by Lexy Timms
“You mean to tell me you haven’t noticed all the crazy shit she’s been doing? Maybe you haven’t noticed because you’re too caught up in getting ready for Royale…and in Logan.”
Her teeth clenched together so hard she was pretty sure she heard a molar crack. “Look, I know my cousin, and—”
“She’s doing molly, Ashley.”
Ashley blinked. “Huh? Are you saying she’s a lesbian?”
Charlie snorted, then laughed. “Fuck, no! Not that kind of molly, not a girl. I mean the drug.”
“Oh.” Her face turned eight shades of red as she wondered how she could have possibly misunderstood. “I see. How do you know?”
“Because I caught her at a party last night. I told her it’s stupid, because it is. I mean, I’m no saint, not a good guy, and maybe I’ve got no right to throw stones or whatever, but even I don’t do that kind of shit. I’m no junkie. She got all pissy because I told her how dumb it is and warned her she might end up in jail or kicked out of school if they catch her.”
Ashley knew he was right about that, but she tried to play druggie’s advocate for a moment. “So you saw her do it once, right? I mean, I’m sure lots of people try stuff, especially in college.”
“It wasn’t just once. She’s been doing it for weeks. She’s also been skipping class, just wandering around the campus getting high with all the losers, not doing anything she’s supposed to do. I can’t keep dating her if she’s gonna do that. If she gets caught, I could get in trouble, too.”
“How, unless you’re joining her or getting the stuff for her or—”
Charlie cleared his throat and cut in, “Logan didn’t tell you, did he?”
Her impatience and worry hit a zenith. “Tell me what?”
He shot a foot into the grass and dug it in. “My dad’s not good guy either, Ashley. I guess you know that. I can’t say I blame him, since I pretty much hate him, too. He got into a little trouble for dealing, but he had felony already, and he needed someone to take the rap for him.”
“Wait. Are you saying you took the blame for something your father did? For a crime he committed?”
He shrugged. “I was only admitted here because all that is sealed in my juvenile records, but they do know about it.”
“So you’re sort of on parole, and they’ll kick you out if they think you have anything to do with Kaylee’s, um…problem?”
“Exactly.”
“I see,” Ashley said, and she did, even if she didn’t want to. She sighed heavily, furious with Kaylee even more so than before, then peered up at Charlie again. “Look, I’ll talk to her, but I can’t promise she’ll listen. She wasn’t like this before. I don’t know what happened to her.”
Charlie shrugged. “I’m only telling you because I’m gonna break up with her. I have to. I can’t screw up my only ride.”
“I can’t either. I’m here on a scholarship, too.”
She didn’t want to feel sympathy for Charlie, as it was something like feeling sorry for a great white shark after it ate her leg off, but at that moment she couldn’t help it. He really did look pitiful and helpless, sort of like a wet, confused Chihuahua. She blew out an audible breath. “I’ll talk to her, but as for the breakup… Well, that’s your deal, and you’ll have to deal with it. Leave me out of it, okay? I don’t want to have anything else to do with the two of you and your relationship.”
“Speaking of that, I sorta owe you an apology.”
“Yeah, for starters.”
He pursed his lips. “I know I owe you more than one. About that night… It was all my fault. Logan… He pissed me off, and I really did think I felt some kinda vibe from you, but I know that still didn’t give me the right to…do what I did.”
“Well, at least you’re learning,” she said, her reply rueful and caustic.
“I’m not a rapist, Ashley.”
“Only because I defended myself.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “And I’m glad you did.”
“I’m sure. Jail sucks, from what I hear.”
He shook his head. “Not just because of that.”
“Look, I gotta go.” She turned around and started walking, not at all ready to deal with his apology, sincere as it seemed. She also was not ready to cope with Kaylee doing illegal drugs, but it seemed she had to.
Her cell phone rang, and she fished it out of her pocket and hit the button. “Hey, Logan.”
“Hey. I was just wondering if you’d like to grab some dinner.”
“I’d love that,” she said, as it sounded a lot more appetizing than confronting Kaylee. “I got a lot of studying in, so that was awesome.”
