ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars Book 6)

by Michelle Mankin

  While we group hugged and all started excitedly speaking at once, I noticed Ty standing on the front stoop, watching us. He hesitated for a moment before he moved to greet Gale. In the driveway, the two friends shook hands and slapped each other on the back while professional camera motors clicked around us. There were news vans, video cameras, and cameramen behind barricades along both sides of the residential street.

  “Come in and talk. I wanna know everything,” Dolly said, taking my hand.

  “I wanna know about this.” Lark flicked the silver cross on the end of my King Baby bolero.

  “Kickass accessory,” Lin said, nodding approvingly.

  “Gale bought it for me in Vegas.”

  “Better than an engagement ring,” Lark said to me, then called Gale’s name. When he glanced her way, she pointed to my necklace and gave him a thumbs-up.

  He nodded, but his brow creased as he looked at me.

  Was he thinking what I was? Not about an engagement ring. I had his heart; I didn’t need a ring for proof of his fidelity. And anyway, we weren’t a traditional couple, and I wasn’t into traditional things.

  I was into him, though. Majorly.

  Across the lawn, he wasn’t so far away. But the distance between us suddenly seemed too far after having him all to myself for nearly a week.

  “Hold on.” I made eye contact with my crew and squeezed Dolly’s hand. “I need to do something first.” Turning, I yelled, “Hey, nice guy.”

  “Yeah?” Gale’s sexy lips curved.

  “Going in the house with my girls to catch up,” I said, yet I moved straight to him instead of with them.

  “You need something?”

  His gaze slowly traveled the length of me. Every part of me tingled, from my braless tits beneath my cropped top to my toes in my boots.

  “Yeah. You. Always you.” Reaching him, I placed my hands on his chest and lifted my head. His eyes were smoke with flickers of fire. “And a kiss to hold me until I see you again later.”

  “Got you covered.” His hands sliding to my ass, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine.

  I felt his amusement in the curve of his mouth, but I also tasted his desire. It was crisp and exhilarating, like the wind in my face when he opened the throttle and gave us that burst of speed to take us deeper into the desert, where he’d made love to me the first time. My man was tame with just the right amount of wild.

  After he kissed me, I turned to go back to my crew, but Ty grabbed me, stopping me. My former hookup buddy released my upper arm as my nice, but not quite tame, man growled for him to do so.

  “I just wanted to say I’m really sorry,” Ty said. “I mean, I knew about your brother, but I didn’t know all the circumstances. If I’d known, I would have treated you different, been more careful.” He dipped his head, and his thick brown hair fell into his golden-brown eyes.

  I gave him a nod. There wasn’t really anything to say that hadn’t already been said. Tyler had never been the man for me to trust my secrets to. I’d been up front with him.

  As I continued toward the house, my skin prickled. I felt the cameras following me, along with the steady stares of Gale and Ty. When I reached the group of women waiting for me under the eaves, Dolly took my hand.

  Briefly, I wondered if too much of Ty’s attention for her was related to me. But only briefly.

  Inside the house, all my thoughts disappeared as I slammed into a palpable wall of tension. Not because of the Enthusiasts. I didn’t see any of them anywhere.

  The tension came from the press of people wearing tight expressions, filling nearly every available space in the moderate-sized living room, and the nice kitchen I could see through the cutout above a bar.

  I glimpsed a group of execs in suits with their phones to their ears by a sliding glass door. Mary was one of them, and the handsome silver-haired man I now knew was Charles. I also recognized several casually dressed musicians filling up paper plates with food in the kitchen. Von Arnold from the Monsters lifted a finger to acknowledge me. I didn’t see Barbara, but I knew if he was here, she had to be around.

  “Has it been this crazy the whole time you’ve been here?” I asked Dolly.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Though a little worse today with the remembrance ceremony being tomorrow.”

  “That’s earlier than originally planned. When did that change?”

  “When it got insane like this. The chaos is wearing the guys down. They just want to try to go back to normal.”

  “As normal as they can,” I said, following her as she pulled me through the throng.

