I felt self-conscious and blushed as all the guys’ attention seemed to be focused on me. I was the only female, and if I was being totally honest, I felt a little exposed. “Wine please.”
He wasn’t looking at me, but when he turned around, he produced an oversized plastic tumbler, which was almost three-quarters full, and sat facing me. “Jeez, Alfie, are you trying to get me drunk?”
He grinned wickedly. ”Only enough to get into your panties.” He smirked, and the other guys laughed out loud. I blushed, and felt that Alfie’s remark wasn’t said entirely in jest.
One of the guys sitting in the back walked past us, and the others were still staring at me. He pulled a beer from the cooler and came back, stopping beside me.
“Drew, pleased to meet you, Lily. Is that a London accent?” Drew was charming and almost as hot looking as Alfie. He was taller than Alfie, but just as muscularly toned, with a strong angular jaw and fabulous gray eyes. His hair was dark brown in color and mussed in just the right way.
He seemed a pretty laid-back guy, and as he spoke, I couldn’t help but notice his perfect white teeth framed by a luscious mouth. When I looked closely at all the guys, they were collectively a great looking band.
We chatted for a few minutes, and I warmed to him. He was really easy to talk to. I was aware that Alfie was studying us, his beer bottle almost stuck to his lips, but not really drinking it, and his eyes had narrowed. I wondered what he was thinking at that moment. He cleared his throat and clunked his beer bottle noisily on the table.
“Okay Drew, enough. Get your own girl.” I blushed, and Drew quickly disappeared to the back again. I looked awkwardly at Alfie.
“Were we making you jealous, Alfie?” He held my gaze and smirked, but it didn’t quite change the annoyance in his eyes, before he moved away and kicked his boots off.
He noticed me watching him. “Just making myself more comfortable, it’s a couple of hours ride, maybe we can get to know each other a little better.” I blushed crimson, thinking this was an inference to his intimate knowledge of me already, or another of his games.
My eyes flicked nervously at the other guys, one of whom continued to watch me. Alfie’s eyes widened, realizing what I thought and smirked. He leaned into my ear, and whispered, “Sorry, honey, I didn’t mean anything by it. I meant life for you before Florida.” He was smirking now. “You’re too cute… though, I like the way your mind works.” He winked at me.
I began to relax and told him about my life, the past few years of it anyway; my dad being a helicopter pilot, my mom a paediatrician, some stuff about my close family, and that I was an only child. Then some of the things I’d done before college, mainly the work in India and England with kids before coming to Florida.
The look on his face was one of admiration. “Dang, you’ve done some profound stuff in your short life already. So now it’s your music? I heard you sing a little. Your voice is sweet, but there’s a bit of grit in it, unique sounding. Would you sing with me sometime?”
I couldn’t see why he would possibly want to sing with me. His voice was incredibly sexy from what I’d heard during our limited time on the lawn. “I’m not bullshitting you, Lily.
“I want to try some stuff I’ve been working on with you.” I should have been flattered, but I was suspicious that this could be another one of his attempts to string me along.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable singing with you Alfie.” His eyes went wide.
“Sure you would, once you were comfortable with the arrangement.” I felt a little peeved that he dismissed my opinion so freely. He had no interest in finding out what my concerns were about us collaborating.
“Okay, your turn,” I said as cheerily as possible. I wanted to try to get him to open up to me, and I also wanted to try to get to the bottom of his relationship with the girl on campus. She intrigued me too much. What was it about her that had him so wrapped up in her?
As soon as I began to probe about his life, he ran his hand through his hair. “Just a minute, refill,” he said, shaking his empty beer bottle at me. He got up and made his way to the cooler. When he returned, he squeezed in beside me.
His closeness gave me butterflies in my stomach as his hip brushed alongside mine when he settled himself. My chest rose and fell quicker as my heart sped up. He bit his bottom lip, his tongue flicking out slowly moistening it, as his eyes briefly glanced over my mouth. I tried consciously not to swallow when he did this.
