Rock 01 - FRET (16 page)

Pretty awesome, if you ask me. The baby — not the threesome. I’m not into women and Axel and I agree on the not sharing part. Jinx calls me vanilla. I have no idea what that means.

“I’m sorry to hear about Paul.” Zander shook his head sadly.

“We’re getting him help.” Ransom tried to smile.

“How could anyone not like this little guy?” Zander put both hands in and destroyed my hair.

I groaned in frustration. Okay, so I wasn’t tall but they made it seem like I was tiny.

“Paul’s an only child; he doesn’t know what it’s like to have a sibling,” Ransom explained. I think he has to realize that’s not much of a defense, but if it makes him feel better about Paul’s behavior? Whatever helps.

“Well, I feel like I have four of them,” Zander laughed, pointing to the rest of the band. “Tony and Jared just realized they have the hots for each other.”

“I knew, thank you very much!” Jared groused.

“See, Axel? I don’t feel all alone. All these guys are gay!” I winked.

“Yeah, thank God Wheland’s got a guy or he’d tie you up,” Tony guffawed.

“I save that for my man,” Wheland drawled.

I eyed Dante and Ashton in the corner making out furiously and grinned. “I see the intervention worked on those two.”

“Yeah, they haven’t come up for air in a while. I’m starting to worry,” Dagger chuckled.

“So? You guys want to head out for some food?” I invited.

“Yep! You ready for all this Mr. Blaze?” Zander cocked a brow.

“This is my life now.” Axel looked down at me and smiled. “I’m ready for it all.”

~*~

Axel unlocked the front door and I stumbled into the house. I was bone-tired and ready to sleep for the next year. Axel still does a sweep of the house and everything else before he allows me to go anywhere. I feel like he’ll always do that.

We climbed the stairs to my room and I threw my shirt off and unbuttoned my pants. Axel pushed me down on the bed and removed my shoes.

“I’ll let you sleep in, but we’re going to Flagstaff tomorrow. Stan wants to go over the band’s finances.”

I groaned and rolled to my stomach.

“Gareth?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think you guys are broke. Stan’s pretty damned smart when it comes to finances. He’s the one who found where Paul was skimming off the top.”

“I just want to sleep,” I grumbled.

“Okay. Sleep.” Axel climbed on the bed and straddled my hips.

“What are you doing?” I glanced over my shoulder.

“Rubbing your back. Shh, go to sleep.”

I fell asleep getting the best back rub in the world from the best-looking masseuse in the world.

~*~

Stan greeted us with a smile. I know he was part of taking Paul down, and I don’t know how to feel about any of it, really. He agreed to anything Mac asked him to do just to get the goods on Paul. I guess I should be grateful; who knows how far Paul might have gone. After all, he did pull a gun on me when he caught me snooping.

“Hey.” Stan half-waved at me.

“Hi.”

“I just want to say how sorry I am for everything. When Mac came to me and told me Paul had set me up, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think Paul could go that far.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Stan is a trouper,” Rebel declared, joining us.

Stan blushed, peering at Rebel through his lashes.

“Um.” Stan cleared his throat. “Is everyone here?”

“Hammer, Buster and Achilles just pulled up.” Axel was watching out the front window.

“Wonderful,” Harley snapped.

The front door opened and the three men sauntered in. I noticed Harley shooting daggers at Achilles. Pretty sure they bounced right off.

“Oh, come on.” I slapped Harley’s shoulder. “You’re just mad Achilles ruined your last night in Vegas.”

“It was a man and, yes, he did have a very large dick.” Achilles drawled from across the room.

“He was a she!” Harley argued.

“Maybe next time you’ll drink less.” Achilles lifted a brow.

“Dude,” Rebel whispered to Harley. “It
was
a man.”

I snickered. I couldn’t help it.

“Okay, as much fun as this is, I want to go over your financial situation,” Stan interrupted. “Thankfully, Paul didn’t do as much damage as I expected. I was able to buy the tour bus back, so that’s a plus. I recovered money from the account Paul set up in the Caymans and now it’s back in the band’s account.”

“So — we’re not broke?” Ransom sounded incredulous.

“No.” Stan smiled. “You’re not broke.”

Ransom turned to me with tears in his eyes and I hugged him. Making the band a success had been his whole life. Paul’s betrayal had to sting him more deeply than it did us.

“I have to tell you that Paul made this happen. I couldn’t have gotten access to that account if he hadn’t helped.”

“Thanks, Stan,” I said sincerely.

“I’ve been with you guys from the beginning, and I’m grateful you let me stay a part of this. I’ll make sure you have everything you need. Axel is head of security now, and the other three,” Stan yanked his head toward Hammer, Buster and Achilles, “are now fulltime, as you know. My part’s done. Now, I suggest you guys get started on your next album.” Stan smiled broadly.

“Let’s hit the studio!” Ransom rubbed his palms together eagerly.

~*~

Over the next several weeks, we sequestered ourselves in the studio banging out new songs. Axel settled in a corner with his laptop, but every once in a while he’d lift his head with a look of disbelief on his face. We all had a way of blowing off steam when we fucked up; mine was playing Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did it Again” and Jinx would follow up with the drums.

We headed into Phoenix one day to get some new games. Jinx and I browsed the window of the game shop. In the reflection, I saw Axel stroll behind us with Achilles. More than once during the outing I caught some girls staring at my man. Axel winked at me when I frowned.

“Dude! We have to get ‘Assassins Creed’!” Jinx bounced up and down.

“Oooh, yeah, that’s the newest one.” I nodded in agreement.

Two guys walked out of the store as we walked in and Jinx nearly fell over on me. I grabbed his bicep and steadied him.

