CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Jed had promised to take Lillie up the Empire State Building. This would be the perfect time to tell her what he had been doing all morning, leaving her alone on her first morning in the city. He felt bad about lying to her all this time, but he was going to tell her everything this afternoon. He only hoped she understood why he had kept it secret.
He took in her dark green minidress and long biker boots and suggested postponing the sightseeing trip to stay in instead.
‘Jed, you promised me,’ Lillie said.
He widened his eyes at her, all fake innocence.
‘What? I was just thinking -’
‘I know what you were thinking,’ she laughed. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for that later. C’mon, we only have a few hours left now and you left me alone all morning.’ She pouted at him and guilt flashed through him before he sighed and dragged himself off the bed towards the now open door.
‘You know, it’ll still be here when the tour’s done,’ he said, pinning her body against the doorframe and kissing her hard.
‘Ahem.’
Jed frowned and pulled back from Lillie’s mouth.
‘Don’t you guys ever stop?’ Johnny said, grinning.
Jed felt Lillie stiffen and realised Johnny wasn’t alone. Jessica stood next to him, hostility radiating from her body. Fucking great, he thought.
‘Hope you don’t mind if we tag along,’ Johnny continued, his grin faltering as he took in everyone’s expressions. Jed glowered at him and was about to tell him to fuck off when Lillie spoke.
‘Of course not,’ she said, smile on her face.
Jed marvelled at her polite acceptance of their intruders and grabbed her hand, leading the way to the elevator, wondering why the hell Johnny was gate crashing their afternoon. Desperate as he was to ask him, he didn’t dare leave Lillie alone with Jessica.
He gripped Lillie’s hand, eyes fixed on nothing. Damn Johnny and Jessica. He had been waiting months for this opportunity. He knew Lillie was paranoid about his bizarre behaviour sometimes and he understood it to a certain extent. Knew that the curt phone calls and the painting over of his bedroom wall were just cause for any suspicions she might have.
A surge of anger rippled through him and he felt Lillie turn to look at him. He smiled at her, forcing the corners of his mouth up and relaxing his grip on her hand. She smiled back but her eyes were still pained, a hint of distrust in them. God, he wished he had just told her straight away. Now, he had made it such a big deal in his own head that he didn’t know how to tell her.
He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t found out on her own. He was constantly on edge, waiting for someone to accidentally say something. His rehab revelation had held her off for a while but he had known it wouldn’t last.
He would have to tell her tonight now. After the gig. He threw an angry look in Johnny’s direction but it went unnoticed. Johnny was apparently busy reading the tattoos on his left hand. He felt the hardness in his eyes bleed out as he moved to watch Lillie, staring at her shoes. He could feel the tension in her, mirroring his own.
Jed let his irate gaze hover on Jessica’s face for a tiny moment. He knew she would take any opportunity to tell Lil something that might ruin them. Jessica’s ridiculous infatuation with him would be trouble enough even if she didn’t accompany it with an obvious loathing of Lillie all wrapped up in tight, cleavage revealing clothing.
His eyes flickered from her face down to her chest, displayed today in a zip-up leather waistcoat. She was shameless, he thought as he grudgingly admired the swell of her breasts, forcing his eyes back to the lift wall, via Lillie to make sure she hadn’t seen him staring at Jessica’s chest. He hated himself for it but he was just a man, hardwired to appreciate a good rack.
He felt a brief disgust with himself as a memory of Jessica, topless and straddling him, flashed into his head. He closed his eyes and viciously blinked away the unwanted image. Those had been dark days and Jessica was a dark girl, manipulative and ruthless in the pursuit of her desires.
The lift finally opened and the four of them spilled out into the hotel lobby, each breathing in the relief of fresh air, a large open space and the distraction of other people. Jed headed straight for the doors, pulling Lillie behind him. Outside on the pavement, he breathed in the New York air, wishing he still smoked when he thought about the hideousness of the next few hours.
