Above the Noise

by Michelle Kemper Brownlow

  “Try me.” I winked at her, and her breath caught ever so subtly.

  “Okay, some synonyms are—without limit, infinite, no catch, no fine print, no holds barred, no ifs ands or buts, no joke, no strings attached, pure, unconditional, unlimited, and unrestricted.”

  “Sounds about right.” I rolled over and draped my arm over her.

  She wiggled upward so her face was right at my ear and whispered, “I love you, absolute, too.”

  THE NEXT COUPLE days were spent almost exclusively in the studio practicing with Fuckhead and his band. Becki spent her days learning the ropes with Cyan, Max’s publicist. She and Becki hit it off immediately and were really enjoying each other, so it kept her out of Max’s line of vision during those long practice days. I tried to be civil to Max, but just seeing his cocky ass face took me back to the night at Paisley.

  It was Friday, and we had been at it for hours to nail our set list and practice a cover song we’d never performed. We were beat, but the adrenaline of playing an LA show started to hit us on the drive back to the hotel to get showered. We were the entertainment for big time recording artist, Ryan Flowers’s niece’s Sweet Sixteen party. It was a cool set up. Jordan’s party was upstairs in a private room that had a large balcony that would give her and her guests a clear view of the stage, but no access to the bar below. The rest of the bar would be packed with patrons ready to rock. That was boss. We were stoked.

  “Dude, so you ditched us for your girl? Already?” Bones’s tone was tactful, but a hint of offense came through in his body language.

  “Nah, man. Listen, she needs her own space. I’m sure it’s a lot to take in, ya know? She’s been living alone in a single dorm for a couple years, and all of a sudden she’s thrown into a one room hotel room with four guys.”

  “And now you have a sex room,” Manny said it with a friendly chuckle.

  “Yeah, that, too.” I felt my face get hot. I hoped to God I wasn’t actually blushing. I’d never live that down.

  “You guys fucked?” Bones, King of Crude, would give you the shirt off his back but had absolutely no friggin’ filter on his mouth.

  “Let it go.” I looked right at him and spoke in a stern, but not condescending, tone.

  “All right, so, we’re ready for tonight? Shots when we get to our room?” Leave it to Spider to cut in and assist in getting Bones off my back.

  “Sounds good. Now, listen, guys… I want to surprise Becki with the last song, okay. So, don’t spoil it.”

  They all nodded as we parked and hopped out. I texted Becki on our way up in the elevator and then hopped in the shower while the guys set up some drinks on our small table by the window that had collected more than a couple fifths of top shelf booze we’d received at Glam, the bar in our hotel. Seems word had gotten out that we were staying at the Phoenix, and the bar was packed every night. It was our first taste of the celebrity treatment in the form of bottled tokens of appreciation from Miranda, Glam’s stunning manager. She had coal black hair and legs all the way up to her arm pits and wore clothes that left nothing to the imagination. I would have put money on the fact that she was barely legal. There was no way she could be our age. I guessed it was a hand-me-down opportunity from a rich daddy.

  Becki and I hadn’t been naked together since the night in her room. Our practice schedule was crazy, and Cyan had her out late hobnobbing with some big names in the business. On those nights, she’d come up to our room hours after I had been asleep, climb into bed with me, and we would hang onto each other, exhausted, until the sun came up.

  As I washed the day’s sweat and grime off, I realized how much I missed being so close to her. Just thinking about her lying next to me in my bed had a half-boner rising into the stream of water. I ducked my head under the water and closed my eyes. Goose bumps lifted across my whole body when I thought about her body writhing under me when she came. My body shuddered. I rubbed my face with both hands and opened my eyes to find the shampoo when my eyes landed on something that took my breath away. Her face.

  “Mind if I join you?” She was naked, and her voice was so low and sultry I had to remember to breathe. I took her hand and helped her in. She pressed her cool body flush against mine.

  “How did you get in here without them throwing a fit?” I took her face in my hands and kissed her deeply.

  “I just told them I had to grab some stuff I left behind. So, if you wanna fuck me you need to make it fast.”

  “Oh, it could be fast, Becks. But that’s not nice.”