He laughed. “Me, too. I couldn’t believe how far behind I was in Calculus.”
“I hear ya. So, dinner… Where and when?”
“Um, how about pizza and beer?” he suggested.
“I’ll take it.”
“One day, I’m gonna be able to buy you caviar and steak.”
She smiled. “We can buy each other caviar and steak, as soon as Whisky becomes a real airliner act.”
Logan laughed. “I think you mean headliner, babe.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Long day…and I just learned that word today, so gimme a break.”
“Do you really believe that could happen?” Logan asked, his voice holding an emotion she’d never heard in it before.
Her cello case bumped her hip as she walked along and answered, “How could I not? Don’t you?”
“Man, I hope so. That’s what I want more than anything else in the world.”
“I read something in this blog once, about a movie.”
“What?”
“’You can do anything you want if you want to hard enough.’”
“And what was the movie?”
“Um…Drag Me to Hell, I think.”
He chuckled. “Gee, that doesn’t sound like a fun trip. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Well, it’s just positive thinking, in theory.”
He laughed again. “And are you positive you can meet me over at Billy’s ASAP, oh, philosophical one?”
“Billy’s, it is. I just have to dump my cello and backpack at the room.” She hung up and walked faster. Billy’s was right off campus, just fifteen minutes away on foot. Starving and eager to spend some relaxing moments with Logan, she hastened her footsteps. The dorms were noisy and crowded, but there was no sign of Kaylee in their dorm.
“We need to talk,” Ashley scrawled on a sticky note and placed it on her pillow, then deposited her things in her own room and hurried back out, excited about pizza and the hot, sexy guy she would share it with.
CHAPTER FOUR
The sight of Ashley coming in the front door sent Logan’s heart into a fast-beating flurry of excitement. She was dressed in a light, long-sleeved sweater, the thin fabric outlining her trim, toned body. Her skin-tight skinny jeans were tucked into ruby-colored boots, and a thick belt emphasized her narrow waist. Her hair hung over her shoulders and cascaded down her back. She was gorgeous. He’d be an idiot to deny that. How had he gotten so lucky?
Ashley spotted him lifting his hand and smiled, then gave him a sweet little wave. “So…how’d you manage that?” she said, pointing at the pitcher in front of him, full of amber-colored liquid. “I heard they never serve under-agers in here.”
He grinned wickedly, trying to think of a cool, sneaky excuse and then decided the truth was easier. “Well, it helped there was someone of age here when we ordered it. They only check once, just enough to satisfy the law.”
“Nice.”
The pizza was already on the table, too. Ashley looked down at it, then leaned close to inhale the delicious aroma. The slight V-neck of her sweater revealed her cleavage in a most delightful way as she took a deep, appreciative sniff. “Mmm. Sausage and olives? Now you’re talking my language.”
Logan smiled and passed her a plate, then took one for himself. He watched as she ate like a cat, all grace and hunger.
“What?” Ashley said, glancing up at him, still holding the slice in front of her mouth.
“You look great.”
“Eating a piece of pizza?” Her delicate eyebrows shot up and he suddenly wished he was that piece of pizza in her mouth.
“Yeah.”
“Okay…”
He grinned. “It’s more than okay, Ash.”
“Whatever. Just quit staring, silly. You’re making me nervous.”
“Quit being beautiful.” He winked and enjoyed the sound of her laughter.
A few minutes later, after taking a moment to sprinkle some Parmesan on his own slice, Logan blurted, “Hey, I’m sorry I’ve been such an ass about practice.”
She swallowed a gulp of beer. “It’s okay. I get it. You want to win. So do I. However, it’s not just me who’s feeling the stress. And on a more serious note, I can’t afford to lose my scholarship. I’ve need to have time to study and practice.”
“I know. I’ll try to slow down.” He shifted and took another bite, finishing it before he spoke again. “I’m gonna put up a website for the band. Maybe we can start doing more gigs besides The Cave. Maybe we can even get out and do some touring this summer, when classes are over.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Without a record to back us up? I mean, do people do that?”
