by Joy Eileen
“Hey wife number one, is dinner ready? Wife number two's insatiable.”
Amy smacked him in the back of the head, before grabbing his neck and sucking on his tongue, the whole time holding onto a licorice stick. I answered him before I made it to the bottom of the stairs.
“Dinner will be ready in five minutes.” I heard a grunt and wasn’t sure if it was confirmation they heard me, or they would be late.
“It smells great,” D said, walking into the kitchen, peering at the food.
“Thanks, D. I'm ready for work, so I can do a run through before I have to go.”
“You're awesome. Did Kill tell you there's another song we would like you to try?”
“I've heard rumors of this elusive song, but nothing has been confirmed.” I teased, trying to loosen him up.
“We'll practice it tonight while you're at work, so all we have to do is work on the vocals tomorrow.”
“It isn’t one of your old songs?” I asked, surprised.
“No, we've had it for a while, but could never get it right. Now we know it was just missing you.”
“I kind of have plans tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry. We'll work around your schedule. We just need to go over it a couple of times, it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“Alright, why don’t we do it after my run with Kill?”
“Perfect,” D said, right when Kill walked in.
“What's perfect? Besides me,” he asked, coming over to scope out dinner.
“Faith's going to practice the new song tomorrow after your run, before she has to go out,” D answered, filling up a plate.
Kill tried to get the answers to his unasked question by mentally pulling them out of my head. When he was unsuccessful he relented and asked. “Where are you going tomorrow?”
Before I could respond, Jessie and Van walked in, and Jessie answered for me. “We have a date tomorrow. We haven’t had a girl’s day, and I need one.”
“I told D I would practice with them after my run, and before our girl date. Is that ok?” I asked, wanting to kiss her for saving me from telling them about my date with Robert.
“Yep, sounds good,” Jessie replied.
“What sounds good? The three of you kissing?” Jet asked, as he turned into the kitchen with Amy on his back. Amy rolled her eyes but smiled, like... well, Amy in a candy store.
Jet put Amy down and pushed Kill out of the way. Kill pushed him back and a wrestling match ensued.
“Not around the food,” Van reprimanded, splitting them apart.
Jet and Kill picked up their abandoned plates acting as if nothing had happened. Jessie and Amy got in line after the boys, filling up their plates.
“Don’t make me make you a plate," Kill whispered in my ear.
“I'll eat, but I'm still full from the peanut butter and jelly,” I replied, hoping to get him off of my back. I was still pissed at him for lying about band practice and escaping from my room earlier.
“That was hours ago. Don’t mess with me. I'll win.”
“Fine. Neanderthal,” I shot back, putting the smallest piece of chicken on my plate and adding everything else while he watched.
“Happy?”
He eyed my plate
“This is it Kill, take it or leave it.” I refused to put more on my plate, knowing my stomach would howl when I put all of it next to the boulder.
“Fine, but please eat, you worry me.” His words made me soften. I wasn't used to people taking care of me. I had been the caregiver when my mom left, helping my dad to make his life stress-free.
“I know you are. You're a good friend, Killer.”
After dinner was cleaned up, I followed the boys out to the garage. Kill and I were breathing like we had just finished one of our runs when the song ended. D came over and clapped Kill on the back,
“She's great,” he said, “I can feel the emotion pouring out of you. I'm not sure what you're thinking, but I can tell you're personally attached to the song.”
I blushed, afraid to look at Kill, hoping he didn’t use his mind reading ability to figure out I was thinking about him. “Thanks, D. I need to get going; you guys are going to come over later, right?” I asked, backing up and walking into Jet. I turned around, getting more flustered by the second.
“Easy there, girl, let me move my guitar before you back that ass up,” Jet cooed into my ear, easing some of the tension.
Jessie kissed Van, and Amy munched on a bag of gummy bears as I disentangled from Jet. Kill snagged me by my middle, hauling me to his chest.
