by Lucy Lennox
When we entered the recording studio, the receptionist showed us to the room we’d be using for the lesson. Ari arrived, but he wasn’t alone. I was surprised to meet his wife Britta. I’d heard all about her when we were together but had never met her. Had he seriously brought his wife to meet me after coming on to me the night before? I did my best to smile and greet her sincerely, trying to read Ari’s body language to determine how he was going to play this.
He was all smiles. “Britta, this is Jude.”
“Nice to meet you, Britta,” I said, forcing a smile. She seemed genuinely friendly and extremely happy to meet me.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re really here right in front of me. I’ve heard so much about you from Ari,” she gushed. “I’m a huge fan of yours! I have all your songs and sing them around the house, right Ari?”
Ari turned to me and winked. As if we were together. “That’s right. She does. And her favorite is ‘Bluebells,’ if you can believe it,” he added, giving me significant eyeballs.
Damn. I didn’t think I could survive the next two hours. I looked over to Derek and, if it was possible, he looked even more pained than I felt. Clearly this was stressing him out, too, for some reason. I decided to be the bigger person and stop being such a baby.
“All right, so who’s taking the lesson?” I asked.
“Britta is going to take the lesson. She’s learned the basics but would love a chance to learn from the best,” Ari said. Why the hell was he acting like such a kiss-ass?
I felt my nostrils flare. “Let’s get started then.”
After an hour of showing Britta how to play two of the band’s easiest songs, it was time for a break. Thankfully, Ari had kept his comments to a minimum. As long as I didn’t look in his direction, I could try to tune him out. The media was outside of the studio room and could only take photos at the moment. I caught Derek’s eye and noticed him tug his earlobe.
“If you’ll excuse me. I need to make a call while we take a quick break. Feel free to grab a drink or snack in the lounge out there,” I offered.
I followed Derek down the hall to an empty conference room. After he closed the door, I let out a breath.
“You’re doing great in there,” he said in his signature calm voice.
“Thank god it’s his wife I’m teaching,” I said.
“No shit. What’s that about?” Derek returned.
I shrugged. “I’m hoping her presence means he won’t want to speak to me alone after. Maybe you can rush me out of there somehow?”
“I can certainly try,” he said. “You realize she’s flirting shamelessly with you, though, right?”
“What?” I asked. “No, she isn’t.”
Derek gave me a look that called bullshit.
The rest of the lesson was straightforward although I discovered Derek might have been right about the flirting. I taught Britta some country licks and she seemed very excited to go home and practice them. The representative from Gibson was there to present her with the guitar. After I signed it, we posed for photos with the photographers and answered a few questions. Thank god the press didn’t know Ari and I knew each other.
Finally, Ari pulled me aside and asked if he could have my phone number.
“Sorry,” I said. “Only my family have that number. If you need to reach me, feel free to contact my manager, Clint.” I pulled out one of Clint’s cards, which was my usual schtick when asked for my number.
Ari held it between thumb and forefinger like it was a piece of trash. “Really?” He grinned. “You won’t even give me your phone number, Bubba? We were together for over two years. I’m not some random member of your fan club.”
“I’m not getting into this with you again, Ari. And stop calling me that.”
“Jude, I really just want to talk to you about the investment opportunity, nothing more. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable last night.” he said with a smile. He seemed to be sincere.
“Ari, Even if I felt comfortable working with you, which I don’t, it’s never a good idea to hire a friend to manage your money.”
“I’ll come out to San Francisco with a couple of my business partners. Call me to set it up, okay?”
Ari took out his own card and handed it to me. I slipped it into my pocket to avoid further confrontation and turned to walk away. As we walked into the lobby, I said a final farewell to Britta, and the people who hosted us, before offering my hand to Ari. He shook and then yanked it, pulling me in for a bro hug. The kind you’d give your friend who just got drafted first in the NFL. A giant bear hug with strong hands clapping me on the back.
“Call me.”
Knowing we were headed to the airport and then Los Angeles for the final concert of our tour, I tried to shake it off. We would be miles away from Ari by dinner time.
Once we boarded the plane, I turned to look at my seat mate. He had his eyes closed and his earbuds in. I wanted to talk to him about the situation. Ask him if he thought I should worry about it or if maybe my gut was sensing something that wasn’t there. But he hadn’t gotten any more sleep the night before than I had. I decided to leave him alone in case he was able to doze off. I put my own headphones on and turned on the instrumentals for my new song again, mentally singing the lyrics.
I didn’t realize until I woke up that my head had fallen onto Derek’s shoulder. It wasn’t the first time I’d done that. There had been plenty of late nights when I’d fallen asleep in a car or on a plane next to him and woken up to find myself using him as a pillow. But this time was different because I would have given my last cent to keep my head planted solidly against his warm body.
I slowly shifted off him, carefully keeping my face neutral and mumbling a “sorry” as I moved my head over to the window instead.
“S’okay,” he said in a low voice.
13
Derek
Jude was silent on the drive from the studio to the airport. I was impressed with how well he’d handled the whole thing, and I left him alone to give him some space.