He turned to Lillie and swept her into a long kiss, feeling gratified as she pushed her fingers into his hair and pulled it, her tongue immediately twining around his and her body pressing against him. Someone wolf whistled and he let her go, catching Johnny’s eye as he straightened up. Johnny winked at him and Jed turned away, catching a glimpse of Jessica, stood next to Johnny, rigid with anger and jealousy.
God, it was going to be a long fucking afternoon, he thought.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
The door closed and Lillie sighed in relief, sharing a silent, pained look with Jed. Whatever had been bothering him earlier was thankfully out of his head now. She wondered if the awful afternoon had overridden the reason for his tension.
In the end, he seemed to be the only one enjoying the sightseeing, his mood lightening as Jessica and Johnny had grown more and more silent and sullen. As Johnny’s grins became smaller, Jed’s grew wider. Lillie didn’t know whether Johnny’s mood was a result of Jessica’s eyes being constantly on Jed or if it was a product of Jed being even more tactile and affectionate with Lillie than usual.
She didn’t even know if Johnny and Jessica had a thing going. She assumed that they did and, she had to admit, Jessica was very pretty and had great boobs. Boobs that she had noticed Jed noticing which filled her entire body with jealousy. She had had to remind herself several times that Jessica wasn’t the one that Jed couldn’t keep his hands or lips off all afternoon.
Half way through the afternoon, she had excused herself to call Kate and when she had returned, they were all stood studiously ignoring each other. It had been, hands down, the most awkward few hours of her life.
Jed lay on the bed now, beckoning her over with a lustful glint in his eyes and he pulled her to him and kissed all memory of the tense afternoon away, before suddenly breaking away and jumping off the bed. Pulling a small bottle of Jack Daniels out of his bag, he took a long swig.
‘Man, that was a goddamn awful way to spend an afternoon, huh?’ he said, taking another long drink. ‘That is not what I had in mind, Lil. Those two need to cheer the fuck up.’
Lillie got up and took the bottle from him, taking a big swig from it herself.
‘I thought you seemed to have quite a good time,’ she said, watching him carefully.
‘Well, there’s no harm in letting people know what’s what,’ he said, moving in for a kiss whilst he manoeuvred her so that she was against the desk. She leaned away from his mouth reluctantly,
‘What does that mean?’ she said but he didn’t reply, kissing her neck instead, his hand moving down in between her legs. She didn’t let herself be distracted.
‘Jed, what do you mean?’ she asked again.
He raised his head to stare at her, eyes clouded with lust. He lifted her onto the desk, pulling her forwards and standing between her legs.
‘Lil, let’s not talk about this now,’ he said, fingers inside her underwear now.
She opened her mouth to argue but he moved in quickly to cover it with his own and she forgot what it was that she wanted to know as his fingers worked their magic.
Half an hour later, she had definitely forgotten whatever it was she had been so eager to find out. She couldn’t even remember what they had been talking about and she didn’t care; it couldn’t have been that important she thought as she lifted her head, stretching herself up to kiss him. His lips tasted like salty vanilla and Jack Daniels and he turned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around
her, their chests touching.
‘We need to get showered and dressed,’ he whispered and she nodded sleepily.
‘I know. Just one more minute here,’ she said, kissing him lazily, her hands sliding up his back. He kissed her back until she pulled away, snuggling into him as he held her tight for a long moment before letting her go, an ache in her body as cool air replaced the heat of his skin. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder before going into the shower.
***
Lillie was asleep on the bed when he emerged from the bathroom, towel around his waist. He stood watching her for a while, a look of utter contentment on her face. The perfect curves of her body, the dark waves of hair, mouth parted slightly in her sleep. He debated whether to leave her a bit longer or wake her up, deciding that she would probably be mad at him if he left her to sleep and cut down on her getting ready time. He leant over and shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes and blinked at him.
‘You’re wet,’ she said, sitting up, pert breasts dragging his attention away from her sleepy face.
‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘you should shower, Lil. It’s coming up for half past five and we have to leave here at six.’
Her eyes snapped into focus and she leapt off the bed. She was in the bathroom before he had time to draw breath and he smiled, congratulating himself on making the right choice as he pulled out black jeans and a dark grey t-shirt from his bag and got dressed, turning on the television.
Sitting on the bed, he distractedly watched music videos, whilst Lil got dressed in a short, fitted black dress with long sleeves and her biker boots again. He turned away, concentrating hard on the inane pop video playing, as she leant over the desk to apply her eye make-up, dress riding tantalisingly up her legs.
She was humming “Dead Famous” as she swept mascara onto her already long eyelashes. Jed turned off the TV, leaning back on his hands and singing along with her. She turned around when she’d finished her make-up and danced over to him, straddling him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She stared into his eyes for a long moment before kissing him deeply. His head swam with desire for her and he debated telling her everything right now. Why wait?
A knock at the door interrupted them and Lil slid off Jed’s lap to answer the door.
‘Let’s go! New York awaits us!’ Johnny exclaimed, bouncing into the room.
Jed watched as Johnny’s eyes travelled up and down Lil’s body and he whistled.
‘Looking hot, Lil,’ he said, before turning to Jed, who was still sat on the bed, waiting for his erection to subside.
‘Fucking New York City, man! Home town, dude!’
Jed laughed and raised his hand for a high five as Johnny walked over to him.
‘Oh shit, did I interrupt something?’ he said, turning to wink at Lil as he noticed the bulge in Jed’s jeans.
‘You two must be rubbed raw,’ Johnny continued. ‘Still, can’t say I blame you Jed.’
‘Yeah, well, we should get going,’ he said, checking the time on the hotel alarm clock and grabbing the Jack Daniels. He put it in his back pocket, found his jacket and keycard and motioned Johnny and Lil out of the room.
‘Where’s Jessica?’ he asked, cutting into the silence.
‘She’s gone to meet the others at Room 18, then I think they’re gonna come backstage for a bit before our set,’ Johnny said. ‘Sorry about this afternoon, I guess I didn’t really think about how weird it might be for everyone.’ He directed his apology at Lil, who shrugged.
‘It’s okay,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘I must admit, I find it a bit strange that she would put herself in that situation, when she’s never had any encouragement from Jed, but – what?’
Too late, Johnny straightened out the frown of confusion on his face. Lillie whirled around to look at Jed in horror.
‘You – oh my God, you slept with her. No wonder she thinks she has a chance.’
Jed shot Johnny a furious look before turning to Lil and denying that he had slept with Jessica.
‘When?’ Lillie demanded, her voice rising to drown out Jed’s protestations. Jed turned on Johnny when he tried to help him out.
‘Why don’t you just shut the fuck up, Johnny?’ he yelled at him. ‘Haven’t you done enough damage already today?’ He turned back to Lil, ignoring Johnny’s attempts at an apology.
‘Lil, it was a lifetime ago and I didn’t sleep with her.’
Lillie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow and Jed sighed, putting his hands on her shoulders, his fingers kneading her tense muscles.
‘She kissed me and took her top off.’
Lillie shrugged his hands off her and pressed her lips together in a tight line. Shit, he had to fix this. He needed her to be in a good mood tonight.
‘I was very drunk and I’d been doing coke and I did kiss her back for a while but I never touched her. And then, I realised what I was doing and told her to leave. Which she did.’
‘Promise?’
‘I promise. I didn’t tell you ‘cos I didn’t want you to think there was anything there for me. I’m sorry, Lil.’ He pulled her into a hug, kissing her hair. ‘C’mon, let’s go. We’ll avoid her, it’s probably best to. She’s toxic.’
He gave Johnny a warning look before kissing Lillie and heading out to the roadside. He didn’t know what to think about Johnny today. Could he have hidden the truth better? Maybe.
He was definitely going to get her on her own and tell her everything after the gig.