  “A different normal, a lesser one without Arrow.” Her voice was sad and easier to hear once we entered a narrow hallway. Only a few other people were there, lined up outside a closed door that I assumed was a bathroom.

  “Here’s Ty’s room.” Dolly twisted the knob and threw open the door.

  The twins bounded inside, their steps light in their everyday Doc Martens, probably relieved for our band reunion to continue in private. I certainly was relieved, and I’d only been inside the house a few minutes.

  “It’s a nice room,” I said, glancing around.

  A few makeup items scattered on top of a tall chest of drawers and a violet bra on the unmade bed were the only evidence that my friend occupied the space. Dark furniture marked it as a guy’s room. Jeans and towels on the floor, rather than in the empty hamper, lent further evidence to the masculine owner. Plus, a GNR poster alongside a centerfold over the bed, a Gods of Rock banner from the tour on the nightstand, and a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

  “It’s okay. Not what I would choose if I lived here long term.” Dolly wrinkled her nose, dropped on the bed, and patted the space beside her.

  Immediately, I moved to take it.

  “Missed you so much.” She threw her arms around me.

  “Missed you too.” I returned her hug.

  The twins settled cross-legged in their cutoff shorts on the floor at our feet. Apparently, without an RFC stylist, we’d all reverted to our pre-reality show clothing.

  “So, how good is he?” Lark asked me, her eyes sparkling as they reflected light from the lone window overlooking a tree-filled backyard.

  “Gale?” I asked, playing dumb.

  “Yeah.” Lin snorted. “Who else?”

  “He’s amazing. The best lover I ever had. The best everything. He’s too good for me, but I’m learning to accept that.”

  “He makes you happy,” Dolly said. “About damn time you stopped fighting it.”

  “Definitely resigned to being loved by Gale Lafleur.” My lips curving, I nodded unnecessarily to confirm it.

  “In all the time I’ve known you,” Dolly said as she took my hand, placed it on her knee, and threaded our fingers together, “I’ve never seen you as happy as this.”

  “Fucking radiant like she’s pregnant.” Lark came up on her knees to put her hand over ours.

  “Not pregnant.” I shook my head at her.

  “Settled. Comfortable with Gale. Glowing.” Lin put her hand over her sister’s.

  “Hopeful instead of hopeless,” Dolly said with a nod. “So, to summarize, he has a big cock and he knows how to use it. Is that all the specifics you’re going to give us after waiting on you for nearly a week?”

  “On his bike, against the wall, on a baby grand piano. He’s good with his cock, and he’s creative.”

  “Fucking A plus for the nice guy.” Lark snorted, and we all giggled until a scintillating electric guitar riff split the air, silencing us.

  “What the hell?” My brows lifted as my head turned toward the sound of crashing drums.

  “It’s the Tempest guys. They’ve been out there with the Enthusiasts for hours.” Dolly shook her blond head. “Don’t know what they said to get Jag out of his room, but whatever it was, it worked.”

  “War told him to get the fuck over himself and come out and play some music,” Lin said softly, her gaze drifting to the window. />
  “The lead singer of Tempest does not mess the fuck around.” Lark sighed, her heavy breath lifting a stray strand of her auburn hair. “Why are all the interesting bad guys always taken?”

  “They took a break to eat.” Dolly tilted her head, her braids following her movement. “Must’ve started up again. Your half sister, Melinda, is out there with them.”

  The twins’ expectant gazes fell on me as my best friend dropped that bomb.

  “She’s really cool,” Dolly said. “Wanna meet her?”

  Josephine

  AS A GROUP, WE walked outside together. The sun on the way down, an unseasonably temperate breeze blew our hair back from our faces as we stopped arm in arm, four abreast, in front of the garage that had been converted into a recording studio. Two sliding doors were open, showcasing a jam session going on inside a bay that was large but strained maximally by the firepower of the world-class musicians grouped together within it.

