The Bet (20 page)

I pull my head back to stare up at him. He’s giving me a look I haven’t seen before, a look that makes me feel like we’re the only two people in the room.

“Thanks,” I say, slowly. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

Brian smiles at the joke, but his eyes have no humor in them. They’re the eyes of someone seeing something they want badly. He holds my gaze, and I wait for it.

“You make me kinda nervous,” he says, awkwardly.

I sip slowly from my beer. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’ve just grabbed the biggest opportunity in my life and made it – I feel invincible. Like I can do anything I want, and do it without thinking.

“Aren’t you always kinda nervous, Brian?” I say, cocking my head to the side, and rubbing the beer bottle against my cheek.

“Only when I’m around you,” he says.

I giggle and lean into him.

“And why’s that?” I purr.

It takes Brian a few seconds to change his expression from nervous surprise to keen excitement. He opens his mouth to speak, but before he says anything, his cute, boyish face is replaced by Brando’s hard lines and manly stubble, as he sweeps Brian aside like a soft blanket.

Brando stands over me, his loose shirt hanging over his broad shoulders, the faint outline of those neck muscles I liked so much teasingly traced in soft fabric. His eyes are hard and narrowed beneath his dark eyebrows, two planets that pull me into their orbit.

“Just like in your dreams, right?” he says, fixing me in place with the symmetry of his face.

I press a hand against his torso, feeling the grooves of his six-pack on my palm.

“So far,” I whisper, as I roll my hand up and down his bicep, along his forearm, before locking fingers with his. I feel a flicker of excitement seeing the lines in his face get a little harder, a little more intensely focused upon me, as he sees where this is going. A small dimple on one of his cheeks where he smiles. He leans in until his mouth is almost touching mine. Our eyes lock. Then he hesitates, as if he’s not sure this is the right move.

But I know exactly what I want.

I grab the back of his neck and our lips meet hungrily, moving together in perfect equilibrium, soft and wet, plucking the sweetness from each other. I feel his stomach tense up under my hand as he struggles to control himself. His tongue flicks against my lip and I pull back to flash him a teasing smile. I tighten my grip on his hand, lower my face to look up at him through my hair, and lead him out of the room.

24

Brando

I LET the sway of her hips in those tight, black jeans hypnotize me as she pulls me by the hand. Out of the green room, down the hallway, and then turning off down a set of stairs that gets darker with every step.

We go through a door that leads into a dark storage area. In the little bit of light that trickles in I can see amps, mic stands, and a bunch of other equipment. Somewhere in the distance the music’s still playing, but only the bass thump makes it this far. A pounding beat that we feel more than we hear.

Haley stops, turns, and backs me slowly up against the wall. The elusive light playing off strands in her hair. Her face comes close, breath so hard and warm it feels like she’s kissing me already.

“I’ve missed this, Haley,” I half-growl, half-sigh as I nuzzle against the side of her face.

“Oh yeah?” she says, and I can hear the seductive smile in the huskiness of her voice. “Missed what?”

I press my nose against her neck as her body rolls and curls itself against mine. “The way you smell…” I suck softly on her earlobe, and roll my tongue down the base of her ear along the smooth curve of her neck. “The way you taste…” She lets out a low moan followed by a sharp intake of breath as I run my fingers down her spine and grab her ass. “This…”

She throws her head back, and I move forward to kiss the soft part of her neck but she backs away, laughing seductively. I push myself off the wall and follow her, my hands still around her waist, fingers working their way under her shirt.

She backs up onto a large speaker-stack and sits up on it, and I move forward between her legs.

“Keep going,” she murmurs, leaning back, her arms stretched out behind her.

I stroke my hand around to her navel. “The way you tremble when you’re excited,” I say, smiling at this new game. I bring my hand up under her shirt toward her breast, her nipple between my fingers. “Your tits…” she lets out a two-tone moan, “and the way you sing when I touch them…”

She yanks her shirt and bra off and pulls my head toward her with both hands. Her tongue whips against mine as I bait her, bringing her body closer. My hands savor the round firmness of her tits, the elegant way she twitches and undulates beneath me. I feel her thighs squeeze me, her body acting on its own now, urging me in, craving me.

