by Emme Rollins
Alex sighed. He slipped his arm under my head and pulled me against him. "I thought you'd be married by now with a bunch of kids running around. You always had tons of boys chasing after you in college."
I was drifting off. I mumbled as I snuggled close into his arms. "Maybe it was never the right boy."
Chapter Four
Alex woke to the bright daylight burning his gritty eyes. A full beat passed before he realized that the hand splayed across his chest was Lena's. And the legs entangled in his own were Lena's too. He groaned as his mind wandered farther, to other parts of her body. He was already sporting morning wood, there was no need to torture himself further.
Lena sighed and then snuggled closer to him. He held on to her as his mind tried to catch up with the recent events. Was it just last night that she had showed up out of the blue after one of his shows? Seeing her had rocked him to the core. He had thought that he had worked her out of his system long ago, but he had only been fooling himself. She had always been with him.
And as they hung out at the club, he remembered exactly why he had fallen so hard for her all those years ago. They were perfect together. She made him feel alive with endless possibilities. There was never any denying that they had insane sexual chemistry. He knew that she felt it just as strongly as he did. But last night was off the charts. The sex had felt so amazing and almost spiritual. He almost laughed aloud at his crazy thoughts, but their connection had been deeply meaningful to him. And it scared the hell out of him.
If she had never stepped back into his life, he would have been fine. Now, after having a taste of her, he would never be the same. He was sure that fate would conspire to take her out of his life again. And he knew that he was going to have to fight like hell to make sure that didn't happen.
Quietly, Alex slipped out of bed and hopped into the shower. Five minutes later, he was back in the room wrapped in a white towel. He stopped to admire Lena for a moment. She was still out cold, lying on her side. He felt his cock tighten as he took in her messy hair spilling across the pillow, the pink tips of her breasts poking out from under her arm and the her left leg and hip sticking out of the tangled bed sheets. He turned away before he could no longer resist the temptation to crawl on top of her. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away by coming on too strong.
As he poked around the room looking for the gym bag that had his clean clothing in it, he heard a phone vibrating. He looked around and found Lena's phone on the floor.
Melissa: Where are you? I hope you got that good pounding you wanted from that sexy stud.
Alex smiled. He typed in a reply.
Lena: She did.
Melissa: Evie?
Lena: It's Alex.
Melissa: oops.
Lena: Say hi to Tommy for me.
Melissa: awkward.
Lena: She's still sleeping. She'll call later.
Melissa: k
Alex put down the phone. He was still grinning like a fool. So, Lena had been interested in more than just connecting with an old friend. And what had she said as she was falling asleep? Something like it had never been the right boy chasing her?
He ran a hand through his hair. Jesus, if she didn't know how much he wanted to be with her in college than she was blind. Didn't she know that he'd always loved her?
"Alex?" He turned to see her struggling to sit up. "Do you have any water?"
He brought a bottle over to the bed. "Here. It's not cold, but -"
She took the bottle. "Ugh. Don't look at me! I must look horrible!"
Alex laughed. "Nah. You look kind of sexy right now. Why don't you jump in the shower? You'll feel much better."
Lena took a long chug of water while she struggled to keep the bed sheets covering her. "Yeah, that'll help. Yuk, I'll have to wear the same clothes." She made a motion with her hands for him to turn around.
Alex turned to give her some privacy as she gathered up her clothes and scampered off to the bathroom. He cheated and peeked just as her bare ass slipped into the bathroom. "Let me know if you need some help." The door shut firmly.
He found his gym bag and felt guilty as he changed into clean shorts and a t-shirt. He chugged some water as he waited for her to finish showering and checked his phone. The boys were all beginning to wake up and they would be meeting for food shortly.
Alex wondered who would show up. Usually, the guys only brought their overnight conquests to breakfast, actually more like lunch, if they couldn't conveniently get rid of them fast enough. On rare occasions, someone showed up with a girl because there was something more going on than a one-night fuck.
Alex was hoping like hell that he could keep Lena from running back home with Melissa at the first opportunity. He needed more time to convince her to give him a chance.
Lena finally finished showering and reluctantly left the bathroom. He had to work to keep a straight face. Her clothes looked like she had lived in them for a week straight, her damp hair was hanging straggly down her back and her face was washed clean of makeup.
It was her utterly miserable face that had him suppressing a laugh. "Feeling better?"
She must have noticed his amusement because she put her hands on her hips. "I'm feeling better, but I'm looking even worse. And don't even say a word."
Alex rummaged through his toiletry bag. "Here, you can borrow my brush. And you don't look bad. You just look like you got lost in a war or something."
She glared at him and took his brush. "Do you have some toothpaste in that bag? And a toothbrush? And some deodorant? And I borrowed your razor, by the way. I hope you don't mind."
Alex laughed and handed her the whole bag. "Here, use what you want."
She retreated back to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later looking much better.
Alex crossed the room and pulled her into an embrace. "Better?" She nodded as she melted against him. "And you look gorgeous. Really."
The smile that lit up her whole face had his cock twitching in response. He wanted to peel off her clothes and take her right then, but that was obviously not a good play.
He pulled back from her. "Melissa wants you to call her."
