Infamy (RiffRaff Records Book 3)

by L. P. Maxa

  Better for me and the kid if I went at it alone. No disappointment, no heartbreak. My baby would be loved. That child would be surrounded by so much family and affection it wouldn’t know what to do with it all.

  The glass door to the shower opened and Brody took the soapy loofa out of my hand. “Turn.”

  I spun around, giving him my back. He scrubbed until my whole body was covered in suds and then he turned me so the water would rinse me clean. I grinned. “Thank you.”

  “My cum, my responsibility.” He winked and then shut the door.

  I stood in the shower, stock still, silently freaking out. Did he know? There was no way he knew. Right? I mean this was Brody we were talking about. He was young. He was wild and crazy. He knew drums, waves, and Sativa hybrids. I ran my hand over my still flat stomach. I wouldn’t show for months. I shook my head and turned off the water. There was no way he’d connect me throwing up with me being pregnant. I was being paranoid and I needed to lock that shit down.

  Chapter Four

  Brody

  “You missed some killer breaks this morning.”

  I walked into the small beach house I shared with the rest of my band and dropped my keys on the coffee table among the assortment of glass pipes. Weed and waves, the second-best way to start the morning. “Landry got home yesterday so I stayed there last night.”

  Talon, our lead guitarist and my best friend since elementary school, sent me a shit-eating grin. “Giving up some sick surf for more time with the chick? You’re in pretty deep with this one, bro.”

  Talon and I had been friends ever since some five-year-old punk called us girls because we wore our hair longer than the norm. After we kicked his little ass, there was nothing T wouldn’t do to cover my ass, and visa versa. Which meant he was all but obligated to give me hell about spending so much time with Landry.

  I wasn’t a fuck boy, not by a long shot. I loved women. I enjoyed women. But I didn’t normally keep the same one around for weeks at a time, nor did I relish missing my morning surf. I liked waking up at home. I like hitting the water and then the pipe. But there was no use denying it, I found myself liking Landry more. “Landry is epic, man. She’s the coolest chick I’ve ever met.”

  “No doubt, she’s a dime.” Talon handed me his smoke and I collapsed down beside him on the raggedy couch that came with the house. “What are you going to do when we head out on the road? She was away for a week and I swear your damn cell was glued to your hand the entire time.”

  When Landry was home visiting her family, we’d texted constantly. At first it had been downright dirty sexting. But then, somewhere over the week she was gone things had taken a turn. I found myself genuinely wanting to know about her day. I wanted to know what she was doing and if she was okay. I missed her.

  I shrugged, letting out a defeated sigh while using my free hand to push back my messy hair. “I really like her, man.”

  “If any chick out there is going to understand life on the road, it’s Landry. Her dad is the Jacks Cole. Her uncles are just as fucking famous. They’re the Devil’s Share, bro. She gets the rock lifestyle, yeah?”

  I took a deep drag before passing his piece back. “I think all the articles out there about her dad and her uncles fucking their way across the United States actually kind of hurts my case here.” Not that I’d asked her to be my girlfriend or anything. Landry was a little over five years older than me, and a damn surgeon. She was hella smart and sexy as fuck. As much as I hated the thought, the second our bus pulled out of the drive she’d be swept off her feet by someone way better suited for her than me.

  I was a fling.

  A rush.

  A good time.

  And I was more than fine with that. To everything there is a season and all that shit.

  “You dig her though.”

  I crossed my arms, grinning at the thought of how much I did in fact “dig” her. “What’s not to like? She’s smart and gorgeous and sassy. She’s a wildcat in bed.” He raised an eyebrow but stayed silent, so I felt compelled to continue. “I don’t know, man, there is just something about her, ya know? From the moment I met her I knew she was going to matter to me. I feel like maybe she’s changed my story somehow. Like, my life will never be the same from having her in it, and I’ll miss her when she’s gone.”

  “You in love, man?” T’s eyes went a little wide.

  I snorted. “Of course not.” I shrugged, looking down at the braided rug under my feet. “It’s not like that. We aren’t meant for forever, her and me. It’s—well…she’s special. And she’ll always mean something to me.”

