Whole Lotta Lust: Rock Star Hearts - Book #2

by Amity Cross

  “Finally, we’re on the same page.” I rolled my eyes as the car turned into a dark parking garage.

  The murky fluorescents outside lighted Vix’s drawn features and she made a face. “Just do your bit and we’ll be out of here, no problems.”

  I grunted, which earned me another punch.

  “Juniper has been spending a lot of time with Harry,” she mused.

  “I can’t expect her to be alone all the time, now can I? I told her to go out and have fun.”

  “Have fun?” She snorted and shook her head, not even trying to hide her smirk. “She’s having fun with your assistant.”

  “What are you insinuating?” I demanded. “That she’s fucking him while I’m out?”

  “I know the kind of women you’re attracted to, Seb, and you’re away a lot. The conclusion is drawn.”

  I ignored her baiting and turned my attention back out the window. Juniper wasn’t like that. She was the realest thing in my entire heart and there was no way in the world she’d betray the things we shared for a quickie with my assistant while I was doing an interview. If this was Vix’s big attempt to sow some seeds of doubt, then she was failing big time.

  Thankfully, I was spared from more of her commentary as we arrived at the radio station.

  These things always went the same way. They ushered us into a tiny studio, shoved headphones on our heads, and angled microphones at our faces. We waited for the song to finish, as well as the station’s promo reel, then the announcer slash interviewer, put on his over-the-top radio voice and introduced us.

  They had ten minutes to ask their questions, they played the single from the new album, then we took some photos for their social media pages. Finally, they arse licked us, and we were back on the road to the next stop.

  I lounged back in the chair, listening to the reel as I steeled myself for another round of questions that were exactly the same as the last lot.

  The interviewer pressed a button on the control panel and said, “Good afternoon, San Fran. We’re back in the studio with none other than the Sebastian Hale and Damon Whittaker from the hottest rock band to come out of Down Under, Beneath. The new album is called This Is Not About Us. It’s already hit the top of the Billboard charts and the tour of the same name has been selling out across the country. That has to feel great, right guys? The album was dropped without warning and you booked stadiums with forty thousand plus capacities overnight. That’s some launch.”

  “Don’t doubt the size of Beneath’s balls,” Damon said. “We’re a guaranteed hot time. That’s why people keep coming back.”

  “The record is getting rave reviews, and the concerts you’ve played so far have been phenomenal. You’re at the peak of your career, so why did you split, Sebastian? And why did you decide to come back?”

  “It wouldn’t be Beneath without the mayhem,” I drawled.

  “Did it have anything to do with your new partner, Juniper Rowe?”

  I tensed and narrowed my eyes at the guy, but unfortunately, he had more to say on the matter he’d been asked not to talk about. Whatever happened next was on him.

  “Aren’t you afraid that by taking yourself off the market, you’re ruining your image for the fans?”

  I curled my fingers into fists and my lip curled.

  “Dude,” Damon said, deflecting the question away from me, “our songs are about love and sex, so how can we do what we do so well without practicing the fuck outta what we preach? You know what I’m sayin’? Writing is about experience.”

  “What about Mallory Grigorio, Sebastian? There’s a lot of fans that are vocal about you and her getting back together. Is that ever going to be a thing?”

  “I think you forgot the part where I’m in a relationship with another woman.” This guy was getting closer to the part where I punched him in the face.

  “So Resist Me is not about her then? It’d have to be right? You didn’t meet Juniper until after the album was mastered.”

  “Resist Me is about the idea of falling in uncontrollable love. It’s not about any one person. None of our songs are, but you could say Going Nowhere is all about Mallory, because that’s where our relationship went—absolutely fucking nowhere.”

  “So that brings me to the question everyone wants to know. Are you and Juniper in love?”

  By now I couldn’t even remember the interviewer’s name. All I saw was red.

  “Do you know how much of a dick you are?” I asked him. “Do you get out your ruler every morning to see if you’ve grown another inch?”

