the horizon. Orange and purple hues are beginning to appear in the sky, and the bit of Pacific Ocean washing up onto the shore is reflecting the pier like smooth glass. Gio and I take our sandals off as we step onto the cool, fine sand, and he reaches for my hand. I link fingers with him as we walk down the beach, and he looks down at me with a tender smile.

  “This really is amazing,” I say, as the lights on the Ferris wheel come on in the distance. The contrast of the bright pink electric lights against the hues of the sunset is nothing short of magical.

  “I knew you would like it,” he says. “When I come down here at sunset, it helps me forget about everything and not feel like I need ten shots of whiskey quite as much.”

  I give him an amused smirk. “You’re a big liquor fan, aren’t you?”

  “You have no idea,” he says.

  “Just curious, what are you doing here in LA during the summer?” He gives me a weird look. “I mean, on TV, rich kids go out of town to places like Paris and Rome to get away.”

  “Well, ironically, Rome is usually where I go in the summer. That’s where Mamma lives. This year Papa has a big movie premiere and Mamma’s really busy, so they just decided I would go there for the holidays instead.”

  “Your dad has a movie premiere?” I ask excitedly, and he nods. “That is sick!”

  “Yeah, I get to walk the red carpet with him again,” Gio says, smiling. “That never gets old.”

  “What’s it like having two homes?” I ask him. “Being away from your mom all the time must be hard.”

  Gio shrugs. “It’s alright. Mamma runs a four-star restaurant over in Italy, so she’s never really around anyway. What about you? Did you ever figure out who your mother is?”

  I shake my head. “Nah. I just now really started trying.”

  “You know who I think your mother is?” he asks.

  “Who?”

  “Wonder Woman,” Gio says, grinning. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious.”

  I laugh. “You really think I’m as hot as Wonder Woman?”

  “Hotter. And believe me, that’s saying a lot coming from me.”

  “So Gio Abate is a Wonder Woman fan,” I observe. “Now this makes sense.”

  Confused, he asks, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean… you liking me,” I say hesitantly, looking down at my feet in the sand.

  Gio takes my arm and turns me to him. “Hey,” he says gently, inching towards me, “I like you for you.” He reaches up and slowly runs his fingers down my cheek and neck. “You’re so great, Madness. I wish you could see it.”

  His touch is making me breathless again. “Thanks,” I say, and he leans down to kiss me softly. I take my glasses off so our faces can fully come together, and I press hungrily against his lips with mine, still not feeling satisfied. Kissing Gio is perfection, but I want more… I want to finish what we started last week after the movie. “I wanna be alone with you,” I whisper on a breath.

  Gio smiles, with his forehead pressed against mine. “I think that can be arranged.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Papa and Steph are going to be out late tonight, so we have the house to ourselves,” Gio says as he leads me up the walk to his place. He opens the door for me and we walk in, and when he shuts it behind us, he says, “Ah… finally alone.”

  Now that this is really happening, I’m suddenly flooded by a terrifying mixture of exhilaration and anxiety. “Yeah… alone…”

  Gio notices my hesitation. “Hey,” he says, taking me by the hand again, “if you’re not ready, we don’t have to do anything.”

  “I want to,” I tell him. “I really, really, want to, but… I dunno…”

  “We could watch a movie first,” he suggests, and I nod in agreement.

  “Good idea,” I say, and he leads me up the stairs to his room.

  We sit on his bed together side by side as we watch a movie, similar to how Ana and I always watched movies back at her house in KY. We settled on The Avengers, since it’s one we both like.

  “Which Avenger is your favorite?” Gio asks me as we cuddle up against his padded headboard.

  “Black Widow,” I tell him with a grin. “Obviously. I’m a bit of a feminist, in case you didn’t notice.”

  “Makes sense,” he says. “I kinda like Black Widow, too.”

  I give him a look. “Bet I know why.”

