Taut Strings: A Rock Star Romance (River Valley Rebels)

by Gabrielle Sands

  “Well?” the brunette asked, looking at me over her shoulder. “What’s up with those two hotties? Are you dating the blondie who gave you a hug?”

  That, I could answer easily. “No, he’s just a friend.” Something in me wanted to correct her and tell her that his hair was in fact a light shade of red, but I knew that would be a ridiculous thing to say. “They’re coworkers actually.”

  “They work here?”

  “No, my other job,” I clarified.

  “Please tell me it’s a male strip club.” The redhead was now fixing her hair in the reflection of a small pocket mirror.

  “Nothing that exciting, I’m afraid.” I was pretty sure these two weren’t big metal fans, and I wasn’t about to blow the guys’ cover.

  “They’re not like serial killers or anything, right?” the brunette asked.

  “The Jon Snow look-alike could stick a knife in me, and I’d say thank you,” the other retorted. I couldn’t help but laugh at the comment.

  “No, they’re not serial killers.” I knew I was giving them encouragement to approach the guys, but who was I to stop them? What I’d said was true. Cole and Ezra were my coworkers. I had no claim to them, no right to feel this coldness in my heart as I watched the two women climb off their stools and prowl toward the guys’ booth.

  A few minutes later, I was bringing over their old fashioneds, telling myself to play it cool.

  That lasted all of two seconds once I saw the brunette clutching Ezra’s arm, and the redhead practically sprawled over Cole’s thigh. The guys looked somewhat amused with their new guests, and I noted that neither of them were pushing the girls off.

  “Here you go,” I bit out, my voice sounding curt to my own ears.

  A hint of alarm appeared in Cole’s eyes as he took in my expression. He opened his mouth to say something but didn’t get a chance to before I spun on my heel and marched back to the bar.

  The sharp anger coursing through me was completely irrational, but despite knowing that, I still opened the next order of five beers with way too much force. The bar sounds I’d found calming before, were now loud and infuriating. What right did I have to be upset? None. And yet an intense feeling of possessiveness over both of them was threatening to swallow me whole.

  I didn’t drink on the job very often, but I could see no way of making it through the remaining three and something hours of my shift without a drink. I threw back a shot of whiskey before focusing my attention on a regular who appeared at the bar.

  “Hey, is that two of the Bleeding Moonlight boys cozying up to those chicks?” he asked, looking at the booth.

  “Sure is.” Apparently, I was done with protecting their identities. Maybe if a bunch of the patrons turned out to be huge fans, the guys would get inundated with requests for autographs and leave.

  “Huh. I heard they’re still in town. Didn’t think they’d come out anywhere without a bodyguard, but I guess they’ve stayed down to earth. We raise ’em well in River Valley, don’t we?”

  I glared at Jim or Jack. “Sure do.”

  “Well, we’ll just leave ’em alone, won’t we? The boys deserve a night where they can be normal people and meet some ladies at a bar. Our secret, eh?” He winked at me, his lopsided grin revealing yellow teeth.

  Shrill female laughter erupted from the guys’ booth.

  “Uh-huh,” I pushed his whiskey toward him before going to the back to turn up the music.

  Ezra stood at the bar when I came back out. “Can we get a round of G&T’s?”

  “Sure.”

  “You doing all right?” he asked as I lined up four glasses side by side.

  “Peachy.”

  “Then why won’t you look at me?”

  I blinked once. Twice. Then I met his gaze.

  He blanched at the look in my eyes.

  “I’m fine, just tired.” God, why couldn’t I be better at pretending that I didn’t care about what was currently playing out in front of me? And why did it bother me so much?

  Ezra frowned as he noticed me shoot a gaze at the booth. “You know they came to us, right? We told them we’re not interested, but we thought we’d at least have a round together to soften the blow.”

  I sniffed. “I’m not sure why you’re telling me this. Both of you are single, so I have no qualms about you hooking up with those two. They seemed nice when I was chatting to them earlier.”

