Nothing worked.
The next thing I knew I was sitting in the chair next to her.
“Jace?” Alex snapped her fingers in front of my eyes, taking me back to the present.
“You said that I know you better than anyone. I don’t think that’s true. But I want to. I really want to know all of you.”
“I don’t get what you mean.” She blinked up at me, obviously not following what I was trying to say.
“I’d like to go backward in time and start over.”
“Well, I don’t want to play games.” Alex buried her face back into my chest.
Stroking her hair, I really wanted to turn things around for us. “Me either. Maybe all we have done is play games.”
“You’re right. You’re so right.”
“So, let’s be together.” I kissed her head.
“Just like that.”
“Yep.”
She rubbed my stomach, tracing my still-rock-hard abs. All the working out Ty and I had done over the past couple of years had changed my six-pack into an eight-pack.
We lay staring at each other for what seemed like forever.
“So, just like before, you want me to stop what I’m doing to go on tour with you?” Alex didn’t seem all that thrilled at the prospect.
I couldn’t blame her. It didn’t make sense when she had so much going on. It was time for me to make a few changes.
“No. My time is so packed when we are on the road. It will be even worse this time because we are compressing the tour. We’re going hard for four to six weeks then taking at least a week, maybe two, off. Repeat.”
Alex looked at me incredulously. “Well, then I’m not sure what you mean about us being together.”
“I’ll come home to you.”
“Huh?”
I ran my hand up and down her arm and squeezed her to me. “I mean, I’ll come to Seattle on my breaks. Unless you’re gonna be somewhere else, and then I’ll go there.”
Alex’s eyes bugged out like a cartoon character. “You’ll come to me?”
“Sure. Wherever you are.” I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought. “Or we could go away for a vacation. Whatever we want.”
Alex looked around the room, her expression confused. “Am I being punked? Do you mean it?”
I settled even deeper into the bed pillows and wrapped my arms around Alex, compelling her to relax against me again. “I do mean it. All of us are trying to find a better balance after seven solid years of working. This is sort of a test year to see if this is a pace we can live with.”
She snuggled under my arm and let out a long breath. “When I woke up this morning, I can honestly say that I didn’t expect this in a million years.”
“Me either.” I laughed. “Maybe it’s fate.”
“I’d like to try it to see how things go.” Alex tipped her head up for a kiss.
Our lips touched tentatively for just a millisecond until she opened for me, and our tongues danced and our lips explored. Her long, elegant fingers wove through my mop of hair and lured me in closer. The truth was, I needed to be as close to her as I knew how to get.
“Poppy, I don’t mean to be crass, but I need to be balls-deep inside you.” My voice was a rasp. “Right fucking now.”
Grasping her soft hair at her neck, I pulled it tight into a ponytail with my fist and angled her face to mine. Hungrily, I devoured her lips, moving her head at the angle that allowed me the most access. Wrapping my other arm around her waist, I guided her on top of me so her bare pussy covered my erection. Alex immediately reached inside my board shorts and began deftly stroking my cock just the way I liked it, a little flair over my engorged tip.
“I don’t want to ever leave this room.” She murmured in between kisses.
Growling, I lifted her cover-up over her head and with both hands pulled the cups of her bikini to the sides, exposing her perfect, perky breasts. Rubbing my thumbs over her nipples, I loved how they beaded and darkened with my strokes. My dick was now painfully hard and throbbing with the necessity of being inside my girl. My girl. Alex was my girl.
I wasn’t going to fuck it up this time.
Glancing down at her fingers stroking me, I groaned when her thumb smeared precum over my crown. My cock twitched appreciatively. Her smile was deceptively sweet.
“Two can play at that game, Poppy.” I pinched her nipple and watched it pucker tightly before suckling it hard into my mouth and swirling the bud all around with my tongue and repeating on the other side. Alex’s breathing became shallower and shallower as she continued pumping my cock. Not wanting to wait another minute, in one motion I maneuvered on top of her and knelt in between her legs.