  “What can I say?” he says with a little shrug. “I like powerful women.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.” Gio leans down and kisses me with his fingers cupping my neck. It’s a gentle, unassuming kiss, but I know where he’s hoping to get with it. My heart rate quickens out of control and my desire for him starts to overwhelm my fear, but there’s still plenty of it there. “Gio,” I whisper, pulling back, “um… is it weak of me to be scared right now?”

  Gio shakes his head a little. “Nah. I’ve always heard that admitting fears is a sign of strength.”

  “Alright… Well, I don’t handle pain very well…”

  “I’ll try to make it as painless as possible,” Gio promises. “And just remember, the next time is going to be a lot better.”

  “You promise?”

  “I’ll personally see to it,” Gio says with a little naughty grin.

  I smile, thinking I couldn’t possibly have picked anyone better. “Okay.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Owwww…” I’m lying next to Ana on my bed back at our mansion, and my lady parts are giving me hell. “Ah-ha-how…”

  “Stop whining,” Ana teases me, punching me in the side. “At least you’ve had sex!”

  “Yeah, but at least when you have it for the first time, it doesn’t have to hurt.” I think about that for a second. “Then again, I don’t know that much about lesbian sex, so maybe it does. I dunno. OW.”

  “Was it fun? I mean, besides the searing pain and agony.” she asks with a grin.

  “Yeah…” I sigh, smiling as I remember every last detail of Gio’s gorgeous body. “He is a god. I would almost do it again right now if he wanted me to.”

  My phone goes off on the nightstand. “Speaking of,” Ana giggles. I take the phone off the stand and read Gio’s message.

  Gio: So either you were lying about being a virgin, or you’re the woman who never bleeds…

  I burst into laughter.

  Me: It’s the latter, believe me. I’m not really sure why I didn’t bleed.

  Gio: Well, it’s less clean-up for me, so I don’t give a damn either way ;) I miss you already…

  “Aww!” Ana says. She’s looking over my shoulder.

  “Ana-love, I think we might need to have a little chat about boundaries…”

  She giggles and turns back the other way. “Sorry.”

  Me: I miss you, too.

  Gio: When can I see you again?

  I smirk.

  Me: That good, huh? ;)

  Gio: Yeah, you’re a natural ;)

  I smile, remembering the first time he said that to me.

  Me: You can come over whenever, but as for sex, gimme about a week lol

  Gio: Ouch, did I tear you up that bad? Sorry…

  Me: Nah, you’re good. My pain tolerance is a little low

  “That is an understatement, my friend,�
�� Ana says from behind me.

  “Oh, my God, go away!” I say, giggling and playfully hitting her with my phone.

  Me: Alis hdi alskdn

  Gio: ??

  Me: Sorry… Ana’s being a butt. She’s looking over my shoulder.

  Gio: Tell her nosey lesbian ass “hi” for me :) See you tomorrow.

  Me: Kk. Night.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  In the morning, before any sane, normal person would ever be awake on vacation, Dad comes into my room and taps me on the shoulder, waking me up. “What’s going on?” I moan.

  “Sorry baby girl, I couldn’t wait to show you this,” he half-whispers, and I gasp when I turn over and look at what he brought me.

  It’s a custom-made guitar, blood red with a tan scratchplate and neck, and it has the letters “M.A.D.” emblazoned just below the tailpiece. The bold, red, dripping font was made to match the Weep With The Willows logo. “Wow…” I whisper, sitting up slowly.

  “It was mine back when I was on my last tour before meeting you,” he says, smiling. “The only custom-made guitar I ever had. I came across it this morning in storage and I want you to have it, because I love you, and because you’ve been to hell and back this weekend.” He hands the guitar to me, and my hands tremble as I accept it. I feel like I’m handling a holy relic. My fingers run down the smooth strings and I let them fall on Dad’s letters at the bottom.

  “Oh, Dad,” I say, choking up. “This is beautiful.”

  He comes around to sit on my bed and gives me a side hug. “Mads, I’m really sorry I freaked out on you yesterday morning. I just panicked. I had no idea it was an accident, and I’m so sorry you were humiliated like that.”

