“I guess that leaves you and me.” The brunette gave him a provocative smile. “Do you want to get out of here, too?”
“Excuse me.” A pretty redhead interrupted them, smiling intently at Lucas. “I’m sorry to bother you, but . . . you’re Lucas Blade.” She pointed at him for confirmation, and he noted that she swayed a bit, obviously a little tipsy. “I’m a big fan.”
“Thank you.” Recognition fed his ego tonight, and he smiled back. The glass of water he ordered finally appeared on the bar, and he drank half of it in order to get the taste of tequila out of his mouth. When he turned around, the two chicks were making out. Holy shit. Tonight just kept getting better and better, and he could hardly contain his grin. “Whoa. What’s going on here?”
They pulled him into their embrace. Sandwiched between the two, one of them had her breast pressed against his chest while her tongue and lips danced across his neck just under his ear. The other had her crotch pressed against his thigh while she warmed the other side of his neck with her breath. The redhead pulled his face toward her and kissed his lips. The brunette was jealous and tugged his chin back in her direction and smothered his mouth with hers. She tasted like tobacco and tequila, and he pulled away. She didn’t seem to care, and just moved on to kissing the redhead. He smiled as he watched them, tongues twirling openly, clearly for his benefit. The redhead reminded him of Sindy, with her short spikey hair. “Sindy,” he mumbled, as her hand caressed his shoulder, back, and chest.
“It’s Shelly,” the redhead corrected, but you can call me Cindy if you want.” She turned to the brunette. “Do you want to come back to my place.” She looked at Lucas. “I share.”
“Let’s go,” the brunette answered.
They each took Lucas by the arm and led him out the front door. The cold air immediately sobered him, and he looked at the two girls as if just realizing that he’d been propositioned. They were both beautiful. One had a sheer top, and he could see the outline of her nipples. The other wore a short mini skirt that made her legs look like they were a mile long. They were both sexy as hell, but neither were Sindy, and he couldn’t do this. “Sorry. I gotta go.”
“What are you talking about?” The redhead looked shocked. “I already called an Uber. We’ll be at my place in 15 minutes.”
“You two take it. I got prior commitments.” He left them standing on the sidewalk and briskly walked down the street.
“Asshole!” one of them yelled at him.
He deserved it. Any guy would call him an idiot for turning down two beautiful girls but his heart belonged to Sindy, even though he had no obligation to her.
Lucas woke to a dull pain in his forehead, the result of too much tequila last night. Thankfully, he had enough sense to walk away from those two girls. It didn’t matter that he and Sindy were on an indefinite break, one which may never find resolution, he couldn’t be with anyone. Not yet. It was too soon. He still longed for her, and he still held out hope that somehow they’d resume their relationship and be open about it.
He stretched his long legs and reached for the headboard, but the dinging of his phone preempted his lazy yawn. He froze for a moment, and then scurried to the end of the bed to grab his phone from the pocket of his jeans. Disappointment made him frown when he saw Mason’s name across the display screen. He didn’t know why he thought it would be her. Sindy never initiated text messages or phone calls.
“You’re up early,” Lucas said pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut.
“Slept like a baby and woke up early. I had a great night. I guess you did, too.”
“I blew them off.”
“Them?” Mason’s laughter came through the phone. “What did I miss?”
“Too much to talk about over the phone. Wanna meet for breakfast?”
“Sure. Want to meet at the diner where Sindy works?”
“No.” Lucas jerked his head back. That’s the last place he wanted to go this morning. “Why do you want to go there?”
“Because she’s usually working whenever we don’t have something scheduled with the band, and I thought we’d get good service. At least an extra slice of bacon.”
“Meet me at the Laurel Diner.”
“See you in 40 minutes.”
Lucas was on his second cup of coffee as he waited for Mason to arrive. He used the alone time to process his feelings and clear his head, but it wouldn’t clear. He couldn’t get Sindy out of his system. From the moment he saw her, he was drawn to her. Time bonded them together and then ripped them apart. It wasn’t fair.
“Sorry. Late again.” Mason slipped into the booth across from Lucas. “Traffic sucks.”
The lighthearted ease of Mason’s demeanor was naturally soothing and brightened Lucas’ mood enough so that a small smile formed on his lips. “Maybe you should think about moving to Long Island.”
Mason chuckled. “Not a chance.”
Mason grew up in the City, which was too congested for Lucas. He preferred the sand and the beach, the open air and the grass and the trees, while Mason loved the bustling nightlife and constant action of the City that Never Sleeps. It was one area where they were vastly different.
Noticing Mason’s arrival, the waitress returned to take their order and a busboy placed another cup of coffee on the table. He waited until they placed their breakfast orders and they were alone before he asked the question Lucas knew he was dying to ask. “So, two chicks? Tell me all about this wild night you passed up.”
Lucas shrugged one shoulder. “There’s not much to tell. I wasn’t into it.”
“Why not? I don’t know any single guy who’d pass up a threesome.”