“This is a good game.” Alex grasped my shaft and pointed it to her opening.
Nothing turned me on more than seeing Alex spread and ready for me, her long, tan legs spanning the bed. Her flat stomach quivered in anticipation, the blue jewel in her belly ring shimmered in the sunlight peeking through the curtains. Replacing her hand with mine, I rubbed the tip of my cock against the erect nub of her clit and swiped my dick through her creamy juices. When my crown was glistening with her moisture, I fed my hard length inside her inch by inch until she was completely full of me.
“Ohhhh.” Alex’s head was thrown back in ecstasy. She dug her heels into the bed behind my ass.
My hands spanned and caressed her stomach, her ribcage, and her breasts. I watched myself thrust slowly and deeply inside her. All I wanted was to worship her gorgeous body, to celebrate our reunion. Reaching under her hips, I clutched the firm globes of her ass and guided her upright to sit on my thighs. Alex wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I cupped her butt and hips to rock her onto my cock. Deeper. Deeper.
Our eyes met and we clung more tightly to each other, trying to get as close as physically possible.
Burying my head into her hair, her tropical oceany scent filled my lungs. I could hear her bangle bracelets jingle as she writhed against me to find her nirvana. She cried out and clutched me even harder. In that moment I decided, without any further question, that this was it. I would never let anyone touch my precious Poppy ever again, she was mine and mine alone.
I placed opened-mouth kisses along her ear and neck, trying to taste every inch of her. Reverentially, I bathed her with my tongue. My cock grew harder inside her. Alex tenderly explored the planes of my shoulders and down my spine, settling at my lower back where she pressed me into her faster and faster. Using her grip on my shoulders as leverage, she leaned back, causing her diamond-pointed nipples to thrust up delectably. I caught them in my mouth, one after the other, and suctioned hard.
“Jace!” Alex shrieked. Her thighs gripped my waist like a vise. “I’m so close, it’s sooo close.”
That was it, my hands bridged her hips and I moved her against me like a wild man, driving up and into her, never releasing the suction on her nipple. Alex’s entire body went stiff and she threw her head back, convulsing against me uncontrollably. Squeezing me. Wailing. Letting go like I’d never seen before. I couldn’t hold back; tingles ran down my spine through my cock and I exploded inside her with a loud shout.
We embraced each other tightly through our aftershocks. I traced my finger across her eyebrows, her eyes, down her cheek. Amazed that she was here. Feeling content. Whole, maybe.
I just knew that things were different, not just for me but for her too.
I sank onto the bed and Alex flopped against me, lying back in the crook of my arm. The emotional and physical exertion of the past couple of hours had exhausted me, but I was finally satiated. Happy. Alex was back where she belonged, her eyes half-mast, watching me while absentmindedly stroking my hair.
“I’m so glad I saw you by the pool.” I kissed her forehead. “Who are you working for down here?”
“I’m promoting this awesome jewelry line.” Alex held up her slender arm and shook her wrist. The silver bangle bracelets she wore jingled, tiny stars, mo
ons, and planets sparkled with diamond chips.
“These are cool.” I reached up and touched the bracelets.
Alex laced her fingers with mine. “You’ve never asked me about anything I’ve ever promoted.”
“Maybe it was me that needed to grow up. My head has been buried up my ass long enough.”
Alex giggled.
“Hey, you aren’t meant to agree!” I tickled her, causing her to squeal.
Alex turned on her side and circled my nipple with our fingers, causing it to pucker. I brought our clasped hands to my heart.
“Is this real?” Alex whispered against my chest.
“You better fucking believe it.”
The next three days were a real whirlwind.
After a night and morning of passion, we moved Alex’s things into my bigger room and christened it everywhere. We spent the next day at Coachella decidedly together, holding hands and taking in a few bands using my All-Access pass to watch from the side stage. Alex looked stunning in a white, crochet halter top and long, flowy skirt with her ever-present black Frye boots, a floppy hat, and long, colorful scarf protecting her from the dusty terrain. She also wore dozens of her client’s dainty astrological chains around her neck and wrists.
