A Postseason One Novella: Rock F*ck Club, #2

by Michelle Mankin

  "Sorry. I forgot." Bright light blazed from Ernie College’s tripod. A mic hung from Les Turner’s sound boom. Ignacio Katzman balanced his video camera on his shoulder while Carla Middleton hovered to the side with a fluffy makeup brush at the ready.

  "I want you.” Lucky exhaled. "Very badly. But I’ve got a show to put on first and then..."

  Then we had all those extra scenes to film. Rocky, a kiss and aftercare. Alec and Cody. Then us. Lucky dipped his finger inside the low slung waistband of my jeans. "I like these." His voice was husky.

  "I like the way you like them." My lips lifted. I enjoyed his method of centering my focus on him. "Carla bought them and a whole bunch of other stuff for me.” I waved at the statuesque black woman who had made me look almost as beautiful as she did tonight. Marsha was standing beside her, dressed to kill as usual. Her mustard yellow crochet frock had flowing bell sleeves like Sky’s, but that was where the similarity between them ended. My bestie’s dress was shorter. It showed her lightly tanned skin between the stitching and lots of cleavage through the front laces that crisscrossed down the center of her chest. Her brow was creased. She had her GoPro out. She had already started on the documentary and was recording the film crew filming us.

  "What do you think of the rest of my outfit?" I pulled away from Lucky to do a little fashion spin. I had knotted a one-size-too-small dragon emblazoned 'Get Lucky' tee below my breasts with the jeans he seemed to appreciate and sandals that had lots of silver buckles and black straps.

  "The clothes are almost sexy enough to be worthy of you." He brushed a long length of my hair from the front to the back and dipped his head to brush a soft kiss beneath my ear. Tingles erupted on my skin as he breathed into it. "I’m doing you with just those high heels on later, you know."

  "Promise?" I tilted my head to give him a look through my lowered lashes.

  "Nothing’s going to stop me."

  I smiled. I knew he meant more, that not even WMO or Suzanne Smith’s agenda were going to come between us again.

  "Later." He stroked the back of his knuckles down my cheek. His silver rings flashed reflecting the dressing mirror lights as he moved to the center of the room. "Ok, Dragons,” he announced, cleared his throat and ran through a quick low to high scale and back again before circling his hand up in the air. “Let's breathe some fire."

  "I'm not finished with Rocky yet." Sky complained.

  "You would spend hours on him if I allowed it, dearest. Leave well enough alone.” He raised a brow, and she blushed. Rocky stood, grabbed his vest from the back of the chair and put it back on before he brushed a kiss on Sky’s notably rosy cheek. Her blush deepening, she followed him with her eyes and her body as he joined her brother. Alec stepped closer while adjusting his strap to sling his bass to his back. Cody ducked near him, and the guys formed a tight huddle. This was something they did before every performance. I couldn’t hear what Lucky said to them inside the circle this time, but whatever it was the guys came out of it smiling.

  Catching my eyes on him, Lucky gave me a nod, then turned to exit the room. The guys followed their leader. The small space suddenly seemed inexplicably smaller minus all the Dragons inside it.

  "You wanna stay and pine after him or go see him put on his show?" Marsha asked. Documentary director. Soon to be star of season two. Yet, still my bestie, looking out for me and giving me the business at the same time.

  “You know the answer to that one, Mars.”

  "Do you think Rocky's makeup came out alright?" Sky looked fretful as she moved closer to us.

  "I didn’t notice his makeup,” Marsha said. “Too busy scoping out the sculpted rest of him like you were."

  Sky nodded in agreement, not bothering to deny it. “Once I start touching him I can’t focus."

  "The hammers are great, Sky." I told her. “You always do a fantastic job."

  "You did too with my brother." She smiled her approval. We heard stomping feet and cheers from the other side of the wall. It was almost time for the Dragons.

  "Ok, girls. Where we gonna watch from?" Marsha queried. "Side stage or balcony?"

  "Side stage,” I answered. “I like to see Lucky and his fans as he connects with them."

  "I have to work the merch booth." Sky grumbled.

  "Get one of the roadies to do it,” I suggested.

  "No. That’s alright." The bright light in Sky’s blue eyes dimmed. "I’ve seen Rocky...I mean, the guys many times. And the girls will be hanging all over him." She sighed. “It’s better to keep my distance.”