Lucas let out a long sigh, suddenly drained. This whole thing with Sindy robbed him of his spirit and he felt deflated. He played with his spoon, turning it over in his hand, trying to figure out how much to say. He was tired of keeping everything bottled up inside. Mason was his best friend, and best friends didn’t keep secrets from one another. Plus, he really needed someone to talk to. His soul was broken. “I have a little confession to make. I wasn’t purposely keeping it from you. It’s just that . . . it’s complicated.” He slumped down in his chair. “Me and Sindy had a thing going on.”
“I was waiting for you to tell me, man. Why do you think I gave you that great opening line just now?”
“You knew?”
“Are you kidding? I see the way she looks at you. She pretends she’s talking to me, but I see her looking over my shoulder at you. Watching your every move with those big gray eyes. Like she wants to eat you for dinner. And I’m not even gonna mention the way you leer after her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You know me. I don’t stick my nose in other people’s business. I figured if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me.”
“Does Tessa know?”
“I don’t think so. She would’ve said something. She’s not one to pull punches. If she’s got something to say, she says it. I think she’s been concentrating on the band too much to notice.”
“It’s not like I was keeping it a secret. Sindy didn’t want . . .” Lucas didn’t bother to finish his sentence. None of the reasons mattered and he didn’t want to dredge up the pain that each one inflicted. In reality, there was no reason for them not to be together, except that it’s what Sindy wanted. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”
“I figured that out after the sad faces at rehearsal lately. What happened?”
Lucas fiddled with his napkin, picking small pieces off the corner and depositing them onto the table, purposely averting Mason’s stare. “It was the wrong time for us to start something. The band is taking off. We’re about to embark on a tour. We can’t screw that up. That’s what Sindy kept saying, and she made me understand that she was right. It’s the wrong time. I’m not screwing up our chance to make it big. Prodigy is too important.”
“And she isn’t?”
“Of course she is.” He dropped the
napkin and looked directly at his best friend. “I really care about her. But there’s too much pressure on us right now. Too much responsibility. If it didn’t work out between me and Sindy, things could go really bad really fast for Prodigy. Chances are she’d split. And then where would Prodigy be? I couldn’t do that to Tessa. Or to you. Or to Sindy. She deserves this chance more than any of us. She’s the one who has the most to lose. So . . . it’s over.”
“You sure? You look like shit, man.”
“To be honest, my fucking heart is broken. But there’s nothing I can do about it. She doesn’t want me anymore.”
Tonight they were celebrating in style. Recording their first single was another step closer to realizing a dream that Sindy didn’t even know she harbored. She honestly never thought she’d be able to make a living from her music, which proved to be a full-time job. Her shifts at the diner were dwindling to a few days a week. In a month, they’d be on a promo tour and she’d be forced to take a leave of absence.
The rooftop bar at 230 Fifth offered a spectacular view of the New York City skyline. The Empire State Building, lit up in majestic red, white, and blue, seemed close enough to touch. “This city is magnificent.” Sindy sighed. “I wish I could afford to live right here, in the heart of midtown.”
“Really?” Lucas shrugged. “Midtown isn’t for me. I prefer the East Village. It’s more grungy. All those little bars and places to play music. The people are more organic. There are so many tourists here with their noses stuck up in the air.” He nudged Mason’s shoulder, teasing his best friend. “Uptown’s even worse.”
“I can’t help it if my family’s high class,” Mason joked.
Lucas laughed. “Are you saying my parents aren’t classy?”
Mason displayed one of his charming smiles and held up his hands, innocently. “Never. Stop twisting my words, man.”
Sindy noticed that Mason never had a bad word to say about anyone. He never argued with anyone about anything. Everything just rolled off his back, and he always had a smile on his face. He was such a pleasure to be around, and he was almost as extraordinarily good looking as Lucas. “Why are you single?” she asked him.
“What?” Mason looked as if he found the question absurd.
“You’re good looking. Famous. Talented. You have money. Why aren’t you married?”
“Married?” Tessa asked, more surprised than Mason at the question.
“A girlfriend, at least,” Sindy added.
“Why does he need a girlfriend?” Tessa asked, raising her brows. “Are you interested in Mason?”
“No. I wasn’t asking for me. There’s nothing wrong with being single. I was just curious.”
“I don’t know,” Mason shrugged. “I devote most of my time to my music. I travel. I don’t really have time to date.” He displayed one of his killer smiles, which dimpled both cheeks. “I’m not celibate or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Tessa put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to hear about this. I told you guys, I don’t want to hear about your sex lives. If you start talking about yours, I’ll start talking about mine.”
“What sex life?” Lucas put his elbow on the table, leaned over and glared at Tessa, brows pinched together.
“I’m 21. I can have a sex life. If I wanted to. If I had time.”
“Then just keep working,” he said, before relaxing and sitting back in the booth.
It was the first time Sindy had seen Lucas get macho and overprotective of his sister, and it made her smile. As she stared at him, he seemed to be more handsome than ever, and she wondered if it was because she couldn’t have him. She had no idea how someone as devastatingly gorgeous as Lucas Blade didn’t already have a girlfriend when she met him. She would have thought he’d have a different girl lined up for each night of the week, but he proved her wrong. “What about you?” she asked him with a teasing smile. “Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
Lucas raised his brows and challenged her. For a second, she expected him to say, you’re my girlfriend. But instead, he said, “Why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I just moved here.”
