Rockstar Romance Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle New Adult BBW)

by Emme Rollins

  “Hey Asher!”

  He turned to see Daniel waving him over.

  “Hey dude, what’s up?” Asher asked.

  Daniel coiled a cable up on one arm and tossed it on top of his amp.

  “People are going skating. Thought you’d want to know.” He pointed over to the back lot, where Asher saw two of the crew members milling about with their boards, looking like they were waiting for someone.

  “Oh, fuck yeah!” Asher never got a chance to skate on tour. Daniel always wanted to practice bass parts with him after their shows, and Alex needed him to keep an eye on Julian to make sure he didn’t sneak any drinks.

  “Thought you’d like a break,” Daniel said. “As soon as we get packed up—”

  Asher was already gone, throwing his drums into their cases in record speed so that he could take off. By the time he reached the lot with his board there were four guys there about to take off. He only knew one, a crew member for Wilder Side, and introduced himself to the others.

  “Where are we heading?” he asked.

  “There’s a skate park not too far from here.” The crew guy pointed north. “Like five minutes.”

  “Awesome,” Asher said, throwing down his board to follow.

  The night air smelled like the ocean, and Asher threw his head back to take it all in. Palm trees lined the streets and more people were out walking their dogs and taking nighttime jogs. It had been so warm earlier, but even as the night quickly turned cool Asher skated faster, his body warming up to the exercise. The guys messed around on their boards, grinding the curb whenever they could and jumping the uneven parts of the sidewalk as though they were huge gaps. Asher found himself sweating, and pulled off his shirt, stuffing it halfway into his back pocket. God, the air felt good on his skin. He skated faster, faster, trying to release whatever feelings inside that were grinding up against his heart.

  They came up on the skate park quickly. The bowls were filled with guys on boards, a couple of little kids on their scooters and one dude doing tricks on a BMX bike. Asher pulled up to a stop in front of the park and took a deep breath appreciatively.

  A great show, a great city, a night spent skating. It was the perfect way to forget about his ex-girlfriend. He pushed himself into the park and dropped down into the first bowl.

  He knew he was off balance before he could catch himself. Thoughts elsewhere, hadn’t realized how steep it was, and his center of gravity was way too far forward. He leaned back and over corrected, thinking all the while dumb, dumb, dumb. He lost his balance and tipped over, his board shooting out in front of him. He tumbled to the ground and reached for his board to stop it. Before he could catch it, it rolled out in front of another skater, a short kid who swerved sharply to avoid the obstacle but couldn’t. The boards collided and the kid fell off, tumbling to the ground right next to Asher. Fuck.

  Asher looked up into bright green eyes framed by blonde hair and realized that his mistake was worse than he thought. Despite this, he couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his face. It wasn’t a kid at all. It was a girl. And not just any girl.

  “Hi Trixie,” he said.

  Trixie hadn’t been paying enough attention, and the skateboard came out of nowhere. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that her thoughts had been twirling idly around the face of a certain drummer, but when she looked up from where she had fallen and saw that same face staring up at her above a bare chest, she couldn’t help but blush.

  Blush! Ha! That was something she never did, especially not because of a guy. But when Asher looked up from the ground with his stupid grin and his stupid brown hair hanging over his stupid face, Trixie imagined what he would say if he could read her mind and her face went bright red. She had been thinking about something involving ropes and bedposts and yes, Asher himself administering a stern reprimand in the form of his hands all over her ass. Now her eyes darted down to his muscled chest and she inhaled sharply. Good lord, he looked even better than she had imagined.

  She tried to disguise her embarrassment as anger, her frown crinkling up her forehead.

  “What the hell?” she said, her voice squeaking on the last word and making her face turn even hotter.

  “Sorry,” Asher said. The goofy grin was still plastered all over his face. She was going to call him an idiot and toss in some other invectives for fun, but he beat her to the punch.

  “God, I’m a moron,” he said, picking himself up from the ground and finally erasing the smile from his face. Despite herself, she was sorry to see it go. “How clumsy. I didn’t even check to see if it was clear. Are you okay?”