  Ezra’s hands curved over mine when I pushed the first two drinks towards him. He held on tightly, not letting me out of his grip.

  “I’m telling you this because you’re shooting lasers out of your eyes, and you weren’t when we first came in. It’s a reasonable guess that your change in mood has something to do with the girls coming over to us.”

  I huffed. “Well, reasonable or not, you’re wrong. Why would I have a problem with two pretty women throwing themselves at you?” I tried again to jerk my hands away, but he only squeezed them tighter.

  “You tell me.”

  The blue of his eyes was a storm, and I was in its center. I let out a shuddering breath, and at last, he let go of my hands, his expression contemplative.

  I averted my eyes, unable to withstand the tension crackling between us. “Let me help you with those.”

  We walked to the booth, a drink in each of our hands, and this time, I forced myself to study the redhead that was still stuck to Cole. The way her thigh was pressed against his jeans, the lustful look on her face, the hand that played with the fabric of his shirt.

  I wasn’t angry at her.

  I just wanted to be her.

  The realization slammed into me.

  “Can I get you anything else?” I asked, my throat suddenly dry.

  “We’re fine, thanks,” the brunette responded without looking at me.

  I walked back to the bar in a trance.

  I wanted them. Fuck it. I was done denying the desire that had been building up over the past few weeks. The fantasies I replayed in my head were never going to be enough, not when I knew I had a shot at the real deal.

  It was just sex, after all. It didn’t have to be complicated, and maybe by actually doing it, the compulsive need I’d been battling ever since that walk with Ezra would disappear.

  The rest of my shift went by in a daze. Ezra stayed true to his word, and after they had finished their round, the two girls stood up and left—but not before giving both of the guys hugs that seemed much too tight and way too long to me.

  The guys got another round, and this time, I managed to summon a real smile when Ezra came up to the bar. His shoulders seemed to relax a little at that, and he watched me make the G&Ts in easy silence.

  They got up to leave at around ten thirty and came to the bar to bid me goodbye.

  “Thanks for taking care of us tonight,” Cole said as he paid both theirs and the women’s tab. “I was right. It was fun watching you in action, even if you seemed a little…tense at times.”

  I flushed. “Yeah, sorry.”

  He wrote in a one hundred percent tip.

  My protest died on the tip of my tongue as he added, “Nah, I get it. Trust me, we noticed every single dude who checked you out as well.”

  He signed the bill and lifted his dark eyes to mine, daring me to read the message that they held.

  I held my breath, unable to respond.

  He blinked, and then he was just regular Cole once again. “See you soon.”

  “Bye,” I said weakly, waving at both of them as they turned to walk out the door.

  15

  ADELINE

  The next morning, I didn’t give myself a chance to second-guess my decision. I texted Ezra as soon as I woke up.

  “Can you meet me for a coffee in about an hour? At Brews?”

  My phone buzzed with his response.

  “Hey. Yeah, sure.”

  The fact that he didn’t ask why didn’t slip by me. I wished I could read his mind.

  “Can you bring Cole with you?”

 
The flashing dots taunted me. He started typing something then stopped. Then typed again for almost a minute before stopping. The final product was a repetition of his previous response.

  “Sure.”

  I groaned into my pillow, waves of anxiety rippling through me and making my gut churn. I was about to ask them something that could theoretically ruin our relationship. Without a doubt, it was highly unprofessional. Molly was right, I guess I didn’t care that much about being professional after all.

  I was going to ask Cole and Ezra to have a threesome with me.

  What were the chances they’d agree? They’d both flirted with me nearly since the first day we met, and last night, Cole had strongly hinted they were interested. Then again, all of that could have been just them teasing. Maybe they were done with that sort of thing. Maybe it was something they only did on tour when the raw adrenaline of performing and the endless nights and days on a bus surrounded by other men made them want to let go in excessive ways.

  I was extremely nervous, but the hard truth was that if I didn’t get this need out of my system, I didn’t think I was going to survive the next two weeks. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw the four of them. My insides would turn to liquid fire, my brain to mush. I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in nearly a week, which made it harder to focus during the recording sessions, and that wouldn’t do. Asking Cole and Ezra to do this seemed like the safest way to get my head back on track. I knew they’d see it for what it was—just a casual hookup.