  "Sky, maybe you and he..."

  "No, Raven." She gave me a sad smile. "I’m chuffed for you and my brother. Truly, I am. But it’s best for me,” she swallowed, “if I don’t get my hopes up, for, you know..."

  "Ok. But here." I wrapped my arms around her and Marsha embraced both of us. "The guys aren’t the only ones who can do a group huddle."

  After we broke Sky seemed a little less sad. She went one direction out in the hall and Marsha and I turned and went the other, linking our arms together until we reached the stage. The lights were off. Up on his riser, Rocky was a tall shadow behind his drums. Alec stood with his bass to the left of the center mic and Cody with his Les Paul was on the far right.

  "Ladies and gentlemen.” Lucky’s dramatic disembodied voice over the sound system gave me chills. “The time is here. Come take my hand. Strike up the band and start the show." Cody played a scintillating power chord. The overhead lights blasted on. Rocky clacked the energetic count on his sticks. Alec climbed up on the drummer’s riser and jumped off. The three floor pyramids pulsed cool neon colored patterns and then Lucky strutted onto the stage from the opposite side from us wearing an undone silver sequin jacket with no shirt on beneath it. He clapped his hands over his head, and the crowd went completely nuts. They screamed even louder when he reached the center mic and started singing. Even I swooned inwardly, though I had seen him command an audience like this many times before. Lucky and the Dragons were almost too much for a club to contain. They were going to totally rock the stadium scene.

  After the first song Lucky ditched the jacket. A girl close to the stage caught it, brought it to her chest and practically passed out. I knew the game. He had just made her and all the friends she had with her fans for life. But even though I understood it, I still felt a little twinge of jealousy.

  By the time the encore arrived, Lucky's black hair was plastered to his skull, and his jeans were soaked as if he had been in a downpour. He exited the stage on my side, his eyes glowing brighter than his glittery slashes, and he shook his perspiration soaked head at me. I squealed, and he kissed me, long and hard and deep. The twinge of irrational jealousy completely forgotten, I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist, and he walked us backward into the closest wall. He practically had my shirt off when Alec tapped on his shoulder so hard it vibrated through his body into mine.

  "Put it away until later, mate. We gotta get back out there. The crowd’s not done with us. They’re demanding another encore."

  "Ok. Alright. But I’m not going alone." Lucky took my hand, headed toward the stage, pulling me along with him.

  "No." I skip-walked as I dragged my feet. He had never taken me out onto the stage before. As his girlfriend, I wasn’t certain I would be welcome, and deep down maybe I was a little afraid of his female fans. After all they had practically trampled me once already.

  "I insist,” he said and tucked me close to his right side. The stomping and clapping ended abruptly as soon as the crowd saw us. A guitar tech approached. He handed Lucky his acoustic guitar. Cody moved to the lead singer’s left. He had an acoustic of his own. I stared out at the sea of faces in a bit of a daze as Lucky put his hands on my shoulders and moved me into the center of a spotlight. He curled his ringed fingers around the mic. "I’d like to introduce you to Raven Winters. My girl. ‘She's the One’." The crowd hushed. An anticipatory rush opened my heart and then Lucky filled it as he strummed the sweet el
oquent song he had written for me while Cody played countermelody. Tears pricked my eyes. It was one thing to hear the song played from a position in the audience or on the side stage. It was quite another to be standing in the spotlight with him singing it directly to me.

  If I hadn’t already been totally and completely his, this gesture would have wrapped it up and tied it tight with a perfect bow. Joy streamed unchecked from my eyes when the song was over. Hands to my chest as if to hold the memory to my heart, I watched Lucky and Cody take their bows.

  "I love you," I told him, stopping and turning to face him once we were off the stage. "Thank you."

  He waved his rhythm guitarist on to the meet and greet and pressed me into a darkened alcove. "Don’t thank me for loving you."

  "I’m not." Going up on my tiptoes, I brought my mouth to his, kissing him tenderly. "I’m thanking you for that. For what you did out there. For not just telling me you love me but showing me and the entire world and for giving me a memory I will always cherish."

