by Ivy M. Jones
Since we were surrounded by his band mates, I let Justin explain about Tyler's baby, still too embarrassed by everything that had happened. Then he told Juliana about my father and how he and my mom had kicked me out. How I'd been sick and unable to work and I'd shown up at Tyler's door. He told her about how my dad had threatened me and the baby.
"You want me to spin the wicked parents angle? The baby daddy is dead and you're there to save the day. Hell, Moreland. You're like Prince Charming. You could marry your Cinderella and you'd still have the fans tossing panties at you," she'd said, fanning herself dramatically.
"No." It had been emphatic and sharp, and I noticed that Juliana had jumped a tiny bit. "You're going to write two press releases. One has the wicked parents angle. The other says she is pregnant, but I won't confirm or deny if the kid is mine. Both will say that we met on a fluke, for which I will be forever grateful and I plan to marry the hell out of her as soon as possible." He paused and looked at me when he spoke again. "We send her folks a nice invitation with the official date for the JP ceremony on it. They also get a copy of two press releases- the one you will send out and the one you won't. It should be pretty easy for her father to figure out that it’s his decision which one of those releases gets sent."
Juliana scoffed at that, trying to convince him to go with the romantic White Knight story that was guaranteed to mean fainting fans at Justin's feet. I laughed inwardly when he refused. I'd basically discouraged him from taking the role when we'd first met, and even though he had chosen it anyway, he refused to use the horror story of my life to spin good PR for himself.
Just another reason to be crazy in love with him.
When the living room finally cleared out, Justin made his way back to the couch and flopped down beside me.
"You're gonna marry the hell out of me, huh?" I asked, poking him in the side.
"Yup. I've been told to put a ring on it. Guess I better call my mom and ask about Gramma Jane's family ring. She keeps telling me it's there for when I finally-" He stopped. "Oh, shit."
"What?" I asked, suddenly worried. I watched Justin's eyes get huge and then he sank into the back of the couch, pressing his hands into his face before letting out a long breath. "What's wrong? Justin, I don't need that ring. I don't even need any ring. It's not a big deal, I swear. What the hell's going on?"
Finally, Justin's hands swept up and over his head, mussing his long hair before he let a glimmer of smile twitch the corners of his mouth up. "My mom is gonna kill me."
"Why?"
"I didn't actually propose. I didn't have the ring I was supposed to propose with. And also? I haven't actually told her I'm getting married- which means the guys knew before my mom did." He swept a hand through his hair again before pulling me into his lap. "My mom is gonna kill me."
"I guess we'd better have that sex we were planning before your mom sends you to sleep with the fishes then, huh?"
"Oh, hell yes."
Justin
"Oh for godsake, Justin. Your aunt Georgie called and told me all about what happened at her house the other day."
I winced. "Seriously? What did she say?"
"She said Andy thought she had killed Tyler somehow, which Ed cleared up for her. Then, I understand, she kissed you pretty good right in the living room after she'd spent most of the afternoon wrapped up in your arms. Georgie said she was putting her money on less than a month. Now, I figured I would get a call telling me you were going to propose. Not that you had proposed. But, ah... Beggars can't be choosers, right? When did you want to come pick up Gramma Jane's ring?"
And just like that, I knew I would live another day. Mom was so thrilled I was marrying Andy, she decided not to care that she wasn't the first to know, and that I'd done it all a bit wrong.
"I want to get something right, mom. I need some help with that part."
"You want to knock her socks off with this one?" I heard the hesitant catch in her voice. She really wanted me to go all out.
She shouldn't have worried. With Andy, I would always go all out.
"Yup. I'm all ears."
Mom's idea was so spectacular, I almost couldn't wait to put it into affect. The timing was important, and it was going to require some help, but I was up for it. I had to wait a few days for some stuff to show up at the house, though. The guys and I had another I Heart NYC show the following weekend and it would take some doing, but I was pretty sure it could all be ready in time.
We were practicing in the studio in my apartment on Wednesday when I heard the front door slam shut around four in the afternoon. A million horrible things went through my head.
Andy had come home because someone attacked her.
She was sick again and the pills weren't working.
Her father had found her and threatened her again.
I was already sweating from the practice, but the cold sweat that hit me now had me running like a crazy person until I made it to the door, relief overwhelming me when I saw that pussycat was okay. She stood in the hallway, panting and glaring, seething like someone had just slashed the tires on her car.
"Pussycat? You alright?"
"Remember how I said I didn't want you to support me? That I wanted to keep my job for as long as possible?" she ground out.
"Yeah..." I said, reaching out to gently pry her purse out of her crushing grip.
"I still do. But I guess that doesn't mean shit when your boss of less than a year finds out you're pregnant, you've already taken all your paid leave, and he decides to be a complete douche."
"Babe, what are you talking about?" I placed her purse on the hall table and helped her shrug out of her winter coat. She hated the much-thicker material, she'd explained, but I'd convinced her it was getting too cold and she had to think of the baby. Now, if I could only convince her to get that kick-ass rocking glider we'd seen in the baby store...
That shit was comfy.
