by Meghan Quinn
“I don’t share, Rook. I’m a jealous idiot and if I hear about something from the past, it’s not going to just roll off my shoulders as if it doesn’t bother me. I don’t like that you’ve been with so many other women.”
“I wish I hadn’t, babe. But I’m human and I’m a dumb ass man with a very healthy libido. I had to satisfy it somehow.”
He wasn’t helping the situation. Maisy knew she was overreacting, but now that she had Rook, she wanted all of him, she didn’t want anyone else having memories of being with him.
“Well, make sure you only satisfy yourself with me. You got it?” she said, while poking him in the chest.
“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” He pulled her into his chest and kissed her on the cheek. She reluctantly gave in.
“Just remember, I will most likely flip shit if I hear of anything from your past. Just a heads up.”
Rook chuckled. “At least the make-up sex will be good.”
Maisy patted his face. “All the sex will be good, ace. Absolutely all of it.”
***
“You guys are naturals,” Pete said, as they walked backstage at Madison Square Garden where they would be opening for Shattered Souls.
It was still hard for Maisy and the band to comprehend that they were going to be playing in Madison Square Garden, let alone releasing their first single on the radio.
That morning, they had to call into a couple of different stations and do five minute interviews. Kaid took the lead on most of them, Willow answered some questions, and Maisy fended off questions about her relationship with Rook. Apparently, the media was very good at turning around a story for the DJ’s to gossip about the next morning, since Rook and Maisy were seen out together last night at the restaurant. Maisy and Rook talked about their situation before Maisy left and Rook said to neither confirm nor deny, but to rather direct the attention back on the band. Maisy agreed wholeheartedly. She knew her relationship with Rook was going to be talked about, but as long as she always brought the conversation back to the band, then it was going to be okay.
They had an hour before they had to go on stage. They spent their whole day doing interviews, promotions, and signing lots and lots of papers. Maisy would be surprised if she could play her guitar after the writing cramp she developed.
Maisy enjoyed having her name out there for the general rock and roll population and she loved making music, but all the business that went into it wasn’t her favorite thing to do. Kaid had favored that aspect of the business more, which was good for her because all she wanted to do was focus on her music.
“You guys have an hour before you go on stage, so I suggest you drink some hot water with lemon, cool down your vocals and get dressed. Tonight is a big night for you three.”
“Thanks Pete,” Kaid said, as he shook his hand.
“Of course, oh and by the way Maisy, way to capitalize on starting a relationship with Rook like I asked you. The media loves it and it will catapult your careers. You have to use what’s at your disposal and you cashed in big. I told you it would be a good idea.” Pete gave her a wink and walked away before she could respond.
“That’s not how it is at all,” Maisy muttered.
Kaid hugged her. “We know baby girl. How was last night by the way?”
“Amazing.” Maisy couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on her face when she thought about the night and morning she spent with Rook, minus the slight jealousy issue. She had never been as connected with another human as she had been last night with Rook and it wasn’t because his member stuffed her five times. It was something deeper than that. It wasn’t just their bodies mating, their souls mated as well.
“Ooo, you soooo did it,” Willow dragged on.
“Gross, come on. I don’t want to hear about that,” Kaid said, while wincing and distracting himself with his phone.
“Well, I want to hear,” Willow said, while pushing Kaid to the side, making room for some girl chat. “How big was his dick?”
Kaid threw his hands up in the air. “I’m out. See you guys in a few.”
Willow and Maisy laughed as Kaid walked away. Maisy spent the rest of the time leading up to the concert telling Willow all about her night, the moves she used that Willow taught her and the look on Rook’s face when he saw her for the first time in her sexy lingerie. It was nice to have a little girl time, but Maisy couldn’t help but wonder what Rook was doing.
***
Rook slammed the tour bus door shut and pulled out a bottle of liquor that Cruz kept handy, thank God. Rook should have known better then to believe Maisy really wanted to be with him for him, not for his status in life. She was just like every other girl he ever met, just like his mom and just like his dad. They all wanted him for his money, for his popularity, never for who he was as a person. He was an ass for thinking differently.
The minute Rook heard Twisted Perfection finished their radio interviews and promotions, he headed over to where Maisy was to spend a little bit of time with her before they went on stage. Unfortunately, that was when he overheard Pete congratulating Maisy on taking advantage of their relationship to boost the band’s popularity. Rook never thought he would be betrayed by such a doe eyed, innocent girl, but shit was he wrong. Behind those beautiful brown eyes lived the same evil spirit that everyone else in his life possessed, besides his boys.
Pouring himself a generous amount of the amber liquid, he screwed the cap back on the bottle and chugged what was in the tumbler. He put the glass down and put his hands on the counter, trying to think about what the hell just happened.
They had such an amazing time last night and the fact that Maisy became extremely jealous over his past sexual encounters made him think that she actually cared about him and wanted him to herself. He thought that what they had was real. That was why he hung around to see if Maisy disagreed with Pete or maybe set him straight, but she didn’t. She didn’t say one damn thing.
