Music, Ink, and Love

by Jude Ouvrard

  I closed the website and prepared to show her the flights I had found. “No problem, baby. Here, take a look. I found a good deal.”

  She removed her towel and sat on my lap, naked, and I almost lost my freaking mind. “Oh yeah, that’s the cheapest rate I’ve seen and the departure time is good too. Can you book them?”

  I nodded, grabbed my wallet from the nightstand and paid for our weekend getaway. I sighed, still not sure about Brian, not sure about trusting him.

  After that, I set my laptop aside and caressed the curves I craved. We fooled around for an hour without really doing anything. We cuddled, tickled, kissed and relaxed into each other’s arms.

  “I love you, Nix.” I hadn’t said those words enough lately. “You drive me crazy.” I held her against me, wanting more.

  “I have to get to school, babe. I hate to be the party-pooper, but I have to get dressed.”

  “You suck.” I joked.

  “I do and you never complained about it before.” She teased.

  I laughed loudly, but hated the sensation in my boxers. I wasn’t getting any of this now.

  She got up and reached her dresser. My eyes stared at her body, her curves and I enjoyed watching her getting ready. At last, I put on my jeans and t-shirt and drove her to class.

  Beauty, my Harley, had missed me, and I her. Her motor groaned and Nix interlaced her fingers on my stomach. It reminded me of our road trip. That was the best damn trip of my life. My ass hurt from all the hours sitting on Beauty, but I spent all of those hours with Nix and that was priceless.

  After dropping her off, I rode around town only to end up at my mother’s favorite spot. This place calmed me, reminded me of my mother and I missed her a lot recently. Her advice would have been grandly welcome. How to make my fiancée happy, my mom would have known. I sat there and enjoyed the scenery, the beautiful view and the sound of nature.

  Deep inside of me, I had no doubts I had the potential of making Nix happy, but with the appearance of her father last weekend, she changed and I found it hard to deal with. She used to be so free and funny that seeing her now so lost in her thoughts scared me. Brian affected her more than she was letting me know. In my heart, I vowed to try harder, try understanding how she felt better. If it meant that I had to ask more questions, then, I was going to do it.

  I looked at my phone and realized I had been sitting here for already two hours. My stomach growled, I was famished. Nix had a break between classes and bringing her lunch was exactly what I had to do. A surprise visit had to be something girls liked, right?

  “I’m happy to see you here, baby.” She hugged me and it never felt better. This was only the beginning. Her arms caressed my back and my muscles tightened. Thinking about my muscles, I had to hit the gym or go for a run. I was becoming lazy.

  “I wanted to surprise you, and I didn’t want to eat alone.”

  “Kyle’s not at the shop?” She asked, surprised. Kyle never spent too much time outside of the shop. It seemed to be his version of a home.

  “I didn’t even go to the shop yet. I went for a ride on Beauty and ended up at my mother’s place.”

  She looked at me, her eyes seeing through me, studying me. “Are you okay?”

  “I am.” I smiled. “I worry that I’m not doing enough for you, but I’m here now and I’m okay.” What the hell was that? I should’ve kept my I-worry-like-pussy shit to myself. She didn’t need to know about my little insecurities. I had to be strong for her, support her, not the other way around.

  “You are, baby. Come here.” With her fingers, she lowered my chin for our lips to meet. “We’re all good, Lev.” And she kissed me and, damn, was it good? I knew that twenty or thirty years from now, I would still love and desire her. Everything about her was setting me on fire.

  “I got you a salad and grilled chicken sandwich, I hope you’re hungry.” I didn’t know why, but hungry sounded much more erotic than needed. Was I hungry for her? Probably.

  “As a matter of a fact, I am very hungry.” She played the game, putting emphasis on hungry. How did I get so lucky? I must have been staring at her like a lion hunting a zebra because she started laughing erratically and pushed me away. “Not here, silly.” Nix interlaced her fingers with my free hand and cuddled next to me. “Come on, testosterone, I’m starving.”

  We sat together in a quiet area of the cafeteria. I ate a bit, but I was too busy staring at her. I couldn’t even understand why I acted that way. I was acting like a predator.