He lifted his arm, leaning away from me, to make room between us. He slid his arm along the back of me without making contact. The anticipation that he could drop his arm around me at any moment made me feel really excited and uncomfortable at the same time.
His eyes met mine, and he held my gaze. My body tensed and I looked away, before crossing my legs in an effort to make some space between us. “What do you want to know? My life has been in Florida…born and raised here. I’ve always been here, apart from the occasional vacation. That might change though in the New Year, there’s a hint we may open for a small tour in Europe.”
He turned his focus on his beer. He didn’t look at me after that. “There isn’t anything else to say.” He shrugged and picked at the label on his bottle, before taking a swig out of the bottle and setting it down. His eyes darted over to where his bandmates were.
I was conscious that he was possibly hiding something. It was probably the part about the girl, so I pressed on with my questions. “What about your family, girlfriend?” He sighed. “My sister and an aunt.” His answer gave me nothing to work with.
He still hadn’t mentioned the girl. “No one else?” He shook his head, his eyes instantly showing a fleeting hint of pain.
“You need a refill?” he said, sliding off the bench and back to the cooler again. I knew he was being evasive with me and trying to close the conversation down.
I watched him stand with his back to me, pouring another glass of wine, before leaning into the cooler, pulling out another beer. After refilling my wine glass, he leaned forward and spoke to one of his bandmates. His conversation was inaudible over the acoustic guitar that one of them was strumming.
Alfie’s brow was creased as he turned, and I saw what I felt was a forced smile as he came back handing me the wine. “I really can’t drink that, Alfie. I’ll be drunk!” I shook my head and put my hand up to refuse the glass. He pursed his lips and a slow grin appeared.
“That’s the idea.”
I was worried that if I did drink it, my defenses against him would be non- existent. He set the wine down in front of me. “Better get that, before it spills.” He chuckled, letting the tumbler go, making me grab and steady it.
He stretched across me to open an air conditioning vent. His foot brushed across my leg as he did this, the back of his arm, dragging lightly across my breast as he sat back. “Sorry, that wasn’t intentional.” He looked apologetically at me.
The accidental contact sparked feelings in me, even this minimal contact made me crave his touch. My body immediately reacted, wanting more. The guy that Alfie was speaking to before came over and sat down opposite him. They discussed the set order for the gig. Alfie was off the hook about his personal life just like that.
I wondered if he was helping him to avoid resuming our previous conversation. As they became engrossed in technical conversation, I was able to observe Alfie without him noticing.
His strong jawline was relaxed, his lips occasionally curling into a beautifully perfect smile that was as sexy as all hell. Damn it. There was no doubt about it, he’s absolutely stunning, and I found myself staring at his mouth, his spoken words not registering at all.
My eyes scanned his flawless, close shaven skin, then fell back to his beautiful full lips and when he smiled again, that cute dimple seemed to wink at me from his cheek.
Alfie’s sharp hazel eyes were like mood stones. He had a definite black ring circling each pupil making them piercing to look at. They changed color all the time.
Right now, they were hazel, more brown than green. However, when he looked at me intensely, they were more often than not green. They made me melt, especially when he smiled, but even more so when they were lusting. When I finished the checking-his-face-out phase, my attention tuned to his voice as he spoke.
His voice had rich dulcet tones. Listening to him speak softly made me feel calm. He definitely has a seductive and addictive voice.
Every now and again a little chuckle would escape his throat, reminding me of the times he did that when he was playfully nuzzling my neck. The effect he had on me was insane. He was turning me on, and he wasn’t even communicating with me.
I realized that I’d been sipping the wine as I was having my ‘Alfie feast’, and when I looked at my glass it was almost gone. I shouldn’t have drunk all that wine, but I was nervous. I now felt lightheaded and woozy just sitting quietly.
