Unacceptable (9 page)
Authors: Kristen Hope Mazzola
EpIlogue.
one year later
My body shook from pleasure as Abel’s thrusts sent my body into a hyper drive of euphoria. Our climaxes crashed around us and I fell onto the bed, a light layer of sweat coating my tired body.
Abel settled down behind me, slowly planting small kisses on my shoulder blade. “How was that, Mrs. Hellock?”
I rolled over in his arms¸ drowning in the ocean blue eyes of my new husband. “Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”
He shrugged. “Maybe when the shock of it wears off. So probably never.”
I laughed a little. “How about Rave’s or Raine’s shock when we tell them that our little trip to Florida was actually a shotgun trip to Vegas?”
Abel looked at me, blankly trying to piece together what I meant.
I kissed his cheek. “Why do you think I agreed to come here this weekend and cancel our plans in the Keys?”
“Are you serious?”
I planted a gentle kiss on his lips. “I found out a week ago. You really couldn’t figure it out?”
He shook his head. “I had no idea.”
“I’ve been sleepy and a little queasy in the mornings. I didn’t even touch the champagne that Elvis impersonator handed me last night.”
“Holy shit, we’re having a baby. We just got married and we’re having a fucking kid.” The smile that spread over his face was like a contagious wildfire of excitement. “Mrs. Hellock, I think you have just made me the fucking happiest man in the entire world. Hands down.”
I hugged him to me. “You’re okay with having another child?”
He looked deep into my eyes. “I cannot wait. I love you so much, babe.”
“I love you too, Abel. With my whole heart.”
We called for room service and looked out over the flashing bright lights of the Vegas Strip.
Abel grabbed my hand and pulled me into him while I stood by the window watching all the tourists rushing from the bars and casinos. It looked like a swarm of bees trying to find honey.
“Are you happy?” he whispered in my ear.
I pulled his arms tighter around my body. “I don’t think I could be any happier.”
I stared down at the rings resting on our fingers. It was all so overwhelming. Something that I’d sworn I would never do completely fulfilled me in that moment. I had never wanted anything more than to be his, only his, and with one hasty trip to Sin City we had made the ultimate commitment. It should have scared the shit out of me, but I had never been so calm and sure about anything in my entire life. Abel Hellock was meant to be mine and I was meant to be his.
He kissed my shoulder before asking, “What are you thinking about, babe?”
I laughed a little to myself. “Honestly, I was just thinking about that night you told me you’d be my Prince Charming if I needed one.”
He chuckled a little. “Yeah, I remember that.”
I sighed into him. “I didn’t realize it then, but I really did need one, and I am thankful it was you who saved me.”
“I think you’re the one that saved me, sugar.”
I turned to kiss his soft lips. “Forget the horse, my Prince Charming rides a motorcycle.”
the end.
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The Hysterics
, a rock star romance, and
Crashing Back Down
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Other Books by
Kristen Hope Mazzola
Crashing Back Down (Crashing #1)
Sneak Peek
The Hysterics
PROLOGUE
FAÇADE
FALLON
I was Fallon Dunbar.
I was a drummer.
I was confident, strong, and driven.
I was a junkie.
I am dead.
The full boxes scattered around my small one room apartment made it feel more real. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach made it feel so wrong. The new title and job made it feel surreal.
I am Fae Dunham.
I am the assistant editor of Raging Underground.
I am unsure, nervous, and scared shitless.
I am in recovery.
Staring into the full length mirror I had just hung up on the back of the door in my new room, I saw the shell of what I used to be, the life I could no longer have. The only traces left of my old life were the lip piercings I refused to take out. They were my favorites and they were staying. People like me don’t get second chances, but for some reason, I was standing knee-deep in one.
There’s no turning back now.
I will live again.
CHAPTER ONE
PRACTICE & mEMORIES
Dane
“Hey, man, you all right?” Colt was looking over at me from his seat on his amp.
I gripped the sticks a little tighter in my hands and shook myself from my zone-out. “Yeah. Sorry.” I still couldn’t get Fae off my damn mind.
Maverick tossed a bottle of water over my toms before swinging his bass guitar’s strap back over his shoulder. “Let’s take it from the top?”
My sticks clicked quickly, counting out the beat before sending Maverick and myself into a thumping bassline that shot goose bumps up my arms and legs. It felt like I was falling in love every time we started to play; it was
that
exciting.
Finally, the groove settled in nicely and we took off into our newest song, which I was sure would rock our show the next night. It took a while, but an hour and a gallon of sweat later, we were satisfied with how “The Lifespan of a Firefly” sounded.