She spotted her phone and grabbed it. Her face went bright red when she turned it on and saw the latest text exchange. Alex smiled as he busied himself, pretending not to notice her discomfort.
He gathered up his few belongings and felt a pang in his gut. Tonight, it was back to the tour bus to head out to the next gig. While he was going to try to convince Lena to come to their concert at Jones Beach, he knew he was saying good-bye to her soon. Even if she came to New York to see him, they would only be together for a few hours before he headed out on the road again.
Except for playing the music that he loved, there was something so empty about being out on the road touring. Passing the time with the guys, which usually meant acting extremely stupid and doing juvenile and dumb things, wasn't so bad. Preparing for a show and actually performing live at each location were the highlights of the tour. The parties, the alcohol, the drugs and the endless girls were just distractions to get through each day. They were shiny glittery distractions that felt damn good at the time, but ended feeling so pointless the next day.
It got so mind-numbing that he began not to care who he ended up sleeping with. Gorgeous girl, pretty girl, average girl, dog-faced girl…who cared? What did it fucking matter as long as it felt good at the time? The next day, you were hundreds of miles away and you didn't even remember her name anyway. And it repeated town after town, criss-crossing through the whole fucking country.
But when you were distracted, you didn't think about it much. Not until it was fucking spotlighted right before your eyes. And that's what Lena did to him. Nick once told him that it took ten good fucks to get over a girl. Alex wasn't sure it was going to work for him this time.
Lena finished up her call. "Melissa is downstairs with Tommy and Nick. They already started eating because they were so hungry."
&n
bsp; Alex picked up his bags. "Ready? Let's go."
He had tried to hide the bitterness caused by his previous thoughts from her, but Lena must have seen it lingering in his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I guess I'm just hungry too." Alex didn't want to spend the remaining time that he had left with Lena, sulking like a baby.
He pasted on a smile. "You need a ride down to the elevator?"
Lena giggled and then hopped up on his back. He balanced her while holding his bags and somehow managed to open the door. He raced down the hall with her laughing and holding tight. When they reached the elevator bank, Lena pushed the down button with her foot.
She rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "I'm glad that nothing's changed between us after, you know, last night."
Alex felt his stomach knotting. Everything's fucking changed. His response came out angrily, "You mean after the good pounding you got?"
He heard Lena inhale a sharp breath. "No, I mean that we aren't going to let that ruin our friendship. That we can still act the same way with each other as before. Alex, I wouldn't want what happened last night to mess up what we have together."
Had he gotten it all wrong? Was she just like the thousands of girls who just wanted to get fucked by a guy because he performed on stage in front of crowds?
"I don't happen to think what we did last night was a mistake, Lena." He tried to keep the edge out of his voice, but he felt crushed.
The elevator finally arrived with a ding and the doors slid open. Alex walked inside and Lena slid off his back onto the ground. She turned around to face him and his stomach clenched when he saw her face.
He could see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I don't think it was a mistake either. I'm just scared that I'm going to lose you now."
Alex felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He pulled her into his arms. "I'm still right here."
His thumb traced over her bottom lip as he held her tight against his body with his other hand. Her lips parted softly and the tip of her pink tongue tasted his skin. His thumb pressed further. He groaned when her lips surrounded the tip of his thumb and gently sucked.
His mouth crashed onto her lips with urgency. Their kiss ignited with an engulfing passion so very quickly. He was lost in his desperate need to consume all of her. And to give all of himself.
Alex was vaguely aware that the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. It wasn't until Lena was pulling away from his demanding lips that he noticed the crowd waiting to get into the elevator. Lena looked embarrassed, but he just smiled to the crowd as he picked up his bags to cover his boner. He put his free arm around Lena's waist and led her out of the elevator.
They saw Tommy, Nick and Melissa sitting at a booth in the hotel restaurant as soon as they walked in. Melissa jumped up and pulled Lena aside to talk girl stuff for a few minutes, so Alex slipped into the booth across from Tommy.
Tommy looked up from his plate and asked Alex with a mouthful of food, "Hey, man. You get good some good play last night?"
Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, yeah. How about you two clowns?"
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, that Melissa is a real handful. I might even try to keep in touch with her."
Rolling his eyes, Alex smirked. "Wow, sounds like a real love match. What about you Nick?"
He noticed the bruising on Nick's cheek and the cut on his lip. He'd definitely had a fight with someone. Nick had been quieter and more withdrawn than usual the last couple of days. Alex wondered what was going on with him, but he figured Nick would talk about when he needed to. He wasn't into prying.
Nick was almost finished with his breakfast. He sat back. "No complaints here, man. Hey, Tyler's rounding up some chicks to head to the shore for the day. We don't need to be back to the bus until midnight. Maybe you can get your girlfriend to take us. I need to get out of this fucking place for a while."
The beach would be a fun change from the endless weeks touring. And any excuse to keep Lena by his side sounded great. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see what I can do."
When the girls came back, Nick stood to leave. He tossed a few bills on the table. "I'll be around. Call me if you're going."
Melissa slid into the booth next to Tommy. "Did we scare him off?"