  The night we met, I’d spotted Landry way before she’d noticed me. She’d walked in with Luke and Harlow Matthews, our record label’s owners, wearing faded jeans that fit her tight body like a second skin, her vintage Devil’s Share shirt hanging off one shoulder. Her hair was wild, blowing in the breeze. She didn’t fuss with it like most chicks would have, and instantly I’d wanted to know her.

  That show was crazy. It amped me up more than usual since I juiced from the crowd’s energy; and they were riotous that night. Their excitement was like a drug, something palpable.

  After every insane thing I did, after every hit off the crowd, I looked for her. And each time her gaze met mine, there was amusement in her eyes, and intrigue. She’d wanted to know me too.

  “She’s going to break your heart, bro.”

  I nodded. “Probably.” We were both silent for another few minutes, before I quashed the heavy. “Where are the boys?”

  “Dane and Brax are still down at the shore. They picked up a couple of tourists while macking.” Talon leaned forward, part of his sandy hair coming out of the knot at the back of his neck. He and I looked a lot alike. People mistook us for brothers all the time. The only difference—his eyes were so dark they were almost black. And he was two inches taller than me. “You hungry?”

  “Fuck yeah, I didn’t eat breakfast. I’m starving, man.” And I was. I liked sex. Hell, I fucking loved it. I was great at it, by the way. But sex with Landry? That was like a full-body workout. She liked it hard, and she liked it often. She was full of kink and attitude and she kept me on my toes. I didn’t want her getting bored. Not yet anyway. Like I’d told her, I wanted her writhing under me for the next two months.

  “I offered to make Landry some eggs. I was going to make one of those fancy-looking omelets you’re so good at, but then she started throwing up.” Talon loved to cook. I got him an apron that said Kiss the Cock for Christmas last year. His overly rich parents always had a chef on staff, so he’d learned from the actual best.

  Talon jumped over the couch and backed away from me. “Stay the hell away, bro. Is she sick? Did she give you the flu? Did she pick up some weird disease from the hospital?”

  I flew across the room and wrapped my arms around him, tackling him to the ground and kissing his cheeks. Talon was a bit of a germophobe. No one liked getting sick, but Talon hated it.

  “Stop. Stop. Fuck dude, I don’t want the swine flu. Keep your hot girl’s germs the fuck away from me.” He managed to wiggle out of my grip and make his way to the kitchen, putting the large concrete island between us.

  Once I recovered from cracking up, I straightened, grabbing my side. “She’s fine, ya weirdo.” I went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice.

  Talon slapped it out of my hand when I pretended like I was going to drink straight from the carton. “Get a glass, you bacteria-riddled animal.”

  I sat at the counter, watching while my best friend got out the fixings to make me a four-star breakfast. “She was fiiine last night, and she was fiiine this morning. We fucked like savages.” I waggled my eyebrows. “Then she got kind of pale and puked.” I rolled my eyes when he got the Lysol out from the cabinet under the sink. “She was feeling good again when I left her place.” I coughed as he disinfected the air around me.

  He stopped spraying, cocking his head to the side. “Shit, like morning sickne
ss? Did you knock her up, bro?” Talon’s eyes went wide, wider than minutes ago when he thought I might have fallen in love. He put the Lysol back under the sink and then reached up and pulled a bottle of tequila out and sat it on the counter in front of me.

  I chuckled and shoved the alcohol away. I liked a good shot as much as the next guy, but it was nine in the fuckin’ morning. “I didn’t knock her up.”

  T leaned against the side of the counter by the stove, studying me while he whipped eggs in a giant stainless steel bowl. “If I had been romping like rabbits with some chick for over three weeks and she puked for no damn reason, I’d be freaking the hell out.”

  “That’s because you’re fucking crazy, man. There are literally hundreds of other reasons that Landry could have thrown up this morning.” I held my hand out in front of me, dry humping the air. “Maybe I nailed her so good I jostled something loose.”