  “I know it’s not a hamburger, Levi, but you have to eat more than that.” She smirked.

  “I have to stop eating junk all the fucking time. This is good, at least.”

  I ate everything and finished her sandwich. I had to get to work for my afternoon client and Nix had to get back to class.

  “Are you looking forward to the weekend?” She asked, referring to meeting her father again.

  The weekend scared me to death. I didn’t know what to expect or what he had in mind. He had a band, so I presumed he was going to take her to a concert since it seemed like something they had in common. “I don’t know, Nix. If you are happy to go, then I am too, but I honestly don’t know how and what I should feel about him.”

  “You don’t like him?” She asked void of all emotions. “I won’t judge your opinion; I want to know what you think of him.”

  I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to find a way to tell her something I had no idea how to say. Sometimes emotions were a lot harder to communicate than I wished. “Before I knew he was your father, I thought he was a cool guy. He came to us as soon as we got to our stations. He helped us out, he seemed like a genuine good man.” I said honestly.

  “But?”

  “I don’t know, Nix. You looked so terrified and panicked when I saw you with him. I just wanted to get you in my arms and take you far from him. Did he ask you to sing? Brian seemed very excited about the fact that both of you like to sing. I don’t know. To me, it appeared like he came into your life with a strong impact. Like a bullet. We just need to deal with it. Whatever you decide to do after San Francisco, I’ll be on your side.”

  “I don’t know. I think I’m willing to give him a chance.”

  I felt unsure about it, but... “Then, I will too.”

  Nix had to get back to class and I didn’t want to look like I was moping around but damn, I wanted her by my side. I loved when she used to come to work with me. We both had fun. Even Kyle liked having her around. She helped with the daily tasks and even though she could be shy at times around the clients, she goofed around with us like we had known each other for years.

  “Don’t be like that, wimp.” She laughed and pushed me against the wall.

  “Did you just call me a wimp? The man you agreed to marry? Shouldn’t you say babe, baby, guardian angel or love of my life? But wimp? Really?”

  Her face had turned red, but not because she was embarrassed, because she was laughing too hard.

  “I love my tattooed wimp.” The word wimp irritated the hell out of me, but coming from her mouth, it was cute in a Nix kind of way.

  “And I love my future bridezilla.” If at least love covered how much she meant to me.

  “We have to set a date soon, wimp.” She punched my chest playfully.

  “I thought you had planned everything already, bridezilla.” I imprisoned her face into my hands and remembered where we were, in the hall of her University. I didn’t care one bit. My lips crashed against hers, I pulled her to me, feeling our bodies warming up and connecting. I thought I heard a small moan escaped her mouth, I took it as my queue to make her want me desperately throughout her afternoon classes. I kissed her until the tension became unbearable and pulled away. “And you call me a wimp.” My hand slid from her face, down the side of her breast and followed the curve of her inked ribs to her sweet, perfectly shaped ass. “Can you handle it? Me? I know and you know you want it, babe. But we can’t.” I gave her a chaste kiss, pulled away befor
e I gave her my heartbreaking grin, the one I normally saved to seduce a girl. “I’ll see you later, sweetie.” Levi the fucking player, I felt like screaming it out loud.

  Her face fell, her lips forming an ‘O’. She was going to say something, but she was left frustrated and speechless.

  I entered the shop feeling like Peter Parker when he was possessed by Venom. Feeling on top of my game, powerful and cool. While Nix probably sat on a hard wooden chair watching every minute pass thinking about me. I laughed out loud.

  “Are you drunk, Munroe?”

  I laughed even more. “No, I’m just enjoying my momentum. I gave Nix something to think about while she’s in class.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I kind of miss the old Levi. The one who didn’t give a fuck about all that romance shit. The one who tattooed for a living.”

  “Hey, K. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  He pulled a chair, next to my station. “You’re never here anymore and when you are, you have these red flashy hearts popping out of your eyes like you got hypnotized by some dick vultures.”

