Encore (Stereo Hearts Book 2) (10 page)

--

The fury of the first single never let up. After their morning of fooling round was interrupted by Yoshi’s song being on the radio, neither he nor Aria had been prepared for the explosion. The immense flurry of attention that had been blasted at Yoshi overnight.

Then, the single went to number one.

And the explosion doubled. Press conferences, interviews, TV appearances, press junkets. The stream of opportunities nearly buried him and seemed never-ending. Yoshi and Aria had been convinced it couldn’t get any crazier.

Then, the second single dropped.

And went straight to number one.

Aria couldn’t stop smiling at herself in the bathroom mirror, not even as she brushed fire-red lipstick onto her lips. Yoshi’s album wafted through the speakers on the ceiling as she got ready, soothing her nerves.

The master bath was her favorite room in the mansion. A mansion that had been a temporary gift from the record label. Just a beautiful home where Yoshi could relax and record his first album. But after seeing Aria fall in love with the house’s contemporary, all-glass design, the infinity pool, and most of all, that breathtaking master bathroom, Yoshi had promised to buy it for her when his first single went to number one.

And he had.

Twice as big as any apartment she’d ever lived in back home in New York, Aria was still in awe that this bathroom was all hers. With white marble finishes, a sink long enough to sleep on, a spa shower, and a Jacuzzi tub that overlooked the Hollywood Hills from the large domed window, she still couldn’t wrap her head around it. This was hers. This bathroom was hers. This house was hers.

He
was hers.

The bedazzled eye patch he’d surprised her with that night, with metal spikes and diamond stones, sat over her blue eye, a perfect complement to her outfit. Her destroyed black skinny jeans, thigh-high black leather boots, and long-sleeved white crop top were all Gucci, and all paid for by Yoshi. Regardless of the designer label, she’d wondered if the outfit was too casual for his album release party that night. When he’d shown her what he was wearing, however—an outfit that matched hers to the letter—she’d felt a little better.

She’d needed to feel better because it would be the night Yoshi debuted his ‘relationship’ with that bombshell, Carmen Rodriguez. It would be the first night of many that was sure to tear Aria’s heart clear out. Knowing he’d coordinated their outfits wasn’t much, and it didn’t ease the sick feeling in her stomach completely, but regardless, it helped to know he was thinking of her in any way he could.

“You’re stunning.”

Her smiling eye moved in the mirror’s reflection, catching sight of Yoshi leaning against the doorframe. He also wore ripped black jeans, a white T-shirt topped by a black leather jacket, and black boots. Thankfully, the label had decided long ago that his ‘look’ was shabby chic, so he was expected to show up to his own release party looking casual.

Aria’s gaze flew to the top of his head. Gus had hired a stylist to dye the tips of Yoshi’s hair blond, leaving the roots black. She thought she’d hate it, but surprisingly, it didn’t bother her. It gave him that edge, that distinction, that little extra something that all stars had. That extra something that forced the world to take a second look. Yoshi had always had that
something
, but the blond took it to the next level. The new diamond earring sparkling in his left ear made his hazel eyes shine even more than they already did.

“
You’re
stunning.” She smiled.

He was on her in an instant, crossing the room and encircling her exposed waist, burying his head in her neck. Her hair was pulled into a high bun, so he had free rein on the most sensitive dip in her neck, his playful kisses turning serious in seconds, replaced with deep, moan-fueled sucks.

“You
know
what that does to me,” she whispered, dropping her lipstick and gripping the edge of the counter. His hands traveled up her body until he was cupping her breasts, and she flashed back to the night before when he’d spent hours,
hours,
with both of them in his mouth. “We have to be ready to go in less than twenty minutes.”

His breathing grew labored and, still holding her heaving breasts, he met her gaze in the mirror. “I don’t want you to get upset tonight….”

She met his eyes in the reflection too, and saw her jaw tighten.