  He held out his hand to help her up, and her eyes flickered up at him cautiously before she accepted. Girlfriend. He has a girlfriend. As long as she kept reminding herself of that fact, she would be okay. But there he stood, looking at her with the most sincere worried eyes she had seen.

  His hand closed around hers and she swayed with the touch. Though he looked lean and gangly, a typical skater boy, his grip was strong and firm around her small hand. She felt his fingers brush her wrist as he let go and a shiver of something inappropriate ran through her body. All of a sudden the air was hot, stifling.

  “I’m fine,” she said, brushing past him and jumping up onto the ledge, heading straight for the water fountain. She could feel her skin burning and she needed a second to calm down. A second? God, she needed a cold shower. She needed Asher to not be anywhere around her right now with his broad tanned shoulders and long fingers and—

  She bent down to take a drink and let the cold water splash over her cheeks. When she stood back up and turned around Asher was standing right there, his board clasped between his hands, looking for all the world like a lost puppy dog. A lost puppy dog with the sexiest chest muscles in the entire skate park. He acted like he didn’t know how drop dead gorgeous he was, which only made her more attracted to him.

  “So, do you come here often?” he asked, plopping down on the ledge next to the water fountain.

  “Really?” She leaned her skateboard against her hip and looked at him under raised eyebrows. “Do you come here often? Haven’t heard that one in a while.”

  “Oh. No, I mean it. I’ve never skated this city, I don’t know where the good spots are.” He didn’t even seem embarrassed by his blunder, or maybe it wasn’t a blunder. Maybe he just wanted to make up for not knowing her name earlier. Calm down, Trixie. She went over and sat on the ledge next to him, making sure to leave plenty of space between them.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Um, well, this is a good one. There’s one farther inland that’s not as nice, but sometimes it’s good to get away.”

  “Oh yeah? Why?”

  “It just gets crowded here. Lots of kids from the neighborhood.”

  Trixie looked around. Earlier, it had been impossible to carve out any space for herself, but since then there had been a slow trickle of kids leaving the park. Now it felt empty. She shivered, not knowing why her body was reacting so intensely. If only he would put on a shirt.

  “That sucks,” Asher said. “Looks like it’s getting better, though.”

  “Yeah, they usually clear out around ten or so.”

  “Nice. So we’ll have it all to ourselves.” Asher looked over at her and smiled, and Trixie felt herself begin to blush again. She hated flirting, all of the stupid games guys played. And no matter what fantasies she might indulge in in her free time, she especially hated guys with girlfriends trying to flirt with her. No way, mister. She turned her face away from him.

  “There’s a nice quarter pipe over in that corner,” she said, pointing out all of the features she liked in a desperate attempt to keep her heart from racing. “And that ledge is my favorite. Perfect height for me.”

  “Anything you been working on?” Asher had turned away and was looking out at the park, so Trixie peered over at him. Even in the dim light, she could see the bright sparkle in his eyes. No wonder he had a supermodel for a girlfriend. He could be
a supermodel himself. His chin was strong, his lips full and partly open, and she found herself licking her lips before she realized that he was waiting for her answer to his question.

  “Oh. Uh, yeah. I got a backside-tailslide up on it the other day but I haven’t been able to do it again. So, still working on it.”

  “No shit,” he said, looking impressed.

  “Shit.”

  “Let’s see you do it.” He grinned, and Trixie realized that maybe his attitude didn’t come from any kind of attraction; maybe that’s just how he was. Overly friendly, overly assertive. She’d thought that he was flirting, but he was just treating her like they were already best friends. Sure. Of course. She wasn’t his type anyway. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Like I said, I haven’t been able to since that last time.”

  “There’s a second time for everything,” Asher said, standing up. “Let’s see.”

  “You just want to see me fall on my ass again,” Trixie said, glad to be able to joke without thinking too hard about it.

