by Regina Frame
"I asked you to wait at the bar. Do you have any idea how long I looked for you?" He demanded. I had a pretty, good idea considering that I'd been home for over an hour now. "I finally remembered that your friend was with Marcus, so I took a chance in finding him, and it paid off. She gave me your address once I explained to her, that I just wanted to make sure you made it home safely."
His eyes trailed down my body, starting at my blond hair, stopping briefly on my bare thighs, before landing on my pink toes. When his eyes met mine, they were a dark, smoldering blue. I could feel myself blushing from head to toe, remembering that I was only wearing a t-shirt. Also, because, moments ago, I was looking for fresh batteries to put in my vibrator.
I crossed my arms over my chest, which only thrust my breasts higher, catching his attention. "As you can see I made it home safe and sound." I reached for the doorknob, but he stepped in my way, blocking me from closing the door.
"I asked you to wait. Why did you leave?"
"It looked like you had better things to do and besides, I told you, that's not really my thing, anyway." Something ghosted across his face, but disappeared just as fast.
"Would you be surprised if I told you, that's not really my thing, either? Don't get me wrong, I love performing, I love meeting fans, but there are times when I just want to find a quiet place to chill, you know? Read a book or watch a movie. Talk to a friend. Besides, your friend told me you weren't feeling well. You look more than fine to me." He narrowed his eyes in a playful way. Damn, he was cute.
"You think you can tell that from what? The whole five minutes we spoke at the bar? I'm that transparent huh?" I laughed. "You really should've been a doctor," I joked.
"If you remember correctly, we spoke in the hallway outside the meet and greet room, so you better make that at least ten minutes." It was his turn to laugh and when he did, good God, a dimple appeared in his cheek that made me want to lick it. He just got hotter by the minute.
"So, are you going to invite me in or kick me out? Cause, I can honestly say that Levi Cross has never been kicked out of a girls place before." He grinned at me, as if he knew there was no way in hell he would be kicked out. I grinned really, big and reached around him for the doorknob, bumping his hip as I did. I pulled on the door, forcing him to step aside. He looked at me confused.
"If you don't mind," I said, nodding my head toward the door. "It's getting kind of late and well . . . I was headed to bed." I gently pushed his shoulder and he stepped just outside my door. His eyes traveled backwards, from my bare feet and thighs, and then up to meet my eyes. He winked playfully.
"Oh, darlin’, I don't mind." He flashed his perfectly white teeth and winked again.
"Good, because there's a first time for everything," I said, and closed the door in his face. I stood with my back to the door, grinning like a fool, and wondering what had just happened. Was this all a dream? Levi Cross, was just at my apartment? And, I just shut the door in his face.
"This is not exactly what I had in mind." I heard him say through the door. I could almost hear the smile in his voice.
"Goodnight, Mr. Cross."
"It's Levi." I heard him correct through the wooden door, as I walked down the hall toward my bedroom. I stepped into my room and stared at my hot-pink vibrator lying on the bed. Dead batteries. My battery-operated boyfriend really had let me down this time. Damn him!
Peyton
I
stepped into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, only to find Jules, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a smirk on her face.
"What?" I asked, reaching for my favorite coffee mug in the drying rack.
"Rough night?" She giggled, while tapping her red manicured nails on the old laminate table.
"I'm sure I should be asking you that. I'm not the one with a hangover and I slept just fine, thank you." I blew at the steam billowing over the top of my coffee mug.
"Are you sure about that? Because when I came home earlier this morning, there was quite the mess in the kitchen," the corner of her mouth quirked up, into an almost evil grin. I was in such a state after I closed the door in Levi's face last night; I'd forgotten to clean up my mess in the kitchen. Shit!
"Wait just a minute!" I slapped my palm down on the counter. "You wicked bitch! You hid all the double A batteries, didn’t you?" It was all perfectly clear to me now. My friend was evil. She laughed hysterically, while I couldn't help but glower at her.
"Oh. My. God! When Levi found Marcus and me on the patio, he asked if I knew where my friend was. I told him that you went home sick. He seemed genuinely worried, so when he asked for the address, I gave it to him. I thought, "BAM!" Peyton will be getting laid tonight! What the hell, is wrong with you? You probably crushed his ego."
"I kind of doubt that, besides, I'm pretty sure there were plenty of girls waiting in line to stroke said ego, so no worries there." I walked across the room and poured myself another cup of coffee. "So, tell me what happened with you and that Marcus guy? Did you get some last night?" I asked, quirking a knowing brow.
"Lucky doesn't even do it justice. That man was hung, fucked like a stallion, and he wants to see me again tonight! Hell, I'm surprised I can even sit down today." She winced a little as she shifted in her chair.
"That's a little TMI, Jules. What are you two doing tonight besides the obvious?"
"There's a small party at his house on the East side. He asked me to come and said to bring a plus one." A smirk graced her lips.
"Plus one?" I inquired, pointing at myself. She rolled her eyes at me as if I'd just asked the dumbest question ever and nodded, with the world's biggest smile plastered across her face.
"I don't think so, Jules. I don't think . . ."
"What? Do you have better things to do? You're afraid of having a little fun?"