Halfway through our flight, he fell asleep and slid over to land on my shoulder. As usual, I pretended to be asleep so I could let him rest there. Only one more concert left and then he’d be with his family through the rest of the week and weekend. Hopefully he could catch up on sleep and get some love and support from the people who cared about him the most.
When we landed, we made our way through LAX to the hotel where we would meet the band for a late dinner. There was a morning visit to a local radio station the following day, so everyone needed to be in town the night before.
After checking in to our suite, I sat on the sofa to wait while Jude showered and dressed for dinner. I had on my earphones and wouldn’t have noticed him approach if it hadn’t been for the tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickling. Pulling out the earphones, I asked if he was ready.
“Yes. What music were you listening to?” Jude asked as we exited the suite to walk downstairs.
“Nothing,” I said, hoping like hell he wouldn’t push me on it.
“Oh, it’s for sure something,” Jude said with a grin. “Gimme.” He reached out his hand for my phone. I pulled it behind my back to hide it from him.
“No. Never mind,” I insisted.
“You’re listening to my songs, aren’t you?” He gasped.
“No way. Jesus, I might be crazy, but at least I have taste,” I teased, not able to hold back a laugh.
“Liar, you are so listening to your favorite Jude songs.” He laughed, still reaching for my phone. I smelled the Jude soap smell and my cock stirred against my jeans.
“Ugh,” I moaned. “Here, have it.” Handing him the phone, I tried discreetly adjusting myself before the elevator arrived.
He looked at the screen. “Lynyrd Skynyrd?” Jude laughed. “That’s your dirty little secret?”
“Shut up,” I said, walking into the elevator and silently thanking god it was empty.
“You really ar
e a southern boy, aren’t you? Are you sure you’re even gay?” he whispered the last word with a grin.
“Not sure. Maybe I’m not. Wanna find out?” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“I definitely do. But right now, I have a six-foot-tall pink-haired lady waiting to boss me around for a few hours. Later?”
“Mmm. Promises, promises.”
Once we arrived downstairs, we met up with the other members of the band and crew who were all headed to a group dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. We greeted everyone and began to walk toward the hotel doors. I heard someone squeal Jude’s name and assumed it was a fan who recognized him. As I looked around to see where the voice came from, I instinctively stepped in front of Jude.
“Fucking Paisley,” I muttered under my breath when I saw who it was.
“What?” Jude asked, placing a hand on my elbow. “She’s not supposed to be here is she?”
“Jude!” she crooned. “There you are. You forgot to tell me what time you were landing, so I’ve been here since noon waiting for you.”
She had bags from expensive boutiques draped over her arms, so she didn’t appear to have been waiting for him idly. Clearly the sales people in the shops had kept her company.
Jude was engulfed in a perfume cloud and smothered against a pair of fake boobs encased in a thin tank top. Now that I knew he was gay, I caught little tells I hadn’t been able to put my finger on in the past. His hands never strayed lower than her waist when he hugged her. He never turned his face into her hair or neck. If he kissed her, it was only ever on the cheek. The full Jude smile was never unleashed on her.
Maybe I had noticed those things before but chalked them up to his avoidance of PDA in general. Now, even knowing she was nothing more than a beard, I was uneasy in her presence. A jangly feeling of jealousy wavered through me, which pissed me off. I had no right to feel that way about Jude Marian. Not only did I have absolutely no claim on him, but I also knew there wasn’t anything to be jealous of. If he was to be believed, the only person he’d had sex with in years was me. I was the person who even had a chance of going to bed with him that night. And fuck if that thought didn’t rev my cock up again.
I took several deep breaths and looked around to focus on the job I was there to do. While accompanying Jude to the restaurant down the street, I tried not to think about the possibility of Jae sleeping in our hotel suite. It occurred to me she had shared Jude’s hotel room many times. Were they seriously only sharing a room platonically? Shit. Regardless, that meant she would expect to share his room again, and I’d be stuck sleeping alone. The suite we were in had two bedrooms, one for me and one for Jude. There was no way he and I could share without Jae noticing.
My jaw began to ache from clenching my teeth. After everyone was seated in the private room of the restaurant, I felt my phone buzz with a text.
Jude: Can you step out and book Jae her own room at the hotel? I completely forgot she was coming.
Derek: You sure?
Jude: Uh. YES.
Derek: Thank god.
I looked over at Jude and saw him smirk when he read my last text. He didn’t look up at me, so I ducked out of the room and made the call. The hotel was booked solid due to a conference in town. I begged them to release a room to us and even dropped Jude’s name. They apologized profusely and offered to call a sister hotel twenty miles away. I slunk back into the dining room.
Derek: Bad news. Hotel sold out.
Jude: Don’t mess with me.
Derek: I wish I was.
Jude: Fuck.
Derek: Nope.
I looked over at him in time to catch his furrowed eyebrows looking down at his phone. Stress lines carved into his face and his exhaustion showed again. It had been a really long day for him.
The band members talked about their schedule after they returned to their normal routines at home. Their plan was to record another album as quickly as they could in hopes of beginning the next tour in February. It was late August, so they would have to move fast. I saw Jude take off his glasses to rub his eyes. He looked over at me, and his face lit up into a full smile. God, he was beautiful. I returned his smile quickly before looking down at my feet. What if someone could tell from the look on my face how badly I wanted him?