  "Ah Raven." He set his forehead to mine. "I want to hate the RFC and all the craziness that comes with it. But how can I when it brought you to me?"

  "Then we won’t hate it. We’ll keep moving forward together, and we’ll reshape the craziness into a unique and beautiful reality that works for the two of us."

  ON MY WAY TO the merch booth to help Sky, I wandered around the periphery of the meet and greet room watching the guys joke and laugh with their fans. Tonight, there wasn’t any Lucky juice in the frontman's hands. He had his shirt on. He had listened to me. He had paid attention. All my concerns couldn’t be alleviated, but he made concessions for me, and I loved him for it.

  A trip down the long corridor, across the stage and through the empty concert hall strewn with empty plastic cups brought me to the mezzanine. Behind the table, Sky was swamped with customers, but she handled it with her usual aplomb. She trained her bright customer-first smile on me when she saw me. I scooted behind the table with her and we fell into an easy, practiced pattern taking turns with the iPad swiping credit cards. We ran out of merchandise long before we ran out of customers.

  Apologizing profusely, I fielded a few grumbles from my side of the table, but Sky made a joke of it and all the patrons on her side were smiling as they left. Most of them anyway. Two guys remained. Good looking ones, a brunette and a blond, built like personal trainers. The brunette leaned in, brushed Sky’s long hair aside and she giggled at whatever he whispered into her ear. That was the last thing he did before being unceremoniously lifted into the air and body slammed against an adjacent wall by a big angry Welshman.

  "Did he have permission to touch you, Sky?" Rocky asked, without removing his hold or his incensed gaze from the man he apparently perceived as a threat.

  "Put him down, Rocky.” Looking mortified, she stamped her hands on her hips. “He was only asking me to have a drink with him and his friend."

  "Dude." The guy shrugged out of the drummer’s now lax hold. "Is she your sister, your girlfriend or what?" He straightened his shirt, and his friend came to stand beside him.

  "Neither, not that it’s any of your business," Rocky answered the question, but shifted his attention to Sky. “You’re not going anywhere with them.” His mahogany brows were an implacable v over his golden eyes.

  "You need to get a grip," the blond told the drummer before turning back to Sky. "What do you say, Sweetness? There's a bar with a view of the water a couple of blocks from here. They have good burgers, and decent drinks. Come check it out with us."

  "I don’t know." Sky looked conflicted. She twisted her hands. Tension buzzed in the air. Two against one, but I wouldn’t bet against the drummer.

  "Bring your friend.” The brunette gestured to me. “It'll be a double date."

  "Raven has a boyfriend. She’s..."

  "Not going anywhere with either of you." Rocky cursed under his breath and moved, grabbing Sky by her upper arm. "She's underage, lads." Sky gaped at him and his lie. "Now move along. Both of you. Before I call security."

  The guys took off fast. Like back home when you get a midnight craving for a Whataburger with jalapeños.

  "That isn’t true, Rocky.” Sky’s delicate brow creased. “Why did you lie?"

  "Why were you flirting with two guys you don’t even know?" He frowned. “And who gave you that dress? With you bent over the table, they could see your tits." He whipped off his 'Get Hammered' tee. "No wonder they wanted to take you out." He put his shirt over her head, threading her arms into the sleeves while she stared at him with a hurt expression.

  "I wasn’t flirting. I was just being myself. They were nice. They said I looked pretty." She blinked her wide blue eyes at him. "I like this dress. Carla gave it to me. And you flirt with plenty of girls you don’t even know." She backed away from him, took off his shirt and threw it at him. Rocky looked stunned as it landed on the carpet at his feet.

  "Are you totally clueless?" I told him as he stood still as a statue staring at Sky as she stormed away. "You had no right to interfere, and you insulted her no less."

  "What the bloody hell do you expect me to do, Raven?" He turned his head slightly to regard me. His jaw was clamped tight. "Let her go off with two strangers?” he spit out. “Let her get raped or worse? She's like a child..."

  "She's not."

  "She is," he insisted. "A beautiful one with a body that makes a man weak and eyes that make him dream about impossible things..." He trailed off, giving me a sharp look as if I had somehow coerced those truths from him. "Bullocks," he said. “Forget I said that last part.” He sounded resigned. "Lucky sent me to fetch you. The meet and greet is over. They've got the cameras set up in the motor coach." He shook his head. "Let’s get this thing done. It’ll be the icing on a shit cake. Might as well have Sky and her brother mad at me all at once."