  I tried hard not to laugh. “Dick vultures? Seriously, K.”

  “When you two are together, you are undressing her, repeatedly, with your eyes, you drool all over the fucking floor and she is definitely loving it. I’m just saying, dude... You are pussy-whipped and she’s a fucking dick vulture.” He smiled proud of his speech.

  “Maybe you should keep your eyes open. You look like you might be in need of some vultures. You know, get some action below the belt, and I’m not talking about getting a doctor check-up because your piercing got infected again.”

  “Shut up, it only happened once.”

  “Twice. Not that I want to think about your dick... but the first time, you actually showed it to me and the second time, I drove you to the hospital myself.” I laughed. “You can’t go bare with that shit, you need one or two layers of rubber.”

  We could go on and on. Just being guys, spitting each other’s shit in our faces.

  Chapter FIVE

  The week had been dragging and dragging. Work kept me busy, but the closer we got to the weekend, the more Nix became restless. Seeing Brian had to play games with her mind. She kept having weird dreams, talking in her sleep and she kicked me a couple of times too.

  Phoenix insisted on packing our clothes last night after her shift at the club. I had no idea what she had brought for me, not that I was difficult anyway. In her own words, it calmed her down to focus on something. Fuck, I felt like she was on her way to making the biggest mistake of her life and yet, I couldn’t stop her. I couldn’t forbid her to meet her father again.

  We’d landed in San Francisco two hours ago. Our luggage was in our hotel room. Nix took a quick shower before leaving again. The room was great. I mean, if it wasn’t for Brian, maybe I would have enjoyed being here.

  We had to meet Brian at 8pm in a bar. Like I thought, he was going to perform with his band and he wanted us to meet him there. We had one more hour before meeting him so I opted for a nice restaurant. I also had a surprise for my girl, in the hope of brightening her day.

  “Would you like something to drink, babe? Wine, beer?”

  “I’ll have what you have.” She half smiled. Her body was tense and she kept shuddering. Nix was so nervous that it was starting to make her weak.

  I ordered two beers and two plates of grilled chicken with rice and salads. Grilled chicken seemed to be a favorite of hers so I thought I played safe.

  Of course when we got our meal, it resembled more of a mountain than an actual dinner. There was no way Nix would eat more than half of it. Throughout the meal, she smiled and seemed happy.

  “Do you want to walk around the city tomorrow? I’ve never been here and it looks like a great city.”

  I nodded, she was already thinking about tomorrow when my head couldn’t even process anything after tonight. Maybe I was the nervous one after all. Chill the fuck out, Levi.

  “Do you want dessert?”

  She chuckled. “Baby, I didn’t even finish my plate.”

  “So what? You can eat cake if you want. Screw the rules.”

  She started laughing louder. “You see? I don’t even see my mother anymore and her rules are still haunting me. How fucked up is that?” She sighed. “Okay, I’ll have chocolate cake, if they have any.”

  “Do you know a restaurant that doesn’t have chocolate cake on their dessert menu? It’s a classic, come on. I’ll take a piece of lemon pie.” I wasn’t really a fan of dessert, but I knew Nix was so I wasn’t going to let her eat her cake alone, right?

  We ate silently, and ten minutes later we were outside the restaurant, walking hand in hand toward the address Brian has given us.

  The bar was huge. There was a large black stage with few couches facing it. Brian was nowhere to be seen. Nix had the habit of hanging out in loud places like this since she was working in a club. She walked through the crowd and found a place for us to sit. My hand searched for hers, I needed the connection and wanted to let her know I was there for her. My biggest worry had to be seeing her hurt.

  “He should be here soon. He said he would.” She said, not realizing the doubt resonating in her voice. He said he would, she held on to his words.

  “Do you want something to drink?” I offered her because I sure as hell was thirsty.

  She nodded looking through the crowds, trying to find him. “A Jack, no ice and hum... make it a double.”

  I waited for her to look at me or do something before I went fetch the drinks but nothing, she only focused on finding him and I thought it sucked.

  I got up, turned around without looking back and got our drinks. This bar wasn’t really the type of place where I would hang out on a regular basis. The crowd seemed a little older too.