  “Excuse me?” He blinked at me, surprised by my outburst. He shouldn’t be. This was my reputation after all.

  I grabbed the microphone and angled it closer to my mouth. “If you want to come and see a hot rock concert that’ll blow your mind, come and see us tonight at the Golden Gate Park,” I declared, my anger palpable. “If you want to listen to some great rock music, buy the album from your local record store—those guys keep the love of music alive. If you want to know about my cock and where I’m putting it, then you’re shit outta luck. This interview is over.” I ripped the headphones off my head and tossed them. Glaring at the interviewer, I stormed out of the studio and down the hall.

  “Seb!” Vix shrieked after me, but I kept walking.

  I was so done with this shit. Where did that arsehole get off asking questions like that? Since when did my sex life become public property? Since I made it that way…with a little help from Vix. Why the hell did actions have to have consequences? I was the cosmic joke.

  I shoved open the door to the parking garage with a violent jab and cursed, the sound echoing off the concrete walls. I’d had a part in creating the monster just as much as my moronic management had. I’d given journalists free reign to ask about this shit until now. Until Juniper.

  Spotting the car, I wrenched open the back door and got in, rolling my eyes as Damon climbed in the other side. At least there was no room for Vix with his arse taking up all the space back here.

  “Take us back to the hotel,” I ordered the startled driver.

  “But, sir, we’re scheduled to go to—”

  “I don’t fucking care what the schedule says. I’m done with press. They can all go eat a bag of dicks. Take us back to the hotel or you’re fired. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “God, you’re a dick,” Damon said, clipping his seatbelt in place. “I can see the difference now. The old Seb was a raging egomaniac, but the new one is a SNAG.”

  “What the hell is a SNAG?”

  “A sensitive new age guy.” He rubbed his stomach. “Mmmmm…I could go a snag in a bit of bread. With some onions and tomato sauce.”

  I snorted and stared out the window as the car left the garage and turned out onto the street. Damon was so Australian it hurt.

  “You were going so well, too,” he mused.

  “I don’t know how this is my fault.”

  “Dude, he asked you if you were in love with her and you cracked the shits. You know how that looks, right?”

  “It looks like an invasion of privacy.”

  “It never bothered you before. Remember that time those pictures of you fucking that chick on the hood of a Ferrari went viral?”

  “Vix set me up,” I fired back.

  “Set up or not, when Juniper hears you cracked it over the L-word question, she’s not going to like it. Women hate that kind of stuff. I’d love to see the fireworks, though, because she’s got the biggest backbone I’ve ever seen.” He let out a slow whistle.

  “What?” I turned to face him, my brow creasing.

  “She’s been fucking with my sister,” Damon said, smirking.

  “When?” Juniper hadn’t mentioned anything about Damon’s sister.

  “Back in LA.”

  “Victoria probably deserved it,” I said, knowing how much of a clinger she was. “You know she’s all up in Mallory’s vagina.”

  “Dude, listen to what I’m saying. My sister is a
leech who’s always calling me for money even though she earns a shitload on her own. Instead of owning the squad, she’s a fucking foot soldier. I’d trade her for Juniper in an instant.” He thought for a moment, then asked, “Can I trade my bitch of a sister in for a shinier model? Is that something I can actually do? How much does it cost? Probably less than I’m currently paying for her upkeep.”

  I was hardly listening to him. Leaning back in the seat, I was glad I was riding with Damon back to the hotel rather than Vix. If she was here, we’d be having a full-on screaming match right about now.

  “So?” Damon asked, nudging me with his boot.

  “So what?”

  “Do you love her?”

  My scowl deepened so much that I was giving myself a headache. “I don’t fucking know! Get off my case.”

  “BAH-BOW!” he shouted. “You’re screwed, mate.”

  “I’ll break both your arms, then you’ll be screwed.”