When Lena slid next to him, Alex put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "No. Nick just does his own thing a lot of the time. It sounds like we're going to the beach for the day. Why don't you two come with us?"
Lena and Melissa exchanged glances, communicating without speaking. Alex had no idea how, but he practically held his breath as he waited for an answer.
Melissa raised her eyebrows. "It sounds like fun, Evie. But we don't have any beach stuff. We don't even have that blanket anymore."
Tommy didn't stop eating but he broke in. "There's tons of shops for that kind of stuff down the shore. Alex will buy you whatever you need. Right, Alex?" Tommy laughed and took another bite. "And is your name Evie or Lena, anyway?"
"It's both. Melissa, if you didn't have any plans at home today, why don't we go? You know how much I love the shore." Lena's answer couldn't have made him happier. He reached for her hand under the table and held it while they waited for the waiter to take their order.
Chapter Five
They dropped Nick off, where Tyler and his friends were already hanging out on the beach, and parked near the shops. Lena and Melissa picked out a store they wanted to stop in for beach supplies.
Alex grabbed Lena before she went inside. He smiled playfully at her. "You've got exactly ten minutes to pick out a completely indecent bikini and get back out here or else I'm coming in for you and dragging you out - no matter what you have on."
Lena swatted at him protesting. "Ten minutes! It takes girls days, maybe weeks, to shop for the perfect bikini. And even longer to prepare to actually wear it."
"C'mon, Evie." Melissa called. She was getting impatient waiting.
Alex let her go. "You've got ten minutes."
They waited almost 30 minutes before the girls came back out holding multiple bags each.
Lena handed him his credit card smiling mischievously. "You bought two new bikinis, we had to go expensive, by the way, because of the time constraints, and two cover-ups, sunscreen, flip-flops for Melissa, two beach blankets, and two new speedos for you and Tommy."
Alex groaned. "Speedos? I think I'll just stick to my shorts."
Lena laughed. "No way, Alex. If you want to see this very teeny bikini that I'm wearing, you have to wear the speedo."
Alex's mouth fell open. "If someone recognizes me, there'll be pictures of me in a speedo all over the internet and who knows where else. Jesus, Lena."
Lena's eyes sparkled with mischief. She was certainly enjoying his discomfort. She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out a pair of plain black swim trunks. "Don't worry, Alex. I'm not into speedos."
Alex pulled her close and gave her a playful smack on the ass. "You're evil."
Melissa dragged Tommy over to them. "Hurry up and put on your suits, you two. I'm ready to hit the beach."
Fifteen minutes later, Lena and Melissa were sunbathing on the beach blanket, while Alex tossed a ball around in the surf with Tommy and Tyler. Alex had stuck around long enough to see Lena's bikini and he knew that cold water was in order.
The girls watched them play for a while, but eventually looked like they were sleeping. When they grew bored with tossing the ball around, the guys headed up to Tyler's cooler and grabbed a beer.
Tommy pointed to Lena and Melissa. "They're both fucking hot, bro."
Alex could only nod in agreement. "How about we go cool them off a bit."
Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy agreed. "Lead the way."
Alex approached the beach blanket quietly. He stood over Lena, careful not to block the sun and alert her of his presence. He couldn't help but check out her perfect ass partially covered by the black and white polka-dotted bikini bottom. His fingers itched to pull on t
he little white bows that held it together at the sides.
He tipped his beer and slowly poured a stream of cold liquid onto her back. She squealed and jumped up quickly. "Alex! Is that beer? Yuk."
"Sorry. Tommy said you were looking hot. C'mon, hop on. I'll rinse you off." Alex loved that instead of getting mad, she just put up with his nonsense and jumped onto his back. He began jogging down to the water with her hanging on, vaguely aware of the shrieks coming from Melissa behind them. Obviously, she was going into the water less willingly.
Alex ran through the surf, holding onto Lena's legs. He just made it past the breakers before they both dumped into the water. Lena came up completely soaked but laughing. The water got steadily deeper past the breaking waves. Alex swam toward her.
Lena clasped her arms around his neck when he reached out to her. He pulled her up against him and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They bobbed in the waves just holding on to each other.
Alex pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear. "Why did you come to the show last night?"
She was looking directly into his eyes. "I wanted to see you perform. I remembered when you used to play your guitar and sing to me in college. I just - I just wanted to see you again. And I'm glad Melissa dragged me backstage. I was scared. I wasn't sure that you'd remember me."
"I don’t think I could ever forget you, Lena. So, what did you think of the show?" Suddenly, her approval seemed so important to him.
Her smile was genuine. "It was awesome and you were amazing. But I always thought you were a terrific musician back then, too. I thought that you would have changed a lot now that you've made it big. But you haven't. I mean, your whole life has changed, but you're still the same person inside."
Alex closed his eyes. He wasn't the same person at all. He was succeeding at doing what he wanted to do most in his life beyond his wildest imaginings. But it was an empty success when he couldn't share it with anyone.
Years of touring had been grueling, especially the early days. At least now they had a decent tour bus and could stay in hotels when the opportunity arrived. And they weren't dirt poor anymore. They had more people involved in producing their shows and endless fans supportive of them.