by Nina Levine
Scrambling for my phone, I dial Jett’s number again, and am frustrated when I can’t get through to him, again.
I hate being so far away from him.
I have no idea what’s happened, but I suspect most of these allegations are rubbish.
And then I decide.
I can’t let Jett go through this alone.
21
Jett
“How the fuck did you manage to cause such a shit storm in such a short amount of time?”
I stare at the rep from our band’s label and wonder the same fucking thing. Shaking my head, I answer, “I have no fucking idea.” The news has gone crazy with stories from yesterday; stories that mostly aren’t true. And I don’t know how the hell we are going to even begin to fix all this.
The rep is pacing my hotel room, anger clearly written all over his body. He seems as flabbergasted as I am. Turning to me, he orders, “You have to find a way to sort this out, and fast, because we don’t want to push the release date of your album.”
He leaves and I sit on the bed.
Fuck.
My head is heavy from the hangover I have after drinking all yesterday afternoon and last night, and I’m having trouble concentrating on anything. Besides causing the band all this grief, I haven’t spoken to Presley since I hung up on her yesterday. There are numerous messages from her on my phone, and I’ve tried to call her back but I can’t get hold of her. We’re playing fucking tag team here with messages and it’s driving me crazy. I have a band meeting in ten minutes so I leave her another message, hoping she will call back soon.
I get my shit together and leave for the meeting, which we’re having over lunch in the restaurant downstairs. The hotel has barred all reporters from entering, and Tom’s assigned security to be with us at all times. He came to my room at eight this morning and laid down the law, and I’m fairly sure he’s going to lay it down again at our meeting.
West lifts his chin as I approach the table. Everyone’s here already and the rest greet me in a similar manner, even Van.
I pull out the remaining chair and drop into it, signalling to the waitress that I’d love a coffee.
As she pours me one, West asks, “You’ve seen the news?”
I grimace and look at him with regret. “Yeah, man, I’m sorry.” Not much of the news is true but my behaviour has certainly stirred it all up.
He shrugs. “I know, and fuck ‘em. We know it’s all bullshit and we can all sleep at night,” he pauses and gives me a smile, “and that, my friend, is all the fuck that matters.”
I shake my head. “No, West, that’s not all the fuck that matters. I’ve really screwed shit up here for the band. How can you be so calm about it?”
He continues to smile at me. “Because you stood by me, not a fucking question asked, and you always have.”
I nod at him but don’t say anything else; instead, I gulp back the emotions his words have stirred up. Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me? All choked up over a few words.
“I’ve got your back, too,” Hunter says, “we’ve seen the last ten years together and I sure as shit wanna see the next ten with your crazy ass by my side. West is right – fuck ‘em. They wanna see what Crave’s made of, we’ll show them.”
My head spins; this isn’t what I was expecting this morning. I turn to Tom to give it to me straight but even he shocks the shit out of me. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, but we’ll get through this.”
I shake my head. “Sure, we’ll get through it, but at what cost?” I turn to look at everyone. “I screwed up, and I’m really fucking sorry.” I scrub my face and add, “God, if I could go back and change yesterday, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
And then Van speaks up and surprises the hell out of me. “Yeah, we know, but fuck, those reporters were assholes yesterday and if it hadn’t been you that cracked, it would only have been a matter of time until one of us had.”
“So this is the plan now,” Tom cuts to the chase, “I’ve cancelled all the interviews we had lined up for this afternoon. I think we all need to regroup and I don’t think it’s in any of your best interests to subject you to anything the press has to throw at you today. I want you all to take the day and refocus. I’m going to try and organise a photo shoot for tomorrow and an interview with a friendly face.”
I frown. “Who? Who haven’t I pissed off?”
He chuckles. “You might be surprised, Jett. You’ve got ten years of good behaviour behind you and while the public are quick to judge, there are a lot of people in this industry who know what you stand for and love you. We’ll find someone.”
I drink most of my coffee in one go and stand. “You guys don’t mind if I bail, do you? I think I need some time to myself today.”
They all nod in agreement and I head out of the restaurant, security guy in tow. I have no idea where I’m going; I just know I need to get out of here.
As I’m striding through the lobby, I see a vision and know for sure I’m hallucinating.
It can’t fucking be right.
And yet, the vision keeps coming toward me.
“Jett.”
Presley.
“Fuck me, sweetheart, what the hell are you doing here?” I say as I pull her to me and plant a long, deep kiss on her lips.
Best fucking thing that’s happened to me in days.
She smiles at me and says, “I couldn’t let you go through this alone. So I’m here. For however long you need me to be.”
I stare at her. None of today has gone as I predicted. “Thank God for that because I think I’m gonna need you.”
Still smiling, she says, “I thought you might.”
