Rock Her World

by Max Sebastian

  She could imagine he was all kinds of other men, men she’d had, men she’d wanted.

  And when he had her down on the bed, moving in on her from behind, licking her pussy as she pressed her face into the bedsheets, sliding his fingers inside her, and finally his huge cock… she let herself remember the old days, her rocker days, the days she always figured were behind her for good.

  She felt bad about not sharing those thoughts, but she just wasn’t sure he was ready to hear about them. As much as she wanted him to be like Josie’s George, she could still remember the jealousy and the arguments they used to have. She could still remember thinking: I’m going to lose this guy, and I love him.

  “You really want me to tell you who I slept with before I met you?”

  She looked behind her, watching his eyes widen, his face going tight. He seemed to struggle to answer, catch his breath, and grimace. “Kat, I…” He lost the thread in his uncertainty. His eyes closed and he came hard, exploding deep inside of her.

  She looked at him, somewhat surprised herself. “What was that?” she murmured as they lay down on the bed together. “You never did that before.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess… maybe I’m getting old.”

  “That wasn’t getting old,” she said. “That was… losing control.”

  “I’m sorry… you didn’t…”

  “Oh, I did. Plenty.” She grinned up at him as he stretched forward to kiss her mouth.

  She turned out the lights and lay there beside him, her hand snaking down over his body to rest between his legs. “You really want to know who I saw before you?” she asked. “You’re really curious?”

  It was mere minutes after sex, but here he was thickening up again, like magic. She thought about George and Josie. Maybe Josie was right. Maybe they really were alike. She brought her fingers to his hardness and gasped. “You’re all surprises tonight.”

  “I don’t know why… I’m just… curious, that’s all,” he said.

  “Curious,” she said in the darkness, and stroked his stiffening cock. “This is curious?”

  “Something like that.”

  Chapter Three

  Kat flew out to LA the next day, and Julian scrambled to get a ticket to meet up with her. The best he could do was to fly out the following day, his flight arriving late in the evening. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

  “I’m going to miss you so much,” Kat said at the airport.

  “It’s just a day, and most of the time you’ll be in studio anyway.”

  “And then I won’t be in studio,” she said.

  “Then you’ll have to call me and we can try to…work through that.” Phone sex. It wasn’t a thing he’d ever tried, and as it turned out, something they didn’t end up doing. Kat flew out and, apparently, spent all day and late into the evening recording. By the time they finished, Julian was fast asleep.

  Not that sleep came easily. The night before she’d left had been satisfying and hot, but it left him with more questions than answers. Why was she being so vague about her past? Why did it feel like she was constantly dodging his questions? When he fell asleep, it was almost midnight—nine o’clock in LA. They’d been recording since almost the time that Kat got there, so nearly nine hours. He could imagine how tired she probably was…and how turned on.

  And he wasn’t there to take care of her, either way.

  He woke to find some texts from her.

  [Kat]: Done for tonight. I’m so fucking sleepy, but the girls want to get a drink. I’m too old for this.

  It was time stamped 10:53 LA time. Nearly two in the morning by her body.

  [Julian]: So did you go out?

  He didn’t get a response for almost four hours, and when he did, he laughed.

  [Kat]: What a mistake.

  He figured she was probably talking about the drinks and being hung over while jet-lagged, but for one brief moment, he let himself think of a darker, sexier mistake she could have made.

  Not that he wanted that. Not at all. Even if she had been a little wild back in the day, that was back in the day. Things were different now. Also, importantly, he could totally trust her.

  As if reading his mind, she clarified a moment later.

  [Kat]: Remind me never to do tequila shots again. Also, I crashed out around 2, but the other three kept on going. Insanity.

  [Julian]: Hope you’re not all partied out. I’ll see you tonight.

  [Kat]: Don’t worry. I’ll recover. Have to, because tonight’s the Prisoner’s Wife party. And Aaron Simpson IS going to be there!

