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Authors: Hilary Storm

No Strings Attached (7 page)

BOOK: No Strings Attached
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I knew this morning, when he was about to leave my room, that nothing would ever be the same again.  So much for a casual hook up.  Someone forgot to tell my heart not to get attached, but it's been caught for months.  Luke is easy to fall for. 
Is it bad that I'm thinking about Luke when I'm here with Garrett?

"So, how hard is it to get back on the road after all of that time off?"  His question pulls me out of my thoughts about Luke.

"Oh.  It's not too bad.  We've been preparing and working hard on the new album, so it really wasn't time off."

"I actually thought of bringing you into some of our concerts.  We could've used another kick-ass guitarist on stage."

"That would've been strange.  I can't imagine playing without my guys."

"You should do a crossover at one of the concerts.  You and I could duel it out rock and roll style."

"What, you on the drums and me on guitar?"

"Hell no.  I'd match you on guitar.  You think you could match me on the drums?"

"That's something I know I couldn't come close to doing, but name the time and place and I'll show you up on my strings."

"Okay.  The next concert.  We'll do it in the middle of Beckoning's show."  I look up to see the smirk on his face. 

"You seem awful smug about this."

"Nah.  I just want you on my stage, since I can't have you in my bed."

"I didn't say no.  I just said I need some time."

"Fair enough."

 

We talk for hours about nothing and everything.  I learn a lot about what makes those wheels turn in his head.  He listens to me as I talk about my childhood all the way up until today.  I don't even bother to look at my cell phone, knowing it'll have messages and missed calls out the ass.  We don't leave until tomorrow night, so there is no reason I have to check in with the guys. 

I end up falling asleep on his bed.  He doesn't push me into anything, and it's nice to know he's completely different than I have him pegged.  Waking up in the night, I reach for my phone to see what I've missed.  Everyone has called me, except the one person I had hoped would.  Not even a message from him.  This bothers me. 

I scoot over in the bed until my back hits solid, naked muscle.  Well, at least his torso is naked.  I'm actually surprised with Garrett that he's not fully undressed.  He wraps his arms around me and we spoon until I fall back to sleep.

We wake to the sound of drunken laughter and loud talking.  The rest of his crew stumbles onto the bus and I say a silent prayer that none of them try to come in here and get repulsive. 

"Hey, Riggins.... you gonna share again tonight?" 

"Fuck off."  His voice echoes through my ears because of how close we are.  I'm glad I didn't have to deal with all of the other guys tonight.  Him protecting me shows a softer side to Riggins than I'm used to.   

"You asleep?"  This time his voice is a grumbly whisper. 

"No."

"I'm horny as fuck with you up against me, so don't move anymore unless you want me to roll you over and show you what I want."

In this moment, it doesn't sound so bad to let him show me a good time.  He's extremely hot and just my type.  I choose not to move a muscle, knowing that I'm not truly here with Garrett in my mind. 

I finally doze back off in hopes of getting some actual sleep this time. 

 

Garrett's alarm interrupts my sleeping.  He reaches for it, shuts it off, and begins stretching.  I sit up and do the same. 

"I better get back to my guys."  I look through my messages and missed calls and there's still nothing from him.  Is it too much to ask that he be concerned about me?  Even as a friend he should be checking on me. 

"Yeah.  I'm sure they're missing you by now."

"They'll get over it."  He watches me move from the bed to slip my shoes on. 

"Let me walk you out, I think your bus is nearby.”  He grabs my hand and pulls me up against his body.  Our mouths touch and I wait for him to do something.  He doesn't.

"Next time this will go a little differently."  I nod, knowing exactly what he means.  He turns to walk us out of the room.  The bus is littered with bodies of sleeping drunks.  I step over a few arms and legs to get to the door before I see him sitting on the couch.  I can't explain the look on his face.  Is he mad, or sad?  Or maybe disgusted? 

Garrett pulls me close and places a goodbye kiss on my lips.  I'm pretty sure it’s for show.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to feel the tension in the room. 

