Dominic walked out of the room and headed for his guitar. His mind was cluttered, and he couldn’t think about Tommy and Dean’s problems. He had enough of his own. Maybe he could talk to Crystal about it. She could give him a female perspective and maybe a way out of breaking Gina’s heart. However, he may have to tell her what he hid from almost everyone. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He hoped she didn’t ask again about the names he called out in his dream.
Vince entered the studio and stopped when he saw Dominic playing all alone. He knew that meant he was trying to work something out. He decided to give him the privacy he needed and headed up to the control room.
Sitting on a stool, Dominic played the opening notes to “Alone Again.” Jon wrote it when his girlfriend broke up with him while they were on their last tour. “Faithful” was a relative term in the band. Jon felt that monogamy only applied when his girlfriend was available. If she were busy or at work, that gave him free reign. Dominic had told him she’d find out.
As he played, his fingers started to digress from the song. Soon he was playing another melody. He closed his eyes and let the music flow freely. Phrases started to form in his head, and the song progressed into a long solo, the notes fast and complicated. He could hear a beat to it and started to mumble the words coming to him. He had never written a song like that before, but who was he to question this process?
As soon he felt it was completely clear, he rushed over to the office supply closet and grabbed a pen and notebook. Jon kept a stack of spiral-bound sheet music books, just in case. His mind was faster than his hand as he wrote down the notes, then the words. He replayed the song and made adjustments on the paper. The song was going to be hard and emotional; a strange combination, but it is what it is.
He looked at the results and sighed. “Can I really tell her how I feel in a song? Ain’t that kinda cold?” His voice was quiet, but he glanced around to be sure no one heard.
Jon came strolling into the main room. The look on Dominic’s face made him frown. “Anything I can do?” He stopped in front of Dominic. “We can talk some more if you need.”
“No. I’ll be fine.” Dominic closed the book and put the acoustic away. Then he stood up and plugged his studio guitar in. “Tommy and Dean ready yet?”
“Yep,” Dean answered, as he and Tommy came into view. “Let’s get this show on the road. I got a gig tonight.” He walked to his booth and grabbed his headphones. “We’re doing ‘Darkness in My Heart,’ right?”
Jon shouted, “Yes!”
Before Triple Threat started their album,Gasoline had laid down the tracks for the bulk of their eighth album, but scheduling conflicts had stopped their progress. “There’s a Time to Kill,” which they wrote for the latest Mission Impossible movie, was complete, but would be on a soundtrack. “Fight or Flight” was their token military-themed song. It just needed vocals, as did a few others.
Their newest album was turning out different from previous ones they had released. Dean always wrote dark songs, but his most recent work was a bit sadistic. Luckily, he was not the only lyricist in the band.
The session went well; no bitching from Dean, which was a nice change. Dominic was able to concentrate on the music and forget about his girl issues for a few hours. They got the entire song done, including backup vocals.
Another band was set to record within the next hour, so Dominic took his guitar off. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Going home meant being alone. Since he wrote the song, he knew he had to find the right time to tell her the truth about their relationship. He may find a way to avoid that if he were lonely.
Jon put his drumsticks on a floor tom, and then walked towards Dominic. “Hey, stay for a bit. I need your opinion on something.” He trusted Dominic’s opinion in some cases more than Tommy’s, although Tommy was his business partner.
Dominic placed his guitar on a stand. “On what?”
“The pictures Katie took.” Jon smirked.
Jon had looked through them already. She had captured some emotional moments and sexy poses. The camera loved Crystal. He didn’t expect them to be that good. They gave him a rock-solid hard-on.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t know you had them yet.”
Jon smiled. “She’s the best. That’s why I use her.”
“I thought you hired her so Crystal would feel more comfortable.” Dominic nonchalantly picked up the music book he had written in.
Eyebrows going up, Jon replied, “I did. But I’ve used her several times. She’s got serious talent.” He smirked as he thought about some of the shots he had seen. “It’s hard to choose. My dick keeps thinking for me.”
Dominic laughed. “Damn. That good, huh?”
“They had her naked, man.” Jon groaned while his cock hardened. “You gotta see the ones of her and Giovanni.”
Tommy came into the main room. “They’re fucking hot!”
Dominic rolled his eyes. “Your opinion’s biased, Tom. You’re falling for her.”
“No, I’m not!” Tommy tried to shake the image of her on her knees while he slammed into her from behind, but he couldn’t. “My dick is.”
They all cracked up at that.
Dean walked in looking almost defeated. “That bitch won’t let me lay a hand on her. What the fuck do you got that I don’t?”
“Finesse.” Tommy grinned. “I know what she likes.”
Dominic winked at Jon. “Doesn’t hurt she’s had a crush on Tommy since she was like 15!” He chuckled. “She’s almost young enough to be your kid, you know.” He couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
Tommy had expected her to fall for him, but she didn’t. Many girls fell in love with him after he fucked them. He had something that drew women to him and they thought he would love them back.
He sighed loudly, when Dean and Jon joined the laughter. “You guys’re just jealous.”
“No one has as many stalkers as you. No thanks.” Jon tried to be serious and failed. “Which one of us lives in a secure building? It’s harder to get into than a jail.”