After she got her posts done on the second day, we decided to skip Beyoncé, who was headlining. Instead, we spent the next twelve hours reconnecting and revisiting every position we could think of in my hotel suite.
On the final night, since we were headlining, I had to duck out early in the morning to do a soundcheck before the gates opened. While I was gone Alex planned on posting the final shots she needed for her client. Needless to say, we got caught up and I was late for my drum check.
Two years ago, headlining Coachella would have been the most important thing in my life.
This year . . . Well, every year from now on, it was Alex.
Whistling, I strolled backstage where everyone was waiting for me. I took my place on the drum riser without saying a word.
“Nice of you to show up, J.” Ty boomed into the mic, looking over his shoulder at me.
“Must have been a pretty good night,” Connor replied into his on mic.
Ignoring the peanut gallery, I grabbed a pair of drumsticks from my bag and began warming up without feeling any need to explain. After we finished our quick soundcheck, we headed to our dressing room before we began the first round of press.
“Jace, where have you been? You haven’t blown a gasket, so I guess you haven’t heard the news.” Zane said quietly as we made our way through the maze of production to the band area.
“Stop making it such a big deal.” Ty caught up to us.
“What happened?” I was confused and still pretty giddy from my Alex reunion.
“Ty and Ronni broke up,” Connor said gruffly. “It was quite a spectacle.”
“We staged the whole relationship, she’s in love with someone else,” Ty protested. “We were both sick of the lies.”
I grabbed my reading glasses and pulled up the gossip sites and LTZ’s Instagram after being blessedly free of social media for the past day. “Jesus, I leave you alone for a minute.”
Immediately I was inundated with reports and images of Ronni and Ty screaming at each other outside of Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. Booze and sex paparazzi pictures of Ty from a few years before had also made a comeback. Article after article about their breakup cast Ty in the asshole role. Sure enough, Ty had blown his good-guy image up again.
“For fuck’s sake.” I leveled a glare at him. “You’re determined to ruin your own life.”
“No, I’m trying to take control back. I’m not a liar.” Ty stared me down. “It was wrong of you and the PR team to make me have a fake girlfriend.”
“Well, you certainly managed to get yourself in the press again.” I showed him a gnarly picture of him passed out somewhere with his cock getting sucked by some random groupie. “Nice work.”
“God damn it!” Ty handed my phone back to me and stalked toward the dressing room. “I’m not going to the press room.”
I yelled after him, “You sure as fuck are.”
Sighing, I flipped through the coverage. Headline after headline of what a fuck-up Ty was and how he broke the pure-and-innocent Ronni’s heart inundated my feed. Ty had become so famous that this breakup had pushed all the other headlines of the day into the background.
After placing a quick call to Sienna and Andrew, I began feverishly scrubbing the stories and pulling down the old pictures again in between interviews before the show.
Of course, the “breakup” was all the press wanted to talk about with us, so we probably seemed lame when we kept repeating, “no comment.” Needless to say, we were all a little testy by the time our set rolled around.
I texted Alex to give her the heads-up about the situation and the mood backstage. She decided to watch from the crowd and meet me back at my room after the show. Years of being on the road and suffering through bad press had made us consummate professionals, and our show was the best we had played in months. When we finished our last encore, all I wanted to do was shower and get back to the hotel and Alex.
“Dude, I’m sorry.” Ty was waiting for me in the lounge area of the dressing room.
I sat down next to him; he deserved a break. “Don’t sweat it.”
“I just couldn’t do it anymore, I’m so sick of feeling like a fuck-up.” He sighed, leaned back into the couch, and stared at the ceiling.
“I’ve got a team taking down all of the photos.”
Ty peered over at me. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I do.”