  “Listen, nice boy. I’m all about you being respectful and shit, but if I ask you to fuck me in the shower and we only have a couple minutes, then I am giving you permission to be quick and not worry about being polite.”

  “Turn around and hold on.” I took her hips in my hands and spun her. The intense ache she gave me was primal and urgent. She smirked over her shoulder and grabbed hold of the faucets. Her back was heaving with deep breaths, and she was making small, incoherent sounds. “Becks, you’re gonna have to be quiet.”

  She nodded.

  I bent my legs and came up underneath her ass, holding myself at the right angle to slide inside her, and I did, hard. She whimpered and threw her head back. I grabbed her hip with one hand and her shoulder with the other and pumped into her, trying to alleviate some of the ache that came from being so damn hard.

  I felt her adjust the way she was standing then felt her hand on my balls. She had reached between her legs to hold me in her hand. Just then her hand moved away, her pussy clamped down on me, and I knew she was touching herself. I felt it building, an explosion that was going to be hard to control.

  “I’m… I’m there… Becks, I’m gonna come.” I was breathless and so dizzy I threw one hand over to the hand rail for support.

  “Come for me, Calon. Fuck me and come for me.” I could tell by the guttural sound of her voice that she was on the edge, too.

  There was no control. We lost it. We called out in what probably sounded pained from outside the bathroom, but there was definitely no pain involved. Over and over the sensation rocked me deeper inside her, and, when she’d wrung me dry, I slowly pulled out of her and sank to the floor of the tub. She carefully sat back between my bent legs, and we caught our breath under the hot rain of the shower.

  “Becki?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You can talk dirty to me every day for the rest of my life, okay? That was so incredibly fucking hot.” I wrapped my spent arms around her and squeezed.

  “I’d be happy to entertain your dirty mouth, too, should you ever feel the urge.” Her head fell back on my shoulder, and she sighed.

  Someone banged on the door, and we both jumped. “When you two love birds are done filming your porn in there, we have a show to play. Come on! Getting her stuff, my ass!”

  Becki and I stayed seated under the water for a couple more minutes, kissing and chuckling at Bones’s antics. I helped her dry off, and she quickly dressed then quickly and quietly ran out and headed down to her room to get ready. She and Cyan were headed to meet with Paisley’s management ahead of us.

  I planned on Becki standing off in the wings of the stage, so I could get her attention just before we did the last song. But after christening the hotel shower, I wasn’t sure I could keep it together. I knew my mind would take me right back to the moment she turned and bent over.

  I was undone, splayed open for all the world to know. I was madly, insanely, and absolutely in love with Becki Jane Mowry.

  THE STAGE WAS dark, and the crowd was restless, just how we liked it. We waited in the wings as a few shrill whistles bounced around the people who stood beyond the edge of the stage. This was it. A soft hand slid into mine.

  “So proud of you, Calon. Now, go rock this place!” She smacked my ass and stood on her toes to kiss me. Her warm hands on the sides of my face calmed the few nerves that were out of whack, and I was ready.

  “Let’s go!” There were shrieks and applause when
those up close saw the guys make their way onto the dark stage. When I walked out, I looked around to see that everyone was in their place, and then I nodded. Spider called out through the mic, “All aboard!” Then Manny broke out with a cackle that sounded just like Ozzy. Bones came in with the recognizable bass beat, and when the lights flashed down onto the stage, I grabbed the mic and belted the “Aiy-aiy-aiy-aiy-aiy,” and then came Bones with the bass and Spider with the rattle. Manny made his guitar scream as we warped into our own version of the classic “Crazy Train” intro.

  The guys pulled the volume down a couple notches and instead of going into Ozzy’s lyrics, I used their muted instrumentals as an opportunity to introduce ourselves.

  “Hello, Los Angeles! We are so thrilled to be touring with Smiling Turkeys and even more thrilled to start that tour right here at Paisley! Give it up for Bones on bass, Spider, our percussion specialist, Manny on lead guitar.” The crowd yelled and whistled. “I’m Calon Ridge—” The place erupted with a deafening roar, which made me lose my train of thought. I chuckled and looked around at the guys. What that hell was that? “And we’re Alternate Tragedy! Thanks for coming out tonight.”