“This is some great writing, Dane. Why haven’t you given us lyrics before?” Rodney holstered the mic and took a swig of his seventh beer while his words slurred a little.
Grabbing a brown bottle out of the fridge, I tried to figure out an answer to his question that didn’t make me sound like a complete pussy. “Never thought anything was good enough before, I guess.”
Epic fail – that dripped vag all over the place. Way to have a backbone.
“Well, from now on, grow a pair and dish out more of this shit. It’s gold. I think we should open with it tomorrow night for sure!”
Colt and Maverick both mumbled and nodded in agreement. My ego felt like it had grown ten times right there on the spot. Being the drummer, I never considered that writing lyrics was something I could be good at. Yeah, I was a journalist. Yeah, I had written angsty teenage poetry when I was younger. But I’d never considered myself an actual writer.
As I slouched onto the worn out couch in Colt’s basement, memories rushed over me like warm acid rain.
Beer and sweat were all I could smell as I wiped my dripping forehead with my shirt sleeve. The gentle hum of the Russells’ dryer slowly faded in, a little too soft after the booming of our last song left the air.
“Great session, guys.” Maverick’s weak smile faded as his words lingered in the space. We all knew and we all felt it, but we left it unsaid. There was too much, and no words could make it better; there was nowhere to begin. It was our first practice after the accident a few weeks before and the tension in the air was suffocating us all.
I nodded and choked out, “You guys think we’re ready?”
Rodney laughed from the couch, gripping the mic in his hand. “We better be. Like it or not, we’re opening tomorrow at Mountain Breath.” His faded Zeppelin shirt was starting to wear a hole next to his collar and his lucky Chucks had mud caked on the sides.
“You gonna dress like a bum for it?” Colt joked, opening another beer we’d stolen from his old man’s stash. Mr. Russell knew we took them but was usually too loaded to care.
Rodney threw a sweat-soaked towel at Colt right as I stood to stretch out the kink that had been building up in my lower back while I’d sat behind my faded burgundy Ludwin set.
“I think it’s going to be sick,” I muttered, trying to be enthusiastic and failing miserably.
Maverick clapped me on my back before starting to put his bass in its case. “You ready?”
Digging my keys out of my pocket, I stared at my sticks where they rested in their bag attached to my floor tom. I stood up gradually from my stool, starting to make my way to the stairs. “Yeah. Let’s head home.”
“Get a good night’s sleep, gents! Tomorrow is going to be epic!” Rodney called up to us from the bottom of the stairs, a sly grin fixed firmly on his face. He had no fucking idea what he was asking of Mav and me, and it was better off that way.
The sound of a beer opening in my ear and the feel of cold suds spraying on my neck and cheek snapped me back to real time. Rodney erupted into a fit of laughter next to me.
“What the hell, man?” I thrashed, wiping my face off with the bottom of my shirt.
“Come on. I couldn’t resist. You were zoning out again.”
Colt sat in a metal folding chair across the faded lime green carpet, laying his guitar down next to him. “You all right, Dane? You’ve been spacey all night.”
“Yeah, man. I’m fine.”
I got up and started to make my way up the stairs to take a piss. Right as I opened the basement door, I heard Maverick say in a low voice, “Guys, it’s April thirteenth. You know how he gets around this time.”
My stomach sank. He was right. The twentieth was coming too fast for me to keep up with, and the memories and dreams were getting worse by the day.
Deep breaths.
Easier said than done.
Time would pass and it would still be hard, but I was still breathing.
Fuck it.
As I walked into the living room, trying to make it into the back hallway undetected by Colt’s parents, I heard crying coming from the couch.
Turning on my heels, I found Sheila Russell sobbing into a pillow. When I cleared my throat, she popped her head up, startled by my presence.
“Sheils? You all right?” I looked down at Colt’s kid sister, who was definitely not a kid anymore.
Before, she’d been pimply-faced, chunky, and awkward. Now, her face had cleared, she’d hired a personal trainer, and her degree in Mass Communications was helping her break out of her shell, to say the least. She was stunning in her own way. Not my type, but still pretty.
“Yeah.” She sniffed. “I just got turned down for an awesome summer internship. It’s the only one I applied for and that’s biting me in the butt now.” She tried to laugh it off, but her eyes stayed sad.
“You know the saying, Sheils.”
She rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
I laughed, nodded, and gave her a tight squeeze as I continued on before my bladder busted. While I was trotting over to the half bath down the hall, Sheila called to me, “Thanks, Dane.”