Dean calmed himself. “That’s the one thing I’m glad I don’t have. That chick from L.A. was fucking crazy.”
Dominic was also happy he didn’t have the same problems as Tommy. The fan from Los Angeles was the reason Tommy had to put all of his cars in Dominic’s name so she couldn’t trace him. Then when he bought his condo, he had to do the same thing.
The woman had followed them all over the country. Then she showed up at Tommy’s doorstep. Within days, he sold his house and changed his phone number. The next few tour dates, he hid out on the bus most of the time, trying to avoid her. Eventually, he got a restraining order, but it wasn’t easy.
“My fans never get clingy,” Dean said smugly.
Jon glanced at him and tried not to get angry. His sister came to mind. “You don’t give them a chance to. You just piss them off after you cum.”
“Hey, it works for me.” Dean winked at Tommy. “Your sister hates me.”
Jon lunged and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling his face close. “If you touch her again, I’ll break your fucking face.”
Dean struggled to get free, but it was no use. He knew Jon was serious. “I’m sorry.” He did feel a bit bad that he told her to fuck off. “But she came on to me. I couldn’t just turn her down.”
Jon’s face reddened. Without warning, he punched Dean in the gut, but not full force. His brother had told him to let it go when they spoke about it, but he still hadn’t. He knew his sister would be annoyed he was still holding a grudge.
Dean fell to the floor, gasping and holding his abdomen. “Fuck, man.”
Dominic thought of Jon’s sister, Amanda. She was tall, blonde, thin and tough as nails. She was Dean’s match, truthfully. She had been the only female before Crystal to tell Dean he was an ass. It made Dean tease her any time they were in the same room.
She had always blown him off. It seemed that he finally said the right
thing to her. Dominic was dying to know what swayed her, although it was a dick move to fuck your friend’s sister. He was glad he didn’t have one. Tommy did, though, and she was a knockout. Once, he had come close to sleeping with her, but he couldn’t do that to Tommy.
He had dated Tommy’s ex-sister-in-law, though. She had divorced Tommy’s younger brother years ago because he got one of his mistresses pregnant. Because of that, Tommy had two nephews. Dominic was teaching the oldest one to play guitar, since Tommy had no patience.
Dominic wished he knew his nieces and nephews, or at least had a decent relationship with his only brother. They didn’t speak and hadn’t seen each other in close to 15 years. Anthony came up for the services, but then left again.
Anthony only visited their parents when Dominic was on tour. Their falling-out came many years earlier, over a woman. Anthony had met Claire first, and he was pissed off when Dominic convinced her to date him instead. Dominic had had no clue they knew each other, but Anthony didn’t believe it. Dominic let the painful memories go before he became emotional.
The only bandmember who was an only child was Dean. His mother died when he was only three, and his father didn’t remarry. He blamed Dean for her death and was abusive as hell. It was why they all tried for years to be understanding about Dean’s drug use and outlandish behavior. He’d had a very shitty life before the band. At least his father had finally died four years before. That meant he no longer demanded that Dean support him.
Dean’s loud groan ended Dominic’s reminiscing quick. He slowly got up, groaning the whole time. Then he stood as far from Jon as he could. “I’ll stay away from her. I promise.” He fixed his clothes. “I’m going home… Later.”
They all watched him leave, and then Dominic and Tommy followed Jon to his office. After sitting down, Jon pulled up the folder of Triple Threat’s photo shoot on his laptop. “I don’t know which one would look best on the CD cover.” He slowly flipped through the pictures until Dominic had seen them all.
“Wow.” Dominic exhaled loudly, still clutching the book. “You weren’t kidding. Katie’s incredible.” He leaned over and opened several of the pictures again. “Depending on what message you want to send, I like this one the most.”
Jon looked at the picture of Chad and Crystal. It was different from all the rest. There was a look in their eyes he had seen for the past few weeks, fear and love.
Tommy scowled. “I like the ones with Chad and Chris holding her tits. That would boost sales.”
“True.” Jon frowned. “But it shows a lotta skin. Do we want people to think she’s fucking them all?”
Dominic sighed. “I’m sure guys think that anyway. If you wanna promote that idea, I’d use this one.” Dominic opened one of the pictures of Crystal spread eagle. “Giovanni must have tickled her clit. She looks like she’s gonna cum.”
“That’s not what she looks like when she cums,” Jon blurted out. Then he turned away, his cheeks heating up. “That’s what I heard.”
Tommy punched his arm. “You motherfucker! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t say anything.” Jon tried to cover his mistake.
“Bullshit!” Tommy grinned. “You fucked her! Damn, is that where she disappeared to that day? I was actually worried about her, until she texted me back. She didn’t tell me she was with you.”
Jon gritted his teeth. “I walked in your front door with her.”
“So did Dean.” Tommy looked to Jon for a response, but got none. “She told me she was on the beach.” His eyebrows rose, then he smirked. Jon’s silence confirmed his suspicions. She was a bit out of sorts that night and it finally made sense.
Dominic rolled his eyes. “Tommy, what did you turn her into?”