"Well, it seems that a certain picture of us exiting a baby store hit the tabloids in the last day or so. Somehow my boss saw, then boom- I'm being called into his office like he's the principal and I got caught defacing lockers."
"We knew that picture might get published, pussycat," I soothed, trying to calm her. Behind me, I heard some of the guys wander into the hallway to find out what the commotion was. I gestured that I needed ten minutes and shooed them away.
"Yes. We knew. But do you know what they wrote? Apparently, I'm pregnant with your kid. I got knocked up in order to trap you. You were looking at baby gear in order to placate my gold-digging tendencies."
"All of which we know isn't true," I said, leading her over to her favorite recliner. I sat, then pulled her into my lap. "So what's the problem?"
"Well," she began caustically. "I guess my boss – or should I say former boss – likes to believe what he reads in the tabloids. I'm officially out of a job."
"Baby, is that all?"
She glared at me with that evil death ray glare. I winced.
"Pussycat, you were going on maternity leave in a few months anyway. You wanted to be home with the baby, remember? This just moves the time table up a little."
Her anger seemed to fade slightly, but then her shoulders popped back and she looked defiant once more. "And that makes it okay? I got fired from my job for failure to work at a satisfactory level because that douche bag thinks I should have tried harder to work through my nausea. And if that wasn't enough, he also threw in that the company doesn't like to retain employees who garner negative publicity. He didn't come right out and call me a gold-digging whore, but he did mention that since I'm pregnant and will need maternity leave, he could save the company extra bucks by firing my ass. And you're saying that I should be okay with all that?!?"
She was shouting by the end which brought a couple of nosy musicians into the hallway, craning their necks around the corner to see into the living room, but I used my middle finger to tell them to buzz off.
"Pussycat, if it makes you feel better,
we'll sue him for wrongful termination. But at least now you won't be on your feet working in that office for hours at a time now. You can sleep in, spend some time getting the baby's room ready, maybe plan that small bridal reception my mom's been hounding me about. You don't have to worry. I told you I'd take care of you and I will." I kissed her on the forehead and dropped my nose down to rub my slightly-scruffy face against hers. I held her in my arms and nuzzled against her, my body reacting to nothing but her scent and proximity in a matter of seconds.
She sighed and shimmied against my obvious erection. Her eyes glazing slightly with lust, and I realized I had at least one way to make her feel better. I stood, hoisting her into my arms to carry her to our room.
"Everything is changing so fast, Justin. I just wish something in my life would remain constant," she lamented as I set her down on the edge of the bed.
"I can promise one thing won't change," I whispered, sliding her tasteful-yet-sexy work blouse over one shoulder, baring her bra strap.
"What's that?" Her head tilted to the opposite side, leaving a long, creamy expanse of skin from her shoulder, up her neck. I used my tongue to trace the flesh leading from the tendon down to her clavicle.
"Me. I'm here for you and that won't ever change."
Her mouth found mine and I got to proving just how crazy I was about her.
The guys would have to wait longer than ten minutes, but I didn't care. Pussycat needed me, and I was going to be there for her, doing whatever I could to make her life good.
Justin
That night at The Tap, Zach had asked us all to help him get his girl from Night of Dreams back. I had a private investigator working on it and at last report, the girl, Sarah Jennings, didn't live in Lakemont, Pennsylvania anymore. She had just recently gotten an apartment in New York City. Hell, the guy could have been shopping and run into his high school sweetheart at the organic soap store.
The other guys all had things they had promised to do as well. Cy had contacted his uncle, a lawyer in Detroit, to ask about the charges and to see what had happened with the case. Cy's uncle had confirmed what Zach had already said- the statute of limitations had expired. Zach had never been formally charged, so he wasn't wanted. He had originally been a person of interest, but the police hadn't been able to find him and eventually the case went cold.
Griffin had the... well... hardest job, to be graphic. Sarah had been sitting with another girl at The Tap, and after the alone time backstage with Zach, Sarah had taken off, hitching a ride with the same friend to get home. They obviously knew each other and it was up to Griff to pump the friend for info on Sarah. Out of all the guys in the band, charisma-fountain-Griffin would have the easiest time shmoozing the chick. Zach was non-specific as to how, but it was implied that a soft surface – something in the shape of a bed, probably – might work best.
I chuckled to myself. It was no real hardship for Griffin to bump uglies with some random chick. And Sarah's friend had been easy to find. Lucy Henry and Sarah Jennings were co-signed on the lease for the apartment listed as Sarah's new address.
The PI report, explaining about Lucy and Sarah’s new digs in the City, came in around noon on Thursday while I was home with Andy. The guys were all supposed to be in a meeting with Juliana, crafting statements from the band as a whole and from each guy individually about my upcoming wedding and my bride-to-be. But when I sent a text asking if everyone was still in the meeting, Cy sent a confusing text back that said, I M only one here.
I shot back a quick, Griff? Zach?
After almost an hour, Cy finally sent back a single word, Left, and no other explanation. Had none of them had stuck around long enough to make a worthwhile statement? It took time to craft something like that, and then the guys had to okay it. I worried that they'd been blowing smoke up my ass. All three guys had admitted that they liked pussycat, and Griffin had gone even further, saying that he approved of Andy and Nicki hanging out because they seemed to get along well. I agreed. Andy and Nicki had hung together during the concert at The Tap, and Andy had only had good things to say about Nicki.
