Kissing the Bad Boy

by Winter Travers

  So amazing.

  “We definitely need to do that again but in bed.”

  “But here was good,” I laughed. “We could totally do it again this way,” I suggested. I could spend the rest of my life in this shower with Harrison and I would be happy.

  He buried his face in my neck. “We are so going to be late for my gig,” he laughed.

  “I think if you tell them why they’ll be okay with it.”

  “Pretty sure Maud will kick me in the nuts if she knew I was late because you and I were spending sometime in the shower together.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Then maybe we need to say traffic was bad or something. I don’t want her injuring anything below the waist on you.”

  “Good idea, Vixen.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and I felt his mouth curl into a smile. “You wanna wash my back?”

  I slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re crazy. I need to get out of this shower before I make you even later for your gig.”

  “Fine,” he mumbled. “I guess I can wash my own back this time. You’re gonna have to make it up to me later, though.” He lowered my legs to the floor and I stood shakily.

  “I can do that.”

  “Damn right you can do that,” he mumbled.

  He slapped my butt as I slipped out of the shower and I gave a light yip. “Hey,” I laughed.

  “Didn’t get to touch that ass enough,” he mumbled.

  I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. “Guess that’s something you’ll have to make up to me later.”

  He shook his head and closed the curtain. “Get the hell out of here, Vixen, before you make us even more late.”

  “Right,” I drawled. “You didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  His chuckle filled the bathroom, and I snuck out the door and into my room before I really did distract him anymore.

  I had more than kissed Harrison Peck, and it was everything I had imagined it to be and more. Now I was going to get to watch him sing for the next two hours, then go home with the rock star.

  I was one lucky girl.

  *

  Chapter Thirteen

  Harrison

  Inspiration…

  “Who fucking pissed in you Wheaties?”

  Maud growled. “I had fucking plans after the gig tonight.”

  “And?” Darius drawled.

  Maud shrugged on her coat. “And now those plans are shot since our lead signed decided to show up almost an hour late.”

  I laid my guitar in its case and spotted Ruby at the edge of the stage talking to a couple of fans. “I told you, Maud. I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah,” she snapped. “You said you were sorry but it doesn’t make it better.”

  “You think maybe you can get over that and we can talk about that fact that the crowd loved the three new songs we played tonight?” Niko asked.

  “Hell yeah they did,” Malik agreed. “By the time we get the new album out we’re gonna be even more famous.”

  “We’re not famous now,” Maud snapped.

  I shook my head and stood up. “We’re small town famous right now, Maud.”

  “Well, I want more than that. I’m not in this band for Joe at the local hardware store to like us. I want the whole fucking world to love us.” She zipped her coat up and pulled her stocking hat over her bright blue hair. “We’re not gonna get there if we keep doing these small gigs and are an hour late starting them.”

  “First time I’ve ever been late to a gig, Maud. You really gonna bust my balls over this?” Goddamn. I had told the guys ten times I was fucking sorry. There wasn’t anything else I could do.

  “I’m out of here. I’ll see you guys later.” She hopped off the stage and stormed out of the club.

  “Damn, man. She on the rag or something?” Malik scoffed. “You would think we killed her dog or something.”

  Something was going on with Maud, but she wasn’t ready to tell any of us what it was. “Not sure, bro. She’ll get over it.” Or blow up at all of us.

  “You guys wanna get a drink?” Darius asked.

  I glanced over at Ruby. She was still talking to two girls, but she glanced over at me. “I think I’m gonna head home.”

  Malik stood next to me and looked when I was staring. “That the girl you’re keeping from us?” he asked.

  When we had gotten to the club I had set Ruby up at a table close to the stage but off to the side. I hadn’t introduced her to the band because I was already running way behind. “Vixen,” I called.

  Her eyes lit up and she gave me a small wave. She excused herself from the people she was talking to and moved to the part of the stage in front of me and Malik. “Hey,” she said softly. “You guys were pretty amazing.”

  Malik elbowed me. “I like her already,” he laughed. He crouched down and extended his hand out to Ruby. “I’m Malik.”

  She shook his hand and a slight blush rose on her cheeks. “Ruby.”

  “Whoa,” Niko called. “Are we meeting inspiration for the new album?” He moved over to Ruby and jumped off of the stage. He landed next to her and slung an arm over her shoulders. “I would just like to say thank you for being smoking hot and sexy.”

  I groaned internally. Leave it to Niko to be an idiot. “This is Niko, Darius, and Malik. Maud stormed off a couple of minutes ago.” I pointed at each of the guys as I said their names then turned back to Niko. “And bro, shut it,” I called.

  “What?” he asked. “Just saying it like it is.”

  Ruby looked up at me. “I’m your inspiration?”

  This was a conversation I would rather have in bed, naked, then with Malik, Darius, and Niko present. “Something like that, Vixen.”

  “Oh,” she said softly.

  “You wanna come out for a drink with us?” Darius asked.

  “No, not tonight,” I answered for her.

  “Damn,” Niko laughed. “He really doesn’t want to share you with us, does he?”