  [Julian]: Good thing I got the flight that I did!

  Only it wasn’t that good. A storm delayed his flight, and he ended up touching down in LA at nearly nine o’clock local time. As he touched down, he quickly texted Kat that he’d arrived. He didn’t get a response until he’d disembarked and was making his way toward the terminal exit.

  [Kat]: At the party now. Someone will be there to meet you and take you directly here. See you soon! xx

  She was at the party already. Of course she was. She was also at the party after playing guitar for hours, hanging out with a woman who reminded her of her wilder, younger days. It seemed like a recipe for disaster, and yet had Julian hard as a rock.

  Exiting the terminal at LAX, he almost completely missed the man in a black suit and a black cap, holding a sign that read, “DENNIS.”

  “I think that’s me,” Julian said to the man.

  “Right this way, sir.”

  He led Julian out to a shiny, black Town Car, driven by another man. Julian slipped the man a couple bucks before getting in, already feeling like he’d stepped off the plane and into a dream.

  “Um, take me to… I’m supposed to go to a party. I’m Kat Dennis’ husband.”

  “Yes, sir. I know who you are and where we’re going.”

  “Okay.” Right, of course he did. Julian looked down at himself, at what he was wearing, suddenly realizing he was headed to a Hollywood party where a movie star would be in attendance. He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a zip-up sweater. Not great, but he supposed it could have been worse. He could have been wearing sweats.

  His suit, the thing he’d intended to wear to the party, was in the trunk with the rest of his bags. He wondered if he could ask the driver to pull over so he could grab it, but they were already pulling out onto the highway, and the driver didn’t look like the type for small talk.

  The car drove into the hills that overlooked the glittering lights of LA, where the streets were lined with parked cars and Julian could hear the music of the party before he saw it. It was a classic LA party, right from the movies, and Julian suddenly felt very self-conscious in a zip-up sweater.

  “I’ll bring your bags to your hotel,” the driver said as he pulled to a stop before the ranch-style home. A valet came and opened the door for Julian. “They’ll be in your room when you return.”

  “Um, let me grab something first. Hold on.” Julian scampered into the back and exchanged his sweater for his suit’s coat. It wasn’t perfect, but at least he felt a little better in this crowd. “Do you know where The Ponytails are in there?”

  The driver shrugged. “Good luck, man.” And he peeled away, leaving Julian without a lifeline. Worse, when he went to retrieve his phone and text Kat that he was here, he realized he’d left it in the backseat of the car.

  “Shit.”

  “Excuse me?” the man at the entrance of the LA home asked.

  “Sorry. I’m looking for someone. Kat Dennis?”

  The man looked at Julian blankly.

  “How about Josie Jones? Of the Ponytails?”

  He shook his head, suddenly looking at Julian suspiciously. “What’s your name? I need to check if you’re on the list.”

  “Uh, Julian, um, Dennis.”

  The man scanned the list, a little surprised to find Julian’s name printed there. “Go right on in.”

  Julian grimaced at him. So far, this p
lace didn’t seem all that friendly. He entered his first ever Hollywood party. It was everything he expected it to be. Beautiful women wearing tiny dresses. Good looking guys hitting on said women. Fancy cocktails and microbrew beers and loud music being spun by a female DJ wearing a bikini top and a pair of painted on jeans. Sex permeated the air, and somewhere in here was Kat. His wife. Who was probably horny as hell.

  He searched the inside of the house for her, and while he spotted several B and C list celebrities, he didn’t find his wife, or anyone else from the Ponytails, for that matter. There were some bedrooms in the way back—a few of which had closed doors—but he didn’t dare check there. Not yet.

  Behind the house was a pool, lit up with underwater lights, and occupied by some patrons who’d thought to come in bikinis. The crowd wasn’t as stifling out here, but just as crowded. And he still couldn’t find his wife and her friends.

  “Excuse me,” he said, stopping a redhead wearing a short, blue dress. “Maybe you can help me. I’m looking for…Josie Jones?” He figured if this woman recognized a name, it would be Josie’s.