My eyes drooped closed, and I slunked down in the seat. I could still hear him talking, alongside the lull of the engine of the bus. My head kept rolling to the side, and I felt myself moving as Alfie shifted me into position closer to him, leaning my head onto him.
He thought I was asleep, so I used this to my advantage and snuggled into his side. He sighed. “She’s fucking wrecking me, dude.” he murmured quietly to the guy across from him.
I heard the guy move away, and Alfie slunked down a little more beside me. I had to consciously tell myself not to tense, because I was supposed to be asleep. He inhaled, smelling my hair and sighed again. His arm nestled down the side of me, and he drew me closer to him. I heard his heartbeat become stronger and a little faster at the close contact.
His reaction told me he wasn’t exactly without feelings for me, and I hoped that it wasn’t purely arousal. As his palm rested along my hip, he put slight pressure on it again, keeping me in place.
I felt a featherlight kiss on my temple, his breath on my cheek as he inhaled sharply, before controlling his exhale. The scent of him, his bodywash, and the faint smell of leather on his skin from his jacket made me feel like I wanted to stay there forever.
He inhaled deeply again, before his breathing became a little heavier and ragged when he exhaled. Alfie tensed, but didn’t move. He just stilled, swallowing hard, and eventually relaxed again.
Drew nudged both of us as we arrived at the ‘Firestone Live’ venue in Orlando. I stretched a little, opening one eye to peek up at him. “Do all English girls sleep as much as you?” he whispered, smiling slowly at me.
The urge to put my lips on his was so strong I had to restrain myself. “Nope, just me, I think. But the wine didn’t help.” I smiled sleepily, stretching a little again and groaned. He groaned in response and swept his index finger down my nose. He pushed me away from him and got up, looking as if he was fighting his urge for me too.
“Okay, Dan, our driver, is going to look after you, honey. I need to get with my band. You’ll be okay in the wings with him. We can hang out, and watch the others when we’re done.” Smiling, I gave him a small wave.
“Go do your thing, rock star!”
Alfie grinned sexily at me, and kissed my forehead. I think he meant to hug me briefly, but he lingered a tad longer than was comfortable before turning to run after the others.
The fact that he lingered showed me that he was still struggling to keep our relationship platonic as well.
Dan wasn’t a conversationalist, he just said, “Come with me.” However, he did take care of me, making sure that I had a backstage pass, protected me from over enthusiastic fans hanging around by the stage door, and showed me where to go to watch Alfie’s band perform.
His bandmates seemed like regular guys, unaffected by the adoration they received when they performed. I had a newfound respect for him; Alfie didn’t boast, and I hadn’t seen him behave outlandishly given his popularity.
From my vantage point, I looked out and was stunned at how massive the audience was. All I could see was a multicolored sea of people, thousands of them, stretching far into the distance. Their heads swayed as they moved around. There was a general buzz of conversation with the occasional loud laugh or cheer as the fans got in the mood for the bands.
The lights lowered and the emcee’s voice boomed out introducing the hot new band, ‘Crakt Soundzz’, and I realized I knew nothing about them and hadn’t even asked their name.
The tension of the crowd added to the atmosphere. There was a lot of whistling, and they seemed to heave and swell forward together, erupting in a roar of anticipation as the lighting in the auditorium went black.
CHAPTER 32: GETTING STRONGER
Alfie was just a few feet away from me in the darkness. I couldn’t see him, but I felt his presence. I instinctively knew he was there, and I held my breath. The crowd fell silent… waiting.
I heard the drumsticks ticking, and knew the drummer was counting them in and suddenly, vibrations from the bass pulsed and the sound of the guitars reverberated loudly. The same vibrations rumbled across the floor and ran from my toes up and throughout my body, as the noise boomed loudly from the huge amplifiers to the side of me.
