by Levine, Nina
“Go,” she says, and we hang up.
I’m greeted by the sight of Jett’s back when I open the door. He’s on the phone so I take the opportunity to check out his butt. After all, he’s got one of the best asses I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m deep in appreciation when he ends the call and turns around.
Catching me checking him out, he smirks and says, “Should I turn back around so you can continue what would have to be one of my favourite pastimes?”
“One of your favourites?” I ask, confused.
“Yeah, baby, I fucking love your eyes on me.” His hands go to the button on his jeans and he adds, “Hell, I’ll even strip if you’d prefer that.”
I shake my head at his antics and laugh. “You’re incorrigible, Jett Vaughn.”
He laughs too and sweeps in for a quick kiss. “Only for you.”
I drag him into the kitchen and tell him to sit at the counter while I cook and he actually does what I say for once. “You had a good day?” he enquires while I chop broccoli.
“Yes, and I have something to tell you.”
“Shoot.” He leans his elbows on the counter and gives me his full attention. God, I could stare into those eyes of his all day long.
“I told Michael I won’t take that job with Diesel and I know I already told you I wouldn’t but I want you to know I’ve let them know.” The words tumble out of my mouth in a rush because we’ve never revisited this topic since our fight, and I’m hoping this doesn’t stir anything up again.
“Presley, while I’m fucking ecstatic you’re not working with him, I would have manned up if you’d decided to take the job on, so if you do want to do it, you should. And yeah, you were right the other night when you said I was jealous. I’ve never experienced it in my life but when any man has his eyes on you, I’ll admit, I’m a jealous prick.”
I stop chopping vegetables and stare at him. The honesty that he’s just given me blows me away. It’s the kind of honesty that would move any relationship forward, and it’s exactly what I needed to hear. “You know you’ve got nothing to worry about, right?” I need him to know he’s the only man on my radar.
“I trust you, sweetheart. I just can’t help the urge to choke the ever-loving shit out of any man who looks in your direction, but I’m working on it.”
I have to laugh at his statement because he really does look like he wants to do that when he’s jealous. Leaning across the counter, I brush my lips across his and try to reassure him further. “Well, I only have eyes for you and that’s all that matters, right?”
His hand cups my cheek and keeps our lips connected so he can deepen the kiss. My knees go weak; this man knows how to kiss and he also knows how to woo me. I’m way past fucking wooed but he never fails to win me all over again.
He ends the kiss and gives me one of this trademark smiles. “Yeah, that’s all that matters,” he murmurs.
I straighten and place the vegetables on a tray and put them in the oven. Turning back to him, I ask, “How was your day? Did you guys get much done on the album today?” Jett’s all tense about the loss he had on the share market and is putting everything into this new album to make it a success. And after taking a couple of days off, he was itching to get back into it.
“We got another song down today and the label wants to release our first song next month.”
“That seems fast. Is that normal for you guys?” I recall Lennon’s band used to take a lot longer to record an album and get it out there.
“Yeah, it’s fast, but they want this album out there, and because we had songs already written that we’ve been able to pull from, plus Van’s been writing his ass off and it’s good shit, we should have the album done in a few months, if not sooner. They’ll release the first single early to drum up interest.”
“Does that mean you’ll have to start work on promoting the album?”
“There will be some promo to do and we’ll have to do a bit of travel but I’m hoping they’ll ease us into that while we’re still recording. I don’t think it’ll be full on straight away.” He pauses for a moment. “Tom’s starting to book in the tour dates for later in the year. Have you thought any further about doing our tour?”
“I don’t know, Jett, we’ve only just gotten together and I’m concerned that working together could cause problems. I’m not sure we should do it.”
He nods thoughtfully and says, “We can talk about it closer to the tour. By then you might have changed your mind.”
I can hear the hope in his voice but I’m not sure I will change my mind. Mixing business and pleasure isn’t a good idea as far as I’m concerned. “We’ll see.”
“Are you still enjoying your time off?”
“I miss working, but I don’t miss working with models and working in that world. Oh, that reminds me, I have a photography awards night coming up and I wanted to see if you had the night free to come with me.”
He gives me one of his huge smiles again. “I’ll make sure I have the night free, sweetheart. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
And there’s one of the many reasons I fell for this man.
17
Jett
“Presley, have you seen my keys?” I yell out as I unsuccessfully search for them in her kitchen. I have to get to the studio in the next ten minutes, and at this rate I’m not going to make it in the next hour.
She wanders out of the bedroom wearing next to nothing and yawning. I allow my gaze to drift over her body and fight the hardening of my cock and the desire to fuck her on the table again. It’s become my favourite place to have some hard and fast sex with her, and I try to convince myself I have time for a quickie before work.
“Jett!” Her voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn to find her holding my keys out to me.
I grab them off her and pull her to me for a kiss. A goodbye kiss, nothing more. Fuck, it’s so damn hard to walk away from her, but I let her go after I kiss her. “Thanks,” I say as I shove my wallet in my pocket and pick my phone up off the table.