“You moved here a year ago.”
“Yeah, but I work double shifts. Who has time?”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Tessa waved her hand at her brother. “He just broke up with his girlfriend.”
Sindy felt as if someone punched her in the stomach. She slowly turned toward Tessa for clarification. “What do you mean? How long ago?”
“Not that long ago.” Tessa answered. “Actually, right before you joined the band.”
Now Sindy felt as if someone karate chopped her in the throat. Was she the rebound girl? Was that why he had pursued her so relentlessly? She was such an idiot! She tried to keep the anger out of her face and stop her eyes from bulging. It would have been easier if he didn’t look so damn guilty. “Were you with her for a long time?”
He fiddled with his napkin. “About a year.”
Oh my God. He’d been in a serious relationship.
“It wasn’t serious,” he said, as if reading her mind.
“A year sounds serious to me. Why did it end?” She immediately regretted asking the question and the accusatory tone of her voice. “Don’t answer that. It’s personal.”
He seemed relieved, and she noted that Tessa and Mason both looked at him as if waiting to see if he would answer or not. She needed to change the subject. “Why don’t you have a boyfriend, Tessa?”
“Me? I’m married. To Prodigy.”
Lucas and Mason both laughed.
It made sense. It seemed like Tessa’s only interests were the band, making music and cooking. Everything she did was to benefit the band and strive toward its success. “So what happens now? With the single?” Sindy asked.
“My mom and Aunt Kira are handling the marketing and PR stuff,” Mason answered. “It just makes sense because they have the experience. Eventually, we’ll need our own people, but right now our families are guiding us.” He took a sip of his beer. “We already got that awesome write up from our show with Immortal Angel. It created a nice buzz. People know who we are.”
Sindy couldn’t believe this was really happening. Each day brought her closer to fame and financial freedom.
“Heavy promo is in place for release day. Radio stations are gonna push it hard. We have an appointment with Sirius XM in a few days to record a station identifier. A week from now, we’re gonna be all over the airways.”
They had so many things planned. It was proving to be a full-time job. A career. But she still had commitments at the diner. “Mason, I need a schedule so I can coordinate my hours at the diner.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize. All right. I’ll have something drawn up.”
“You have incredible work ethic,” Lucas said as he gazed at her. “I told you that from the very beginning.”
His gaze made her uncomfortable and sent a shiver up her spine at the same time. She was trying to forget about him, but the littlest things reminded her how sweet he could be, and it made all of her defenses fall. Or maybe it was because she found out that he had a girlfriend before they met, and it made her jealous and possessive of this man that she had no claim over.
“I just realized something,” Tessa announced. “Sindy is the only one of us who has a real job and has to get up every morning and go to work. None of us have ever done that.”
Sindy had been working for as long as she could remember. At eight, she fed the neighbor’s cat. By the time she entered her teens, she had a half dozen different jobs. “You mean none of you have ever had a nine-to-five job?”
Mason answered first. “I’ve played drums my whole life. I did the talk show thing when I was 10 and it opened up a career for me right away.”
“What about you two?” Sindy asked Lucas and Tessa. Having grown up surrounded by a generous family and living in an enormous mansion, she doubted they worked a day
in their lives.
“My dad wanted us to learn responsibility and what it was like to have a job,” Lucas answered. “We both worked for Immortal Angel. I was a roadie.”
“I helped with production,” Tessa boasted. “I also worked with my mom designing for a while, but I wanted to be involved in music. What’d you do back in Baltimore?”
Sindy hated thinking about her former life, and she had no intention of telling this group of people that she had lived in a trailer in one of the most impoverished sections of the city. Or that her parents were assholes, and she basically raised herself. “I did everything. Cashier. Waitress. Bartender. Housekeeper. The place was a dead end for me. I had to get out of there.” She felt Lucas’ eyes on her, but purposely avoided looking at him.
“I’m really glad you did,” he said. “Otherwise we never would have met.”
She didn’t know if she was twisting his words or if he was purposely trying to entice her with the things he said. Either way, she needed to get away and get some air. She left the table with the excuse to use the restroom, but there was a line halfway down the hallway. As she waited, the elevator doors across from her opened and a group of people exited. She remembered that the floor below the rooftop had a posh indoor set up and jumped onto the elevator before the doors closed. They opened to a fancy decor with a throwback eighties vibe. Odd shaped couches were strewn around the perimeter of the dimly lit room. A pool table, illuminated with green neon lighting, stood off to the side. The center area had zebra-covered velvet couches reserved for bottle service and looked like something right out of Scarface. Balconies offered the identical view from the rooftop, and she crossed the room to take a peek at the skyline from this level.
A guy whistled at her as she passed the pool table, and she turned to glare at him. She thought that people in a place like this would have more class. His pompous expression annoyed her, so she flipped him the finger.
He mocked her with laughter, which burned her cheeks. “What the hell’s so funny?”
LUCAS BLADE: Radical Rock Stars: Next Generation Duet Book 1 Page 23
