One More Night #3: Backstage Pass #3

by Ali Parker

  “Still have our mojo back,” I heard him yell before the studio door slammed closed behind him.

  Nick was still laughing when his eyes popped wide open. “Shit. He’s my ride. We’re heading out to a party in Malibu some model’s throwing.”

  He bolted out the door as if he didn’t have a whole stable of roadies who would drive him, actual drivers or the Uber app on his phone. Since he had all those things, only one explanation made sense. “He doesn’t know where it is, does he?”

  Dom chuckled and rose from behind his kit. “Nope. Matt met the chick at a photo shoot while we were taking our … break, and she invited him.”

  “Since when is Nick so hard up for models?” Caleb looked from me to Dom to the door, confusion marring his features.

  Dom shrugged, walking to the door himself. “He’s not. Matt mentioned the girl knew that Irish actress he’s been hoping to sink his teeth into.”

  “His teeth, huh?” I joked. “You off too?”

  He cringed at my lame joke and nodded. “Yeah. You coming?”

  “I’m gonna hang back a while. I got something I want to finish up here before I leave.” My eyes drifted to the grand piano sitting in the corner of the studio.

  Dom didn’t question me and looked at Caleb. My brother shook his head, waving at Dom. “I need to talk to Jared for a minute. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you,” Dom replied, pushing through the door.

  Caleb waited until it shut again. “Today went well.”

  “It did.” I walked over to the piano and sat down on the soft velvet bench, lifting the lid. “It’s good to be back.”

  “Amen to that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his chest puffing out as he took a deep breath.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  Releasing the breath, he gave his head a small shake. “I just can’t believe how close we came to losing all this. Guess we’ve got Alicia to thank for saving the day.”

  We did. She was also the reason my fingers were itching to be on the piano keys. A melody had been taking shape in my head since I’d dropped her at her place after we went to see Gerry, along with some lyrics that were struggling to break free from the confines of my mind.

  I was hoping the song would come together if I had some peace and quiet in the studio to just let it flow. “She sure is something, that girl.”

  “I’m sorry about what I said in New York,” Caleb blurted, dragging a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I was out of line.”

  “You mean you’re sorry for telling me to stay away from her?” The memory of that conversation still stung.

  Caleb hung his head, remorse in his eyes when they met mine. “Among other things. I shouldn’t have said all that. You were right. I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, and I shouldn’t have made assumptions.”

  I released a heavy sigh, letting one hand roam across the piano’s smooth keys. “You were also right about a lot of things that day. We do need her, for one.”

  “Yeah, we do,” he agreed. “But I underestimated her by assuming she would walk out if you fucked up. After what she just stuck by us through, I feel like shit for thinking she was like all the others.”

  “She’s different.” In so many more ways than I’d realized before. She was strong, resilient, and resourceful in her job and as a person, a woman, she was just incredible. Something was happening to me when it came to her. I didn’t want to put a name to it yet, but I was hoping this song that was begging me to get out would help bring things into focus for me.

  “You really do care about her, don’t you?” Caleb asked, breaking into my thoughts and putting one possible name to what I was feeling.

  I frowned. I hadn’t said anything about how I felt about Alicia to Caleb, but it looked like I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought. He ignored my expression, a thoughtful look in his eyes as he continued. “I can see that you do. You care about her in a way I haven’t ever seen you care about anyone.”

  “I care about you. And the others,” I retorted. I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with him, or with anyone. Not until I could make sense of what was going on in my head.

  “Not like that, you don’t,” Caleb scoffed. Either he didn’t realize I didn’t want to talk about it, or he just didn’t care. “You care about her in a very different way.”

  My spine tensed, but then I realized it was just me and Caleb in the room, and he already knew at least some of the feelings I was wrestling with. “I care about her.”

  His eyes widened in surprise at my admission, but he quickly schooled his features. “Like I said, different to what I’ve seen from you before. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for warning you away from her.”

  “I understand why you did it.” Which was why the memory of the conversation still stung. Caleb had been one hundred percent right that I was going to fuck things up, and I did.

  If it hadn’t been for Alicia being who she was, she wouldn’t have given a shit about the band after I basically ghosted her after our night together. And if she hadn’t cared about us, I probably wouldn’t have been sitting in the studio right now.

  In a nutshell, everything Caleb had feared from me had been for a damn good reason. The only reason his prediction of my relationship with her fucking up everything for the band hadn’t come true was her character. Not mine.

  Caleb’s lips pulled up into an impish grin. “I know you understand, but I was still wrong to have done it. Consider my nose firmly in my own business from now on. Meddling in things I don’t know about has never been my style, and now I know why. You told me you two knew what you were doing, and I should’ve trusted that.”

  He tapped his fist lightly on the piano, done saying his piece. “I’ll leave you to it.”

  I nodded absently and allowed both hands to finally drift to the keys, pressing down on them softly as the melody in my head jumbled, refusing to come together. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Caleb turn when he reached the door. “I hope things work out for the two of you.”

  “Me too,” I mumbled, but I wasn’t sure he heard me as the door swung shut behind him.