“Dude, what?”

“Um, nothing,” he mumbled.

I turned and noticed one guy with blond hair and tattered jeans just past us. Our band’s emblem was on the back of his shirt. He turned around and my eyes met his bright blue ones. His widened and he stopped walking, slapping his friend on the shoulder.

“Oh hell.” Jinx muttered as they began walking back toward us.

“Oh my God! You’re Jinx Jett!” the guy practically screamed.

“He is,” I affirmed with a smile.

“Can I have your autograph?”

“Um, sure. What’s your name?” Jinx checked his pockets.

“I have a pen. It’s Jayden, J-a-y-d-e-n. Can you sign my shirt?”

“Sure.” Jinx shot me a look and took the pen.

I grinned as Jayden turned his back to Jinx. He had a spectacular ass and right then I noticed Jinx was checking it out. I coughed and raised my brows at him. Jinx frowned and finished signing his name.

“Can you sign it, too, Gareth?” Jayden asked eagerly.

“You bet!”

“This is so awesome! I love you guys!” Jayden exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’re just walking around the mall!”

I finished signing my name and handed the pen back. Jayden was staring at Jinx as if he wanted to eat him whole.

“Um, so, thanks a lot you guys. You’re so cool!” Jayden backed away from us.

“How about a picture?” I asked suddenly.

Jayden’s eyes lit up and I swear to God I thought he’d pass out.

“Really?!”

“Sure.” I shrugged.

Jayden practically squealed and handed his phone to his friend. He got between us and I smiled for the camera. The flash went off and Jayden took the phone from his friend, checking the picture.

“Thank you so much!” he enthused.

“No problem.” This time, Jinx managed not to sound like he was asleep or annoyed.

The pair walked away but Jayden kept looking over his shoulder at Jinx.

“Wow, it’s like I wasn’t even here,” I drawled playfully.

“Shut up.” Jinx slapped my chest.

“That guy was seriously cute, Jinx!”

“I heard that,” Axel called from the bench across the way.

“You’re hotter, babe.” I leered at Axel. Apparently, I need to practice my leer because he laughed and snorted. But he looked appreciative.

Jinx’s cheeks turned pink and I studied him. “Oh, my God! You liked him!”

“Could you please not yell that in the mall?” Jinx hissed.

I crossed my arms and fixed him with a serious look. Jinx sighed and threw his hands in the air.

“Fine. For a dude, he was cute.”

I grinned and Jinx rolled his eyes.

“Can we finish shopping now?”

“Yep.”

~*~

Axel carried my bags from the mall into the living room and set them down. We were back at the treehouse for some R&R. All in all, the day had gone perfectly. I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and handed him one.

“The kid at the mall was all kinds of adorable,” Axel laughed.

“I know, right? The way he was looking at Jinx, I thought he would combust. I try to stay far, far away from Jinx’s love life. That guy fucks everything that breathes.”

“Was he always like that?” Axel was curious.

“Hell, no. He never really had a girlfriend in high school. He had really bad acne and was shy.”

“Jinx? Shy?” Axel spluttered.

“I know, you’d never guess that now.”

“Well, I think I got the best band member.” Axel tugged me into his arms.

“I got the best bodyguard.”

“How about we discuss this in the bedroom?” Axel nibbled my ear.

“I’m all over that.”

~*~

I sat on the bed naked as Axel stripped in front of me. Even though we’d been intimate several times, I was still afraid to touch his scars. Axel seemed to flinch every time my fingers ran over one. He dropped to his knees beside the bed and I reached out to touch his cheek. I trailed my index finger over the scar above his eyebrow. Axel’s eyes closed as I gently touched his face.

“Where did you get this one?” I asked softly.

“Shrapnel. We were hit with an RPG.” Axel turned and showed me his back. “The cluster on my right side is from that, too.”

I ran my fingers over a long scar down his side. “This is from the friend who betrayed you.”

“Yes.”

I leaned over and kissed the skin. Axel shivered and I peppered his back with kisses.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?”

“Letting me touch you like this.”

Axel pushed me back on the bed and crawled over me to the drawer. He pulled out a bottle of lube and then flipped to his back, handing the bottle to me. I stared at him wide-eyed as my brain registered what he meant.

“Are you sure?”

Axel spread his legs and pulled me on top of him. Our lips met and he kissed me. I fumbled with the lube in excitement. I couldn’t believe Axel was about to let me take him.

I had no fucking clue how to do it. Axel sensed my trepidation and held my face in his hands.

“Just do to me what I do to you.”

So, I did.

Slipping inside Axel was like coming home. His warmth wrapped around me like a lover, squeezing me in the most delectable way. I moved slowly, wanting to savor it as much as I could. His big hands held my ass, pushing me deeper and deeper inside him. I’ve never felt so at one with someone.

Afterwards, I snuggled into Axel and he ran his fingers through my hair.

“Axel?”

“Yes.”

“When do you want to get married?”

“Funny you should ask.”

~*~

We were married one week later on the treehouse deck. Dad was there via Skype and I smiled as he waved into the camera. I stood with Axel, who looked amazing in a tux, and recited my vows. Cheering erupted all around us as he leaned in to kiss me. We’d managed to avoid the paparazzi by having a ceremony in Phoenix first. This was the real deal.

I stared at the platinum band on my finger with a wide smile. Seconds later, Ransom enveloped me in his arms. I hugged him back fiercely.

“Let’s get this party started!” Jinx shouted.

Ransom and I stayed on the deck as everyone else trooped into the house. The view of Sedona was breathtaking. The sun was setting, tinting everything around us pink.