“The perfect chick.” Tommy smirked. “Wish I could find one like that.”
Voices came from the hall and Jon stood. “Metal Fuckers in Hell are here.” He sighed. “I’m still not sure if that name is gonna fly out there, but it is pretty cool.”
“I like it,” Tommy added, and then followed Jon back into the main room.
Dominic sat down in Jon’s chair. The worst thing about parting ways with Gina was, he really liked her as a person. She was a single mom, and sometimes he helped her out financially, even though she protested. He debated on whether or not to give her money just in case when he finally ended it.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Bethany, was sweet, yet rebellious. He would miss her, too. She reminded him so much of… Looking at her was too painful to bear most days.
He took out his phone and called Gina, intent on meeting her and just saying it. Just after she answered, he told her, “I’m about to leave the studio. Can we meet tonight? We need to talk about something.”
She cheerily replied, “Of course. See you later.” She knew he hated to talk on the phone.
“OK.” He ended the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket. That was not how he wanted her to react; happy. “Fuck!”
Tommy heard Dominic shout while he was in the hall and peeked in the room. “Dude, anything I can do?” The furious look on his friend’s face made him step into the room. “Need to talk?”
Dominic opened the book and handed it to Tommy without a word.
A bit confused, Tommy took the book and glanced at it. “You want me to read it?” A nod told him yes. He leaned on the wall and was shocked to read the lyrics.
How can I go on living this lie?
Every day I wake up and wonder why.
There’s something I need to say to you.
It’s killing me to do this to you
I’m smothering within your hold
You really need to let me go
There’s no hope for this to last
Hurry baby, I’m fading fast
I’m torn up inside
There’s no place to hide
No one can say that I haven’t tried.
It’s time that I go
So you need to know
I should have done this so long ago.
I can’t take anymore.
This is the end.
I can’t be the one to say goodbye.
If I ever hurt you, I’d want to die.
Please understand this is hard as hell
When I’m with you it’s like I’m in a cell
What the fuck do you want from me?
One day you’ll be glad I set you free.
If you only knew my heart was black.
You’d run away and never look back.
“Damn, you’re finally ready?” The emotion in the words amazed Tommy. “This is how you wanna do it? You sure?”
Dominic exhaled loudly and put his hands over his eyes. “I’m not sure of anything. But I gotta do this. I can’t take anymore, Tom. I don’t want her.”
“Yeah, you want Noelle.” Tommy grinned. “She is hotter.”
With a sigh, Dominic replied, “True, but that’s not why I’m into her. She just gets me. I feel so different with her.”
“So ‘You’re the One’ is about Noelle?” Tommy had a feeling. “I thought maybe you were confused.” He took a breath, thinking. “How’re you gonna get her to listen to it?”
Dominic realized how cruel it was. “Never mind. It’s a stupid idea.” He paused. “Can you say you wrote it?”
“What the fuck? No one would believe I wrote this.” He shook the book at Dominic. “You need to do something about her, or it’s gonna be too late.”
Nodding, Dominic agreed. “I know. I just don’t know how. I don’t wanna hurt her.”
“I can see that.” Tommy reread the song. “This says it all.” He looked up. “Just show it to her. She’ll cry, but I bet she’ll leave.” He waited for a response, but got none. “Does Noelle know?”
“Know what?”
“About Claire and Annabeth?”
“No.”
Tommy’s eyebrows rose. “No? Then how do you know she’ll be OK with it?” He didn’t understand why he told no one abou
t the accident.
“I almost did the other night.” Images of waking up to Noelle filled his mind. “She let me cry,” he whispered. “I broke down when she touched me like Claire used to.”
“Gina never touches you? What the fuck? What’s the point?”
Dominic groaned loudly. “I didn’t say that! I meant… Like… She was being affectionate... ran her fingers through my hair, like… It brought it all back.” He bit his lip and closed his eyes, hoping he didn’t embarrass himself with tears again. “She just held me and didn’t ask. Gina pesters me sometimes and gets mad when I pull away from a tender touch. With Noelle, I want it. I want more.”
“So go for it!” Tommy was getting excited for him. That meant he would finally move on. “Drop Gina and go after Noelle.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Dominic wiped at a stray tear. “She keeps saying no… Well, not exactly no, but making excuses and pushing me away afterwards.” He looked away. “I want her anyway.”
“Nice. You fucked her a few times. Bet she has a tight-ass pussy.” A huge grin on his face, Dominic didn’t have to answer. “She does. Damn, why didn’t I meet her first?”
“You have Crystal,” Dominic teased and winked.
Tommy’s mouth dropped. Did he know? “Why do you say that?”
“I talked to Giovanni. I got the gist that you’re still fucking her. As long as he’s OK with it, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Just be careful. You do have a heart, even if you think you don’t. She’s just the chick to break it, too.”
Rolling his eyes, Tommy didn’t believe that. He was in lust with her. It wasn’t remotely love. All he wanted was sex from her. Maybe a bit of cuddling sometimes, but that wasn’t love. If he loved her, he would get jealous of Giovanni. He wasn’t exactly jealous, just envious. Not the same thing, right?
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