  Finally alone, I closed my eyes and focused on the music. Memories flooded me as I worked. Alicia's eyes the first time I’d met her swam into my mind, the way she’d immediately seen through my act and the way she was always ready with a comeback and always pushed back.

  The melody took shape around the memories and flowed through me, to the piano, creating a beautiful, melancholic piece I hadn’t intended to make, but I could definitely work with. I lost track of time, keeping at it until the notes became clearer, and the lyrics came tumbling out by themselves.

  I was vaguely aware of the air changing, and then Alicia was standing on the other side of the piano. Her lips formed a soft smile as she watched me play. My fingers stilled over the keys, and a crease appeared between her manicured eyebrows when I stopped.

  “I was enjoying listening to you,” she told me earnestly.

  I patted the space beside me on the piano bench. “I want to play something for you if you’ve got a minute. Have a seat.”

  “You know it’s just us left here, right? Everyone else has gone home, so I have a minute, but wouldn’t you rather leave?”

  “After I play you this.”

  She rounded the piano and sat on the very edge of the bench, her eyes continuously darting to the door. I placed my hands on her hips, scooted her closer to me, and then brought my hands up to massage her shoulders.

  “Relax. You just told me everyone was gone for the day. Besides, no one comes in here but you and Gerry while we’re here.”

  Turning her head to face me, she smiled and bumped my shoulder with hers. “You’re right. What’s this you’re working on you want me to listen to?”

  “A new song,” I said cautiously, suddenly feeling nervous about the next part of what I had to tell her.

  Toughen the fuck up, man. It’s just Alicia. Not like y
ou’re baring your soul to thousands of people. Strangely, it kind of felt like it might have been easier to do it that way than as intimately as I was about to.

  I cleared my throat, bringing my fingers back to the keys to start playing the intro to the song. “It’s a song I’m working on. It’s, uh, it’s about you.”

  Before she could react, I launched into it, acutely aware of her sitting right next to me listening to every note, every word. Her body was tense when she sat down and tenser when I’d moved her closer to me, but she relaxed as she listened, and by the time I was done, her head was resting on my shoulder.

  I’d written hundreds of songs, but I’d never been as nervous to hear what anyone thought of one as I was to hear Alicia’s opinion about this one. I risked a peek at her to find her gazing up at me from where her head rested on my shoulder with a slightly dazed look in her eyes.

  “That’s about me?”

  I swallowed past the sudden dryness in my throat, nodding. Alicia lifted her head and put her palms on my cheeks, leaning forward to brush a kiss on my lips.

  10

  Alicia

  He wrote a song about me?

  Holy shit! He wrote a song about me!

  Mr. Jared Larsen, I don’t do relationships and I don’t do girlfriends wrote a song about me. Crazy, but true. It wasn’t a declaration of his undying love for me, but it was … something.

  As soon as he’d told me it was about me, I knew I was going to listen to it over and over again to decipher every single syllable. Now that I’d heard it, I was tempted to take leave for the rest of the year, put it on as loud as the speakers in my apartment could go, and listen to it on repeat.

  Also, I wanted to sit him down and demand he explain to me what it meant. Every. Single. Word.

  But though he was opening up to me in a way I never would've thought him capable of, I could see in his eyes he wasn’t ready to talk to me about it. Just having him play me the song, as totally unexpected as it was, was enough for now. I wouldn’t push him about what it meant.

  Yet …

  I couldn’t stop myself from seeking some kind of reassurance from him that I wasn’t the only one feeling raw and confused about it, so I pressed my lips to his and welcomed the warmth his soft lips brought to my very soul.

  Jared wasn’t good at talking about how he felt. I’d learned that much about him. Singing, he was better at. What he was best at, however, was showing. I think it was because his body allowed him to feel the things his brain didn’t always want to know or admit to him.

  I needed him to show me now, more than ever, that I wasn’t alone in this. Brazen as the move was, I was so caught in the moment and enraptured by the sincerity and almost uncertainty in Jared’s words that I crawled onto his lap and straddled him. My arms hooked around his neck, and my hair formed a curtain around us as I lowered my mouth closer to his again and again.

  Jared responded as I hoped he would. One hand knotted into my hair, bringing my head forward so his lips crashed to mine while his other hand went to my thigh, strong fingers digging into my flesh through my pants. Our tongues touched, stroked, caressed. He kissed me deeply, fiercely.

  You’re at work! My brain screamed at me, but I didn’t put a stop to our kiss or to the madness of grinding against him in his lap right there in the studio. He was doing exactly what I needed from him. He was showing me what the song meant to him, what sharing it with me meant.

  My body came alive under his touch, every nerve ending sparking with need until my clit was aching and I felt painfully empty inside. Rocking my hips against him, I could feel his need matching mine.

  In a flash, Jared planted his hands under my ass and lifted me against him as he stood and carried me over to the couch. I was on my back with his weight pressing me into the soft pillows in no time.

  He kissed me hungrily, and I gasped, sinking my fingers into his dark hair, holding him to me. I welcomed his passionate kiss, so intense that little bolts of electricity shot through me, my nipples beading as a dull throbbing started between my legs.