He couldn’t risk Jessica telling her anything, especially when he wasn’t sure what Johnny’s agenda was.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Lillie felt uneasy. She was nervous about the gig and time away from the stage and knowing that Jessica would be in the audience weren’t helping.
Jed’s jumpiness with Johnny was another issue and Johnny was now avoiding her. She normally relied on him, along with some Dutch courage, to calm her down and soothe her stage fright. She knew New York was a big deal and that the crowd would probably be demanding.
She also knew she was drinking too much and put her glass on the table, pushing it away from her and looking around for Jed. She went to the loo for the fifth time in an hour, staring at herself in the dusty mirror for too long, her face blurring as her eyes de-focused. She shook her head clear and went back to the dressing room, relieved to see that Jed was back, along with Johnny.
There was still something simmering between them, she could feel it shifting in the air when she neared them, enveloping her and pitching her into the thick of it. She sat next to Jed who silently passed her a bottle as Johnny slipped an arm around her shoulders. They sat in silence whilst Chris and Eddie argued over whether The Rolling Stones or The Who were better live.
Onstage, she felt better, the crowd were excited to have the boys back in their home city and were showing their appreciation. She saw a couple of banners that were just for her, making her smile and dance around, clapping her hands.
Johnny and Jed had put whatever it was they were fighting about to one side and were up to their old tricks, although, tonight they weren’t content with just the two of them and she found herself sandwiched in the middle of them a couple of times. The crowd went wild for it, loving the implied love triangle and chemistry between the three of them. Lillie played up to it, throwing flirtatious looks at Johnny whilst shimmying up close to Jed.
As they came offstage, the roar of the crowd deafening and the stamping of feet drowning out any conversation, Jed held up three fingers to indicate three encore songs and they trooped back onstage.
The three songs were over quickly, Jed sweeping Lillie off her feet, elated at the New York crowd, as he carried her offstage.
‘That was amazing!’ she exclaimed as he set her down. ‘Awesome crowd!’
‘Yeah, they loved you. You did great!’ Jed kissed her hard, crushing her against hi
m.
‘Good job guys, great energy out there,’ Steve said, interrupting their embrace. ‘Lil, you seem a lot more confident out there, keep it up, girl. You should see what the guys are saying about you on the internet! You’re being slated as rock’s hottest chick,’ he said, laughing at Lillie’s shocked and disbelieving face.
‘Hey, guys! Celebration tonight?’ Johnny kissed Lil’s cheek and hugged Jed.
‘Yeah, why the hell not?’ Jed said, putting one arm around Lillie and the other around Johnny before shouting out to the rest of the band that tonight was party night and leading the way back to the dressing room and the rider full of bourbon and beers.
An hour later, empty bottles littered the dressing room and Lillie was loaded on Jack Daniels and several beers. She knew she was being kept away from Jessica or rather, Jessica was being kept away from her. Chris was busy entertaining her and it crossed Lillie’s mind that Kate might not like the situation, although, even through drunken eyes, Lillie couldn’t see any inappropriate behaviour on his part.
Jed announced that it was time to move on and the party moved out through the back doors, some die-hard fans still hanging about getting lucky with photos and autographs. Lillie sat between Jed and Johnny in a yellow cab, unaware of her skirt riding up and Johnny’s leg pressed hard against her bare skin, her hand on his knee as the cab swung around corners and weaved in and out of lanes and she tried not to fall into his lap.
The cold air sobered her up a tiny bit as she stumbled out of the cab and into the club they had arrived at. Realising she might be a bit more drunk than was advisable, she asked Jed where the loos were and slowly staggered through the crowd.
She finally made it and went into the first available cubicle, closing the lid and sitting down, leaning her head against the partition. She was spinning a little, so she opened her eyes and focused on the door handle. The outer door swung open and she heard someone clatter in, automatically sitting up straighter even though she knew they couldn’t see her.
How to Catch a (Rock) Star: A Story of Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll Page 19
