Claiming Addison: 69 Bottles #1

by Zoey Derrick

  “What?” I say. “You never told me that?”

  He laughs, “You didn’t need to hear it again, besides I was on cloud fricken’ nine about it. Hence the song.”

  “You wrote an entire song, music and lyrics in four hours because of that video? Seriously, dude, that’s…”

  “No, silly girl. I’d been working on the song for a long time, but it just never felt right. Until I found the right woman to sing it with me.” He smiles sweetly at me. “Don’t forget, you’ve already agreed to ‘Your Eyes’, every concert.”

  The guys laugh and I blush. He wouldn’t. Would he?

  “Oh, he would,” Kyle says. Damn it. I said that out loud.

  “So not fair. Maybe you should hear the song before you judge and jump to conclusions, angel.”

  I want to cross my arms to pout, but as I do the tattoo pain radiates causing Talon to smirk. “I think I like that new tattoo of yours.” I stick my tongue out at him.

  The waiter finally returns with our drinks and we have at it. We keep talking and order some food, thank god, because I’m starving.

  This, by far has been the longest day ever. But being surrounded by these guys makes it feel like family and home. The prospect of that idea is both good and bad…I’m starting to feel like I actually belong somewhere for once in my life.

  The rest of the night in the bar went without incident. I had to hold the guys back from taking over the karaoke stage after a string of really bad, really drunk singers. Then they all tried their hardest to get me to do it. I laughed and told them hell no. They even went so far as to tell me that it was good practice for Albuquerque and I told them to stick it. We stayed in the bar until it closed.

  Talon is really keeping me to my near orgasm agreement to perform ‘Your Eyes’ with him for the rest of the tour. Hell, the man went and wrote a duet for the two of us. Now, I am no rock star and certainly, singing with the alternative likes of 69 Bottles is far from what I’d imagined doing.

  But the idea excites me on some level. Seriously, it’s like the idea of singing in front of thousands of people is terrifying but it is thrilling none the less.

  When we got back to the hotel, it was amazing having my two guys so close to me, making me feel like the most important person in the world. Okay, maybe just their world, but a world none the less. I’m blown away by how comfortable they both seem to be getting with each other and in such a short period of time. I would have never imagined it would happen ever, let alone like this.

  Though I was the center of attention last night and I soaked up every minute of it until we all passed out.

  Kyle loved my new ink. He said he can’t wait for it to heal so he can kiss it. Kyle’s new ink was adding two stars to his chest on his right side. They’re two toned, black, one with red and the other with blue. I’m assuming there is some symbolism behind them, but I don’t press, it’s none of my business and if he wants to make it mine, he’ll tell me.

  So now I am sitting in bed, alone. The guys have left me to run some errands, against my better judgment of course. I told them I’d come with them and they refused to let me go. Told me that I deserved a day in bed. So I am taking advantage of it. With my new ink, a hot bath is out of the question, especially considering the shower alone was enough to make my knees buckle. In all honesty, it feels more like my ribs or muscles are bruised than anything else.

  Tonight is our big dinner party at Cami’s and I have to say that I’m excited about it and even less excited about the fact that there is a good possibility my impending music career is going to be a big topic of conversation. Even still, today the headlines about me are blossoming and all favorable, for now.

  My mom called again this morning; I didn’t get to my phone in time and decide to wait to call her back.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Hi baby, how are you?”

  Oh, isn’t that a loaded question. “I’m great, finally have some down time. How about you?”

  “Oh sweetie, why didn’t you tell me?” she says into the phone.

  “Tell you about what, mom?”

  “That you wanted to sing for a living.”

  I roll my eyes. “Oh mom, seriously? Where did you get that?”

  “Some article I read online. You’re all over the place, they want to know who this mystery singer is and where can they buy her album.” she says with such pride that it makes my heart soar.

  “Oh seriously, mom, it was like a one-time thing, I got caught up in the moment and it just went from there. You know as well as I do that singing for a living isn’t at the top of my list of priorities.”

  “Well, I think it should be. You sound amazing.”

  “Mom, how many times have you watched that video?”

  She hesitates then says, “I lost count after about twenty times.”

  I laugh. “I don’t know what to do about that. Cami, my boss, was at that show and she pulled me backstage afterward and told me that she wants to sign me with Bold. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to think or what to say.”

  “Oh baby, that’s amazing. You deserve it. You should do it.”

  “Mom!” I scold her. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No, sweetheart, I’m not. You’re beautiful and you can do anything you want with your life. I think it would be an amazing opportunity for you.”

  “But what if I fail?”

  “Oh nonsense, they love you already, there is no way you can fail.”

  Oh yes, there are several ways I can fail, but I don’t need to tell her that now. “Mom, Hollywood is a tricky business. One minute you can be on top of the world and the next minute you’re at the bottom of a barrel. I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of roller coaster.”

  “Oh sweetie, sometimes you just have to take a chance, live your life, be who you are, enjoy every minute of it.”

  I wipe a tear from my eye, listening to my mom rattle on and on about how I should throw caution to the wind and go for it. It could end up being the best thing that ever happened to me. Though I have to disagree with her, because Talon and Kyle feel like the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

  We move past the whole music career thing and begin talking about what’s happening in Overland Park, Kansas and it’s no surprise that it’s uneventful.