  “Yeah, like your fetus.”

  I snorted as I hopped down off the counter. “Nah man, she was sick while she was home visiting her folks. It’s left over from her trip. I’m going to go grab a shower while you finish up this exquisite meal.”

  “You should stop running away from your problems.”

  I shook my head as I walked away. “I have no problems, T. My life is fucking GOLDEN.” And it was. I lived within walking distance of the ocean. My band was about to go on its first headlining tour. We were signed with RiffRaff Records, which was the crème de la crème. And I was fucking Landry Cole, rock royalty and a sexy surgeon. She was gorgeous and sassy and not pregnant.

  Fucking. Golden.

  I stripped out of my clothes, catching my reflection in the mirror while I bent down to turn on the water. I had nail marks on my back. I reached around, touching them lightly. My dick twitched in response.

  Landry was unlike anyone I’d ever met. I knew I was a toy to her, but I’d take what I could get.

  Chapter Five

  Landry

  “Morning” sickness was a damn lie. I knew that. I was a doctor, a surgeon. I’d done my fair share of rotations in OB. I knew that morning sickness could last all day. That didn’t make surviving it any easier, though. Knowing what was coming didn’t make it any easier to hide from my colleagues. I had to walk normally to the bathroom, not run. Once I’d barely made it and ended up puking all over the floor. I’d cleaned it the best I could and then called housekeeping to let them know a patient had gotten sick in the restroom.

  The only saving grace was that I didn’t normally see Travis, my ex, around the hospital. He was a cardiothoracic surgeon and I’d chosen general. Also, he tended to put some effort into avoiding me since I’d caught him having sex with the plastics Barbie in one of the on-call rooms. I laid my hand on my stomach, silently praying that this baby wasn’t his. Hindsight was 20/20 and Travis was an asshole. His ego was way bigger than his dick, and he was a stuck-up wuss.

  I’d never brought him home, and I’d never introduced him to my family. I knew they would have hated him. Travis wouldn’t have survived a trip to the Devil’s Share compound. He was my family’s least favorite kind of person. Full of himself and pretentious. He drank a lot of expensive wine and spent too much money on shitty art.

  Why had I dated him in the first place? I couldn’t really say. He was a great surgeon, talented and confident in the OR. And, if I had to think on it, which I tried not to do since dumping him had felt so good, I was pretty sure the brilliant surgeon thing had a lot to do with it.

  I pulled my cell out of my lab coat pocket when it started to vibrate, having to move aside pens and a couple alcohol swabs to find it. “Dr. Cole,” I answered briskly, trying not to sound like I wanted to hurl again.

  “How you feeling, baby cakes?”

  I smiled while moving into a small alcove to talk to Brody. “A little sore if I’m being completely honest.” I knew he meant the puking he’d seen that morning. But I also knew that averting his attention to sex would keep me from having to lie.

  “That’s what happens when you go a week without me.” He laughed quietly on the other end of the line. “Want me to come up to the hospital and kiss it better?”

  I did. I really fucking did. “I wish. I’m on my way to scrub in for an appendectomy though.”

  “What time you done today?”

  Brody was an open book, so easy to read. I could tell that he was grinning just by the sound of his voice. I knew he was horny by the slight rasp in his tone, images of him kissing me where I hurt dancing in his head no doubt. “Seven. I have another five hours to go.” I worked a twelve-hour shift today. I still had about half of it to go, and I was feeling drained. I was going to have to sneak in a nap if I was going to make it through. This first trimester stuff was for the birds.

  “We have the studio until ten. RiffRaff wants us practicing every day until we leave.”

  I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. “Uncle Smith is a slave driver, I tell you.” My aunts and uncles remained involved in the day to day of running the label, even though they had plenty of employees. RiffRaff Records was a reflection of them, and they hadn’t been able to give up the reins.

  “You want to come over? Meet me at the house after practice?”

  Meet him at his house at ten tonight? Yeah, there was no way I’d be able to stay awake that long. Plus, I bet his house smelled like bong water and stale beer. “I work another twelve tomorrow. Why don’t you come to my place when you’re done? I’ll leave a key under the mat.”