  I looked over to the wings, where Becki beamed. I laughed in response to the crowd’s hyper-enthusiasm. Her smile wrapped all the way around her head. She drew a heart in the air with two fingers and blew me a kiss then ran off with Cyan, I assumed to do some more hobnobbing.

  We started with our title track, our love song “Fallen”, which always made me think of Gracie, then we moved seamlessly into “Tried”. It had more of a nineties Pearl Jam angst to it. Max had given us a three song limit, but the crowd was unbelievable. We just couldn’t walk off the stage after the next song. We had discussed the alternate plan prior to hitting the stage, so the nod of my head gave my band all they needed to tuck two more songs in before we did the cover I was so anxious to sing to Becki.

  “Flames” was an acoustic ballad about love and how it sometimes burns out of control, like a flame. I pulled a stool to the mic, grabbed my guitar, and took a deep breath. The lights dimmed, except the spotlight right over me. I closed my eyes and drained my lyrics of the emotions I’d written into them. The crowd swayed, couples kissed. It was one of Becki’s favorites from the album.

  I waved to thank the audience for their appreciation and caught sight of Max headed to the steps that lead to the wings. He was going to have to wait. There was no way he would risk looking like a dick by throwing one of his tantrums and kicking us off the stage. So, we had him by the balls. I nodded toward him and introduced our fourth song “Trip You Up”, a classic punk sound mixed with some hard rock beats. Spider lit up the drums with a machine-gun style drum solo that led us into the lyrics that had a don’t fuck with me kind of edge. It was a high energy song, so I was all over the stage. I could hear Becki screaming down front and saw daggers coming from Max’s eyes. All was right with the world. We ended the set, and when I lifted my head, it looked as if the number of occupants on the dance floor had doubled.

  I grabbed the mic and used my hands to tell the crowd to hush. I’d always been amazed how the guy with the mic at a concert could get a crowd of tens of thousands to be silent. It was quite a powerful feeling. My heart pounded with adrenaline. I was so pumped that this dream we’d had for over half our lives was really happening right before our eyes.

  “We love to write and perform our own music, but we also enjoy paying homage to those musicians who have inspired us. At one time, not too long ago, we did covers exclusively when we played for the students of UT Knoxville.” There were a couple of whoops, I assumed from alums. I shot them a thumbs up. “We have missed doing covers of our favorites as we promote the Fallen album, so, tonight, we have a cover for you. This one goes out to someone very special, my absolute.” My eyes found Becki immediately. Her hands covered her heart, and her mouth was agape. The smile on her face was priceless. My girl. “This is ‘All of Me’ by the one and only, John Legend.” Manny prepped the keyboard and gave me a nod.

  I sang of a feisty love of two imperfect people who found magic when their hearts collided. I wanted Becki to know, publicly, that I was giving her all of me. All. Everything I had. The words tumbled from my mouth, and the melody happened effortlessly. My voice was fluid and strong but gentle and sincere. Becki looked like she might cry, but that beautiful smile never waned. I used one hand to stealthily wipe a tear that escaped my eye and managed to make it look like it was one of my habitual hair tucks. When the song finished, I was spent. I could have laid on the stage and slept. I lifted my head and addressed our fans one last time before we left the stage.

  “Thank you all for coming out and for the warm welcome us Los Angeles. Happy sixteenth birthday, Jordan! And now, the band you’ve been waiting for. Please, welcome Smiling Turkeys!” I hopped down off the front of the stage and into Becki’s arms.

  Max opened immediately with a slower song that wasn’t typical of their band but perfect timing for me. I pulled Becki’s face to mine and kissed her hard and long. Our bodies slowly moved to the soft tone of Max’s voice. We danced, drank, and I signed autographs for what felt like hours.

  “Want to head up to the VIP floor?” I was drunk, and all I could think about was Becki in the shower. I knew it was poor taste to leave the club early, but I needed to have some Becki time. Ducking into a closet and fucking like animals was even poorer taste, so hanging out together in one of the private lavish spaces upstairs would have to do.