  “You’ll be fine,” Asher said. “You have lots of padding.” He winked, and she punched him on the shoulder, feeling a twinge of sorrow that he saw her as a fat girl, just like every other guy ever. But with that sorrow came a bit of relief. Okay, yeah. He’s the worst flirt ever if that’s what he’s doing.

  Trixie threw down her board and jumped on, looking to make sure nobody was going to get in the way of her run. Seeing the path clear, she dropped in and sped towards the ledge. Her breathing slowed and her focus narrowed. Ollie, turn, slide, turn. Every step was clear in her head, and she loved a challenge. She wanted to prove him wrong. She wanted to show that she could do it, padding on her ass or not. Come on, Trixie, you’ve done this before.

  It was over in one glorious second, and as she finished the slide she tilted precariously, then caught her balance, landing perfectly on her board. A chorus of hoots cheered her on from the other side of the park where her crew was skating. She pumped both fists into the air as she glided back over to Asher. His jaw had dropped open, she was glad to see. That would teach him to doubt her.

  “Didn’t have to use that padding after all,” she said, coming to a stop in front of him.

  “So, uh… you do come here often.”

  “When I can. Not often enough.”

  “I’ll say. Jesus, that was beautiful. Seriously, though, you skate every day or something?”

  “I wish. My manager wants me working out instead. Skating is great cardio but it doesn’t really help with the…uh, padding problem.” Trixie forced out a laugh. Working out sucked. Skating at least made her happy while burning calories. And under the pounds she could feel herself getting stronger, but adding muscle sure didn’t help her figure get any slimmer.

  “That sounds like a problem that doesn’t need fixing.”

  Trixie flushed hot. Why had she even brought it up?

  “Tell that to my manager.”

  “I will.” Asher looked at her with such intensity that she thought he might actually be serious. She looked away. The bowl was nearly empty now, just a few skaters left skimming across the smooth concrete slopes.

  “Anyway, for me this is better than going out drinking in clubs after the show. The other girls in the band like to dance. Kate especially.”

  “Kate is the…”

  “Drummer.” She finished his half-formed thought.

  “Oh, right. I talked to her after the show. She was great. You all were.”

  “Thanks. Well, anyway, she loves going out to dance. Me, I like to skate.”

  “Singing, guitar, skating. Not fair for one girl to be so talented.”

  “That’s why I have the padding,” Trixie said, arching her eyebrow. “I’m a girl and a half.”

  Asher laughed. “Is that so?”

  “Sure is. No one man can handle this much woman!”

  “I’d like to try.”

  Before Trixie could register the words, Asher had pulled her to him and bent his head down, his lips pressing against hers in the most possessive kiss she’d ever experienced. His hand was on her hip, tracing her outline. She felt her whole body lean forward instinctively, even as her mind exploded in different directions. No! she thought, but her body took a moment to catch up to her. She yanked herself back, away from his lips.

  “Whoa,” she said, pushing his chest away from hers. Her heart was racing and she felt her hand tremble as she touched his skin. The night seemed to close in around her. Usually the desert air was cool enough to keep her from overheating, but now she felt like she was burning up. So hot.

  “Sorry,” Asher said. He looked confused, like he didn’t know what was happening. “I just— I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, you should be,” Trixie said. Her breath was still going faster than usual, and she felt dizzy. “This is not a good idea.”

  Hello! she thought. You have a girlfriend!

  “Right. I know. Right.” He was flustered, she could tell. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I got carried away. Sorry.”

  Carried away? She had totally been caught off guard. What kind of guy calls a girl a fatass and then tries to kiss her? That was something new and completely unwelcome. She shook her head. The stars above her swam in her vision.

  “Whatever,” she said. “I gotta go.”

  “Trixie, I’m really sorry. I mean it. You don’t have to go. I’ll go. I don’t want to cause trouble.” His voice caught on the last word, and for a moment she thought he was on the verge of tears. Then the look passed.

  “Too late for that,” she said. “Just stay away from me, okay?” She threw down her board and skated away. Behind her she heard a faint okay. She looked over her shoulder and saw Asher standing on the edge of the bowl, looking at her forlornly. Not my problem, she thought. And I’m going to keep it that way.