  “Mom, I will be in Kansas City next week. The band has a concert on Friday. I want you to come.”

  “Oh sweetie, that’s not my kind of music.”

  “Mom, it’s not for the music, I want you to come to see me. We won’t be in town long. We have a show the night before in OKC and a show Saturday night in Des Moines. During the show is the only time I’ll have and I need to be at the show.”

  “Oh, alright.”

  “YAY! I’ll send you an email with the details and where to go to pick up your ticket.”

  “Alright, sweetheart. Where are you now?”

  “I’m in Phoenix. I have a dinner party to attend at my boss’s house here in Phoenix tonight, then we leave for Albuquerque and then onto Galveston and Dallas. I’ll send you the itinerary when I email you about your tickets.”

  “Okay, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, and mom?”

  “Yes.”

  “I love you.”

  “Oh, I love you too, baby. Miss you, and I can’t wait to see you.”

  We wrap up our call a few minutes later and then just as I’m about to pick up my laptop to send her an email, Talon and Kyle come strolling into the suite.

  “We told you no working,” Talon scolds.

  I scowl. “I’m not. I’m emailing my mom information on the Kansas City show.”

  “You’re bringing your mom to our concert?” The look on Talon’s face is amused.

  “Yes, we’re only in town for the show. I won’t have time to see her otherwise while we’re there. Besides, I think she’d like it and apparently I’m being held to my pre-orgasm promise of performing with you for the rest of the tour, so not being there poses a p
roblem, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Oh, I’d let you off for your mom, but since she’s coming, nah, you’re on, baby.” He smiles and bends down, kissing me on the cheek. That’s when I notice the massive amount of bags the two of them are carrying.

  “You guys shop more than girls. What is all that?”

  They both give me Cheshire grins. “Oh baby girl, this isn’t for us.” Kyle wiggles his eyebrows.

  “Oh for crying out loud, I don’t need that much stuff,” I scold.

  “Well, it isn’t all just for you, you know,” Talon says and they set the bags down. “Time to model.”

  I roll my eyes and stand up, trying to see what’s inside. “Oh no, you don’t. We will decide what you try on first.”

  I cross my arms over my chest, pout and tap my foot. “Well then, let’s get this over with.”

  “Do I even want to know how much money you two spent today?” I tease them as I finish trying on the last of the clothes they bought for me today. There are three pairs of shoes, a couple pairs of pants, some shirts, and a few more rock chick risqué outfits for shows.

  “It doesn’t matter. But since you’ll be performing with us, you needed some clothes to wear.” Talon grins. “Besides, we had a hell of a lot of fun doing it.” Then he laughs.

  “How am I going to take all this stuff with us? My suitcase is crammed full enough as it is. I can’t fit this in those bags.”

  “Oh don’t worry, we’ve got that covered too,” Kyle says. “It’s just not here yet.” He smirks.

  I point to one more bag on the floor, but I notice that inside that bag is another black plastic bag. “What’s in there?”

  Talon and Kyle look at each other. “That’s something we can show you later.”

  I roll my eyes. “Why not now?”

  “Because if we show you, we’ll have to break them in and we don’t have time for that.” Kyle smiles a wicked, playful grin.

  “You didn’t?” I scoff.

  “We didn’t do anything,” Talon counters but his grin only gets more devious.

  “You went to a toy store, didn’t you?” They both bust out laughing and I shake my head. “Seems I’m not the only one excited by the prospect of being taken by both of you at the same time.”

  They both laugh and the air grows heavy with sexual tension, but Kyle deflects it. “We have something for you to wear tonight,” he says, then walks around the wall toward the door of the suite. When he comes back he is holding a black garment bag that has another plastic bag hanging from it. I watch as Kyle removes the bag and Talon steps over to him to pull down the zipper on the bag.

  Inside is a deep purple halter top, though the halter aspect is basically spaghetti straps that go around the neck. There are two additional straps that fall down the backside of the hanger. Talon unhooks the hanger from the clasp inside the bag and pulls it out. He turns it around. The two straps hanging down the back of the halter connect to the sides of the top and then there is a deep cowl drop in the back that will showcase my entire back. The bottom of the top is tapered with elastic so that when it sits on my hips it will balloon out in the front.

  “It’s gorgeous,” I say as I reach to take it from Talon.

  “We bought two different bottoms for it. One is a matching skirt, so when you put it together it looks like a dress. The other is a pair of black jeans,” Kyle informs me.

  “So what’s in the bag?” I point to what’s in his hand and a wicked gleam dances in his eyes and he hands the bag over to me. I take it, pulling out the unmarked silver box from inside. The box is big so it is obviously shoes. I toss the bag aside and balance the box on my left hand and open the lid. I nearly drop the whole thing when I see what’s inside. “No fucking way.” I don’t need an explanation on the designer. The signature red sole is enough of a dead giveaway. It’s a pair of purple suede platform pumps with no less than a five inch heel.