Even in the dark, her nakedness drives me wild. It’s been over a month since I last had her – since I last had anyone – and even wild horses couldn’t hold me back now. I take her nipple in my mouth, biting and sucking to the tune of the distant drumbeat, to the rhythm of her purrs and sighs, feeling every pulse of pleasure that tickles its way down the tender skin of her torso. Her hands fumble with my fly, releasing the tightness that’s been aching in me since she first took me by the hand.

Her hips sway like a dance as I ease her jeans down, then her panties, the sound of rustling clothes mixing with her short breaths. I lower myself and kiss her thighs, run my tongue slowly up to her pussy, then around it in ever-nearing circles. I listen to her breathing like a musical cue, moving closer to the spot like a throbbing groove, my hands still playing across her stomach and ass, pulling and grabbing at the goosebumps on her skin.

When I take her clit in my mouth she pulls my hair, grits her teeth and growls with aching anticipation. I fuck her with my tongue, deep and wet, bringing it out to flick it over her clit. Slow, resonant strokes, pausing at the end for a split-second to make her beg for more.

“Brando, stop,” she pants, in between her moans.

I pull back. “Tell me what you want, then,” I rasp, my voice husky with needing her.

“I want you to take those stupid clothes off and fuck me.”

It’s everything I’ve been waiting to hear, and I don’t need to be told twice.

I grab a condom from my jeans and put it on while she caresses her tits, pinching the nipples, dappled light dancing over them as they bounce back. I stand up and watch her for an agonizing moment, my hands spreading her thighs wide open, my tip teasing her wet lips, before sliding my cock inside her, deep and sure. It’s like coming home. Her breathing stops for a second, her body tensing, and I ease back just a little and then slam back inside until I’m all the way in, and she releases a half-suppressed scream.

“How’s that feel?” I ask. She only manages a satisfied moan in return.

I raise her legs and put them over one shoulder, holding them there with one hand on her ankles, the other reaching for her breast. She clutches at my hand, holding it against her breast tightly, her fingers scratching and pulling at the knuckles.

“You get me so fucking hot, Haley,” I snarl, leaning over her as I start to fuck her to the beat of the distant drums. Her legs almost folded against her, her hands clutching at mine. I’m hard enough to break bricks, horny enough to fuck for hours, but she’s tight and wet enough that I know I won’t last that long. I put a little swing in my thrust, enough to make her really feel me inside, enough to make her scream without worrying who’ll hear her, enough to make her pussy tighten around my cock with the unbearable sensation of too much bliss.

“Oh my God, fuck, don’t stop,” she gasps, her screams turning into stuttering moans, her fingers digging deep into my hand. I smack her ass as her pussy clenches, wetness flowing against me, and I know she’s right at the edge, almost there. Instead of thrusting faster I slow down, making sure she can feel every single stroke. “Brando.” Her breasts shiver under my hand as she comes hard, breathlessly, blood rushing to her head.

I can’t hold back any longer. I pump into her again, my need taking over, losing myself in the moment. I cum fast, the ecstatic heat of it slamming through me in groaning waves, and I collapse onto Haley and let her twine her fingers through my hair. After a few minutes of drowsy contentment, I pull out and ease her legs to the ground. She lays on the speaker-stack, arms out wide, catching her breath, even the light that outlines her shoulder seeming fuzzy now with post-orgasmic warmth. Slowly, I lean over her, and kiss her one last time on the lips. So soft she can barely feel it. She receives it sleepily, and smiles when I pull away.

I wait for her at the base of the stairs while she gets dressed. By the time she emerges from the dark she’s back in control, a sly grin on her lips, that knowing sway in her hips. She walks right past me, and I lose myself in her mesmerizing ass as she ascends the steps. A view that makes me immediately ready for a second round. But suddenly I’m full of doubt.

“Haley?”

She looks back at me over her shoulder.

“That meant something, right?” I say, slowly.

Haley chuckles slightly, then turns to face me, looking down at me from the height of the steps.

“No,” she says, with a sense of satisfaction. “It didn’t.”

I freeze on the stairs. “Are you serious right now?”