She smacks my ass as she walks past me to the fridge. “I’m gonna miss you today,” she says in her sleepy voice. “After having you all to myself over the weekend, I’ve gotten used to being able to have sex whenever I wanted.”
I groan. “Fuck, baby, did you have to say that?” The table is looking more inviting every second I stay in this room with her. I eye her skimpy singlet and panties. I could have those off in two seconds flat, and my cock out just as fast. Five minutes tops and I’d be a happy man for the rest of the day.
“Jett!”
Jesus, I’m not with it today. “What?” I ask as I drag my gaze from her pussy.
Shaking her head at me, she says, “Your phone is going crazy with texts so you need to stop imagining fucking me and check those.”
I rake my fingers through my hair. “I just screwed you twice in my mind.” Pointing at my dick, I ask, “Can you see how fucking hard I am for you right now?”
“Oh I see it, Jett, but I’m trying not to look because I want to screw you twice but not in my mind, so hurry up and get your ass out of here or else I might not let it leave.”
I stare at her. “Not fucking helpful, sweetheart,” I mutter, doing my best to stop fucking thinking about her pussy.
Fuck.
My phone goes off twice more with texts and I check it to see who the hell is bombarding me with messages. They’re from Tom and as I read them, I let out a loud, “Fuck me!”
“What?” Presley looks at me in alarm. She’s obviously picked up that my stress levels are now through the roof.
After I finish scrolling through the messages, I dial Tom and place my phone to my ear. Eyeing Presley, I fill her in. “West has been accused of rape. It’s all over the news.”
She stares at me in shock and I nod in agreement. This is fucking ludicrous.
Tom snaps into my phone, “Where the hell have you been? This shit is hitting from all angles and you need to get down to the studio
now.”
“I’m on my way.” I shove the phone in my pocket and start to make my way out to my car. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll call you later,” I yell out to Presley right before I leave her apartment. Getting to the studio is the only thing on my mind now; there’s no fucking way West raped a woman, and I need to get to the band fast so we can work out how the fuck we’re going to deal with this.
* * *
The traffic is a bitch, and it takes me a good forty minutes to get to the studio, during which time I’ve listened to the breakfast radio announcers trash talk rock stars for sleeping with anyone and everyone. And that was right after they discussed the possibility of the rape allegation against West being true. I had to restrain myself from calling them and giving them a piece of my mind. They never stop and think about the fact the person they are talking about is a real person, and that a lot of their audience takes what they say as gospel.
By the time I finally walk into the studio, I’ve got a massive headache and I feel like the world is conspiring against me this morning after the traffic and then no car park being available, resulting in me having to park a couple of blocks away.
Van scowls at me the minute I enter. “It’s a good fucking thing no one was dying here, Jett. You took your time.”
I hold my hand up at him and return his scowl. “Don’t fucking start on me today; I don’t have the patience for your shit.” Turning my attention to West, I take in his appearance. He looks a mess, and I can’t blame him; if I’d been accused of rape, I’d look the same. “Tell me what happened.”
He stares at me for a moment, not saying a word. The exhaustion has taken over his face and I can only imagine how tired his mind is, and how hard he’s finding it to form words. Fuck, this side of the business is bullshit, and I hope to God I never run into the woman who’s put him in this position. Our band has had a clear run with scandals so far but I’ve seen other bands and other men broken by this kind of shit. When he speaks, his voice gives away the shock he must still be in. “She’s told her story to one of the magazines, said I raped her when we were in Sydney last time.”
I frown. “Have the police contacted you?”
Shaking his head, he says, “No . . . fuck, Jett, I didn’t do this. Sure, I slept with her, but she was the one begging for it, not me.” He rakes his fingers through his hair and begins pacing the room.
“I believe you, man.” I look at Tom and tell him my thoughts. “She obviously wants cash if she’s gone to a magazine - ”
West cuts me off. “I’m not fucking giving that bitch a cent!” he roars.
“That wasn’t what I was going to suggest. I’m just thinking out loud here, and what I’m thinking is the likelihood of her going to the police over this is slim, which is good for you.”
“We’re on the same page here,” Tom agrees, “so I think the first thing we need to do is either make a statement or do an interview while at the same time do some digging on this woman and find out who she is and what shit she’s into. I bet she’s covered in dirt herself.”
“I don’t think West is up to an interview just yet so we’ll put out a statement and go from there. If we need to do an interview later, we’ll do it,” I reply. Looking at West, I add, “And when I say we, I mean all of us. We’ve got your back, man.”
“This is fucking bullshit!” Van thunders, his eyes blazing. Glaring at West, he says, “If you could keep your dick in your pants for longer than a minute, this kind of shit wouldn’t happen. We’re just about to launch a new album and we need all the fans we can get to support that album. This kind of shit won’t support it.”
My gaze snaps to Van and I look at him with disgust. “I can’t fucking believe you just said that.”
“It’s the truth, Jett, and you know it. You’re the one concerned about changing our sound so I would think you’d agree with me on this.”