22
Presley
Jett gets me settled in his hotel suite and what an amazing suite it is. I’ve only ever stayed in standard hotel rooms, but Jett has all the bells and whistles. There’s an open plan living room and dining area, an amazing kitchen you could whip a three course meal up in, a luxurious bedroom with a king bed and a bathroom complete with a spa you could hold a party in if you were that way inclined. The living areas have dark wood flooring with rugs and the bedroom has plush carpet that I just want to take my shoes off and walk on. I can’t help but stare at it all with my mouth wide open. The opulence is breathtaking and I’m speechless.
As I stand in the living room surveying it, Jett snuggles me from behind. He wants to take me straight out for lunch but I tell him there’s no way I’m going anywhere until after I’ve had a shower.
“Only if I can clean you,” he says with a grin as he turns me in his embrace to face him.
I hold my hand up, signalling for him not to come anywhere near me. “As much as I want you, I need to get clean first. I stink, and I’m all stiff after that long flight.”
“Do I look like I care if you stink? And besides, you don’t.” When I raise my brows at him to signal that I’m not changing my mind, he waves me away. “Go, before I change my mind.”
I laugh and shake my head at him. “Do you really think you had any say in this?”
Sighing, he admits defeat. “No, I fully admit that you wear the pants in this relationship, sweetheart.”
Grabbing a change of clothes and my toiletries, I leave him and jump in the shower. The hot water feels so damn good on my aching muscles and I stay in here longer than I normally would. I’m lost in my thoughts when I hear Jett’s voice.
“I’m sorry I was an asshole to you,” he says. The bathroom is full of steam so I wipe away some of the condensation on the shower screen to find him standing in the doorway with his hands gripping onto the doorjamb above his head. His eyes are on me and the look on his face takes my breath away.
Defeat.
I hate that look and I hate it on Jett.
It kills me that he feels that way.
I quickly rinse the rest of the conditioner out of my hair and step out of the shower. Without drying off, I go to him and take his face in my hands. “I was a bitch to you, too. We
’re still learning everything there is to know about each other, Jett, so there’s gonna be moments like we’ve had. But we’re putting all that behind us. Clean slate, baby. Okay?”
He listens to everything I say and he slowly nods but I’m not sure he’s convinced, especially when he says, “Yeah, but I’ve been a jealous dickhead - ”
I place my finger against his lips. “And I’ve been an argumentative pain in the ass. We’re both at fault here but I don’t want us to start off like this; I want us to begin the way we intend to continue, so from now on when your jealous streak arises, I’m going to take a deep breath and let you be.” I smile cheekily at him and press my body to his as I say, “And besides, I bet there’s a million women around the world who would kill to have Jett Vaughn losing his shit over a guy talking to them.”
He smirks and tightens his arms around me. “You better fucking believe it, woman. You’re on a good thing here and don’t you forget it.”
I grin at him. “That’s more like the Jett I know.”
He grows serious. “You know I don’t mean to boss you around, don’t you?”
“Can we please forget all the shit I’ve said to you during our arguments? I’ve been so set on not wanting to get hurt again that I’ve forgotten how to take a chance on love and part of that manifested as me telling myself you would try and control me like Lennon did.”
A dark look crosses his face. “Fuck, I have no intention of trying to control you like that.”
“I know; it was just my insecurities coming out.” I lay my forehead against his. “This relationship shit is hard.”
His chest rumbles with laughter. “You’re fucking telling me.”
“Clean slate, yeah?”
“Yes,” he murmurs but his attention has shifted from our conversation to my body, and he says, “now talking of clean, this body needs to be dirtied up a bit.”
I whisper in his ear, “I never thought you’d notice.”
He kisses me and groans, “Baby, it’s all I do notice half the time. I walk around with a permanent hard on for you, it’s a wonder I haven’t been banned from public yet.”
I undo the button on his jeans and pull his zip down. A moment later, his jeans and boxers are around his ankles and his shirt is on the floor. Taking hold of his cock, I stroke it and murmur, “I’ve missed this. I’m not sure I’ll ever let you go away again.”
His eyes shut and he groans again. “I’m not sure I ever want to go away from you again.”
I stroke him harder and whisper, “So don’t.”
His eyes blink open and he sucks in a breath as I pull him harder and faster. “I can make that happen.”
I hold his gaze. “Are you going to boss me into going with you every time you have to go away?”
He dips his mouth to my neck and softly nips at my skin. “That might be something I should boss you around about.”
I squeeze him and then drop to my knees to take him into my mouth. After I treat him to my mouth and tongue for a moment, I let him go and take him back into my hand. Looking up at him, I suggest, “That might be something I would let you boss me around on.”
His hands grab me under my arms and pull me up. He lifts me and turns around to deposit me on the vanity. After I’ve wrapped my legs around him, he kisses me hard and growls, “I did consider bossing you into sucking my dick for longer but it turns out I want inside of your pussy more than your mouth.”
“Turns out I want that, too. You gonna take care of that or are you all talk and no action?”
His eyes flash heat at me and he hisses. Running his finger over my lips, he says, “I’ve fucking missed this dirty mouth. I’m not sure what I like more – the words coming out of it or the way it fits perfectly around my cock.”