  Ivan was out front with his black Les Paul. Warren Jinkins from Tempest stood beside him, a red bandana holding back his shoulder-length light brown hair. He had no instrument, other than his unique gravelly voice. Both lead singers were sharing the same mic.

  A couple of steps behind them on the right, two additional guitarists were squared off, playing a couple of base-model Ibanez electrics. Dizzy Lowell from Tempest had his head down low, but I saw he had a pierced eyebrow like mine, and I really dug his spiked black hair with the icy blond highlights.

  Fingers laying waste to his fretboard, Bryan Jackson from Tempest had short brown hair, and his brows were drawn together over his gray-green eyes. The sounds that he coaxed from his guitar revealed that he was every bit as accomplished a musician as he was reputed to be.

  On the left side of the garage, Jag’s inky hair was a little longer than the last time I’d seen him, and he was notably thinner. But he seemed to be companionably grooving, his eyes closed as his fingers strummed a blond Telecaster.

  Beside him, with layers of thick brownish-gold hair in his eyes and playing a matching Telecaster, was Sager Reed, the bassist from Tempest. On a drum riser behind the talented handsome group of men was King Acenado, known as Mr. Southside because of his success as a solo Latino rap artist.

  I shook my head as the music hit a crescendo, King’s enormous biceps bulging as he smashed the complete shit out of the drums.

  “Whoa,” Dolly said into the silence that sounded too loud after the music.

  “What song is that?” I asked.

  “Motherfucker!” Ivan exclaimed, looking right at me. “You look just like Sager’s girl.”

  “No joke,” Warren said, staring. “You’re Jo, right?” He took a step forward, shaking his head in bewilderment like I had at the conclusion of the song.

  “Yeah, Josephine Poet. Jo to my friends.”

  “Hey, Jo,” all the Tempest guys said congenially from behind him. All wore similar expressions of surprise.

  “I’m War.” The lead singer of Tempest moved toward me. “I don’t have any friends, just acquaintances who put up with me.” Grinning, he prowled closer. So close, I saw myself reflected in his polarized shades. “That’s King on the riser.” He pointed with a ringed thumb. He had silver rings of varying sizes and shapes on all his fingers. “Diz on rhythm. Bry on lead. Sage on bass. And the tune’s a new one for Arrow’s tribute album.”

  “I’m Melinda Belle,” a melodic voice said, and I turned to see a small curvaceous woman with long black hair like mine break away from a group beside the garage that included Ty, Gale, Art, and Noah.

  For once, my gaze wasn’t drawn to Gale. Instead, it remained locked on eyes identical to mine. Frozen in place by the resemblance between us, I stood completely still, barely breathing as the thin white cane she used as a sight aid swept back and forth in front of her.

  “Hi, Melinda,” I said, finding my voice. “I’m Jo. I’ve always wanted to meet you.” My voice was lower than usual, my eyes burning with emotion as her wand bumped my boot.

  “I didn’t know you existed until today.” She stopped in front of me. Her pretty eyes were unfocused, and suddenly glistened. “Can I . . .” She licked her lips and started again. “I can’t see you. I’m blind. Of course, you know I am. It’s just, I babble when I’m nervous.”

  “I do too, and I know who you are, Melinda.”

  “Mel,” she said. “Call me Mel. I guess Peter told you about me.”

  “Not exactly. But I know he left my mother for yours.”

  She nodded somberly. “My mother died a long time ago.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I. I miss her.” Her brows dipped. “I’m sorry about your brother.”

  “We’ve both been through some tough stuff.” I wasn’t sure if I should mention her accident. “But we’re survivors, right?”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Everyone says you look like me. I learn new people by touching them. Can I touch you?”

  “Of course.”

  I held my breath as she released her grip on her cane, letting it dangle from a strap on her wrist. Bridging the gap between us so perfectly, I wondered how much she could see as she placed her hands on my arms.

  “You’re taller than me.” Lifting her hands higher, she skimmed my hair with questing fingers. “Your hair’s black?”

  “Yes,” I said, reeling with all kinds of emotions—surprise and a little fear, but mostly just joy from meeting her.