“Dude, what are you doing?” Grey asked, as he came on the bus and eyed the alcoholic liquid standing in front of Rook.
“None of your damn business.” Rook grabbed the bottle and headed toward the back of the bus.
“I’m going to go get Maisy.”
Rook spun so fast on his heels and headed toward Grey that he almost lost his balance.
“Don’t you fucking even think about bringing her over here. I’m done with that mooch of a whore.”
The shock on Grey’s face was purely sincere. Rook didn’t blame him because he himself never would have pegged Maisy to use people, but apparently she didn’t have a problem doing so.
“What happened, man?”
Cruz and Landon took that opportunity to pop into the trailer as well. They both eyed Rook who was holding his old friend, Jack, and then looked at Grey. He knew his boys were concerned for him, especially since he had sworn off of liquor and said how great he felt when he was sober. But at the moment, Rook didn’t give one shit about what he said before, all he cared about was the comfort he found from his old friend Jack Daniels.
“Maisy fucked me over.” The guys sat down as Rook took a swig of his bottle. “She fucking used me. She didn’t care about me. All she cared about was getting ahead and promoting her band, so she used me to do that.”
“What do you mean?” Landon asked, while pushing his thick rimmed glassed back on his nose.
“Pete told her to hook up with me, use me as leverage to boost the band’s popularity. Well it fucking worked and they used my damn song as well.”
“Shit,” Grey said as he shook his head.
Cruz stood, grabbed the bottle from Rook, took a swig and passed it around to the other guys, who each took a swig as well.
“We can kick Twisted Perfection off the tour,” Landon suggested.
“Unfortunately, we can’t.” Grey responded. “There is no way the label will give them up, especially when they have such promise and are killing it with the radio stations already.”
“Well
fuck them then. We don’t need them,” Landon exclaimed.
“That’s why you have us, bud. For when bitches screw you over or when your fucked up parents do the same thing. We are the ones that you can count on. Remember that,” Cruz said.
Rook knew Cruz was right. He couldn’t trust anyone, not even his own damn manager. The only people who truly had his back were his bandmates, even if sometimes Cruz could be the epitome of a douche bag, talking like a tramp and thrusting his pelvis at anything with two tits.
“What are you going to do?” Grey asked.
“Get wasted tonight…after the show.” Rook knew he still had to perform and, even though he had performed many times while totally intoxicated, he didn’t want to do that anymore because if he fucked up, he would not only be hurting himself but the entire band as well and he didn’t want to take that chance.
“Bus party, like the old days,” Cruz said while raising the bottle which was now in his hand. “I’ll get the girls, Landon you get the booze. Rook, you just sit there and look pretty. We’ll patch up that broken dick of yours in no time.”
“My dick’s not broken,” Rook protested.
“Prove it.” Cruz said, while whacking Rook in the crotch, making him back up. “I’ll get some hotties for tonight. Show me you’re the old Rook I know and love.”
“Done,” Rook said, as he grabbed the bottle from Cruz and headed back to the bathroom to take a shower. He needed to wash off the feeling of betrayal from his skin before the concert.
Rook didn’t need Maisy; he could have any girl he wanted and he was going to, right after the concert was over. She wanted to use him? Well, her using days were over because hell if he was going to allow her to be in his presence. She was dead to him…but if that was true, why was there an empty hole in his heart?
Damn.
Chapter 14
The crowd cheered as Maisy, Willow, and Kaid waved thank you to everyone. It seemed like their biggest applause since they started on tour. Maisy wasn’t sure if it was because they were in Madison Square Garden since it was a big venue or if the praise was from their new single that was released earlier in the day. Whatever it was, she was soaking every little bit of it in. She knew fame never lasted, so she was going to make the most of their situation and try to move forward.
“Great set,” Pete said as he came up to them. “I have a couple more things for you to sign when you get a chance.”
“Okay. Give us a second and then we will meet you in the back,” Kaid said, always the voice for the band.
Pete nodded at them and walked back to where the dressing rooms were. Pete was a nice guy, but sometimes Maisy had a hard time listening to him, hence the whole date Rook for popularity thing. He did a lot for them, but she was glad that they were smart enough to decide what was good for them and what wasn’t. She liked to believe they all had good heads on their shoulders, which was a miracle given their backgrounds.
Maisy looked around for Rook, but didn’t see him at all, which was odd because he was always waiting in the wings of the stage for her to finish. He always scooped her up in a hug, told her how great she did and then they made out until he had to go on stage.
An odd feeling passed over her body, as if something was incredibly wrong, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was. As she looked around some more, she realized none of the Shattered Souls were around, which was incredibly odd. They usually hung out with the band before they went on stage. They joked around, occasionally played hacky sack, which was embarrassing, but also a hell of a good time because they mainly focused on how many times they could punt the sack at Cruz’s head, which caused him to have a hissy fit after the fifth pelt between the brows.
“Where are the guys?” Maisy asked.
Kaid looked around as his brow crinkled. “I don’t know. Maybe they had some promotional things to do beforehand.”
“Maybe,” Maisy said, skeptically.