  “Hey, man. I’ll have a beer and two double Jacks, no ice.”

  My mind was fucking yelling at me, throwing me rocks so I would wake the fuck up. Something was off about tonight. I feared that something wrong was going to happen and it completely confused the crap out of me.

  The bartender gave me the drinks and my beer. I drained one of the Jacks, felt the burn down my throat and slammed the glass on the counter. Fuck it, I had to protect my fiancée. I grabbed the beer and her JD and hurried back to Nix.

  Shit, I muttered.

  Brian stood by her with proud smile on his face while Phoenix looked nervous as fuck. A tall young tattooed guy shook her hand. He held drum sticks into his other hand so I knew he was the drummer of Brian’s band. He approached her and kissed both of her cheeks. Really?

  “Hey, Rock Star.” She took her glass and emptied half of it.

  “Meet my fiancé, Levi. Levi, this is Alexander, the drummer.”

  He stepped back and I offered to shake hands. Yeah, I’m the fiancé, so back off.

  Next thing, I saw was Nix drinking the remaining of her JD.

  “They want me so sing with them.” She told me in front of all the bandmates.

  “Okay, and what did you say?” I tried reading into her eyes, to see any signals she could give me. Did she want this or not?

  She sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t really like the crowd.”

  “She told me she sings too so let’s give her some space on the stage, guys. This is going to rock. Come here, Nix.” Brian praised her, trying to convince her. Dick move coming from her father.

  She blushed, and looked embarrassed. “I don’t know. I could try but it really isn’t my thing. I love to sing but in my bedroom or in the shower. Crowds freak me out royally.”

  The band eventually had to go on stage and I felt her body relaxed as soon as they left.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Maybe.” Not the answer I was hoping for.

  The background music quiet down and Brian took his place in the middle of the stage. The other guys stood behind them holding a bass and a guitar. Alexander sat behind his drum set, stretching his fingers and arms, cracked his n
eck. Was he a MMA fighter or drummer?

  Without introducing the band, they started with a song, probably one of theirs because I had never heard it before. The people in the bar all started applauding and cheering. It surprised me. Were they San Francisco’s best underground rock band or what?

  Nix sat back into the couch and leaned against me. “Thanks. I thought you were going to punch Alexander in the face.”

  I laughed. “I sure thought about it.” Why did he kiss her anyway?

  She smiled and that made my night.

  “Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce my band. We’re the Old Rockers’ band.” And the crowd screamed louder than I thought possible. “Someone special is here tonight. Someone I lost many years ago. I made a mistake and never had the chance to go back on my decision. I was young and scared. I enrolled in the army, defended our country while I had a daughter growing up somewhere in America. We met for the first time last week and I now have the pleasure to have her here. Phoenix, come here.”

  I felt her whole body freeze up.

  “Come on, we won’t eat ya.” He laughed.

  She squeezed my hand, kissed my cheek and met him on stage. She waved at the crowd and, for the first time, I saw pride in her. Brian had given her quite an introduction.

  “This girl here has the potential of becoming the next music star. She has the voice of an angel and the talent of any Grammy winners out there. Phoenix is not really crowd friendly so we may not hear her tonight. I’m just happy she’s here.”

  Some of the spectators started calling Phoenix’s name and I thought she was going to pass out. Brian introduced her as if he knew or had heard her before. I hated the lies.

  Brian motioned to his band to start the next song. Nix stayed on the stage, but a little on the side. She looked at the band and at me. Her eyes balancing between me and the band. She followed to the beat, swinging her head to the music. She looked fine and that made it easier on me.

  After a couple of songs, they all went backstage, even Nix, and left me there alone like an idiot. For a moment, I thought about going backstage with Nix but then I remembered that she had to talk to him, to be on her own. My beer bottle was empty and I had gotten thirsty so I went back to get another beer. When I returned to my place, Nix was waiting for me, her face lit up. She was giggling and excited about something, it appeared. I had never seen her like this before. Her blue eyes were different and everything about her was just odd.