  Jared pushed his hips forward, his hardness pressing against me. I moaned and tightened my legs around him to bring his body closer to mine. His hands fell to the edge of my sweater, and I lifted my shoulders so he would be able to get it off. My bra hit the floor next.

  Covering my breasts with his hands, I whimpered as he kneaded them. He dropped his head to my nipple and sucked one into his mouth. Clutching at the hem of his shirt, I tugged at the material, and he raised his arms and then reached to grab it at the neck and pull it over his head.

  My fingers found the waistband of his jeans, and after fumbling for a second with his button, I pushed them down. He kicked them to the floor, as he did the same with mine. Heat from his inked skin seeped into mine, and my hands caressed the roped muscles in his back.

  Jared slipped his hand behind my head, bringing his lips down to mine again. I kissed him back, uncontrollable desire for him rising inside me. He kissed me like I was precious to him, his movements tender and slow, almost loving despite where we were and the fact anyone could walk in on us.

  It was true no one came in here when the boys were here, but it was late, and I didn’t know who might be around. The more he kissed me, though, the less I cared.

  This wasn’t about anyone but us. And both of us needed this right now, so very, very much.

  Jared reached for his discarded jeans and had a condom out, opened and on so fast, I nearly missed it. He thrust his tongue into my mouth as he positioned his hard cock at my opening with a tattooed hand, breaking our kiss to look into my eyes.

  With a roll of his hips, eyes glued to mine, he slid through my slick folds, groaning as he entered me. Heat rocketed through me as he moved, reaching for my leg to hook it over his butt.

  “Yes, Jared,” I sighed, arching my back and pressing my chest to his.

  He got my message and reached for my breast with one hand, the other sliding into my hair to guide our kisses as he lowered his lips back to mine. Soft moans fell from my lips as he pinched and squeezed my nipple.

  Like he couldn’t get enough of me, he groaned and tightened his hold on me while his hips increased their speed as he thrust. My hips bucked in furious motion, keeping time with Jared’s. I whimpered and writhed beneath him, devouring him as surely as he was devouring me.

  He moved with steady strokes that hit me exactly where I needed them, in a rhythm as perfect as that of his song. I’d never been with a musician before Jared, but there was something to be said for his ability to keep time and his dexterity. His muscles locked as he thrust into me, stroking me higher and higher until I felt my orgasm fast approaching.

  “Fuck. You’re perfect, Alicia. You feel so fucking perfect.” His rasped words pushed me closer as I rocked against him, angling my hips as he reached down and pressed his thumb against my clit.

  “Come for me, Alicia.” His eyes begged. His thumb rubbed circles around my clit, increasing the pressure and speed until I couldn’t hold back. I clung to his shoulders as I came, riding out the blissful storm thundering through me.

  “Jared!”

  Waves upon wave of intense pleasure crashed over me. My pussy gripped him, holding him there and sending him right over the edge with me. I felt him tense above me, and his hips jerked as his cock twitched deep inside me. He let out a long, low groan and called my name as he rode out his own orgasm.

  Once our bodies stilled, he held me until neither of us was panting anymore, kissing me gently and sweetly as we caught our breath. He rolled over when our heartbeats slowed and pulled me flush against him on the couch. It was cramped, and we couldn’t really both fit lying side by side, but we managed.

  “You have to put that on the album,” I whispered to Jared when my senses started coming back to me. I was afraid to raise my voice any louder than that, not quite believing we’d just done all that in the studio. “It’s going to be a hit.”

  “I don’t know.” His hand was
tangled in my hair, stroking the long waves almost absently. Eyes closed, he looked like he was about to fall asleep. “I just had to get it out. Wasn’t really for anyone but you to hear.”

  “I’ve heard it, and I loved it.” I really, really did. Though it was about me, it wasn’t like I was named in the song or anything. No one would know but us.

  Plus, as much I needed it recorded for selfish reasons, it really was a brilliant, beautiful song, and the fans were going to lose their shit over it. “It could be a bonus track. I could use it for promotional purposes. It would do great.”

  He was quiet for so long, I had to look up at him to check if he’d fallen asleep. His eyes weren’t closed anymore. They were wide open, focused on something on the ceiling. Nodding as he tore them away from the ceiling to look at me, I saw a spark of something unfamiliar in his eyes before he agreed. “Okay. We’ll record the song for the album, but only because you want it there.”

  11

  Jared

  "And that, gentlemen, is how it's done." I turned to the others, standing behind me and grinned like a madman. Down to the last man, the band looked to be as proud as I was. Four smug, satisfied faces grinned back at me.

  We were in the studio to record the last portion of the album. The smooth streak we’d hit with recording after we got back to work had continued through to the last note. Not even Dominic complained or accused anyone of not taking it seriously enough.

  "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is going to be our best one yet."

  "Hell, yeah!" Matt cheered and high fived Nick beside him. He flipped his fringe off his forehead and tilted his head. "Make room on the mantles boys. We might not have been aiming for it, but I predict a couple of awards in our future."

  Dom raked his shoulder-length hair back and held it at the nape of his neck, still grinning as he shook his head. "What's that saying about counting your chickens before they’ve hatched?"