Quinn wasn’t even around. It was almost kind of eerie, being backstage and only having roadies surrounding them as they tried to set up the stage for Shattered Souls.
“Oh hey, there’s Landon,” Kaid said. “Hey dude.”
Landon looked at them with a look of disgust, which was very unlike Landon. He was always a happy go lucky guy, making people laugh and always staying as far away from the drama as possible. Unlike Cruz who thrived for a good juicy tidbit.
Landon walked over to them and stood in front of Maisy. He towered over her as he looked at her with disdain. The look in his eyes was startling, so she took a step back so she could regain her personal space bubble.
“I just want to let you know, you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. Leave Rook alone. He doesn’t need you using him for your own damn personal growth. Figure it out on your own. We all did.”
Maisy didn’t get a chance to respond because Landon took off, grabbed a water and talked to a roadie about his drumming needs. Maisy’s heart fell to the floor once she realized what Landon was talking about. Somehow Rook found out about Pete’s fucked up plan and he took it the wrong way.
“Fuck,” Maisy muttered. “I need to find Rook.”
One of the production assistants came up to them. “You guys need to head back stage. Pete has some time-sensitive documents for you to sign.”
Maisy looked at Kaid, but he shook his head. “You can talk to Rook after the concert. We have to go, baby girl.”
Maisy conceded and headed back to where Pete was waiting for them. The last thing she wanted to do was look at Pete, but she knew she needed to be professional, so that was why she sat through their meeting, nodded her head in agreement as Kaid handled everything, and tried not to sneer at Pete whenever he looked at her.
Her heart was breaking as she thought about Rook out on the stage, thinking she used him to get ahead. That was not the case at all. Even if she wasn’t trying to launch her band’s career, she still wouldn’t have been able to keep herself away from Rook. No matter how much she tried to stay away from him, she knew she couldn’t and not because he was a famous musician. No, it was because they had a connection, one she never felt before, not even with Kaid or Willow. It was as if she was made for Rook.
The meeting with Pete dragged on and, before she knew it, it was midnight and they were finally leaving the building. They were going to take off for their next venue in a few hours, once the stage was packed and ready to go, so they had some time before they needed to be on their bus.
Maisy decided that she needed to see Rook and explain, even though none of the boys from Shattered Souls wanted her anywhere near them. She didn’t care, she needed to explain to Rook what happened.
Music blared in the air as she walked up to Shattered Souls’ tour bus. Worry coursed through Maisy’s body as she reached for the handle of the bus. She knew she should just go back to her bus, but she needed to talk to Rook and she needed to see what the hell was going on in their bus. She prayed it was just Cruz having a good time.
She opened the door and the bus was barely lit with just the track lighting that lined the floor. Music blared from the speakers, which was louder than being in a club. The smell of alcohol permeated the air and there were barely clad women everywhere. In the driver’s seat sat Cruz with a woman on his lap and her tongue down his throat. Landon was dancing with three women as he held a beer in the air. But what made her want to throw up was the sight that was on the couch.
Rook was sitting on the couch, with his arms lining the back of it, holding a glass of amber liquid in one hand while a bare breasted woman sat on his lap, giving him a lap dance. She swiveled her hips to the beat of the music as Rook stared at her tits, tits that were much bigger than Maisy’s.
***
“I hope everything is going to be okay with Maisy and Rook,” Willow said to Kaid who was out in the living room. She slipped a shirt over her head, brushed her hair quickly and then met Kaid to play some Mario Kart.
“I know. I like Pete and all, but he can’t be sc
rewing around with our lives like that. Maisy had absolutely no intention of using Rook or any of the Shattered Souls for that matter to get ahead. She’s not like that. Now, if it was you…” Kaid trailed off with a smile as he picked Toad to be his driver.
Willow whacked his arm. “I resent that statement.”
“Please, the reason why we’ve gotten as far as we have is because of those two milk sacs on your chest.”
“Can you not call them that, please? The thought of another human being, besides a well-endowed man, sucking on them for anything more than pleasure is beyond disturbing.”
Kaid laughed. “You know that’s why God made them, to feed our children.”
“No, that is just something the hippy, hemp wearing moms came up with. Tits were made to get ahead in the world and spur on mind blowing orgasms. They are purely sexual.”
Kaid just shook his head at her.
Willow selected Peach as her driver because the noises Peach made annoyed the crap out of Kaid and because she was actually pretty decent.
“Come on, you know I hate Peach.”
“That’s why I chose her.”
“It’s Peach!” Kaid said in a high-pitched voice, mocking the annoyingly bubbly, pink princess. “Fuck, she’s irritating. We’re putting this on mute.”
“The hell we are. If I have to deal with your bulbous head of a driver, you have to deal with Peach. Now, pick a damn course so I can kick your ass.”
Willow was actually quite horrible at Mario Kart, but she still played because she knew one of these days she was going to surpass Kaid in his animated driving skills. They never had the luxuries of video games growing up, so when they saw that the label put a Nintendo Wii on their bus, they were stoked. Yes, they acted like teenagers when they played, but it was a part of their childhood they never got to experience so they didn’t care.