Rock Star Ex (15 page)

Everyone
whooped and clapped at once.
 
Eve
high-fived Kate across the table, broad smiles across their faces.
 
And then the round of hugging began.
 
They all hugged each other and kissed Eve and
Kate on their cheeks, saying, “Great job, ladies.”
 

When
it came Devon’s turn to hug Eve her eyes dilated.
 
She tried to hug him politely but he lifted
her off her feet and crushed him against her.
 
“Wait until that video comes out.
 
That should get us to ten million followers in no time,” he said, making
her blush harder.

****

The
rest of the dinner was certainly celebratory but Devon was confused.
 
Sweet Eve had disappeared and Ice Eve was
back and he didn’t know why, especially after how close they had been last
night.
 
What had happened to make her
disappear?
 
He was doing what he could to
show her how he felt about her, but she’d been aloof all day.
 
He’d been truly proud of her success with the
promotion of Arsenal but she’d stiffened when he picked her up to hug her and
it made no sense.
 
So he bided his time
until they could talk.

After
dinner Clayton led them to the
LoDo
District where
they sampled beer at several microbreweries, growing merrier and merrier with
each stop.
 
Devon probably drank a bit
more than he should have, but Eve was drinking too and that seemed to loosen
her up.
 
She gave Devon a couple of real
smiles while they all conversed and even held his hand one time during the walk
between breweries.
 
By the time they were
done, they were all more than a little smashed, but he felt more hopeful about
Eve during the cab ride back to the Pepsi Center.
 
He wished he could be with her again in her
bunk but could tell she was working things out and with Eve patience was the
key.
 
He’d rather not push his luck.
 
He retired to his bunk and passed out, telling
himself that she would eventually come around.
 
They both could use some real sleep tonight.

In
his dreams, Eve was dressed in the black lace lingerie from the video
shoot.
 
She was aggressive, pulling his
shirt off and rolling his pants down his hips.
 
Her warm mouth enveloped the head of his cock and she sucked lightly as
she licked the length of it.
 
When he
couldn’t take anymore he rolled on top of her and kissed her, his hand cupping
the smooth softness of her breast.
 
But…it wasn’t Eve’s breast.
 
The
one in his hand was overly large and stiff, with stretched out nipples.

“Put
it in me, baby,” she said and grabbing his shaft and guiding it between her
legs.

That’s
when it registered that she had blonde hair and oversized lips.
 
He jerked back in shock and banged his head
on the roof of his bunk.
 
“What the
hell!”

Giovanna
lay beneath him, naked.
 
He was naked as
well but couldn’t remember how that had happened.
 
Her blonde hair fanned out on his pillow and
she gave him that sick pouty look as she said, “Don’t stop, baby…I want you
right now.”

He
leapt out of the bunk, pulling the sheet along with him to cover himself, and
wrapped it around his hips twice.
 
The
curtain to Eve’s bunk was still closed and no one else seemed to be up.
 
He leaned into his bunk and said in a low
voice, “You need to leave right now.”

“Why?”
she exclaimed, too loudly.
 
“What did I
do wrong?
 
You were liking it.”
 
She rolled forward on the mattress and tried
to snatch at his sheet with her long-nailed fingers.
 
They ended up in a tug-of-war with Devon
still trying quietly to make her leave, but the attention only exhilarated her.

It
was then that Eve saw him as she came out of the bathroom with a blonde slut in
his bunk, grasping at the only thing covering his nakedness.
 
She paled as she took in the scene and then
streaked by him, down the steps and away from the bus.

****

At
least the anger and the tears helped to warm her, Eve thought as she slowed to
a walk somewhere behind the Pepsi Center.
 
How could she have been so stupid? Now she was just another one of his
sluts.
 
She’d known this assignment never
could have ended well.
 
There was just
too much history between her and Devon.
 
Too much pain.

In
the end she decided it was her fault for not listening to her gut.
 
She’d known the danger and now she had to pay
the price.
 
She continued to walk in the
crisp morning air.
 
It was okay, she
would be okay, she decided.
 
She couldn’t
even regret the sex.
 
It had been
good.
 
She had more than liked it.
 
But so what if they had great sex?
 
That didn’t mean he was a decent human
being.
 
What she did regret was her entertainment
of romantic notions between her and Devon.
 
She regretted allowing herself to think he could be a decent human
being.
 
At least now she could come to
terms with who he really was and stop kidding herself.

She
continued to walk and walk, relying on the rhythm of her feet to heal her
soul.
 
After an hour she came to a
conclusion.
 
Instead of thinking of it as
yet another mistake she decided to think of it as lesson number two.
 
There would be no lesson number three.

****

The
concert in Denver had gone smoothly.
 
Afterwards they had again boarded the bus, where they would sleep, for
the twelve-hour ride to Dallas.
 

He
hadn’t seen Eve come back from her walk.
 
And there hadn’t been time or opportunity yesterday to get her alone to
talk.
 
Clayton had whisked them away for most
of the day for some interviews with the local media and autograph session for
the fans.
 