  The next night, Asher tried his best to avoid Trixie. God, he had been such an idiot. Of course it would be stupid to get involved with someone just before going on tour together. Especially the lead singer of the opening band.

  “You alright?” Julian said. Asher realized he had been staring off into space.

  “Fine,” he said.

  “You don’t look fine. Are you thinking about Donna? You can’t pine over her. Daniel, tell Asher to stop pining over a girl.”

  “Asher, stop pining over a girl,” Daniel said, a semi-confused look on his face. He had his bass slung over his shoulder. “Anyone want to do some last minute practice?”

  “No,” Julian said firmly. “The both of you need to get out and meet some girls.”

  “Oh,” Daniel said. “I thought Asher wasn’t supposed to pine over a girl.”

  “I’m not pining over Donna,” Asher said. He sighed. “What does that expression even come from? Pining?”

  “You’re not going to pine,” Julian said. “And I don’t give a shit what it means. What it means is you’re going to go find some cute fans to hit on.”

  “I don’t know,” Daniel said, his fingers plucking the bass strings unconsciously. “I think I need to practice a bit before we go on.”

  “No!” Julian smacked his forehead with one hand. “Jesus, you guys, come on. Asher needs to get his rebounding out of the way with some fans who don’t care about anything except getting on that dick.”

  “Sounds great,” Asher said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

  “Hey, it’s not true happiness,” Julian said. “It’s scratching an itch. And you, Asher, have been way too chaste. What has it been, six months since you last saw Donna? And I know you never cheated on her.”

  The guy had a point. Asher glanced around backstage. “Not too many fans here.”

  “There’s a ton outside. Go sign autographs for a while, take one of the security guards with you. I’ll come too.”

  “Then what?” Daniel fidgeted in place.

  “Then we pick out a few hot girls to take backstage,” Julian said. He sounded impatient.

  Behind t
hem, the speakers crashed into the first strains of Cheap Trix. Asher swiveled his head and looked at Trixie. Her voice rang out across the heads of the audience. It made his heart contract in his chest in a way he couldn’t understand. He tore his eyes away from her.

  “Okay, alright,” Asher said, turning back. “Sure.”

  The fans crowded the security fences in the back once they saw the members of Wilder Side signing autographs, and Asher felt bad that the commotion was taking away from Cheap Trix. Lots of people were leaving the crowd to see what was going on around the side of the stage, it seemed.

  Julian waved to the ecstatic fans, and two girls screamed his name simultaneously. Asher winced. The audience could probably hear it from here. This was rude. They needed to stop before they caused any more of a scene.

  “Okay, that’s fine,” Asher said, nudging Julian with his elbow.

  “What? Which ones?” Julian said, signing one fan’s arm with a Sharpie.

  “Um, those,” Asher said, nodding towards two tall blonde girls who were standing at the edge of the crowd. He did a double take as he got a better look at them.

  “Twins?” Julian slapped Asher on the back. “Nice find, dude!”

  “Yeah, let’s head on back,” Asher said. “I’ll let them know they can come backstage.”

  “That cool with you, Daniel?” Julian said, but Daniel had already quietly made his exit back to the stage.

  Asher tapped the shoulder of the security guard and motioned the two girls in. They looked ecstatic to be chosen to come back with the band.

  “Hey, want to see the show from backstage?” Asher said.

  “Oh. My God! Yes!” one of the girls cried.

  “I’m Asher,” Asher said, reaching out his hand for a handshake. Before he could, the girl had thrown her arms around him and was crushing her boobs into his chest. Jesus, they felt nice. He hadn’t slept with Donna for months, and now that he was free, he couldn’t help his body’s reaction to the girl’s attention. He was half-hard already, just from the touch of a girl.

  “I love your band! I’m Stacy,” the girl said, her words running together. “This is my sister, Steph.” Steph held her hand out shyly and Asher took it with a warm grip, smiling at her with more intensity than he should have. She smiled back at him.