The dinner seemed to take forever, but it finally ended. On the walk back to the hotel, Jae linked her arm through Jude’s and began whispering in his ear. Thankfully Ollie interrupted them to talk to Jude about the following day’s schedule.
After entering the lobby, we made our way up to the suite with Jae.
I’d had enough for the day and was going to wallow in my own lonely horniness. Maybe treat myself to a little stroking action in the shower as a pathetic consolation prize for not getting to sleep with Jude.
I was under the hot spray with my eyes closed, just standing there feeling sorry for myself, when I felt a slight draft. Opening my eyes, I saw Jude standing in my bathroom. Steam swirled in the air between us, and I felt my body react to his presence.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
I stuck my head out of the glass door. “You want to join me?”
“More than anything, but I’m not sure I could explain the wet hair to Jae.” He smiled. Goddamned Jae.
“Tie it up and get your ass in here,” I urged. “Hurry up.” He turned around and left. So much for that. Worth a shot anyway.
I went back to washing myself when I felt the draft again, but this time it was stronger. My eyes opened to see Jude standing naked in the shower with me, hair tied in a messy knot on his head and miles of naked Jude skin displayed in its glorious perfection within striking distance.
Careful not to get his hair wet, I grabbed him and kissed him fiercely, leaning myself out of the spray rather than pulling him toward it. His tongue joined mine in a wet tangle before I moved down his body with wet kisses.
I got a kick out of seeing how quickly I could suck him off, and as soon as his cries began to ring out in the tiny room, I reached a hand up to cover his mouth.
As he came down from the high, I straightened up. He started to kneel to reciprocate and I shook my head. “Next time,” I said with a smile. “You need some sleep, Jude.”
My hands reached for the little bar of soap and I began washing his lower body carefully. We didn’t speak, just made eye contact periodically and enjoyed the easy silence between us.
Once we were finished drying off, Jude put his clothes back on and followed me out of the bathroom.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I wish I could stay in here with you.”
“Me too,” I said through a smile. “But you really need to sleep. And if you stayed in here, I’m not sure how much rest you’d get.”
“Night, Wolfe,” he said before standing on tiptoes to kiss me. God, I loved the taste of him. My hands went to his hair and pulled out the tie. I ran my fingers through the long strands, smoothing it down. He pulled back and looked at me. Tender brown eyes with amber gold specks.
“Night, Bluebell,” I said.
14
Jude
My phone woke me up the following morning.
“Hullo?” I answered.
“Hey, it’s me,” my brother Blue said. “Sorry to wake you. Want to go back to sleep?”
“No. S’fine. What’s up, Bee?”
“I met someone,” he blurted. I sat up in bed, hearing something different in his voice.
“Tell me.”
So he did. He told me everything about a man he’d met at the vineyard where our sister was going to be married that weekend. I envied him the ability to live in the open, flirting with a new guy and not worrying about it showing up on TMZ an hour later.
When we ended the call, part of me felt guilty for not telling him about the Ari thing. Blue was the only one who knew about my past with with him. But it wasn’t something I wanted to share over the phone. And if Blue was busy flirting with some new guy, I wasn’t sure I’d feel like telling him a
t all. I just needed time to think about it first.
I quickly dressed for the radio show appearance and walked out of my bedroom. Derek was talking on the phone while looking out of the window to the view of the city below. It sounded like a call with the concert venue confirming security details for that evening. When he was finished, we made our way out of the suite to meet the others in the lobby.
“Sleep well?” Derek asked me with a smirk on his face.
“Better than you did, probably,” I returned, feeling guilty for leaving him hard the night before.
“Nah, I helped myself after you left. Slept like a baby.”
The mental image of Derek Wolfe handling his own pleasure made my mouth water. “Oh, fuck you,” I grumbled.
He laughed and the look of relaxed pleasure on his face made me chuckle too. When the elevator stopped at one of the floors below us, Ollie stepped on. She was immediately suspicious of the two of us laughing and asked what was up.
“Jude just told a really funny joke,” Derek said.
“Really? I want to hear it.” She smiled at me with expectation. I glared at Derek, who smirked back at me.
“Uh… what kind of music are balloons afraid of?” I tried.
“Dunno. What kind?” Ollie said.
“Pop music,” I answered pathetically. Derek snorted and shook his head.
Ollie looked at me like she was still waiting for the punch line.
“Okay, what were you two really laughing about?” she asked.
“Wolfe just did a really funny impression of you. He probably didn’t want to embarrass you, but you should totally ask him to repeat it,” I suggested. Now it was Derek’s turn to glare at me.
“Derek?” Ollie asked.
“It, ah, wouldn’t be as funny the second time around,” he stammered. Ollie narrowed her eyes at him.
“Why do I not believe either of you?” she said.
“Okay, fine,” Derek said. “We were making fun of Jae. She snores really loudly. And farts. It’s pretty bad.”
I snorted before I could stop myself. “Oh my god, you’re so mean.”
He pretended to look innocent. “What? Are you saying she doesn’t?”