“What, no kiss for me?” I closed my eyes and turned around, brushing my lips across his cheek before escaping.
Just like the last Sunday, the bar wasn’t as busy, and I delivered more food than drinks. Since the bar was so empty, I ended up at the bar with Ryan and Jessie. Denise had the night off.
The three of us stood at the bar watching Bambi, taking bets on if she would show nipple or not, when the bar door pushed open. Jet and Amy entered first. As usual, Jet rang the bell.
“You’re welcome.” Once he felt he had received enough attention, he led Amy to their table, nibbling her ear as they went.
Van, D and Kill seemed to be arguing with each other. Jessie shrugged when I caught her eye, just as in the dark as I was. She took the boys their tray, arriving before they did.
Bambi bounded up to Kill and took him by the arm, and out of the discussion he was in. The boys didn’t wait for him and went to their waiting beers. Jessie leaned down to talk to Van. She glanced at me, making me even more curious.
I went to find out what the hell was going on, but Ryan called out one of my food orders. With one more glance at the table I went and delivered the food, ignoring Bambi as she dragged Kill toward the back of the bar.
“What's going on?” I asked when I made it to the boys.
“Should we wait for Kill?” D asked, looking around the bar.
“He's busy with Bambi at the moment. She dragged him out of the bar,” I said, trying not to sound bitter.
Jessie looked toward the back of the bar, to see if Kill would magically appear.
Jet laughed, “Oh, well I guess we can start. Who knows how long Bambi will keep him.”
I wiped my face of any expression. They shook their heads as if Kill and Bambi being together was nothing new. I wanted to ask them what Bambi was to Kill, but I didn't have the courage to hear the answer.
“What's going on?” I asked again, my voice harsh from the burning acid searing my throat.
“We were practicing the new song, and it's going to be fucking classic when we add your vocals to Kill's,” Van said, twirling his beer around on the table, and not making eye contact.
“We also have another song we want you to sing,” Jet spit out, looking at Van, confused why he was keeping this information from me.
“Another song! I can’t do three songs with you guys,” I cried out.
“Why the fuck not?” Jet asked, and Van looked at him like he wanted to duct tape his mouth shut.
“Because, I don’t know. I just can’t,” I sputtered, looking around trying to find someone who hadn’t gone off the deep end.
"Sure you can, Faith. You'll be awesome, just wait until you hear the songs.” D was using his manager voice, and I hated that he acted like it was no big deal.
“I don’t want a lot of attention on me, especially after….” I veered off, not wanting to say an abusive relationship, afraid to sound pathetic. I switched tactics. “Ray isn't going to let me take off for three songs on the busiest nights of the week,” I argued.
Jessie patted me on the shoulder. Instantly, I knew it was the wrong argument.
“I already talked to Ray. He would love for you to do more songs. Besides, the bar's on the dance floor when we're onstage. So it isn’t like you're leaving anyone in a bind. Ray was ecstatic with the influx of male customers you brought in,” D finished, smiling at his logic.
I wanted to smack
the smug look off of his face. I forgot why I wanted to be friends with him in the first place.
“Why don’t you want to do this for us?” Jet asked, genuinely hurt with my obstinate behavior.
“I'm not a fan of attention,” I replied lamely, and Jet looked at me perplexed.
Being the huge attention whore he was, me saying I wasn’t a fan of attention was like explaining I didn’t like ice cream to a toddler. “I'm afraid if I do this, I'll be back on Jason’s radar,” I lied, since I was never off it.
Jet finally got it, at least for a second. “Fuck that guy. If he comes anywhere near you, we'll kick his ass,” Jet said, and Van agreed with him. “Come on, Faith, we need you. Please,” Jet pleaded his puppy dog eyes turned on high.
“You know you aren’t going to deny them. So you might as well just get over it and say yes,” Jessie stated, still behind me.
“Have I told you guys I hate you?” I said, pouting.