“It won’t matter.” Ty laughed bitterly. “I did all of those things; I might as well own it.”
“Owning it is one thing, being stupid is another.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not a believer in all press is good press.”
Ty sounded exhausted, over all of the bullshit. “No one cares, Jace.”
“I care. You care.” I reminded him. “You don’t want those out there for the world to see.”
“And by the world you mean—” Ty rubbed his temples. “It’s humiliating looking like a whore, but I guess if the shoe fits.”
“You’re too hard on yourself. All of us have been there.” I reassured him. “Being on the road nonstop for seven years is lonely.”
Ty squeezed his eyes shut and puffed out a few breaths. “There’s only been one brief time in my life when I wasn’t lonely. I’m resigned at this point.”
“Jesus. You’re still not over Zoey?” I squinted at him.
“Ding ding ding,” he said listlessly.
“Well—” I started.
“I don’t want to hear anything.” Ty sat up and pointed at me. “Seriously, I don’t want to hear anything you’ve found out from Alex.”
“They are best friends, I could—”
Ty shook his head conclusively. “No. I don’t want anyone interfering in my personal life anymore. I mean it. You have to promise me.”
“Dude, okay.” I shook my head. “But you should at least know that she’s back in Seattle.”
“Fuck.” Ty buried his face in his hands.
“I haven’t seen her.” I clasped his shoulder. “But maybe you should.”
“No.” Ty shook his head. “I need some time and space to just figure out who I am and what I want. No interference from you guys. Carter. Ronni. Groupies. Management. No bullshit. I’m going to finish the next months of the tour celibate, clean, and sober and focused on just me and what I want to do.”
“That’s probably a healthy thing for you.” I conceded.
“I never thought we’d be this successful. Or famous. But I have to believe that I can do more now that I have this platform.” Ty crossed his arms and studied me. “You know? I’ve wasted too many years.”
“Yep, I know. More than you think.”
“Hopefully, your situation will turn out better than mine.” Ty’s phone pinged and he go
t up, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door. “The helicopter is here, I’m heading back to LA, see you in the studio in a few days.”
“Later.” I waved.
Ty had grown up before my eyes. He wasn’t the insecure nerd-turned-rock-god anymore. He was a man, taking responsibility for himself and refusing to do anything that made him feel uncomfortable or fraudulent. I respected him for it. I was also relieved because without consciously realizing it, I had taken on the role of his protector for years. I was ready to focus on myself too.
My thoughts were interrupted when my phone pinged. Thinking it was Alex, I stared into the camera to unlock my phone.
C: Jace, I really need to see you.
Fucking Cassie. I knew it had been a mistake to hook up with her six months ago in LA. I hadn’t seen or heard from her in years after she and her sister had moved out of Seattle. Thinking it would be fun to see them both again, I’d met them for drinks after a long studio session.
Wrong.
Stretched, botoxed, and filled beyond recognition with giant watermelon tits, the sisters both looked like deformed plastic versions of their former selves. After fifteen minutes of insipid conversation about all the celebrities they’d hooked up with, I was determined to finish my drink and go.
To my surprise, the next thing I remembered was waking up the next morning in Cassie’s bed. Both of us naked. I felt like shit. The hangover was like nothing I’d ever experienced, and my recollection about the previous night’s activity was fuzzy at best. It was clear that we’d had sex, even though I didn’t remember a thing.
When I couldn’t find the used condom, I got the hell out of there and went straight to the nearest clinic to get tested. My results returned clean, but to be safe I got tested a couple of weeks later and then again, a couple of weeks ago. Each time the results were clean. Thanking God for small favors, I never bothered confronting her about it.
It didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed. I simply tried to push it out of my mind and vow that she was permanently out of my life.
Angry with myself for not doing it back then, I deleted her text and blocked the number. Nothing and no one was going to interfere with Alex and me ever again.
LIMITLESS: A Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance: Book 2: Jace & Alex Page 19