“I want you to understand that Carmen is just a tool. An industry pawn. It’s really important to me that you understand that.” He moved his hands just under the swell of her breasts, so only the edges of his thumbs brushed against them. “No matter what happens at this party, she doesn’t mean shit to me.” He tugged her in closer, letting her feel his hardness on the swell of her ass. His breathing picked up. “You’re my girl. My ride or die. My
Bo
. I write for you. I sing for you. I grind for you. No one else. I don’t give a damn about anybody else.”

Aria’s eyes fell.

Arms still wrapped around her, he reached up and nudged the underside of her chin, forcing her to look up and meet his eyes again.

He raised his eyebrows. “What do I always say?”

She swallowed. “Just until you’re too big—”

“Too big to move,” he finished with her, laying another kiss in the crook of her neck. He stayed there, swaying back and forth with her.

“Have you met her yet?” she whispered.

He peeked at her from the crook of her neck, hesitated, and then set his chin on her shoulder. “During my first meeting with Simon, after we left Miami. I saw her in one of the back offices at the label. She was naked and bent over a desk while a bunch of executives ran a train on her. I couldn’t see the whole office—I was just walking by and happened to look—but I counted a least five guys.”

“That’s awful.”

“Then she came into the meeting I was having with Simon, still naked. Sat on the floor and spread her legs. And that was how I was introduced to Carmen. Have we met like civilized human beings yet? No. But I guess we will tonight.”

“Naked? Spread legs? You never told me that.”

“There are a lot of things I don’t tell you.” He chuckled. “I guess it was supposed to turn me on, seeing her sitting there, touching herself… but it just reminded me of that house…” He sighed. “All the young girls who came and went. Girls who were there because their fathers, their brothers, guys they thought were their friends….”

Aria nodded, not needing him to finish.

“She had that same look in her eye, you know? That vat of just… nothingness.” He met her gaze in the mirror. “You have more going on in that one eye than she has in her whole body.”

Aria smirked, letting her eye flutter closed when he resumed his gentle kissing of her neck.

“I don’t tell you everything,” he mumbled into her skin, “because I want you protected. I’ll never let you get that far gone. So beat-up and run-down that you become a shell of yourself.”

She turned her head towards him, moaning when he gave her his mouth. He sucked her bottom lip between his, and she did the same to his top one.

“I want to make love so fucking bad,” he breathed, his warm lips back to the skin of her neck in the next instant.

Her lashes fluttered closed.

“I don’t think you have any idea how bad, Aria… For how long….”

Aria dug her nails into the skin of his arms. “I think I have some idea.”

“Yeah?” He met her gaze in the mirror. “When was it for you?”

She hesitated, giggling when he squeezed her. “Remember… seventh grade?”

“Mmmhmmm….” His lips returned to her neck.

“When I accidentally dropped dinner all over the kitchen floor, and Miss May’s flavor of the week was so pissed he nailed me right in the eye?”

His kisses froze.

“And you
flew
across the kitchen and nailed him right back, then grabbed a butcher knife from the drawer and dared him to hit you?”

His eyes came back up to hers, all desire gone, replaced with blind rage.

“Your knuckles were swollen for days, just like his jaw. That’s when I knew,” she said, nodding. “That night, I fell asleep thinking of your face. If I hadn’t been so busy fantasizing about you, maybe I’d have noticed how bad my eye was fucked up from that punch.” She pointed to the patch over her eye, grinning. “I blame you for this.”

“I should’ve given him one to match,” he growled. “And you shouldn’t have lied to child services when they asked what happened.”

“If I’d told them the truth, they would’ve revoked Miss May’s foster privileges. Transferred us all to different homes. I would’ve never seen you again. I couldn’t live with that.”

“Me neither.” A silence fell in, and his fingers slipped into the waistband of her jeans, finding her pussy lips. He touched her just the way he’d learned she liked, thumb against her clit while the middle finger slipped inside. Her stomach heaved under the splayed fingers of his opposite hand. “I wish you wouldn’t hide it,” he said. “You’re beautiful without that patch. Unique. There isn’t a single woman on
Earth
who looks like you. How can you not see how special that is?”