"That's not it and you know it. I saw the look in Marcus' eyes last night. He looked messed up on something. You know I'm not comfortable in an environment like that. I might've had to grow up in it, but that doesn't mean that I have to be a part of it now." Jules took a step in my direction and looked at me with understanding in her eyes.
"I know sweetie. I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that. If you don't want to go, that's okay. I totally understand. I honestly didn't see Marcus or anyone around us, do anything but drink last night. If I had, I wouldn't have stayed." She looked down at the floor, and then up to me. She'd clearly made a decision. "I'm not going either. We'll go to a movie or . . ."
"Stop." I held up my hand in front of her face and she stopped talking. "I'll go, just promise me that if things start to get heavy, we're out of there. Both of us!" I stressed the last part just to be sure she understood. Who was I to stand in the way of my friend’s happiness? However, if something happened to my friend, I'd never forgive myself. At the same time, maybe she was right and I did need to get out a little, to be a little more trusting of people. Just because Teake did drugs and screwed around on me, didn't mean they were all like that.
"You're really going to go?" She grinned and bounced up on her toes. "I promise you won't be sorry. We'll stick together and you'll see, it'll be so much fun!" She wrapped her arms around my neck, causing me to stumble a step back. We both laughed at her excitement.
"Sorry." She stuck her bottom lip out in an attempt to look apologetic, but it didn't work. I couldn't help but laugh again.
It was a thirty-minute cab ride to get to Marcus Little's house on the East side. The house was built on the beach and looked like a small city. I'd never seen anything like it. Our cab stopped at the gate, pressed the intercom button, and waited a couple of minutes for someone to answer and let us in.
We drove for what seemed like another mile at least through the immaculate kept grounds until we came to the front of the house. It was a multi-story, white stone mansion, which was lit up like the department stores on Christmas. The trees and landscaping even had tiny, white lights scattered throughout. This was how rock stars lived.
Wow.
We paid the driver and walked up the stone pathway to the double glass doors at the front of the house. We could see people walking about through the beveled glass in the doors and loud music poured from the house. I lifted my hand to knock, but Jules pushed the door open and took a step inside.
"What are you doing? We can't just walk into someone's house without at least knocking," I told her over the loud music.
"We were invited and besides, no one would ever hear us over the music anyway. Come on." She grabbed my hand and pulled me through the entry hall where several people were gathered, but none of them even seemed to notice us.
"You made it!" Marcus came out of nowhere and buried his nose in Jules neck, causing her to giggle. He lifted his head and kissed her on the lips before noticing that Jules was still holding my hand. "Hi, I'm Marcus and you must be Peyton." He offered his hand for me to shake. It didn't escape me that he'd just seen me with Jules last night at the after party. He must have been truly messed up.
"That's me." I smiled and took his hand.
"Jules has told me a lot about you. I'm glad you could make it. Why don't we grab a drink and go out back to the patio?" He crossed the room with us in tow, grabbed three bottles of Bud Light, and handed two of them to us. We once again followed his lead through big open doors and onto a covered patio that overlooked a massive guitar-shaped pool. Marcus dropped down into an overstuffed gray chair next to the fireplace while I took a seat on the sofa across from them.
People walked all around us, half-dressed, drinks in hand. Some were even wearing swimsuits and had been in the pool. I guess that's why there was a massive fireplace on the patio. Nights in LA could get cool at times. It made me wonder if the pool was heated.
"I see someone I need to speak to." Marcus shifted, so that Jules slid off his lap and onto the chair. "Be right back," he said, kissing her forehead. Jules looked up at me with a big grin on her face. Seeing her smile made it worth coming, even though I felt like a third-wheel—one with a flat, at that.
"I'm going to find a restroom. Want to come with?"
"Nah . . . I think I'll stay here," I said. I leaned forward and sat my beer on the glass table in front of me.
"Okay. Suit yourself. I'll be right back." I watched her disappear through the crowd and into the massive house.
Levi
I
parked my midnight-black Camaro behind a long line of expensive sports cars in front of Marcus' house. I shook my head as I walked toward the multi-story mansion. I'd never been one for all the flashy stuff. Shit. My dad was a cop until he was taken from us, and after that, my mom worked as a receptionist at a local medical office to make ends meet. It helped that my dad had good benefits, but we still lived on the lower end of a middle-class lifestyle.
I had all the money that some people only dreamt of and still; I lived a modest lifestyle. I tried to buy my mom a new house when our band hit it big a few years ago, but she wouldn't hear of it. She had said that my dad bought that house for her, when they were first married and there was no way she would ever part with it, so after a lot of begging on my part, she finally agreed to allowing a few updates to the old two-story home.
"Levi, my man!" Marcus called my name as he stepped onto the stone pathway in front of the house. A tall guy with messy, dark hair mumbled something, walking around me and further down the path.
"Nice digs, man." I smirked, looking around at the immaculate landscape.
"What good's the money, if you can't spend it man? I keep telling you . . ."
"I know, live the lifestyle," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "Who was that guy? He looked familiar." I questioned, tipping my head toward the guy that just left.