  The redhead got it right away. “From the Ponytails? Yeah, I saw them hanging out on the deck. Other side of the house.”

  Julian looked at the woman. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Sorry to stare. This is my first party like this. It’s like going to my high school reunion, only I’ve forgotten everyone’s name. Except here, I actually never knew anyone in the first place, just saw them on TV or the movies or something.”

  He stopped when he realized he was rambling, but he was surprised to see the redhead nodding in agreement, her eyes lit up. “Yes!”

  “You look familiar.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that. I’m just another struggling actor in this town is all. Maybe you saw me in a commercial?” There was a sweetness to her that was magnetic.

  “Maybe.”

  “Don’t let this one fool you,” a deep, cock-sure voice said. Julian would have recognized it anywhere, but was still surprised to see Aaron Simpson join them, putting his arm around the redhead. “This one’s destined to be big.” He squeezed her close.

  “Oh, stop, Aaron,” she said, blushing.

  To Julian, Aaron said, “Take a good look, my man. You can one day say that you met Hayley Martin before she was an international sensation.”

  “You’re embarrassing me,” Haley said, although she was smiling.

  “Get used to it. When Prisoner’s Wife is out, your life’s going to change.”

  Julian cleared his throat. “I better…” He indicated the direction she’d said his wife was. “It’s nice meeting you.”

  Haley nodded, but Aaron had already dismissed him. He was all for the redhead. If those two weren’t an item, they soon would be.

  Just as the redhead said, Julian found The Ponytails gathered on the deck on the side of the house. Behind them, LA glittered beyond the dark hills the house was perched on. Other than Josie, he’d met them all five years previously at his wedding, but would have recognized them even if he hadn’t. He’d spent a lot of time looking over pictures online of The Ponytails, album artwork, tour photos. Now in their mid-thirties, every one of them matured into their beauty, and tonight, they were dressed to show off.

  Kat jumped up, giving him a quick flash of the flouncy, bright blue dress she wore before she wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug, sloshing a little beer in the process.

  “You made it!” she squealed. When the hug was over, she pulled back and kissed him hard, her mouth cold and wet from the drink. “God, I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you, too,” Julian said. He hugged her again. “And it’s good to see you here. This place is—”

  “Pretty surreal?”

  “Yes. I just ran into Aaron Simpson.”

  Josie approached them. “Well, this is his home.”

  “Really?”

  “His Beverly Hills one, anyway. He spends most of his time out in Malibu.” The blonde pushed a lock of hair from her face. “Hey, Julian. Glad you could make it out. Now George will have a guy to talk to.”

  Beside her stood George, Josie’s husband, and a man who didn’t match his idea of what a George should look like—whatever that was. He was short and bald and looked like an accountant in little owlish spectacles. How on Earth did Josie Jones go for a man like that? Far less marry him. Yet when he spoke, his voice was calm and confident, and when he shook Julian’s hand, it was firm.

  “Nice to meet you, man. Kat’s been talking nonstop about you.”

  “Really?”

  “Just missing you, that’s all.” Kat snuggled against her husband. Then she bounced off him, taking his hand and pulling him along. “Come on, meet the rest of the gang.”

  Julian laughed, unable to get over the change in his wife. She seemed effervescent in a way that he wasn’t used to, practically skipping with energy. Had she been burying this all these years?

  The band greeted him like they were old friends, each coming over and giving him a hug—something he didn’t mind at all given the tightness of their cocktail dresses. He probably knew Renee, the keyboardist, the best since she lived only a couple hours away. She was a petite fireball of fun, her shoulder-length hair dyed neon red, as though being a natural redhead just wasn’t enough for her. Tonight, her hair was tied back in mischievous pigtails rather than the customary ponytail, to reveal a splash of freckles that should have been cute, but came off as sexy. “Hey, Julian. Been too long,” she said after the hug. “You’ve been keeping in shape. Could you talk to my husband about that, please?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

  Alyssa, the bass player, was next, hugging him just as tightly. She’d been a brunette the last time he saw her, but tonight, her hair appeared lighter, highlighted to almost a honey-blonde as it caught the soft lights around them. It was long, straighter than Kat’s, and pinned out of her face. She had a bit of Russian in her blood, giving her beauty a balanced perfection that was even more stunning now than when she was younger.