  I’m not a prude, and I’ve spent a good amount of money on shoes, but never in my life have I paid more than three or four hundred dollars. These shoes set them back no less than a thousand dollars. “This is way too much. I can’t accept these.” I try and hand the box over to Talon and he refuses to take it. “Seriously. This is too much, all of this is just way too much.” I run a mental total in my head, not counting what’s in the black bag and it has to be more than ten grand worth of stuff. “At least let me pay for all of this?”

  Talon clenches his chest dramatically, but I can see it’s in good fun. “We can’t take it back, sorry.” He shrugs.

  I shake my head. “I mean it, guys, this is all way too much.”

  “You work hard and you deserve it,” Kyle says.

  “Kate worked hard too and look what happened,” I bite back.

  “That’s not fair. That’s different. This is different,” Kyle argues.

  “Why, because you’re sleeping with me?” Both guys flinch and I immediately want to take back my words, but I don’t. I have to stand my ground somehow.

  “No,” Talon growls at me, the look in his eyes is furious and I step back. My heart pounds in my chest. “We bought this stuff for you because you deserve something nice, something special, and something that is uniquely you and something we both know damn well you wouldn’t do for yourself. Addison, it is obvious to both Kyle and I that you spend so much time taking care of everyone else, making sure that everyone else is taken care of that you barely recognize when it’s time to do something for you.”

  I scoff. “I bought tattoos last night, those were for me.”

  I watch as Talon calms down a little bit with my words, but he’s still furious. “Yes, but who outside of your tattoo artist is ever going to see those pieces of art? No one. You barely even show off the beautiful piece of art you have on your back and that, Addison, is a real piece of art and it should be shown off and displayed proudly.”

  Talk about whiplash. We went from them buying me clothes, to a pair of thousand dollar shoes, to attacking my character and insecurities. It’s just all way too damn much.

  “It’s my body, it’s my choice what I want to do with it, or how I want to show it off. Did it ever occur to you that I don’t show it off because I don’t like to be ogled by everyone? Did it ever occur to you that there are personal reasons behind why I don’t show off my back tattoo? No, Talon, it didn’t, because if those occurred to you, you wouldn’t be standing here attacking me for something you don’t understand. I take care of everyone else because I don’t need someone taking care of me. I’ve been the one doing it for so long I don’t know any other way to live my life. Taking care of people is part of my job and it’s who I am. So when you’re ready to get off of your damn high and mighty kick, you can pack it up and take it back. I don’t need your clothes, I don’t need your money and for god’s sake, I don’t need your fucking pity.”

  I throw the shoes down on the couch, pull off the top I’m wearing, and slide out of the jeans I have on as I stalk off toward the bedroom, leaving clothing crumbs in my path toward the bedroom doors. Reaching them, without turning around, I slam them shut, lock them and fall into a heap on the floor.

  Fuck him and his cocky arrogance. I am not a prize, I am not someone who can be bought and god damn it; I don’t need someone taking care of me.

  There are flashes of the past few days that run through my mind. Kyle helping me dress with a migraine, Kyle holding me up while I waited for my boys to plant their kisses, Kyle feeding me, then Talon skipping out on the party to be with me while I slept. The way they pleasure me in bed and the aftercare they provide after they’ve had their way with me.

  My heart shatters the moment I realize that there is a damn good possibility that I just completely screwed up anything I may have had with Talon. Kyle I don’t see running from what just happened, but Talon has already said he’s fragile and that he will fuck up, he asked for patience and I agreed to give it to him and this is how I treat him the first time he does something nice for me.

&
nbsp; I begin to cry, upset and angry with myself for what I’ve done, what I’ve said. I want to take it all back. Then comes a knock at the door, “Angel?”

  Just the nickname alone tells me that it’s Talon who’s come after me. Which, if I have a choice of the two, he is probably the better option since I just blew my cork at him, but I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about this. “Come on, angel, please, open the door. I’m not mad and I’m sorry. Please?”

  Fuck. He apologized to me, damn it. I reach my hand up and unlock the door. “Don’t open it yet,” I say. “Give me a minute.” I get up and go for the bathrobe on the back of the door. Shedding my clothes out there means I’m nearly naked in here and this isn’t the kind of conversation to have like that.

  Once I have the robe on, I open the door. My red eyes meet his worried, almost petrified eyes. “Can I come in?” I nod and he steps inside, taking the door from me and closing it softly.

  “Talon...”

  “I’m sorry,” we say together. “You first,” he says with a smirk.

  “I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry.” I wipe a stray tear from my cheek and he gives me a sad smile.

  “This is all pretty overwhelming, isn’t it?” I nod and take a seat on the bed. “We can take the stuff back.”

  “No, don’t do that. It’s just, Talon, I’m not used to this. I’ve spent so much time alone that having one is hard enough but having both of you has my mind in a tailspin. Please, tell me you understand that.”

  He nods, “I do understand it. I understand it because this is a first for me too. I don’t…” He pauses, runs his hand over his messy facial hair and looks me square in the eye. “I don’t do relationships, Addison, I never have. I never thought I wanted one, but all of that is changing with you and Kyle. I don’t know what to do to make you happy.”