We step out of the bus and Garrett leads me in the direction of our home on wheels.  I did nothing wrong, yet this feels like a walk of shame if I ever felt one.  The way Luke looked at me just now is stuck in my head. 
Why should he care what I'm doing?

 

 

Luke

 

What a fucking fiasco.  I knew she was with him.  I'm not sure why she felt the need to run to that asshole’s bed.  I may be with a lot of different girls, but at least I know how to show them respect.  He's a fucker, and I wouldn't want my
worst
stalking fan to hook up with him.  I have to get through to her.

Jumping up from this alcohol infested couch, I move for the door.  Garrett opens it just as I reach for the latch. 

"Leaving so soon?"

"Don't fucking worry about me."

"Oh, I promise ya, you’re the last thing on my mind."  I stop to take in his smile.  The urge to punch him straight in the face is disrupted by Lilly's voice. 

"Hey.  I forgot to grab my jacket.  Can you get it for me, Garrett?"  He steps into the bus and disappears, leaving me and Lilly there to stare at each other.  My hung over state isn't making things any better, but I can't seem to read her right now.  She seems mad at me. 
What the fuck have I done wrong?

"Don't you dare, Luke." 

"Don't what, Lilly?  Don't tell you that you deserve better than to be a notch on that asshole’s drum sticks?"

"Fuck you.  You're no better...."  She stops talking when Garrett opens the door to toss her jacket at her.

"Call me later, Lils."  She nods as she turns to walk away from the situation.  I follow on her heels, ready to finish this conversation.

"I'm no better than what?  Tell me you think I'm like that asshole."

"Just leave me alone, Luke."

"Is that what you really want?"  Her steps come to a halt, but she doesn't turn to look at me.

"What I
really
want doesn't matter."  She begins to walk again, but I don't follow her. 
What a fucked up mess.
  This is what I get for crossing that line with her.  Our friendship is now a mess and it feels like we are both in self destruct mode.

I choose to give her the space she seems to need and I begin to walk.  There's a gym nearby and I could really use the release.

 

Two hours of lifting doesn't make me feel much better about the Lilly situation.  I'm going to have to talk to her today. 

Climbing back on the bus, I notice she's the only one anywhere to be seen.  I'm sure the others are still in the hotel rooms.  I walk up to where she's laying and watch her try to act like I'm not standing here. 

"What do you want, Luke?"

"So, you're just going to hop from bed to bed now?"  My question sends her upright in an instant and her expression is that of someone who is ready to attack.  She's pissed, and so am I, so this is liable to be one hell of an explosion.

"You."  She stands and points her finger at my chest, jabbing it to make a point.

"You.  Have no fucking right to talk to me like that.  You fuck skanks in bathrooms.  I don't have to answer to you, just like you don't have to answer to me.  Remember, Luke?  No. Fucking. Strings. Attached."

"I remember, but you hate that asshole just as much as I do and then you sleep with him after he sniffs you one fucking time."

"Sniffs me?  Look.  You've got to stop.  I don't owe you any explanation and you don't owe me anything.  This wasn't supposed to get complicated and you're making it that way."

"You're right.  I
can
and
will
fuck anyone I want without your approval.  I just don't want to see you turn into a fucking loose bitch willing to open her legs for anyone."

"I opened them for you, so I guess it's a little late for that."  Her words hit home.  She thinks I'm just anyone.  Point made very clear.  This has turned into chaos and I don't know how to fix it. 

"I'm sorry I said anything.  You can do whatever you want.  I have no right to say anything or try to talk you out of anything."  Her eyes fall to the floor while she tries to comprehend my apology.  I need her to work this out with me and not fight me on everything during this tour.  The Walkers will for sure have my ass if that happens.

"Thank you.  Sorry I laid into you so harshly.  We just need to keep things on a friend level, because we obviously have problems taking it beyond that."  Her words are only slightly louder than a whisper. 

I want to disagree with her, but after the last twenty-four drama packed hours, I have to agree.

 

 

Chapter Eight

Lilly

 

I should've probably clarified to Luke that I didn't 'sleep' with Garrett, but it really is none of his business.  I wish it was, but it's not.  He made that clear yesterday. 