  “Uh next time?” she chirped.

  “Maybe.” That was a big maybe. I wasn’t even close to wanting to share my time with her with anyone else.

  I dropped off of the stage and snagged her hand in mine. Niko dropped his arm and laughed. “Damn,” he drawled. “Didn’t even touch her for thirty seconds and he’s acting like a jealous boyfriend,” he laughed.

  I wasn’t her boyfriend. I was far from boyfriend material. I was just a guy who had a thing for Ruby. “You ready?” I asked her.

  She nodded her head. “Yeah.”

  “Later, assholes. I’ll see you all in the studio tomorrow.” I would be there three hours before they got there, but they all managed to crawl in by ten o’clock most days.

  “Aye, aye, captain.” Darius gave a fake salute, and Niko and Malik followed suit.

  Ruby laughed and snuggled into my side. “It was nice meeting you guys.”

  We moved through the club with a few people stopping to talk about the show.

  Mick was standing by the door with a huge smile on his face. “That was fucking amazing, Harrison. You guys are really coming into your stride.”

  I shook Mick’s hand and couldn’t help but smile at his words. His was the one opinion that I needed to be good. “Thanks, man. We tried out those three new songs and the crowd seemed to really like them.”

  “Sure did,” Mick agreed. “Can’t wait for them all to hear the new album.” He nodded to Ruby. “You must be the one who lit a fire under Harrison’s ass.”

  Ruby’s cheeks heated. “Uh, I guess that’s what I’ve been hearing. I didn’t know I was so important to the new album.”

  Mick laughed. “Most people never do know until the album is out. I’m gonna go talk to the rest of the guys. I tried to talk to Maud but she was on a tear when she stormed out of here.”

  I nodded my head. “Yeah, not sure what the hell is going with her. She was pissed as hell that I was late, but she’s been moody as hell before tonight.”

  “You weren’t that
late. The crowd didn’t even start to get rowdy. She needs to learn if I’m not irritated by something going on then she needs to cool her jets.”

  Maud cool her jets? That only happened if she wanted to, and I’m sure if Mick had told her those exact words then she was even more pissed off right now. “We’re gonna head out. See you tomorrow, Mick.” I pulled Ruby out the door and over to the parking lot at the side of the club.

  “We could have went out with your friends if you wanted.”

  I pinned her against the side of my car and caged her in with my arms. “Niko was right. I’m not into sharing you tonight.”

  “Oh,” she gasped.

  “Gonna kiss you now, Vixen.”

  She tipped her head back and smiled. “Okay.”

  “Then I’m gonna take you home and fuck you until we both fall asleep exhausted.”

  “I like a man who makes plans.” She rested her arms on my shoulders and smiled. “Especially fucking plans.”

  Then I was just the man for Ruby.

  *

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ruby

  Bang out the kinks

  “What are you doing tomorrow?”

  I filled my coffee cup and turned to look at Harrison. “Uh, same thing I do every day?”

  “It’s Christmas tomorrow.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  “Vixen, how in the hell do you forget about Christmas?”

  I shrugged and took a sip of my coffee. “I don’t know. I guess Christmas has never been a big deal.”

  “You and your family don’t get together?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “If Jonas is around we grab Chinese and watch some Christmas movies, but since he’s not around the year it didn’t even dawn on me that it was so close.”

  “You wanna come to Christmas with me?” Harrison leaned on the kitchen island opposite me. “My parents always make a shit ton of food and then we drink spiked eggnog out by the shed.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “I was with you until you said you drink eggnog by the shed.”

  “You’ll understand it tomorrow,” he explained.

  “Don’t you need to ask your parents if I can come?” It seemed odd to show up at Harrison’s parents without an invitation.

  He pulled out his phone and typed out a quick message. He held up his phone for me to read.

  Bringing a girl with me tomorrow.

  “Harrison,” I laughed. “That’s really all you’re going to say?”

  His phone dinged and he held it out for me to read again. This time he had a huge smile on his face.

  Oh my! Can’t wait to meet her.

  I shook my head.

  “You have just made my mother’s year.”

  “I never agreed to come with,” I countered.

  “You’re really gonna crush my mother’s heart when I show up without you.”

  “You know having me meet your parents is a whole new level.”

  He shrugged and pulled me into his arms. He grabbed my coffee cup and set it on the kitchen island behind him. “If that level includes you then I’m game.”

  I sobered and laid my hand on his chest. “What are we doing here, Harrison? Is this only for when you’re here and then you leave to be a rock star, forgetting me?” I didn’t want to have this conversation, but I was falling fast for Harrison and I wanted to put the brakes on it quick if he was only in this till the new year.

  “Not sure what is going on here, Vixen. I know I like being with you and I like you in my bed even more.”

  Since we had spent half of the night touching, tasting, and enjoying each other, I believed that he liked me well enough in bed. It was the out of bed I wondered about.