  I slapped my cheeks in an attempt to halt the massive freak out I was on the brink of having. I had forty-five minutes for me to get ready, and I needed to look good for once.

  My closet was a mess, and it took me ten minutes to find the sleeveless V-neck top I had in mind. It was made of a thin black fabric that clung to me like a second skin.

  I pulled it on and tucked it into my favorite pair of gray high-waisted jeans.

  Twenty minutes later, my hair and makeup looked pretty good, and I ventured outside of my room.

  “Date?” Molly asked, checking out my outfit.

  “No, just meeting up with some of the guys for a bit,” I said, bending to pull on my over-the-knee boots and conveniently hiding my face from my sister. The face I was irrationally sure screamed exactly what I was about to do.

  Molly bit her apple with a crack. “Uh-huh.”

  “You going to be okay over here?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m going to Target with Carly to buy some stuff for our dorms. We’ll probably grab food at some point at the mall.”

  My shoes finally on, I straightened up and half-turned toward her. “Okay, great. Here’s a hundred bucks if you want to get some clothes too, or whatever.”

  “Sweet,” she drawled, suspicion lacing her voice.

  “Okay, bye!”

  Before I could hear her response, I was out the door, gunning it toward the car.

  My breathing was erratic, my palms sweaty on the wheel. I drove to the coffee shop on autopilot, nearly rear-ending a car at a red light. I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the words out when the time came.

  A bell rang above my head as I opened the glass door of Brews and scanned the well-lit interior for the two men I was equally eager and terrified to see.

  A few groups were huddled around rectangular tables, sipping on mugs of coffee and sharing slices of chocolate cake. Two young boys were playing with toy cars in a bean-bag-covered kids’ corner. My gaze drifted until I saw the two men sitting across from each other at a small table by the window, their edgy appearances at odds with this family-friendly place. I stifled a hysterical laugh. Leave it to me to have this conversation in a pastel-colored coffee house.

  I pulled my shoulders back and took a deep breath. Maybe I could just pretend this was another performance, and all I had to do was force the distressing thoughts out of my mind.

  Ezra stood up once he saw me approaching and pulled his chair in, clearing the path to the cozy window nook between the two of them.

  “Hey.” He smiled and planted a kiss on my cheek as I squeezed by him. “How’s it going?”

  I leaned over the table to give Cole a quick hug. “Good. The weather is great today, isn’t it?”

  For what must have been the first time since we’d met, we spent a good five minutes on small talk. I was enthusiastic. I was stalling.

  A waitress came by our table to ask if we wanted anything. “A latte for me, please,” I said, nibbling on my lip as the guys put in their orders. Something akin to tar was slowly roiling inside my stomach.

  As soon as the woman left, both of them turned to face me with curious expressions.

  “So,” Ezra prodded gently, “was there a particular reason you wanted to meet with us?”

  I wrung my clammy hands under the table as my anxiety became personified, screaming in a high-pitched voice inside my head. Don’t do it! You’ll ruin everything!

  “Ade?” Ezra asked, his brows pulling together in mild concern.

  I sucked in a breath, and nodded gravely. “Yes. I wanted to talk about something.”

  They stared at me expectantly. I took another deep breath. Here goes nothing.

  “Ezra, remember that walk we took in the park?” I lowered my voice, feeling my heart pound against my ribcage like a jackhammer.

  “Sure.” He nodded.

  I shot Cole a look, gauging his reaction. There was a small wrinkle on his forehead. “Remember what you told me about Cole and you?”

  Ezra bit his lip, as if trying to figure out what I meant.

  “You know.” My throat was as dry as sandpaper. “You two, your high school crush, and the shed.”

  He bit his lip harder.

  “Here you go!”

  I jumped in my seat as the waitress returned with our drinks.