He stays on board the bus with me, and it's really an awkward attempt at a conversation.  I wish I could turn back time and never go there with him, but damn it was so good.  I'll probably always have him in the back of my head when I'm out with other guys, but it's obvious that he's nowhere near ready to settle down to one girl.  He needs to live it up while he's young and becoming famous. 

"Come eat some lunch with me."  He stands and pulls my hand toward the door. 

"I'm good."

"No.  Come with me.  I need to find food and this will be good for us to do something like we used to do."  How do you tell Luke Jacobs no?  I've yet to figure this out, so I rise up from my sitting position and walk behind the six foot solid muscle of man.

He leads me down the street to a small mom and pop cafe.  I watch him practically inhale his food and try to enjoy his conversation. 

"So what do you think about releasing our song at the next venue?"  He surprises me with this.  We wrote a couple of songs, but we weren't going to release this one until we felt it was perfect. 

"I thought we were going to work on it some more."

"Eh.  I think it's perfect the way it is.  It's rough around the edges, but so are we.  Taron and Talon will nail it and it'll be epic."  The excitement on his face reminds me why I love chilling with him so often.  He loves what he does.  His passion shines through in his performance and I share that same love of music.  This is why we usually get along great. 

"Yeah.  I guess you're right.  Let's run through it during warm-up and then release it during the next show." 

His playful personality starts to shine through again.  It's important that we reach that level of comfort we once had.  We'll be spending so many days together in the next few weeks, and I can't have the insanity that we've been dealing with while I'm trying to focus on our performance at each of these venues. 

My phone vibrates and I look to see that Garrett is sending me messages.  That's funny, because I didn't give him my number, yet my phone says 'Garrett' on the message header.

 

Garrett:  Hey, babe.  Looking forward to playing against you at the next show.

 

I look up at Luke and choose to put my phone in my pocket until I have time to concentrate on the text.  He seems to notice a change in me, but thankfully doesn't say anything about it.  The rest of our time out is spent just shooting the bull and talking about every day things.  Nothing specific or earth shattering happens. 

We move back to the bus when the rest of the crew messages us that it's time to load up for the short trip to the show.  I need a shower and this isn't a good situation to go into right before a concert. 

"Shit.  I need to shower and clean up before tonight."

"I'll tell them we'll meet them there.  Grab your stuff and come with me."  He starts to make a few phone calls and reservations at a hotel.

"We both need to shower, so I just got us a cheap room so we can clean up.  I told Taron that we'd meet them there before it's time to go on stage."  This is
not
a good idea, but I have no choice. 

We arrive at the hotel and he checks us in.  He opens the door to let me pass through first.  I take note of the kingsized bed and how comfortable it looks, but quickly take the bathroom.  My hair and makeup will take longer than his shower. 

He didn't say anything the whole way up the three flights to our room.  This is a little awkward, but I'm trying to work past it.  I need to let my feelings for him go.  I just can't stand that I'm attracted to him like this.  Too bad it's not a switch I can turn off and on when needed.

The shower feels so nice, and I try to rush so he has plenty of time in here, too.  Wrapping a towel around myself and another around my hair, I step out of the bathroom.  He's immediately watching me as I stroll past him.  I begin to rub lotion on my legs and attempt to act as nonchalant as possible.

I watch him watching me before he walks into the bathroom.  Knowing that sexy beast is naked in the next room does something to me.  I just wish we were at the same place right now in life, but we aren't even close.

I slide on my painted-on skirt and cleavage-baring shirt to get ready for tonight's concert.  Grabbing my blow dryer and flat iron, I take over the small desk in the room.  The mirror above it works in my favor and makes it easy to put on my makeup. 

I hear the water shut off and shortly after the door to the bathroom opens.  A flash of naked skin catches my eye, so I turn to see what he's doing. 

"Is there a reason that you're butt-ass naked?"  He's drying off, but he's moving the towel around so that I can see everything.

BOOK: No Strings Attached
13.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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