He shook his head. “No, but if we win Royale, we’d have enough clout to pull it off. If everyone agrees, we could use the prize money to book some studio time and make a real record, with good production and the works.”
She leaned back. “Hmm. I hadn’t thought that far into the future with the band, to be honest. I was planning on going home over the summer.”
Logan wrapped his fingers around his beer glass and stared down into it. “I know.”
“You trying to keep me here?”
“Yes,” he admitted, seeing no point in lying. “I mean, I understand if you have to go home, but your scholarship doesn’t cover summer school, and neither does mine, so…”
She played with her napkin. “You don’t plan to go home?”
He shook his head and downed a big swallow of beer. “Nope.”
He watched her and saw her expression clearly. Suddenly, Ashley looked embarrassed for even asking. He could see the questions running through her pretty head. Why would he? So he can watch Floyd mess his mom up even more? So he can watch that jerk drink himself stupid and verbally abuse everyone? So he can fight the idiot when he decides to swing his drunken fists? So he can deal with Charlie? Heck, I wouldn’t go home to that either.
She moved her hand across the table and caught his. “I’m sorry. I should have… I do know.”
He nodded, thankful she hadn’t said her thoughts out loud. It was bad enough he could read them, but to have them vocalized, out in the open… he wasn’t sure how he’d have reacted. “It’s okay if you want to go home. I just figured with the band… and I thought it might be nice to spend the summer together. We could make some new music, do some gigs, and…just hang out.”
She wiped her hands with the paper napkin. “It sounds great, but where are we going to sleep? I mean, we have to live somewhere, and I can’t afford housing now. If it wasn’t for Kaylee’s dad, I’d be crammed into a single with two beds and some roommate I hate.”
He winced. “I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. Maybe we can pick up enough money from the gigs to make it work somehow.”
Ashley bit her bottom lip, clearly not sold but definitely thinking about it. “It does sound great. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how we do at Royale. I mean, what if we don’t win?”
He stared at her in surprise. She didn’t think they were going to win? He couldn’t imagine it any other way. “Hey, we got this, Ash. They gave us the last slot on the roster. They always let the best bands go last. I mean, c’mon. It’s pretty obvious they think we’ll do well, and we’re good. Really good.”
She set down her greasy napkin. “That’s still no guarantee we’ll win.”
“Yeah, I know.” He couldn’t understand how she didn’t see it. Then again, this all had to do with practice and making it great. That’s why he was pushing practices so hard. “It’s really up to us to do our best.” He cleared his throat, not wanting to get into that argument right now. That V-neck sweater was providing enough distraction. “Anyway, moving on… What are your plans for tonight?”
“I don’t have any.” Her eyes met his over the rim of her glass, sparkling and teasing him as she took a slow sip. “I was thinking of heading back to my place. Maybe my room?” She licked her lips when his raised an eyebrow. “Maybe my bed? You want to come?”
“Literally?” He grinned and finished his beer.
They quickly finished their meal, then set off on their walk back to campus. He placed an arm around her waist, and she snuggled against him. It never ceased to amaze Logan how right it felt to have her next to him. It really was as if they were made for each other; her body fit perfectly into the hollows and curves of his own. He swore their hearts beat at the same time as well. They had a rhythm that no melody could imitate. He hoped he could capture it one day in a song, but for now this was enough. It was thrilling. They were thrilling.
They headed up the stairs at the dorm to her room. A few people shouted Logan’s name and stopped to exchange high-fives or fist-bumps with him. Several asked when Whisky Lullaby was going to play again. People constantly cheering the band. It made Logan swell with pride. In fact, it thrilled him nearly as much Ashley did.
***
Her cello sat against a wall of her bedroom, and he walked over to it, running his hands up and down the old case. “Why an antique cello? I’ve been curious since the first day out in the courtyard.”
Ashley smiled, a bit flattered Logan had noticed, as few others ever bothered to ask. “I just love its tone and, this is going to sound funny, but the way it fits my body, the way it me makes me feel when I play it.”