  “I now understand why Kat couldn’t go a few days without you,” she said. Where Renee was cute, Alyssa was sultry. He felt himself stir, and did his best to ignore it. “You’ll have to let me borrow him later, Kat.”

  “Get,” Kat said. “Hands off this one.”

  Alyssa laughed, pouting, but took a step back.

  “So Aaron asked us to do a quick set here,” Kat said, and for the first time, Julian noticed the amps set up on the deck, along with the drums, all set against the backdrop of LA.

  “I’m guessing you guys said yes?”

  Josie laughed. “One doesn’t say no to a man like Aaron.” Aaron. She even called him by his first name. They were officially in La La Land.

  “What about your drummer? Thought Jacqueline was having a baby.”

  “We got a replacement—Lisa,” Josie said, her eyes shifting behind him. Julian looked, and a tall woman with a shaved head turned to them at the sound of her name.

  Lisa was something of a surprise to Julian, not necessarily because she was head-and-shoulders taller than him, but because her whole look was just darker than the rest of Ponytails really went for. It was more death metal than hard rock.

  “She does know it’s called ‘The Ponytails’, right?” Julian said.

  Josie laughed. “She’s only a stand-in.”

  “We can buy her a wig if she needs it,” Renee smirked.

  Lisa approached them at Josie’s signal, and her smile was ready and friendly. “You must be Julian. So glad to finally meet you. Your wife’s been talking you up.”

  “So I heard,” Julian laughed. “Well, good luck, throwing yourself in with this bunch.”

  Lisa chuckled. “I’m up for anything.”

  “So, you guys are doing, what, a song?”

  “Actually,” Josie looked back at the group. “We’ve been working on something
new, too. Brand new.”

  Kat added, “Josie wrote it a while ago, and we practiced over the last few days. It’ll be kind of rough, but—”

  “It’ll be great,” Josie interrupted. “And it’ll give this bunch a thrill.”

  “We plan on playing Prisoner of My Heart first, then a few of our other hits from back in the day,” Alyssa said.

  “And then hit them with the new one,” Renee finished.

  “Glad I made it here in time,” Julian said.

  “Well, we don’t go on for a little bit. Need to finish setting up here. It’s all kind of last minute stuff.”

  George put his arm around him. “Come on, let’s grab a drink. Leave the ladies—and gentleman—to transform themselves into rockstars.”

  Kat kissed him. “I’ll see you in a bit,” she said, and Julian read suggestion into the look. She must have been amped up, and playing in front of this LA crowd would get her only more so. He was in for a treat tonight.

  *

  George and Julian ended up settling into a spot beside the pool, sharing a beer as scantily clad women pranced about. It was hard not to look, but Julian tried. Until George called him on it.

  “Go ahead. Look. They don’t mind.”

  “I’m not…I mean…” Julian blushed. “This is crazy.”

  “This scene?”

  “Yeah,” Julian said. “We live in the suburbs now. We hang out at local bars. Jeans and tennis shoes kinds of places.”

  “Yeah, no thanks,” George said, then seemed to realize how offensive that sounded. “Sorry man, I didn’t mean anything against you. It is weird to think of Kat Conti living in the burbs, though.”

  Julian’s chest tightened. He knew something. Of course he did. “Why’s that?” he asked tentatively.

  George studied Julian, raising his brows slowly. “How much do you know about what went on back then?”

  Julian’s heart began to race. “Not much. Just that they were really busy, and spent a lot of time on a cramped tour bus.”