  “Just because you’re jealous of my shit hot drumming.”

  “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

  “Conversation? I thought we were fighting like a pair of flaming galahs.”

  I grunted as the car pulled up underneath the hotel awning and I shoved open the door. Fuck, I hoped Juniper was here…and hadn’t heard about the interview yet. Drama travelled fast in these parts and it was the one time I wanted to get ahead of it.

  I checked the bar first, just in case. Scanning the room, I found her immediately—her copper hair shimmering like living flame in the soft light. When I saw she was sitting with Harry, Vix’s words came back to me like a smack in the face. Add the disastrous interview in the mix, and I was a volcano of boiling anger.

  She was laughing and showing him something on her phone, her shoulder pressed against his. They were too close for comfort and a ball of jealousy rose up in my throat and began to choke me.

  Storming across the bar, I slammed my fist onto the tabletop and glared at Harry, who jumped a mile when he saw me staring down at him.

  “Do you want to explain yourself?” I demanded.

  “Sebastian,” Juniper exclaimed, “what’s up your arse?”

  “I see what’s going on here.” I jabbed my finger at him. “You’re so fucking fired.”

  Juniper gasped and shot to her feet, her chair falling backwards onto the floor, while Harry looked like he was pissing his pants.

  “Come with me,” I barked, grabbing her hand.

  “Sebastian,” she complained, “stop. What the hell is going on? We weren’t doing anything. Harry is—”

  “I said, come with me.”

  14

  Juniper

  I didn’t want to admit it, but I was lonely.

  Used to my small-town life, I didn’t know how to relate to other people outside of my limited circle. I was better one on one. I was better with Sebastian—who seemed to be the only person who got me—but he was drifting away. He was moody and tired, which I couldn’t exactly blame him for since he was worked ragged, but as the days stretched into weeks, I was left more and more on my own. That’s when Harry and I started hanging out as friends rather than employer and employee.

  He seemed to want to impress Sebastian with his hard work, but there was also a part of him that actually wanted to be my friend. Without Vanessa here, I was glad for the camaraderie and the benefit of a guy who knew how to get things—like pre-booking a bunch of San Francisco adventures and helping me find a new suitcase when the wheel snapped off my old one.

  The hotel bar was buzzing that afternoon. Sebastian was out on a press junket someplace, so I was sitting with Harry attempting to listen while he grilled me on the benefits of social media.

  I’d rather not rejoin the land of the thumb scrolling and smiley poo emojis—I’d been using the journal Sebastian had given me almost religiously—but Harry had made me sit there and sign up for all the big players. After the paparazzi got hold of me back in the Point, I’d deleted everything because I was getting inundated with death threats from Mallory Grigorio’s fans, but he said it was something to do with building my ‘brand’—whatever that was—for when I worked out what I was going to do post-Page Break. Apparently, everyone needed a platform, so he’d set everything up, managed to get me all those verified tick things, and helped write a one-line bio that ‘popped’. It was all a mystery to me, but so far, I only followed Sebastian, the band’s official pages, all the guy’s personal pages, and the Point Mambie pizza shop.

  “This number keeps changing,” I said, holding up my phone so he could see.

  “Those are your followers.”

  “Yeah, but why?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Because people want to hear what you have to say. You’re a real-life Cinderella.”

  It still baffled me, but I supposed I should go with the flow.

  “I do like cat videos,” I declared. “Have you seen this one?” I edged around the table and leaned against his shoulder, showing him the video of a bright orange cat leaping through a giant snowdrift. One second it was stuck in a hole, then it leaped into the air before disappearing again.

  A loud bang made Harry and me jump a mile. I stared up at Sebastian, who’d appeared out of thin air, before he bashed his fist down on the table in front of us. My heart jackhammered at the sound, but when I saw the look on his face, I began to panic. Something was wrong.

  “Do you want to explain yourself?” he exclaimed.