  Her hands went to my chin, lips, jaw, and cheeks, but her touching me didn’t feel awkward. It felt right. Like this moment did. I felt like I’d found something I’d lost, a part of me that I didn’t realize was missing until I met her.

  “My eyes are a deep sapphire-blue like yours. My lips are cherry red.”

  “They’re full like mine.” She filled in, making observations where I left off. “Your jawline is well defined. Have you ever modeled?”

  “No, hell no,” I said. “I’m not that pretty.” Mel’s features were similar to mine, but softer.

  “I doubt that’s true. I heard you’re the lead singer in your band.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you play instruments?” she asked.

  “The drums pretty poorly. The piano not so badly.”

  “I sing and play keyboards. I love music. It was my saving grace after the accident. That and Sager.” Her expression softened.

  “It was similar to that for me after Joey. Books and music first, then my friends, and now Gale.”

  “I wish my father, our father, hadn’t kept you and your brother from me. I wish I’d had an opportunity to meet Joey.”

  “I wish that too,” I said softly as a tear slipped down my cheek, trailing warmth.

  A deeper warmth bloomed inside my chest. My half sister was kind, open, and affectionate. I felt an instant closeness to her that I couldn’t explain and hadn’t expected.

  “Could we get together sometime, so you can tell me more about yourself and my half brother?”

  “I would love that, Mel.” I swallowed, needing to clear the lump in my throat before I could say more. “Anytime you’d like.”

  “Can I hug you?” She seemed to be holding her breath as she waited for my response.

  “I wish you would.” I reached for her as she reached for me, so very, very happy.

  I had four sisters now, and another friend.

  Josephine

  “JOSEPHINE.” MARY TIMMONS BECKONED to me from the back porch. “I need to speak with you. Privately.”

  “Oh no.” My eyes rounded, and Gale’s hand on my lower back flexed.

  “She’s not as bad as they say.” Melinda touched my arm and gave me an encouraging look.

  “She’s worse,” Sager said, then grinned when my sister elbowed him. “But sometimes she’s all right.”

  “When she’s not busting your balls, you mean.” War shook his head. He, Ivan, and the rest of the Tempest crew stood beside Gale and me.

  “Which is hardly ever not th
e case, at least in my experience.” Ivan lifted his chin, pointing it at Mary. “I wouldn’t keep her waiting.”

  “Right.” I turned and waved to Mary, calling out, “I’ll be right there.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Gale said, his expression firm.

  “Not necessary. And anyway, Black Cat’s not your label.”

  “Not yet. But they could be.” Gale raised a brow.

  “Anthem? With Black Cat? That would be fantastic.” My heart raced with excitement.

  He gave me a nod. “Use that as leverage if she decides to give you a hard time.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  Laying my hand on his chest, I went up on my toes and pressed my lips to his cheek. Soft beard, smooth masculine skin, his smoky citrus scent, and the man himself, willing to throw his career and everything else on the line for me, it all hit me at once. It was a lot, and for a second, I swayed.

  My nerve endings tingled and my skin prickled with awareness, physical responses I felt every time I was with him. I wanted Gale, wanted his cock inside me, him taking us both to that beautiful place where it was only the two of us. But more than that went through me as I also recalled our first meeting, the first bargain, the ones that had followed, and every encounter up until this moment that culminated in his complete unraveling of me.

  “I love you,” I blurted out.

  His lips curved slowly into a full-blown smile, and his crystalline eyes glittered like a mystical orb filled with fireflies. “I know. And I love you.”

  “I had an idea what love was before I met you.” I slid my hands up to his face, my gaze searching his. “But it was only a vague idea. Like wanting to visit the Grand Canyon because you’ve seen pictures, and because others have told you how great it is. But until you go, until you experience it yourself, that’s all it can be, just a concept in your head. But you . . .”

  I swallowed as a knot of emotion blocked my throat and tears burned in my eyes. “You showed me what love truly is with your care and consideration, your teasing humor, your infinite patience, your inexhaustible determination, and your brilliant lovemaking.”