“Kill said you two would skip your run tomorrow so you could have plenty of time with Jessie,” D said, acting like that would soothe me.
“Oh he did, did he? How accommodating of him,” I said through gritted teeth.
D and Van coughed into their hands, pointing with their eyes. I spun around to see Kill and Bambi coming back into the bar. Bambi said something to Kill, and he laughed.
I seethed, wanting to claim him as my own and tell her to back the fuck off. Kill noticed me and winked before saying goodbye to Bambi and walking toward us. Bambi saw me standing by the table and smiled before watching Kill's ass as it moved away. Kill put his arm around my shoulder when he reached us and took a drink of his beer.
“Faith's going to do the three songs,” D said proudly, causing Kill to swallow the wrong way.
He choked on his drink, and I smacked his back harder than necessary, until he got his breath back. “Oww, Slick,” he mumbled.
I looked at him innocently. “Sorry,” I replied, smiling brightly at him.
He gave me a questioning look, before remembering what caused his coughing fit in the first place. “I told you to let me talk to her about it,” Kill growled, glaring at the rest of the band.
“Well, now you don’t have to. We told her you would skip your run tomorrow so she would have time before her girl’s day.” Jet said smugly, snatching the licorice out of Amy’s mouth and putting it in his.
Amy glared at him for a second, and he kissed her on the nose. Appeased, she reached in her bag and pulled out another one.
Kill ran his hand over his face; his jaw twitching, and I’ll admit, I was enjoying his frustration. “Slick,” he started, but I stopped him, wanting him to stew for a while.
“I have to get back to work. Talk to you guys later.” I checked on my tables to make sure they didn’t need anything. With my orders, I went over to Ryan, not ready to let Kill off the hook just yet.
It upset me he knew I would be pissed off, like he knew me. Because if he knew me so well, he would know to stay the fuck away from Bambi.
“Are you hungry?” Ryan asked, pulling me out of the rant in my head. She pointed at my mouth. I popped my lip out, not realizing I was gnawing on it. “What’s up? Do I need to stab a bitch?” Ryan looked around the empty bar, ready to kick ass for me.
“No, you don’t need to stab a bitch for me, but I appreciate you love me enough to get all stabby for me.”
“Of course, doll. Now what has you so upset you're chewing on your lip like a dog with a bone?”
“The stupid boys want me to sing two more songs with them,” I grumbled.
Ryan looked puzzled, and I’ll admit when I said it out loud, it didn’t sound as bad as I was making it out to be.
“I hate the attention. I don’t want Jason to know anything about my life, and I feel like this is just asking for trouble,” I explained.
“Fuck that guy; he isn’t going to mess with you anymore. Those boys love you, hell, we all love you, and we all have your back.”
I smiled at her, wishing she was right. Kill came over when he saw me smiling and put his arm around my shoulder.
“Am I forgiven?” he asked into my ear.
I held back from leaning into his touch since Ryan was watching us like she was trying to put together a puzzle. I shrugged his arm off my shoulder, but he just put it right back.
“I'm doing it for the boys, because they asked,” I responded.
My body stiffened when Bambi walked over. She shot an evil glare at me and then smiled at Kill. Ryan rolled her eyes, making me giggle. Kill looked down at me with his half-smile in place.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, we were talking about this pathetic girl that comes into the bar, and how glaringly obvious she is,” Ryan answered for me, causing me to giggle even harder.
“I like it when you laugh,” Kills said, pulling me closer. Bambi stomped off, and I gave Ryan a high five. “Why do I feel like I'm missing something?” Kill asked, looking back and forth between us.
“Because you are,” I responded, causing Ryan to go into a fit of giggles.
“What’s so funny?” Jessie asked when she walked up.
“The hell if I know,” Kill said, and this time I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
“It’s ok, Killer, just stand there and look pretty.”
He hugged me, and I had to stop myself from inhaling him in. “I’m not pretty,” he scoffed, sounding offended. “I'm fucking sexy, some would say even God-like.”