  He tucked my hair behind my ear and caressed his hand down my arm. “I don’t plan things out much other than gigs and studio time, Vixen. I know I wanna be with you right now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

  I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against his. “I guess I can’t really ask for much more from a soon to be mega rock star, can I?” I whispered. “If you want me to come to Christmas with you tomorrow I will, but now I need to go shopping.”

  “You’re actually going to take a day off of work?” he asked, amazed.

  “Just a half a day,” I laughed. “Wanna come with?”

  “I wish I could, Vixen. I need to put in some more time in at the studio, but when I’m done I’m all yours.”

  “Fine,” I pouted. I needed to now get something to wear tomorrow, a gift for Harrison, and something to give his mom for letting me crash her Christmas. “It’s probably better you don’t come with anyway.”

  “Is that so?” he laughed. “You’re already getting sick of me?”

  I shook my head and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Nope, not at all.”

  He kissed me long and deep. He held me close and my hands roamed over his chest. “Don’t have too much fun without me, Vixen. I’ll bring dinner home with me so you don’t need to worry about it.”

  I smiled and nodded my head. “Sounds like a plan.” I pushed away from him and grabbed my coffee cup. “Now go write some amazing songs so I can go shopping for a present for you.”

  I huge grin spread across his lips. “All you need to do is slap a bow on that ass of yours and I’ll be a happy man.”

  “You may just get that,” I said coyly. I added finding one of those big bows to my list. I may not do Christmas most years, but with Harrison around things were about to change.

  “Later, Vixen. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

  I waved at him over my shoulder and headed down the hallway. “Bye, Rockstar.”

  He laughed loudly and I heard the front door open and close before I stepped into the bathroom.

  It was time to get in the holiday spirit.

  I finally had someone to celebrate with and I was going to make the most of it.

  *

  Harrison

  “Bro, how in the hell did we just write another song in two hours?”

  I tossed the notepad down on the table and shrugged. “We’re on a roll right now.”

  “More like you’re getting a regular piece of ass right now and it’s working for all of us.”

  I flipped him off. “Could you be a little less of an asshole?”

  Darius shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it. You might want to keep this chick around for a while. At least until we finish the album.”

  “How about you don’t worry about Ruby and just focus on playing your fucking bass good, yeah?”

  “Touchy, touchy,” Darius laughed. “You must really have a thing for this girl.”

  I stood up and stretched my arms over my head. “None of your business, Darius.”

  “You bringing her to mom’s tomorrow.”

  I looked down at him. “I’m sure you already know the answer to that.”

  He laughed and nodded his head. “You damn well know that I do. She was walking on air when I rolled out of bed this morning. I haven’t seen her smile that wide in a long time when she talked about you.”

  “That’s because I’m normally the son who turned her perfect little Darius into a devil worshiping rocker.” I wasn’t even sure why mom and dad hated the band so much. It wasn’t like we sang about killing cats and sacrificing them to the devil. Hell, some of our songs didn’t even have cuss words in them. That was pretty damn amazing.

  Yet they couldn’t seem to get past the fact that Darius and I didn’t want to follow our dad in the preacher footsteps.

  Darius scoffed. “They both need to get over it and realize we aren’t going to join the long line of Peck’s being men of the cloth.”

  “I think the fact that the tradition died fully with our generation really pisses them off,” I laughed.

  “Maybe if you settle with Ruby that’ll make her happy. Give her a grandbaby or two, Harrison. That’ll really make her happy.”

  “Uh, no,” I g
runted. “That is not at all in my future right now.” Not even close. I nodded to the recording booth. “Let’s knock this song out so Mick can hear it when he comes in. I need to hit the store before I go back home.” It was Christmas Eve and I doubted many of the stores were going to be open past five.

  “You got it, brother.” Darius trudged into the booth and I followed behind.

  Bang out the kinks in this song and then it was back to Ruby. Just as soon as I found the perfect gift for her.

  I had the perfect thing in mind, I just needed to find it.

  *

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ruby

  A little Ruby flare

  This bow made my ass look huge.

  I twisted around to look at my butt in the mirror and cringed. “Maybe bright red isn’t my color, Mookie.”

  Mookie grunted from the bath mat he was laying on.

  “You’re right. He's not gonna notice that, is he?” I turned back around and straighten the strap on my skimpy bra that barely held my boobs in.

  Harrison had texted me fifteen minutes ago that he was on the way, and I had started to put the first phase of my plan into motion.

  After I had showered and gotten dressed this morning I shopped at seven places before I had everything I needed.

  I flipped off the bathroom light and made my way to the living room that was now a holiday masterpiece.

  A huge artificial tree was tucked in the corner, decorated with red, green, and black ornaments, and small ceramic village was now filling up the top of the coffee table. I had strung lights around the four windows and even rope lights around the railing of the balcony. Mistletoe was hung from every doorway purely for my benefit so Harrison had to kiss me every time he stepped through a doorway.

  I heard the key turn in the door and I sprinted to pose in front of the tree. I’m sure I looked like a moron, but I hoped Harrison liked it.

  Something about the conversation we had this morning had put me fully into the holiday spirit and it had vomited all over the apartment.