Kate had come with them but
Eve had stayed behind.
 
When they’d
returned she was nowhere to be found.
 
There’d barely been time for some rehearsal and dinner before they went
into the Pepsi Center.
 
It wasn’t until
late at night after the concert that they’d crossed paths as they each had
gotten into their bunks to sleep.

He’d
found out that Giovanna had made her way onto the roadies’ bus and been
traveling with them.
 
That was why she
had appeared in Phoenix and Denver.
 
He
had a brief conversation with the roadie in charge of security and a cab had appeared
shortly after to take her to the airport.
 
The roadie had rolled his eyes when he told Devon later that she had
been very unhappy and made quite a scene, but he’d made sure she packed her bag
and left.

The
hurt look in Eve’s eyes was still killing him.
 
He could still see her emerging from the bathroom and taking in the
scene.
 
But it was also all so unfair.
 
She was thinking the worst of him without
even giving him the opportunity to explain.
 
But why would she listen
, he asked
himself.
 
I left her a long time ago without a word
, he answered
himself.
 
How fucking long will I have to pay for that?

He
wondered.
 

Of
course now, yes now, he could think of a million different ways he could have
handled things.
 
He’d been young back
then.
 
Young and dumb.
 
His frustration built with each passing
minute and he barely slept during the long ride to Dallas.

****

The
band would be playing at the American Airlines Center tomorrow night and the
night after.
 
Eve was relieved to have
the rest of the day free and to be in a hotel room instead of on the bus
sleeping right below Devon.
 

After
they’d all checked out their suite and claimed their rooms Kate had called
everyone into the living room.

“I
have an announcement,” she said.
 
“The
results are in.
 
I totaled everything
this morning and have determined who the winner of the lap-rating contest is
like I promised I would do as soon as we arrived in Dallas.”

They
guys all perked up and listened.
 
Devon’s
eyes slid to Eve where she sat in one of the dining room chairs and then back
to Kate.

“You
all received excellent activity with your photos, by the way.
 
I just wanted to say that first.
 
However, with a total of thirty-four thousand
forty seven likes, nine hundred and twenty six comments and nine hundred and
six shares, the winner by a mile is Devon!”

Tommy,
Shane and Drew groaned humorously.
 

“It’s
just because he’s new,” Drew protested.

“Yeah,”
Tommy agreed.
 
“Beginner’s luck.”

“When
do we eat?
 
I’m starved,” Shane said.

They
all got up and started moving towards the door, except for Devon.
 
“Let’s check out the pool after we eat,”
Tommy said.

Eve
could feel him looking at her.
 
She
flicked her gaze his way and their eyes met.
 
She abruptly stood as well and started towards the door after Kate, not
wanting to be left alone with him in the room.
 
She guessed she wouldn’t be getting the peaceful afternoon she’d hoped
for.
 
After he’d left her alone yesterday
she’d hoped it would continue.

“Eve,
can I talk to you for a minute?”
 
Devon
put a hand on her arm to hold her up.

She
jerked it away and glared at him.
 
“No.”

Kate
had paused at the door and turned back to see what was going on.
 
Devon saw her eyes widen.
 
“I’m going to go hang out with Clayton,” she
said quickly and disappeared.

Eve
turned her back on him again and was walking toward the door.
 
The sight of it made his temper flare.
 
His patience was at an end.
 
There was a time for patience and then there
came a time when you had to take the direct approach.
 
He caught her in two strides, turned her
around and threw her over his shoulder.

“What
are you doing? Let go of me!”

He
ignored her and walked up the stairs to his room where he shut the door and set
her down.
 
Then he stood in front of the
door, blocking her escape with his body.

“We
need to talk,” he said.

“No
we don’t,” she retorted.
 
“Everything is
clear to me now.
 
You’re just another
asshole rocker who wants to get laid.
 
I’m sure you have a girl in every town.
 
Two, probably.”

His
temper flared again at her words.
 
If
there was one thing he hated, it was being put into a stereotype.
 
“You think I’ve been running around the
country just so I can sleep with a bunch of sluts?
 
Are you kidding me?
 
You have no idea how hard I have worked since
the day I left.
 
No idea of the stress
and all the struggle I’ve gone through to get to where I am.”
 
His voice was raised but he didn’t care now, as
she was going to listen to him once and for all.
 
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
 
“God, Eve, I’ve thought of no other girl but
you since that day.”

“Me?
 
Really?
 
Right.
 
That’s what all guys do,
they completely ignore the girl they are thinking about.”
 
Her voice broke on the last word and he could
see tears forming in her eyes.
 
The sight
of it pulled at his heart.
 
How many
times had he made her cry?
 
Why the hell
had he waited so long to explain?
 
He
knew why and it was time to tell her.

“Eve…that’s
what I’ve been wanting to explain.
 
Will
you let me?
 
I really want you to know
what happened after I left, why you never heard from me.”
 
He’d never been good with words.
 
He was much better with music, and his hands,
but it was time now for him to come clean.