Silent, he turned and walked back over to her, his mouth met hers and fused. Her pelvis collided with his, and she brushed against his growing erection. “I like the way your body fits against mine. And the way you feel when I play with it.” He thrust toward her, his lean hips bumping hers, and the feel of his heated, hard body against hers incited her lust.
She knew she would never get enough of Logan. He was everything she had ever wanted in a guy. And so much more. He was gorgeous and sensitive—well, the perfect sensitive for a male. He loved music as much as she did. He needed it like he needed oxygen. So did she.
They seemed to be meant for each other, like two notes dancing in a gorgeous symphony in perfect harmony. How does he manage to make me feel like I’m on fire, like my skin and clothes are too tight? What is it about him that makes my body react to his like this? I-I can’t control myself around him. I don’t even want to try.
His hands wandered through her hair, mussing it as his fingers moved along the creamy arch of her neck. Little shivers erupted, and her nipples stiffened and thrust upward. His mouth met her ear, his teeth nipping and tugging at her lobes. His breath was warm and teasing against her skin.
The touch sent her senses reeling. Logan’s mouth was warm, hot, and hungry, and his tongue was clever and playful as he captured her in another kiss. His hands went to her breasts, his fingers kneading and squeezing roughly, making her nipples even more alert, and her knees went weak as his tongue cleverly probed the corners of her mouth.
His hands found the buttons on her blouse, and he made quick work of unfastening them to expose her simple lace bra. Her breasts rose high above the half-cups, threatening to spill over them. His hands found the clasp between her breasts, and his fingers danced along her sternum in a maddening way before he opened the bra to allow them to tumble free into his heated hands. The way his hot flesh felt against hers took her senses upward, spiking and spilling as desire rocketed through her body. She gasped.
“Does that feel good?
She nodded, nibbling at
his neck near his ear. “Yes…very.”
“This should feel even better then.” His fingers gripped her pale flesh and squeezed gently before he bent his dark head and moved his mouth to her nipples. He ran his warm tongue over her areola, then moved his teeth together gently, nibbling on the stiffened points of her excited nipples. His tongue swept across those taut peaks, driving her mad with need, deliberately tormenting and teasing her.
Her head dropped back, giving him more access as her back arched toward him as well. Damn. If he’s trying to drive me crazy, it’s working, she thought, her mind and body rippling with pleasure.
“I’m going to make you beg for more tonight, babe,” he said between kisses and licks. She brought her head forward to watch him. Two can play that game, mister! She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair, then ran her nails down along his neck, scratching lightly. He shivered, and she grinned as her hands moved teasingly up under his shirt and over his tight abs. She found his nipples and rubbed them, making them harden and tighten just as hers had. She slipped a hand down and ran her palm over his erection pressing against his clothes.
“Damn, Ash,” he said in a half-growl.
She grinned like the Cheshire Cat as his body arched into hers again. Her hand fumbled at his zipper. He’d gone commando, naked beneath the confines of his jeans, and his long staff filled her palm with heat and thickness. His skin was silky smooth, with a pulsing muscular strength below that softness.
She made a loose fist and allowed her hand to wander along his shaft, drawing another gasp from him. The sight of his head, bent toward her breasts, held her in thrall. She whimpered and arced her own hips toward him again, her body making a silent plea as a low moan broke from her throat.
They landed on the floor. The carpet felt rough against their skin, but the feel of his body on hers was utterly intoxicating. They undressed each other, fumbling as they tried to move quickly, their hands tugging and pulling in their haste, with no regard for the potential of tearing fabric or ruining zippers and buttons.
His body pressed hers deeper into the cheap carpeting, and his mouth met hers again while his hands ran up and down her feminine form. He cupped her breasts and stroked down the span of her ribs and waist before wandering across the flat expanse of her belly. Logan then used his fingers to slide down to the junction of her thighs. Her body reacted to his touch, reaching to meet his touch and begging him to move faster. His fingers teased her, touching and rubbing the wetness she’d created. He circled her clit, then massaged it, moving his fingers in a side-to-side motion that drove her insane.