Because the guys were not actually together, I sent out a mass text telling them I had new info for Zach's cause.
Immediately, I started getting responses. No one was available for the rest of the day, though not one of them explained why. Wasn't this supposed to be important to those assholes?
Zach's text back was downright confusing... Let's get this over with. #shoot me now.
We coordinated to meet Friday, the following day, for lunch. Our "I Heart NYC" tour was doing a double-header over the weekend, with an early show on Friday and another nine pm show on Saturday. Lunch tomorrow before the early show was likely going to be the only opportunity we'd have until Monday.
The meeting was a bit of an anti-climax. Zach took the PI's report and stashed it in his pocket, finished his lunch with little conversation, and left, slapping down cash for his meal before hurrying off. I figured he was heading out to visit Sarah, but when the other guys all started to get up and leave, I put my foot down.
"What the hell's going on with you all? First you ditch on Juliana, now on me? I haven't been that tied up with Andy, have I? You guys trying to get used to partying without me now that Andy's around?"
Cy sat again and pulled out his phone, sending a text by the looks of it.
"I've just got shit to do, man," Griffin shrugged, tossing himself back down into his seat. "Did you want me to sit here and knit doilies with you or something? Go home. Bang Andy. God knows how you managed to get out of the apartment in the first pla-"
I didn't let him finish his thought, just popped him in the eye and sat back down. "You don't talk about her like that, asshole."
"Jesus, Jus! The paparazzi would kill for the picture you just handed them." He massaged his reddening eye and glared at me. "You want to hit me, fine. But don't do it somewhere they can see." He held his water glass up to his face. "It's your head if I get a shiner. Will is gonna kill you."
"I already survived the firing squad once this week with my mom. I can handle Will." I waved my hand in the air. Seriously, my mom could have flayed me alive.
I hadn't heard if Will was back in the office yet though... "Or would I have to handle Juliana?"
I swore I saw Cy twitch and turn pink around his ears.
"I really do have somewhere to be," Griffin huffed.
"Fine. Go. I'll make you one of those creepy doll things you see in old lady bathrooms, sticking out of the spare toilet paper rolls." I grinned evilly.
"Isn't the chick the one supposed to start knitting shit when she's pregnant?" Cy asked, his sunglasses reflecting a glare directly into my eyes. I watched him realign his angle as I moved so that he could continue to get me in the eye no matter what.
"Seriously? You're both assholes. I'm going home to my doily-free apartment where my hot fiancée is waiting for me."
Griffin was already standing, sliding his sunglasses on with one hand while flipping through his wallet with the other. "Does she knit?" he asked, his face serious. "Cause you should ask her to make you one of those nursing blankets. You know... For when your milk comes in?"
I let him duck away from the hit that would have nailed him in the bicep.
Cy just laughed and wandered away.
I sniffed my arm pits and shrugged. At least I didn't stink, so that wasn't it. And I hadn't changed that much since I'd met Andy. Something weird was going on.
I had no time to really think about it, though. Andy had my pants off about sixty seconds after I got through the door.
Andy
The place was completely empty of people, which looked really odd when we walked in. Since it wasn't actually open yet, the emptiness made sense. But the empty club, Kermit's, just looked odd.
So did the giant Kermit look-alike in green neon on the sign out front. Only, to avoid licensing restrictions, this Kermit was wearing thick, hipster glasses in purple neon.
I po
inted at the sign. "With a sign like that, I can't believe I don't remember watching you play here."
Justin laughed and pulled me closer. "Yeah. It's kind of a strange place," he admitted. "But we played a single night here back... Geez, almost in the very beginning. And none of us could forget that freaky sign."
In terms of marketing value, it apparently did the job even if I didn't remember it. Who was I to criticize the method?
Back inside, I scoped out a pretty decent table and plopped down. I didn't like that Justin had been right, but being on my feet all day had started taking its toll on me. The nausea pills were still working at one hundred percent, but my body just did not like the extra work of being vertical if it could be helped.
Justin had also been more than willing to keep me on my back whenever he could.
I was getting turned on just thinking about it.
Suddenly, Nicki was in front of me. I hadn't even seen her come in. "When did you get here?" I asked, my hand over my heart as I let it settle from the surprise.
"Just came in," she said, a little too casually.
I watched as she shifted the second chair at the table until it was at an angle to the stage.
"You don't want to actually watch?" I asked. Justin and Cy had started to do sound checks. Once the club opened at seven, Dark Fire would go live.
Nicki shook her head, almost too nonchalant, and I stared.
She twitched in her seat, her eyes dancing around to anywhere but me. I was impressed when she managed to last nearly a whole minute before breaking down.
"Griffin asked me not to stare," she finally admitted.
"Griffin asked you not to stare?" I shook my head and scrunched my brows at her. "Because you might, what? Burn a hole through him?"
"Actually, of the two of us, you have the evil glare down. I'm always a little nervous you're going to fry some of Justin's hair when you turn it on him."