Simultaneously, Alfie screamed out, “Hello Orlando! We’re so gonna rock the fucking roof off tonight.” The crowd screamed and roared again, their noise swelling louder in appreciation. High pitched whistles and catcalls followed in unison, as the band’s music blared from the massive speakers along the stage.
Alfie had so much energy, bouncing around playing the intro to their first song, and when he began to sing, the females in the crowd went wild with excitement.
The cacophony of the crowd was deafening between each song, but when they played and sang, the audience was right there with them. The lighting on stage was blinding and heat radiated down on the guys as they performed.
My feet continued to buzz under me with the vibrations of the bass’ rumble, and the music continued to boom. The relentless heat of the lights on stage made all of the guys glisten with sweat, and they were half naked in no time.
I certainly wasn’t one to complain, especially having a ringside seat to watch these guys. Alfie sang a mixture of fast-paced heavy rock and slower ballads. I was completely transfixed when he sang. His voice was just so incredible. Even though I was hearing them for the first time, I could tell instantly that Crakt Soundzz had something very special, and they would definitely be going places.
Alfie sang one particular ballad, and the music was slow and haunting. He stood completely still, hugging the mic. His fingers flexed and re-gripped it every now and again. His eyes were closed as he lost himself in the words of the song. It was as if he were singing it to one person.
A couple of times I looked away, because it felt like I was intruding on intimate words to someone, especially when his face looked pained during some of the verses.
The complicated little riffs Drew played to accompany it were pure inspiration and made the song all the more haunting. Near the end of the song, his eyes opened, and his head tilted to the side in my direction.
They were sad and dull eyes, deliberately seeking me out as I stood the wings. His gaze locked into mine as he sang the words, “If I can’t let myself love you, I need to let you go.”
I bit my lip as I listened, and he broke the stare as he finished the line, his eyes flicking away to the direction of the crowd before closing them again.
The crowd went berserk with emotion when he was done, and the band launched straight into a song about a guy fucking a girl to the beat of a rock song. I felt pretty sad after that, and if I hadn’t known better, it was a clear message to me to get the fuck away from him.
It frustrated me that Alfie couldn’t make a commitment to anyone, and I wondered if, like me, he was blocking himself from relationships because he had a bigger plan. I had stopped myself from getting involved with anyone back home because I didn’t want to leave someone behind. If I had fallen for someone, I might not have come here.
Seeing how he and his band played tonight made me
think there might be something in that. I wonder if he has an inkling of how big his band might become and doesn’t want the complication of leaving someone behind. If that’s the problem, what about the blond girl?
There was no doubt about it though, these guys were mega-talented, natural rock stars, and their performance was flawless. I couldn’t believe that I knew this incredibly sexy and amazingly talented man personally.
I was so impressed by him. Not just his looks, but his charisma too. The crowd went wild and Alfie was grinning and every now and then would wink and point at a female in the crowd. I couldn’t help but feel kind of hurt by that, but I knew that was just his stage persona.
He was also drawing new fans by introducing them to his music. He didn’t owe me anything. Alfie’s pitch was perfect and the band’s music had substance. They would definitely be going places, especially with a front man like him.
Every number they played had a catchy hook, and the crowd seemed to know some of their stuff. It was contagious. This made me think they were more renowned than I’d thought.
I suddenly felt my music was very rudimentary in comparison. To call Alfie a musician wouldn’t define him, although that was what he was striving for.
He’s very much an artiste, performing with originality, and his acting skills were as adept as his musical talent. When their set ended, Alfie ran off stage.
Alfie was still buzzing, bouncing up and down on his toes with excitement. Someone threw him a towel, and he wrapped it around his neck and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.” He smirked and began dragging me down a long corridor and into an area with lots of people milling around.
There were some couches, big mirrors, a makeup chair with a dressing table in the corner, and a large buffet and drinks on a table that ran the length of the room. There were two young girls in black and white uniforms keeping it looking tidy and replenishing stuff.
Enough Isn't Everything (Everything Trilogy) Page 25