  “I’ve got a cappuccino, a mint tea, and a latte. Anything else I can get for you?”

  “We’re great, thanks,” Ezra answered smoothly, his focus never drifting from my face.

  I was sweating in every place a human could possibly sweat, but there was no turning back now. As the waitress’s steps faded, I finally spit it out, unable to take the torture any longer. “Look, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It’s driving me nuts. And when I saw you two with the girls at the bar yesterday, I just… Ugh, fuck.”

  They were staring at me, but I was too inside my own head to even attempt to read their expressions. “Will you do it with me? Both of you?”

  The silence that followed was pure agony. What came next was even worse.

  Cole let out a rumbling chuckle. “Can you believe how nervous she is?” he asked Ezra, his voice laced with amusement. The noise of the coffee shop faded into the background and my mind roared in panic.

  What have I done? I’m an idiot. I’m a goddamn idiot.

  I sprang out of my seat, ready to abort this mission.

  Two hands landed on my shoulders in unison and pressed me back down.

  Anger and embarrassment surged through me. “It’s fine. If you don’t want to do it—”

  Ezra’s fingers landed on my thigh. “Adeline, calm down. Of course. Of course, we want to.”

  “You’re too much, darling.” Cole leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Did you really think there was any chance of us saying no? To you?” His fingers brushed an errant lock of hair off my face. “Do you know how often I’ve imagined you splayed naked beneath me?”

  My mind struggled to process their words, but my body seemed to get the meaning immediately. Heat bloomed between my legs and travelled down my inner thighs. “Oh,” I breathed out, leaning back in my seat.

  As my vital signs began to drop back down to normal levels, it finally hit me. They’d agreed. This was happening.

  What followed was a rapid exchange of glances. Cole looked at me with a sexy grin, his eyes filled with a hunger that made my nipples pucker. Ezra was rubbling circles on my thigh, a knowing smile on his face. Excitement was bu
ilding inside me, but the blissful relief I felt at their agreement was short lived. I was about to live out a wild fantasy, and I’d been so consumed with worry about asking them, I’d spent little time thinking about what would come next. I cleared my throat. “Should we talk about how it’s going to go down? Put some rules in place?”

  Ezra’s laugh was tense. “Maybe we should head back to my place for that part.”

  I arched a brow at him. “Why not talk about it here?”

  Cole bit on a knuckle and let out a muffled groan. “This seems like a family establishment.” He grabbed my hand away from my mug, pulled it under the table, and pressed my palm against the hardness straining against his jeans.

  There was not a single cell in my body that didn’t react to that.

  “Oh,” I said faintly, as he dragged my palm back and forth, letting me feel his entire length. When I looked back at Ezra shifting in his seat, I sensed he was in the same predicament.

  Cole let my hand go. “If we want to leave this place without mortifying the children, we need to start talking about decidedly unsexy things.”

  Fifteen minutes later, after we’d touched upon the highlights of cleaning lint out of a drying machine and stubbing a toe, we were ready to go.

  Ezra dropped a twenty on the table, and we hurried out the door, grinning at each other like fools.

  Before I made it to my car, Cole clasped my wrist, pulling me flush against him. “You’re driving with me,” he said against my cheek, his voice thick.

  My eyes fluttered closed as his other hand landed on the small of my back and pressed me against his firm body until there wasn’t enough space for a sheet of paper to slide in between us. Being this close to him made me feel drunk. “I can’t leave my car here. We’ll drive separately and meet at Ezra’s place.” I forced myself to pull away, missing the contact immediately.

  Ezra pulled up beside us in the Jeep. “I texted you the address, Adeline. See you there in ten.”

  That’s how I ended up with only ten minutes to collect myself for the next part. Everything was moving at a breakneck pace, and I felt like a giddy teenager on prom night. My mind kept replaying the looks on the guys’ faces back in the coffee house. Their feral, unchecked desire had been focused entirely on me, as if I were an antelope, and they were two lions ready to tear me apart. Maybe I should be a little scared, but instead, all I felt was a dark thrill at living out my fantasy with them.