The three of us girls laughed at him, and I squeezed him tighter before letting him go.
“I'm out of here. You women are insane.” He walked off, but Ryan had to get her last jab in.
“Really? God-like? How can that ego of yours fit in this bar?”
He turned around and winked at me, causing my insides to ignite from the heat that one little look caused. “Slick keeps it in control for me.”
“Faith, is there something going on with you and Kill?” Ryan asked, looking at me intently so she didn’t miss any signs when I answered her.
“We're friends,” I responded with complete honesty, not wanting to go into more of an explanation.
Jessie bumped my shoulder with hers. “Let’s get this over with so tomorrow can come faster.” She skipped off to tell Catcher we were going to shut some of the bar down since there weren’t very many people left.
When everything was put away, Jessie, Ryan, and I went to the breakroom, while Bambi fawned over Kill. I contemplated taking Ryan up on her offer at getting all stabby on her ass.
Bambi sauntered in looking smug, and I wanted to smack that look off her face. “Night ladies,” she said, with false cheerfulness.
None of us responded as we walked past her. She just wanted an opening to start in on her bitchiness.
“Hey, Faith, tell Kill thanks for tonight,” Bambi sneered, when we were almost out of the room.
I felt like I just got punched in the stomach. Jessie and Ryan looked over at me with worried expressions. “Cramp,” I hissed, bending down to rub my calf, trying to look convincing.
Kill saw me bent over rubbing my leg. “Are you ok?” he asked, bending down so he could see my face.
“Just a cramp. I'll live.”
“Here.”
Before I could register what he was going to do, he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. I squealed, even though I should be used to him handling me like this by now.
"Night, guys. I have to get our little performer home,” he told everyone. They all said goodnight to my ass, as he walked me out of the bar.
“I can walk you know?” I mumbled, angry he would act like this toward me after doing whatever he did with Bambi earlier.
“Night, Bambi,” Kill said as we went by the person I was just cursing in my head.
“Uhmm, why are you carrying Faith?” she asked, in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“I can’t trust her to walk by herself,” he responded, making me want to kick him for being sarcastic with her
about me.
“Oh, well, see you later then? Thanks for tonight, uhm, well you know.” I saw her hand reach out and stroke his arm, and I wanted to beat them both.
“Anytime, see you later, Bambi.” He moved out of the bar, and I hung there limply, figuring there was no use in fighting him.
“Are you ok to drive?” he asked, digging my keys out from my bag.
“Not really, can you?” I admitted, too frustrated to be operating heavy machinery.
“Yeah, I'm good. I didn’t even finish the one beer. Are you ok?” He rubbed my calf muscle, and my traitorous body melted into his hand.
“Yep, it’s just been a long week,” I answered breathlessly.
“You'll get used to the late nights soon enough, but let’s get you to bed.”
Kill put his hand on my leg as he drove, and heat flooded through my stupid body. I kept repeating in my head, he was messing around with Bambi, but my disloyal body didn’t care.
All the while, my vagina was swinging around on a stripper pole. We made it home and I was surprised when Kill let me walk inside.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, leading me toward the kitchen.
“Not really,” I replied, needing space between us.
“But if you are, eat. I'm just going to bed.”
“Nah, I ate before we went to the bar. Meet you back in your room.” He went into his room, not giving me time to refuse him. I gathered my night clothes and decided to waste time and take a shower.
I procrastinated as long as I could. Shaving everything I could possibly think of and meticulously applied lotion. Kill was under the covers fast asleep when I made it back to my room.
I put my stuff on the charger, deleting the missed call from a private number, and the one from Robert. I shut my phone off, not wanting to deal with any of them just then.
Crawling into bed I stared at Kill. The moonlight filtered into my bedroom, giving me just enough light to see his face. It wasn’t as intense when he was asleep, but he was just as beautiful asleep as he was awake. Though I preferred him awake, the intensity and confidence he exuded made him irresistible.