“Yeah, I’m worried about that, but fuck, West is our family, and I’m more concerned about him at the moment, and you should be, too. Jesus, Van, if this kind of shit happened to you, you’d want all of us to have your back.”
West butts in, “Fuck you, Van. I might think you’re an asshole but I’ve always been behind you when you’re going through shit. That bitch begged me to fuck her, and I sure as hell know that if it’d been you she was begging, you’d have fucked her too, so don’t give me this bullshit about me keeping my dick in my pants, ‘cause yours is never in your pants, either.” West is wound tight and looks like he’s just holding it together. One more word out of Van and I’m sure West will punch him.
Just as I’m about to call for a time out, Hunter steps into the conversation. Pointing at Van, he says, “You, shut up; nothing productive is coming out of your mouth so until you have something useful to say, don’t say another fucking word.” Then he points at West. “You, go home, shower and have something to eat and then either come back or have a sleep, ‘cause you look like you’re three days into an apocalypse, and I’m pretty sure you need a minute to yourself to sort through the shit running through your mind.” And finally, he looks at me. “And you and I are going to regroup and form a plan to deal with this, ‘cause I don’t think sitting back, making a statement and waiting to see what we can dig up on that bitch will cut it. Van might be an asshole but he’s right, we need to do everything we can to make sure this album sells, and while I’m not saying West is at fault here, we’re in this shit now, and we’ve gotta work with what we have.”
When Hunter speaks, we all listen. He’s a man of few words but he’s the smartest one in our group, and, usually, when he speaks like this, he’s right. I nod at him and then ask West, “Do you want me to drive you home?”
Grabbing his keys, he shakes his head. “No.” And with that, he leaves.
As soon as he’s out the door, I slump into the couch and drop my head into my hands. No one says a word; we’re all lost in our own thoughts. Eventually, I look back up at them and say, “This shit is so unfair. West is a good guy and he gets this?” In this moment, I truly despise the dark side of this business. The lies they tell to sell magazines, the stalking they do to get a photo, the smack they talk to try and get money out of you. I just want to write songs that mean something and sing them to people who want to hear them. Why the fuck should we have to go through all that other bullshit to be able to do what we love?
Van has kept quiet since Hunter told him to but he stands and mutters, “I’m out for today. If I sit here another minute, I’m gonna punch something. You two figure out whatever you want; I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“What the fuck?” I demand, stunned he would leave at a time like this. “You’re just going to leave when we’re in the middle of dealing with a crisis?”
“Hunter was right when he said I had nothing useful to say so there’s no point in me staying.”
I stare at him, wondering where the hell he’s gone. Something has snapped in his mind over the last few weeks and he’s changed to the point where I almost don’t recognise my friend. I actually don’t even want to look at him right now, so I agree, “Yeah, you should go.”
He doesn’t wait for anyone else to chime in; a minute later he’s gone and I’m beginning to question where the hell our band is going to end up in all of this.
“Fuck!” I look at Hunter. “What the hell are we going to do?”
Before he can answer, Tom stands and says, “I’m going to draft a statement and start looking into this girl. I’ve also got some other work to do on the tour. You two start to think about what you want to do and I’ll call you later to go over it with you.”
He leaves and it’s just Hunter and me. I hope to hell he’s got some ideas because I’m pulling a blank here. For the first time in our career, I’m not sure what our next step should be.
Hunter looks at me thoughtfully. “We need to get out there and promote like hell. I hate to say it, but I think we need to be in the States at the moment to deal with this. We need to be seen and we need to
make it clear this shit isn’t fazing us because we know it’s not true.”
I process what he’s said and know in my gut he’s right.
Nodding, I say, “Looks like we’re taking a trip.”
18
Presley
I wrap my arms around Jett, wanting to cling to him but knowing I need to let him go. “I’m gonna miss you,” I murmur into his chest.
He places a kiss on my head and strokes my hair. “Not as fucking much as I’m gonna miss you.”
We hold on tight for a few minutes, and when we finally let each other go, I say, “I know this is the right thing for you guys to do, but it sucks that some woman can dictate your life to you.”
It’s been two days since the rape allegations hit the news and the controversy it’s caused is only getting worse. It seems women over the world have had enough of famous men supposedly getting away with whatever they want when it comes to sex. It sickens me that they are so quick to decide a man’s guilt without getting all the facts.
The resigned look he gives me makes me even madder at the situation. Jett’s the kind of man who knows his next step at all times, the kind of man who decides what he wants and goes after it; I hate watching him struggle with this. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” he asks.
He’s been asking me this for two days now, and I’m not going to change my mind. “I’m sure. You’re going to be so busy with work and the last thing you need is me getting in the way. I just want you to focus completely on what you’ve gotta do without any distractions.”
His beautiful blue eyes don’t let me go. “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”
Frowning, I ask, “Why?”
“Because I only just promised you last week I’d put you first and make time for our relationship, and here I am taking off overseas for God knows how long and you’re supporting me.”