  "LEAN IN. MORE," Ignacio instructed from his position on the opposite couch, and Rocky brought his face closer to mine. "No. Stop. Cut,” the director said, and the rest of the crew grumbled. "Let's take a break everyone."

  I slid off of Rocky's lap, immediately cold in just my lacy bra and panties without all his warmth. He didn’t seem to feel the chill even though he was only in jeans. He stood and stretched. The director set his camera aside, moving straight to the kitchenette and the Keurig for more coffee, along with the rest of the crew. It was late. We had been at this for over an hour. Lucky and the others lounged in the back of the bus waiting their turn to film so we could call it a night. But we were nowhere close to that yet.

  The tenderness part of the redo Rocky had worked brilliantly. I had seen the playback. Everyone was happy with how it had turned out. But the kiss. It was obvious Rocky wanted no part of it, even if we weren’t planning to have our lips touch.

  "Hey." I tapped his arm softly. His bicep was rock-hard tense. "What can I do to make this better?"

  "Nothing, Raven. I’m sorry." His unfocused gold eyes blinked a couple of times before they cleared. "Well, perhaps if you could rewind time, take back the words I said to Sky and help me not be such an arse to her, that would be a fine place to start."

  "She still not talking to you?"

  "I’ve called and texted her a dozen times. No response. She’s frozen me out."

  I winced. Lucky's sister’s way of handling anger was to pretend the person she was mad at didn’t exist. I had seen her keep it up for an entire week with Cody after he had rearranged her makeup chest as a joke. "Did you tell her you're sorry?"

  "Yes." He shrugged one shoulder. "But I think I’m going to need to do more. In person. Get her alone. Only, I don’t want to do it in front of Lucky. He’d be steaming-mad if he found out how I behaved."

  I nodded commiseratively. He was right. I suddenly got an idea. "Listen. Let’s get this fake kiss over with. Then while Lucky and the rest of us are busy you can go find Sky and make it right?"

  "Yeah, that would be good." He nodded, and his expression lightened. "You need to loosen up for th
is too, you know. You're stiff as a board."

  "Me?" I put a hand on my hip and arched a brow. “You're the one who sighs every time we get close."

  "True. What if you pretend I'm him?" His mischievous grin appeared. "I’m sexier of course, but you can use your imagination."

  "Ok. I’ll give that a try. And you can pretend I’m Sky."

  "Raven." He glanced around checking to see if anyone might have heard.

  "We all know how it is, Rocky. Admit it. You were jealous tonight. That’s why you acted the way you did."

  "I won’t...I would never..." He sighed heavily.

  "I know. I get it.” His reservations. Hers. But was being a couple really as impossible as they each seemed to believe?

  I WATCHED THE playback on Ignacio’s camera with Rocky's stubble scruffy chin scratchy on the bare skin of my neck as he looked over my shoulder. I swiveled around to face him when we both had seen it.

  "It's great."

  "Isn’t it?" He gave me a wry grin while the rest of the WMO crew moved to the bunk area to get their equipment ready for the next scene. "Lucky's going to hate it."

  "I'll remind him that I was pretending you were him." Which was the truth. And if the intense way Rocky had been looking at me when he had slowly brought his mouth toward mine was indicative of his feelings for Sky he was showing incredible restraint not to act on them.

  "Tell me what?" Lucky asked, sidestepping the light tripod that blocked the center aisle.

  "It's done,” I informed him breathily. He wore only jeans. He had his shirt off like the rest of the guys in the band. It was what Smith wanted. Lots of skin. And of course, looking at him, seeing his half-naked body and chiseled chest made my pulse race.

  "Finally." Lucky shot Rocky a dark look.

  "Relax, mate.” The drummer waved his hands in front of his body. “I didn't truly kiss her. Groped her instead.” He backed away. "Your woman has such a fine ass and…" He trailed off as Sky suddenly appeared on the opposite end of the lounge. Her gaze clashed with his for a long uncomfortable moment before she turned completely back around, murmuring under her breath about taking a taxi to the hotel with Marsha.