“Don’t mention it! Call Julie. Schedule a mani-pedi date like the old days and you’ll be good as new!” I yelled back before slamming the door shut behind me, barely able to get my zipper down before I pissed myself.
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Sneak Peek
Crashing Back Down
Prologue
Excitement started to form butterflies in my stomach while Cali and I giggled in her bathroom, getting our makeup just right for our first adventure into the new world of college Greek life. We had met only a few weeks back during sorority rush, and we’d become instant friends. We could not have asked for more, being pledges for the same sorority and starting to dive right into a ‘real’ college experience. It was the first night of fraternity rush, and some of our older sisters had invited us to join in the festivities at one of the fraternity houses on campus. It was a really big deal, and we were bubbling over with giddiness.
When we were finally walking up the dampened front lawn of the frat house, I grabbed Cali’s arm, completely in awe of the sea of ravishing men we were wading through. She pointed out an especially good-looking guy wearing his letters across his noticeably chiseled chest. He was tan and tall, and he had tattoos poking out from under his sleeves. I bit my bottom lip and salivated with Cali as we followed the hottie into the foyer.
There were tons of guys and girls, all grouped off, trying to convince potential new members that being Greek was amazing and that this was the fraternity for them. It did not take too long for a handsome brother to stride up to us, and to our surprise, the guy I had been mentally undressing before stood next to him. I found out that the hottie’s name was Walker, but my attention was quickly diverted to his friend, Randy. There was just something about him that stunned me.
We chatted and flirted with them throughout the night while meeting other potentials who were not so favorable. Apparently, during fraternity rush, they had a few guys doing "trash duty,” meaning any guy who over stayed his welcome was kindly escorted out by the trash handlers. It was a pretty fun role that Randy and Walker let us participate in. We drank, chuckled, and toyed. Cali and I played with our hair, laughed at every joke, and batted our eyelashes perfectly.
A pimply-faced freshman puffed on his inhaler while talking to Randy, and Cali grabbed my arm. “Come with me to the bathroom.” I nodded and asked Walker where it was.
His lips curled seductively as he put his hand on the small of my back, pointing in the direction of the girls' room. “Don’t worry, we cleaned it this morning.” His Southern drawl curled around the words, making him that much more attractive as he winked and gave another sexy smile. We both fawned over his seductive tone as we weaved through the crowd to the bathroom.
Luckily, the oversized bathroom that smelled like piss and Lemon Pledge was empty. Cali undid her shorts and plopped on the toilet while I checked my mascara in the mirror.
“Those two are freaking hot as hell, Mags!” Cali’s voice was full of excitement mixed with lust.
I touched up my makeup, trying to talk without messing up the liquid eyeliner. “The girls were right. There are men for the picking.” I finished and turned to Cali, who was zipping up her tight black shorts. “Which one do you want?”
Her eyes went wide at my words. “Randy is all over you. Obviously he’s yours! Besides, Walker has a bad boy Southern edge I’d love to jump on!”
I nodded, feeling my cheeks blush with anticipation and lust as I grabbed Cali’s hand again to lead her back to find our evening’s prospects.
I was thankful that the pimply-faced guy had already been booted by the time we returned.
Randy’s eyes lit up a little when he noticed us walking toward him. He slid his arm around my waist and hugged me close to him as he handed me a fresh beer. “Having fun?” His silky, deep voice tingled in my ear while he whispered, sending goose bumps down my neck and arms.
Trying to be as sexy as I could, not really being the best flirt and so nervous to come off as an awkward freshman, I licked the top of the bottle a little before taking a long swig and then nodded. “Yeah, tonight’s been great!”
Randy hugged me close again, a smile dangling on the corners of his mouth. Faintly a hint of red dusted over the back of his neck. Seeing the slight red creep over Randy’s skin made longing surge through my body. Right then I knew I was in deep water already.
Toward the end of the night, another one of the brothers came over to introduce a brand-new pledge to Walker, claiming that he was his perfect match for a little brother. The five of us all got along like we had known each other for years. The conversation flowed easily between all of us, and we stayed together, laughing and joking for the rest of the evening. Mitch Katz was a freshman, just like Cali and me, and pretty outgoing. When he went to shake Randy’s hand, I noticed a sleeve inked onto Mitch’s arm.
Could these guys get any hotter?
Starting to slur his words, making his Southern accent that much thicker, Walker leaned over to put his arm around Randy’s shoulder. “What do you say we all get the heck outta here?” He had a devilish grin on his face as he winked at Cali, making both of us blush.
The rest of us agreed and made our way to the parking lot. Randy grabbed my hand once we made it out the door, leading me to his truck. “Race ya home, Walker!”