She let her head fall back on his shoulders, her breathing growing faint, eye fluttering.

“I want to take you somewhere,” he breathed into her ear, strumming her until her breathing turned to whimpers. “Somewhere beautiful for us to be together for the first time. Europe? Africa? Maybe Australia?” He curled his finger inside her, hitting that spot he’d memorized, sparking her unconscious whimper.

Aria came in less than a minute—so well he’d come to know her body—and he swirled his erection against her own convulsing hips.

“I can’t wait much longer, baby,” he begged, holding her flush to him as she convulsed.

Her nails dug into the bathroom counter. “Surprise me,” she finally croaked.

He buried his nose in her hair. “Done.”

--

Gus VanSant was the first to arrive to the house, dressed in a dark green suit with black leather lining. Tall and svelte, the off-key color didn’t overwhelm him. His hair was cut like Yoshi’s, trimmed low on the sides and longest in the front, but Gus kept the front gelled into a circular swoop. His features were sharp and delicate. He reminded Aria of an elf, like a
Lord of the Rings
extra who’d travelled off set, gotten lost, and somehow ended up in the foyer of her and Yoshi’s house. His big blue eyes always looked shocked, making him favor Elijah Wood, which only exacerbated the
Lord of the Rings
connection in her mind.

“Hello, Aria,” Gus said, stepping into the foyer and kissing both her cheeks. He pulled back and surveyed her. “You look badass. Loving the spiked eye patch. Very nice touch.”

Aria adjusted it. “Yoshi got it for me.”

“It’s wonderful.” His voice wasn’t deep or high, somewhere in the middle, but it was always silky smooth, even when he was frustrated, making her wonder if
anything
rattled him. “Where’s Yoshi? We’re way past fashionably late at this point. Simon is waiting in the limo on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”

“He’s just using the bathroom,” Aria said, motioning to the double stairs with her spiked black leather clutch. “Should be down any… second…” Aria’s voice drifted off when she looked over Gus’s shoulder.

A petite woman lingered in the doorway in a purple cocktail dress. The color made her tanned skin radiate and her green eyes leap across the foyer.

Aria sucked in a breath when it occurred to her that this must be her, the woman who’d been hired to be on Yoshi’s arm. Aria had expected her to be a goddess, but not a
magnificent goddess.

“Uh, come in…” Aria waved her in, swallowing the lump in her throat. “You must be Carmen.”

Holding her purple clutch in front of her flat stomach, Carmen strutted in. Her hourglass hips swung with every step she took, and her blonde hair, curled into ringlets, seemed to have a life of its own, bouncing against her breasts which sat high in the keyhole of her cocktail dress. Unlike her hair, Carmen’s breasts didn’t move an inch. Aria could tell that when Carmen took off her bra at night, those bad boys stayed right where they were, unlike hers. There wasn’t a lump or bump in sight on her tawny skin, and Aria barely resisted the urge to trace her hourglass curves in the air.

“You must be Aria,” Carmen purred, raising one heavily arched eyebrow while holding out her hand.

She held her palm downward, as if she wanted Aria to kiss it, making for a strange handshake as Aria clutched her fingers and did the only thing she could think of, giving them a little wiggle.

Carmen grinned. “Can I just say thank you for inviting me in? Usually, the girlfriend is more than happy to leave me standing out in the cold. Looks like Yoshi’s found a good one in you.”

Aria noted how much smaller and daintier Carmen’s hand was than hers, and the delightful scent she’d brought in with her. The floral aroma seemed to have taken over the room and left Aria fighting not to sniff her own armpits to make sure she’d remembered her deodorant. An entire head taller than Carmen, Aria suddenly felt like an ogre. All that was missing was a humped back and a big stick.