  “Sebastian,” I said, taken aback by his outburst, “what’s up your arse?” I had no idea where this was coming from, and honestly, his temper was scaring me.

  “I see what’s going on here.” He pointed a finger at Harry and kept on raging. “You’re so fucking fired.”

  I gasped and rose to my feet, my chair falling backward onto the floor.

  “Come with me,” Sebastian barked, snatching for my hand.

  “Sebastian, stop. What the hell is going on? We weren’t doing anything. Harry is—”

  “I said, come with me.”

  Sebastian practically dragged me away from the table, his fingers biting into my skin. Glancing over my shoulder, I mouthed the words, ‘I’ll fix it,’ to Harry, who’d risen to his feet. He looked like I felt on the inside—worried.

  As we rode the elevator, I turned my face away from Sebastian, too stunned to look at him. I’d read the rumours and articles about his temper, but I’d never seen it—not until today—and I didn’t like how it made me feel.

  I bit my bottom lip and glanced at the display, watching the floors tick by as we rose. Sebastian didn’t say a word, but I could feel the air pulsating in time with his forehead vein. Whatever this was, I wasn’t standing for it. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and Harry was most certainly innocent.

  When the elevator doors slid open, I strode out and down the hall to our room. Swiping they key, I stormed inside, my anger reaching boiling point. So this was what our first real fight was going to be about? False rumours and hearsay?

  When Sebastian slammed the door behind us, I didn’t allow him to open his mouth. I turned on him and scowled, my annoyance levels through the roof.

  “How dare you!” I yelled. “How dare you come at me like that. You have no right!”

  “I have every right to protect you from people who are taking advantage of your innocence,” he shot back. “Every right!”

  “When they slight you, you mean.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You implied it!”

  “When?” he shouted.

  “You love jumping to conclusions without knowing all the facts, don’t you? You know how I can tell? You’re doing it now!”

  “Fuck the facts. I know what I saw down there. Another man all over you.”

  “Sebastian!” I shoved him, my palms hardly making a dent. “Harry is gay.”

  He stared at me.

  “He likes cock,” I went on. “Giant, throbbing penises. I have nothing to offer the guy except frien
dship. Do you see a cock growing where my vagina is supposed to be? I hope you’d notice since you’re always down there.”

  “Huh?”

  “Someone’s spreading rumours.” I rolled my eyes. “High school never ends, it just gets nastier.”

  “Vix…” Sebastian whispered. He glanced at me, his expression falling. “The interview…”

  Something must’ve gone awry at one of the interviews today. It seemed Vix was also out fishing.

  “What happened to not caring about what other people thought about us?” I asked, waving my arms around. “It’s inevitable, people are going to ask questions, but you’re supposed to brush them off and move on. All that is their fairytale, not ours. Only you and I know the real story.”

  Sebastian cursed and started to pace. He loved to wear a hole in the carpet when he was mad as a bee in a jar, just like he lashed out when things got a little too personal in interviews. I didn’t have to Google him to figure out those tells weren’t just part of the bad boy image, they were a part of his personality.

  “Harry and I get along like Vanessa and I get along,” I said as I watched him pace. “You need to re-hire him.”

  “I don’t trust him!”

  “God, you’re full of it today, aren’t you?” I rolled my eyes before pinching the bridge of my nose.

  “What the fuck do you want me to do when I walk in and see another guy all up in your personal space?” He gestured wildly and stopped in front of me. “Just let him muscle in on you?”

  “I want you to ask me about it! Jumping to conclusions isn’t helping anyone, neither is getting into fights over it.”

  He gritted his teeth together. “Fine.”

  “It better be fine because you’re the only man I’ve ever had eyes for, Sebastian Hale.”

  His breath hitched and some of the anger faded from his expression.

  I narrowed my eyes and took a step closer to him. “And if you ever touch or talk to me like that again, you’ll live to regret it, because I will walk out that door and never come back.”