  “It’s okay,” I say, leaning into Dad and appreciating him more than ever. Giving me this guitar is the ultimate act of trust. He really does believe me. “This more than makes up for it, believe me.”

  “You wanna come downstairs and plug this sucker up to see what she can still do?” Dad asks.

  “Hell yeah!”

  “Can I get a picture of you with the guitar first?”

  My face turns to stone. “Dad, did you really just suggest a picture after—“

  “Okay, never mind.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Completely disregarding the hour, Dad and I set up a couple of amps in the sunroom and I play the guitar he gave me while he plays my old one. He teaches me some of his old riffs and solos and after a while, I’ve forgotten all about my exposure to the world. I’m playing W3 songs on M.A.D.’s custom guitar. Thousands of people would kill to be me right now. Dad teaches me some of the lyrics too, and we work on harmonizing together. Cass and Ana come downstairs after a little bit, and then Cass takes the guitar from me, at my request, and starts showing off her own mad skills. I find myself thinking as I’m watching her that I may have just found my new idol.

  I have the guitar back and I’m shredding like crazy when Gio comes in the back door to join us for breakfast. His eyes get wide when he sees what I’m doing, and I keep on going just to show off for him. “Goddamn, you’re sexy,” he says at the end, not even caring that my dad is standing right there.

  Dad clears his throat. “Hello, Gio,” he says with a grin.

  Gio chuckles. “Sorry, Mr. Daley.”

  “Call me Mike,” Dad says. “At any rate, I think it’s time we get breakfast ready, don’t you?” He’s talking to Cass.

  Cass nods, and they exit to the kitchen to cook French toast together. That’s one of their adorable little BFF quirks… cooking together. They do a pretty good job, too… The mere smell of one of their breakfasts can wake me out of a dead sleep. “Seriously, when are they ever going to see it?” Ana asks, shaking her head.

  “We need to knock some sense into those lovebirds,” I say.

  “Well, anyway, I’m going upstairs to take a shower real quick,” Ana says, and she leaves Gio and me alone.

  Gio’s still looking down at the guitar. “Can I hear you play something else?” he asks, as he sits down on the nearby sofa.

  “Sure, what do you like?”

  “Can you play I Love Rock N Roll by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts?”

  I give him an arrogant smirk. “Abate, you insult me,” I say, and I immediately start playing and singing my personal variation on the song. I always add my own embellishments to this one, and I have to admit, it sounds pretty incredible with my voice. I glance up at Gio at the end of the first chorus, and he looks a little star-struck. Just to blow his mind, I continue through the rest of the song, jazzing up certain parts with more guitar riffs. At the end, he jumps up from the couch and attacks me with a kiss.

  “Do me again. Now,” he jokes in a whisper, and I giggle as I kiss him back.

  Chapter 7

  For the next few days, Gio comes over to our place for breakfast and stays for the rest of the day, since his dad and Stephan are gone from the house all day anyway. Friday is his surfing day with his buddies, so in the afternoon, Ana and I come along in the Maserati to Santa Monica Beach to hang out with his friends and watch him surf. I’m a little nervous about seeing these people again, especially in a bikini, but this time I’m wearing a swimsuit that I’m sure is going to stay on, and I double-knotted it just for insurance.

  When we get to the beach, I give Gio a quick kiss before he runs out to the water with his surfboard to meet his friends. Ana and I lay out our towels next to Zuri and a couple of other girls who are lying in the sun listening to music. Since they’re kind of zoned out, Ana and I talk amongst ourselves until Ana suddenly gets a call. I hear Ana’s side of the conversation:

  “Hello? Oh, h-hi, Jerica! No, I’m not busy, what’s up? Yeah… Yeah, I-I’d love to. Sure. Okay, well just let me know. Thanks. Okay. You, too. Bye.” Ana’s about to have a panic attack when she hangs up the phone.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, and Ana turns to me with a deer-in-the-headlights expression.