"Who? Teake? He's the guitarist for Nuclear Disaster. He also deals in party favors." He arched his brow as he pulled a baggy full of white powder from the front pocket of his jeans. Fuck.
"I'll meet you outback." He told me, as he turned and took the stairs two at a time. If I had to guess, he was going to the bathroom to do a few lines before making his way back to the party.
I grabbed a beer from the large bucket of ice beside the patio door and stepped out into the cool night air. I looked around to see if I could spot some of the guys, but there were just too many damn people. I did see a familiar curtain of blond hair hanging over the back of an outdoors sofa. How the hell, was she sitting alone? I strolled over with my beer and plopped down on the empty space beside her. Her head lifted from where she stared at her phone and her beautiful, gray eyes sparkled from the glow of the fireplace.
"I see you're here with all your imaginary friends." I laughed and gave her a playful wink. A small smile curled on her pretty, pink lips before she laughed nervously.
"They're the best friends anyone could ever ask for," she said. "They always give you the best advice. You always look good to them and they'd never ever talk trash about you on social media." She waved her hand to the empty seat in front of us. I arched a brow and took a swig of my beer.
"Who's talking trash? I'll kick their ass!" I looked at the crowd around us and she lightly chuckled.
"I'm only kidding," she said.
"I see you found your next baby momma," Marcus snickered, as he dropped into the chair across from us. Peyton's friend, Jules, wasted no time crawling onto his lap.
"Fuck that," I grunted.
"I think you already did that, man." He thought he was being funny, but that's how rumors started and I didn't need that shit!
"I'm just pissin’ with ya. Don't go gettin' your dick in a knot over it!" He was definitely high now judging by his blown-out pupils.
"Not funny, dude. Not funny at all." I felt Peyton shift on the cushion beside me, and a frown appeared on her beautiful face.
"You're married?" Her brows pinched together.
"Fuck no, I'm not married!"
"So, you have a child and you're not married?" She looked at me as if she would have expected this from me. That was what pissed me the fuck off. People thought they knew me when they didn't!
"Don't listen to him, no kids and not married," I quickly assured her. Marcus snickered from his seat across from us, so I lifted my hand and flipped him the middle finger.
"I'm just fucking with him. You see there was this chick stalking him, claiming that she'd slept with him and had his baby. That shit was all over social media, but none of it was true. I just like to bust his balls over it!" Marcus laughed and I could see Peyton visibly relax beside me. I had to get her away from Marcus. He liked to shoot off his mouth about shit he knew nothing about and I didn't want her believing everything he said.
"What do you say, we take a walk and get away from this ass clown?" She looked across the coffee table to where her friend sat in a lip lock with said, ‘ass clown,’ and then let out a sigh.
"Sure. Why not?" She stood and I grasped her hand with mine. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away. It was probably because we mentioned the friend-zone last night. We weaved our way through the throng of people gathered around the pool and took the steps leading out to the beach. The music faded into the background and the sounds of waves crashing replaced it. It was such a peaceful sound and peace was something rare for me these days.
"This is beautiful," she said, as she lowered herself onto the white sand, which was now bathed in inky moonlight.
"Not as beautiful as you," I whispered, reaching for her hand. Her body stiffened for a moment, but she didn't pull away.
"I thought we decided on friend status." She looked up at me through dark lashes.
"Friends hold hands," I said, giving hers a gentle squeeze. "Tell me something about yourself. I want to get know my new friend." I gave her my best smile. It’s the smile, which was known for melting panties.
"You, first." She nudged my shoulder with hers, sending a wave of heat throughout my body. Her floral scent tickled my nose and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her in that moment.
"Well, let's see. Where to start," I said playf
ully, while scratching my chin thoughtfully. "I started singing at a young age. I play a few instruments. It's something that I find very relaxing. I'm nothing like the other guys when it comes to partying. I'm not saying that I don't indulge occasionally, because I do. It's just not an every night or weekend thing for me. There are many times after a show that I'll just go back to the bus or my hotel room and play my guitar or write lyrics. It's something that I can get lost in and forget about the world outside, even if it's only temporary." I honestly had tried to cut down on the partying and groupie activity.
"What about family? Do you get to see them much with all the traveling you do?"
That was the one topic, which made me the most uncomfortable. But, if I wanted to get close to this girl, I was going to have to get used to talking about things that made me sad. "My dad died when I was small and my mom is a two-time breast cancer survivor. She actually still lives here in LA, in the same house I grew up in," I told her.
Her beautiful eyes turned a stormy gray and a look of sadness appeared on her sweet face.
"I'm sorry," she replied softly.
"Thank you. My dad's been gone for a while now, and my mom, she's my hero. I'm eager to go see her now that we're back in LA for a while." I looked at her for a moment, taking her in before changing the subject. "Now, tell me about Peyton." I nudged her shoulder this time.
"There's not much to tell. My dad left when I was really, small, so I don't remember much about him. Then, my mom, let's just say, we no longer talk." She swallowed hard and tears glistened in her eyes. Oh, shit.
"What about school? Work? I want to know everything there is to know about you." God, she was going to think I was some kind of crazy stalker now.