I dig my fingernails into his back and pull him closer. “I tell you what, you hurry up and get that cock of yours inside me and I’ll treat you to both words and tongue all day long.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, woman, I’m going to bang you so fucking hard you might not be able to speak for the rest of the day.” He positions his cock at my entrance and I try to push myself even further against him so I can force it in, but he’s teasing me and pulls away at the last moment.
“I’m game if you are,” I practically beg him. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Mr. Rockstar.”
His hungry eyes are all over me and it’s like a switch is flipped and he can’t hold back any longer. He thrusts in and my eyes roll back in my head. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was going to fuck me hard. Hard is what I just got. And I’m in fucking heaven.
I hold on for dear life while he thrusts in and out. I’m not usually a huge fan of sex on the vanity but today I’m a convert. In fact, he’s fucking me so well, I may beg for vanity sex every damn time from now on.
We don’t last long and a few minutes later, he thrusts hard one last time and comes. I follow closely and almost go limp from the pleasure. I’ve never been able to get off as easily as I can with Jett, and it’s never been this good for me, either. I let the waves of pleasure flow through me and slowly come to. When I open my eyes, he’s watching me in a way that says he loved that as much as I did.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice husky.
“Yeah.” I smile at him as he pulls out and helps me down. “Maybe we should spend a day apart every now and then. That was some good sex.”
Shaking his head at me, he mutters, “I’m not fucking keen. I’ll be sure to remember to do that more often to keep you happy.” He takes the few steps to the shower and turns it back on.
I follow him into the shower. “I’m thinking that’d be a good way to start every day.”
“Now that I’d agree to,” he says with a grin and grabs the soap to clean me.
A minute later, I know this is going to be a long shower.
My man’s happy to see me.
We emerge from the hotel room just after three that afternoon and head down to the bar for a drink and something to eat. When we arrive there, we run into Tom who seems taken aback to see me.
“I didn’t realise you were coming over?” he says, his tone a little cool.
Jett squeezes my hand and says, “Neither did I.”
I’m sensing some animosity from him and decide to clear this up now because the last thing I want is to cause a problem with Jett’s manager. “You don’t like that I’m here?”
Tom’s brows rise. “I have my misgivings but possibly at this point in the shitfight we’re in, it’s better to have you here than not.”
I’m impressed with his honesty; I prefer people to be straight up with me. “Good, because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Fair enough,” he says and shifts his gaze to Jett. “I’ve lined up an interview and photo session tomorrow for nine in the morning. You good with that?”
Jett nods and Tom leaves us alone. I watch him go and then ask, “Is he like that with everyone or is it just me he doesn’t like?” Up until this point, I haven’t had a lot to do with Tom and he’s always been pleasant enough to me so this is a whole other side to him.
“He’s pretty stressed at the moment with everything that’s going on, and, to be honest, he’s the most upset with me so by default that’s you, too. He’ll get over it.”
“Okay, I can deal with that.”
We find a table and order some burgers and drinks, and while we wait for them to come, Jett asks, “How long are you able to stay?”
“I told you, for however long you need me.”
“And if we’re still here in say, three weeks, are you good with that?”
I lean across the table and brush my lips across his. “Yes, I’m good with that.”
A smile spreads across his face. “I don’t think we’ll be here for three weeks, but you never know.”
“For the record, I’m glad you punched that reporter.”
His smile turns into a laugh. “I am, too, but I don’t think anyone else is.”
“Have you h
eard whether he’s going to press charges?” That thought has been kicking around in the back of my mind and I hate to voice it but I need to know.
“No, he’s not. Tom contacted him, and we’ve made a cash settlement with him.”
“Oh . . . that’s good, I guess.”
“You sound surprised?”
“I just forget stuff like that happens. It’s not the world I live in anymore.”
“How involved in Lennon’s career were you?”
“Not really at all. When he was home, we were just like any couple hanging out and stuff. And when he was away, we kept in touch every day but he never really shared a lot about the tour or anything.” He looks surprised and I elaborate, “You know his band is nowhere near as successful as yours so that meant we were able to go places and do things without him being recognised very much. And back then I was working a lot, so there were often times when he was off the road and I was away.”
He still seems surprised. “What about dealing with the fans he did have? Were you involved in much of that? And how did you cope with the groupies?”
“Are you trying to work out how I’m going to cope with your groupies, Mr. Vaughn?”
Chuckling, he shakes his head. “No, but that does concern me.”
“In whether or not I’m going to become one of those jealous girlfriends?” Up until now, I’ve managed to pretty much stay off the press’s radar. A few photos of us have surfaced but the major magazines haven’t really picked them up yet.
His expression turns serious. “Yeah, I guess I do worry about that. I’ve seen friends in the business whose relationships break up over that kind of jealousy and I don’t want that to happen to us.”
I consider what he’s said and then answer him as honestly as I can. “Groupies don’t faze me too much; I know they are always going to be there, but I also believe you when you say you’re mine so unless that changes, I don’t see us having a problem.”
“Thank fuck,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine.