  “I’m-I’m-I’m… I’m going on a date… with a billionaire. I’m going on a date… with a billionaire…”

  “OH MY GOD!!!!!!!” I scream, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “ANA!!!!”

  Ana starts laughing and puts her face in her hands. “Oh my God!”

  The other girls heard the commotion and took their earbuds out. “What’s going on?” Zuri asks.

  “Ana’s going on a date with Jerica Valrey!!!” I exclaim for her.

  “Wow!” Zuri looks truly impressed. “I’m a little jealous!”

  “That’s what I said!” I say, laughing.

  “She said she didn’t call me before because she was extremely busy with a business thing,” Ana explains excitedly. “She wants to pick me up sometime tonight, but she’s not sure when she’ll get away.”

  “Well… shit,” I say, realizing we are not in the right place to get someone ready for a date with a billionaire. “I guess we’re going to have to leave.”

  “I’ll take you home,” Zuri offers. “I could even help you get ready if you want. Hair and makeup are kind of my thing.” One look at her proves the truth of that statement.

  “Okay,” I say, nodding. “I’ll let Gio know, and I’ll be right back.”

  After I inform Gio of the change of plans, Zuri takes us home in her car, and we talk and giggle excitedly all the way back. When we get to the mansion, we immediately go up to Ana’s room and into her walk-in closet, and sort through the massive amount of clothing Dad bought her.

  “I don’t know!” Ana says after about thirty minutes, grabbing her hair and looking like she’s about to pull it all out. “It’s just too important, I can’t decide.”

  “Do you know where you’re going with her?” Zuri asks. “That might give us a better clue of what you’re looking for.”

  “I can’t even remember the name right now,” Ana says, flustered, “but it sounded really expensive. I know it’s a restaurant in downtown LA.”

  “Okay, well if I were you, I would pic
k something simple, yet elegant,” Zuri says, sorting through the dresses again.

  “Something like that?” Ana asks, pointing out a simple, sleeveless, silky green dress that brings out her eyes.

  “Perfect!” Zuri and I say. Ana puts on the green dress, which makes her body look simply unfair, and then Zuri does her hair and makeup while I pick out her jewelry.

  “It’s a good thing Zuri’s here,” I say, fishing through Ana’s earrings for a good pair. “Otherwise we would probably have to go out and get this professionally done. You know how much I suck at doing hair.” Ana laughs a little bit. There was an incident back at home where I almost burned a large section of her hair off while using a curling iron.

  “Well, I’m glad I can help,” Zuri says. “I still can’t believe you’re going out with Jerica Valrey.”

  Ana sighs shakily as Zuri tugs at her hair with a brush. “I know. I feel like I’m going to puke, I’m so nervous.”

  “Ana,” I say, “if I can get through sex with an actor, you can get through a date with a business prodigy.”

  “Ohhh, so you and Gio have already done the dirty, huh?” Zuri asks me, grinning.

  “Yeah, on Sunday,” I say.

  “How was it?” I tell Zuri about it as she twists Ana’s hair into an elaborate bun on the back of her head. Then I end up telling her about the message conversation, too. “Hold on… you’re making him wait to do it again?”

  “Well… sort of…”

  Zuri shakes her head adamantly. “Don’t wait. Gio is worshipped by thousands of teenage girls in this city. If you want him to be all yours, you need to plant your flag in him now.”

  I grin teasingly. “Funny, I always thought that went the other way around.” Even nervous-as-hell Ana laughs at that one. “Good point, though. And I’m feeling better now, anyway.”

  It takes another hour to get Ana’s hair and makeup spot on, and she refuses to move from her bed after it’s finished. I lay her shoes and bag beside her and Zuri and I sit next to her on the bed to talk while we wait to hear from Jerica. Dad knocks the door and pokes his head in after we’ve been talking for about fifteen minutes. After a brief introduction to Zuri, Dad says, “Mads, I just wanted to tell you that Cass and I are going out again. Are you going to be alright here by yourself?”