  “Lead the way.” She smiled.

  We found an unoccupied space and flopped down on the expensive white couch. I threw my arms over the back, slid down so my ass was right on the edge of the cushions, and laid my head back. I was drunk, exhausted, and the room wouldn’t stop spinning. Becki straddled me and sat right on my crotch a bit harder than I would have liked, which caused me to buckle and her to laugh.

  “I’m so sorry.” She hugged my head to her chest as I groaned in pain.

  “I think you broke it.” God, that hurt.

  Becki took my face in her hands and spoke into my nose. I think because her head was swimming in Patron shots. “Don’t say that. I would never forgive myself if I broke Walter.”

  “Walter? You named my dick Walter? He’s not a geek, Becki.” I sat up and scooted back and gave her my best pouty look.

  “I like the name Walter, it’s very formal. I feel like it’s a name that commands attention. And, let’s face it, your dick commands my attention.” She licked my bottom lip seductively and then bit hers.

  “Commands it, craves it. Yeah, he digs ya.”

  “Well, good, because it’s about time he and I meet face to face… if you know what I mean.” Her eyebrows waggled, and a naughty smirk curled the corner of her mouth.

  “Fuck you! Asshole!” Max’s voice hit me at the same time his fist hit the back of my head. My face crashed into Becki’s, and I had to catch her before she fell backwards off my lap. When I pulled her up to me, her nose was bleeding and she had a small cut on her lip. I grabbed a handful of ice from the water pitcher on the coffee table that was situated between the two couches in our space, wrapped it in a linen napkin, and pressed it against her mouth. She stood, so I could get up, and then she flopped back down and held the ice to her face.

  “What the hell is your problem?” I spun around and took two steps toward Max, which put us eye to eye. “You wanna hit me, fine, have at it but don’t FUCK with my girl. She’s bleeding because of you!” I slammed him hard in the chest with both my fists, which caused him to stumble back into a support pole. I took two more steps, and my body had his pinned against that pole.

  “You don’t want to do this here, do ya, big shot?” His cocky ass grin made me want to knock every one of his veneered teeth out.

  “Where do you suggest we do this? Or were you just in it for the cheap shot to the back of my skull? Pussy.” My teeth were clenched so tightly, my words came out in a long hiss.

  “I won’t waste my
time with you, Ridge. I just need you to know who’s boss. Three songs, that’s it. So don’t pull that shit again with your extra-long set. Three songs. Got it?” He pushed me out of his way with his shoulder as he turned to walk away. Mistake number one. Never turn your back on someone you just sucker punched.

  I grabbed the shoulder pads of his long leather coat and spun him around. Before he had a chance to react, I caught him in the jaw with a right uppercut and a quick left-handed hit to the gut. When he bent over, I smashed him in the face with my knee and threw him to the ground.

  “That’s for what you did to Becki’s face. Come at me all you want, bro. But you touch her again, and I will fuck you up! Got it?” I glanced over at Becki, and she winked from behind a handful of napkins and ice.

  He stood and slinked back over to me slowly. He shook his head. Damn, this guy was an idiot.

  “Listen to me, you cock-sucking shit, you should be bowing to kiss my ass because I got you on this tour. But, now I’m warning you, you can be removed. You need coat tails to ride on to get anywhere in this business, and I gave you mine. You keep fucking up like this, and I’ll find someone to take your place.” He slammed into my shoulder as he walked past me then took two steps toward Becki and held out his hand for her. She looked him up and down but didn’t budge.

  “Look, babe. Bad call on my part by cuffing your guy to the head with you in his lap.” He leaned in closer and whispered something in her ear then turned to me, smacked her ass and chuckled. “I’m truly sorry you got hurt in all this. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  I couldn’t see straight. I could have killed him with my bare hands. But I’d learned my lesson last time. I didn’t want to insult Becki again. She made it very clear that she could handle herself in the kind of situation Max had her in once again. My fists clenched at my sides.

  Becki glared at him. He smirked and stared back but soon gave up waiting for her response, and he slowly walked toward the stairs. She looked up at me, moved the napkins from in front of her lips, and mouthed the words, “Fuck him up.”