Haley’s smile gets even more condescending, and all at once I feel like it’s more than just the higher ground making me feel like she’s the one in control.

“It was just sex, Brando. Just a bit of fun, nothing more.” She turns around and walks up a step before adding, “Just like before.”

She continues to walk up the stairs, and I watch her. Half-crazed by that ass, half-stunned by those words.

“Haley!” I call out, causing her to pause, though this time she doesn’t turn. “Maybe you want to believe that, but your body doesn’t lie. That meant something.”

She snorts derisively before continuing up the stairs.

“Just like before,” I add, quietly to myself.

25

Haley

WE PLAY PORTLAND, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Austin. But it turns out that playing the biggest gigs of my life are the least of my worries.

It’s hard keeping my hands off Brando, since he’s a constant presence, and each time I come off stage, flushed with adrenaline, all I want to do is drag him away to a dark corner and fuck all of my energy away. But I don’t. I can’t let that happen again.

We’d already be doing it on the tour bus if it wasn’t for my other band members demanding all of my attention. After a mix-up in Portland where we end up staying three-to-a-room (I declined Brando’s invitation, of course) he decides to start flying out ahead of the crew and the band to make sure nothing else goes wrong with the hotels and venue arrangements. The fact that I can’t see him move any more heavy equipment should give me a chance to calm down, but even during the times when he’s away, I feel the echoes of his touch whenever I’m alone. A post-orgasmic bliss that refuses to fade. Like a drug, I’m itchy and thirsty for another fix of him – however much I insist to myself that I’m not addicted.

Soon, I’m thinking more about the stolen moment at the first show than I am the next performance. I twist myself into knots remembering both how good he feels, and how badly he treated me. I almost break obsessing over the memories of him lifting amps onto the tour bus, his shirt off, muscles bulging, but a cold shower or my daily run-in with Lexi usually helps me get through it. If not, there’s beer.

Eventually, I start actually looking forward to the shows instead of constantly twisting myself up in knots over each performance. It’s a big, cathartic release of all the tension inside of me, a chance to channel all of my mixed emotions and conflicts into something positive. Being on stage is the only time I let loose, and the shows are better for it.

Lexi, on the other hand, only seems to get worse as the tour goes on. She’s a tangled knot of negativity, a whirlwind of tantrums and complaints. She talks in a language of bitchy put-downs and self-pitying breakdowns. Her massive entourage follows her everywhere, sycophantic when she’s feeling good, hiding behind each other when she’s not. Me and my crew steer clear, but the times I accidentally get close to her and witness the way she never stops berating or manipulating them, I feel like I’m back in time witnessing a head cheerleader gone mad with power. I almost begin to feel sorry for her; it’s as if she can’t help it.

“What the fuck is this?!” I hear her scream as I walk through the lobby of the Texas hotel with my band. “
‘Mildly interesting voice’?
What does that even mean?
‘Songs that don’t match her stage presence’?
Who the fuck is this guy?”

I turn to see Lexi sitting with her entourage in the lobby’s lounge area, so many of them there aren’t even enough couches. She tosses the tablet toward one of her crew, almost hitting him on the head with it, then turns her head and notices me.

“There she is! The fucking usurper!”

She even talks like an under-threat queen now. My bandmates look at me, but I nod for them to go on through to have breakfast without me. I can handle Lexi.

She gets up and stalks toward me, her long legs bringing her near me in a couple of strides. “You read the review?” she says, her voice low but menacing. “They’re saying you’re putting on a better show than me.”

“Lexi,” I sigh. I don’t have time for this. I’m too hungry and it’s too early in the morning to get into a catfight. “It was Austin – they like guitar music down there, that’s all.”

“Oh, that’s very fucking magnanimous of you. Easy to be gracious when you’re the one getting all the praise, isn’t it?”

“Since when do you care about reviews, Lexi?”

“Since they started talking shit about me, that’s when,” she hisses, leaning in. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do. It won’t work.”

I lower my head, pushing down the instinct to bite back at her crazed paranoia.

“It was one show,” I say slowly. “The reviews for every date we did on the West Coast were positive about you. I was lucky to get a paragraph at the bottom for most of them.”