  “Landry Cole. Are you giving me a key to your apartment?” He let out a deep sigh. “I think things are getting too serious between us. I need to take a step back.”

  I shook my head at the game he was playing. “Suit yourself, lame ass pussy.” I paused for dramatic effect. “If you don’t want to come home to a naked chick…” Purposely, I let the image dangle.

  “I changed my mind, there’s no such thing as too serious.”

  “Well, if you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. I’ll see you tonight, baby cakes.”

  “Bye.” I hung up and put my cell back in my crowded pocket. I was smiling. I bit my lips together to try to get my crazy happy under control.

  Brody had landed in my life like a meteor. I’d gone to a concert, only looking to have a night off and spend time with my favorite uncle. Best laid plans, and all that.

  I couldn’t deny there was something about Brody. Something that pulled me in; he was like a magnet. I’d watched him all night. Glued to his antics. I wanted to see every smirk, every carefree laugh. I wanted to know what made him so exultant, what made him shine so bright.

  He radiated life. He was like a beacon, a lighthouse. I was mesmerized from the start.

  I put my hand to my stomach again as I turned the corner, pushing open the double doors that led to the OR. If this was Brody’s baby, I’d hit the genetic jackpot. He was gorgeous, honest and kind; he was hilarious and he lived life. He really lived. No bullshit or trying to look the part. He was simply who he was.

  Brody had been born with a special spark. Maybe he’d pass that spark down to the baby.

  Enough. I needed to shove all thoughts of Brody and the baby out of my brain. The OR was the perfect place for that to happen. I’d been trained to focus to the exclusion of everything else, and I took my job seriously. Right now, the patient was paramount. There was no room in the operating theater for my worries, hopes, or dreams.

  ***

  I collapsed on my couch. After twelve hours at the hospital, I felt like I was seconds away from passing out. All day, I’d needed to eat constantly, munching on crackers from the vending machine and sipping ginger ale out of my Yeti tumbler. I’d had to hide all my snacking and fluids. Crackers and bubbly drinks screamed “pregnant.” And, hello. I was around medical professionals all day. I had a few friends at the hospital, a couple doctors that I’d gone through residency with, but no one I was really close to. I didn’t have one friend in Florida I could call up to sho
ot the shit. Medical school had been grueling, my residency cutthroat and exhausting. I barely had time to keep up with my large family, and now Brody, let alone anyone else.

  I worked long hours and a lot of days. Typically, when I got home, I wanted peace and quiet. Now, when I got home, I craved Brody. It was a cliché thing to say, but no doubt, that man had ruined me for all other men. Not that it mattered. Once Brody left, my life would revolve around my baby.

  Speaking of this secret child growing in my womb, I winced as I removed my navy blue scrub top, trying like hell to keep it from touching my oversensitive breasts. Once I tossed it across the living room, toward the smaller space that held my washer and dryer, I removed my bra as well. I nearly cried with how much the weight of my boobs hurt.

  Fuck you very much, first trimester.

  I leaned back against my couch cushions, too beat to even try to make it the short distance to my bed. I’d barely closed my eyes when my cell started to vibrate on the glass and steel coffee table. I watched it for a good ten seconds as it moved closer and closer to the edge. I held my hand out and caught when it fell, pulling a blanket over myself when I realized it was FaceTime.

  I clicked accept, smiling when both Halen and Beau came on the screen. They were basically cheek-to-cheek. “You two are nauseating.” I wrinkled my nose then winked. They knew I was their biggest fan. I was so incredibly pumped for my little brother and the love of his life. They’d come clean to our parents and were finally able to get their happily ever after.

  Beau smirked. “Nah, that’s just the pregnancy hormones.”

  “Funny.” I lay back down and rested my cell on my chest, careful not to have it press on my breasts. “What are you two lovebirds up to tonight?” Once Brody left on tour and I was massively pregnant, I’d live vicariously through my brother, and all my cousins. There were plenty of them, that was for damn sure.