Heading inside to go to the bathroom, he did his business and when he opened the door, Mia stood against the alcove, waiting for him, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Hi, suga,” he greeted her, his eyes fixated on her glistening bottom lip. Why was she here? And damn, she had to stop messing with her lip like that. It was too damn hot.
He closed the distance between them and she didn’t wait for him to fully stop. Standing on her tiptoes, she placed her now wet mouth on his, her movements tentative at first and then her lips moved boldly across his mouth, her tongue seeking entrance which he was all too happy to give. The kiss grew hotter in no time, her hands snaking up his back to his neck, holding him to her as she increased the intensity.
Where was this coming from? Not that he was complaining. Not at all, he thought, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She moaned as her stomach rubbed against his hard cock. He wanted her. Right now.
Pushing her against the wall, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He missed this out of control Mia. The one who had sex with him no matter the time or place. Whenever the mood struck. These past couple years that had rarely happened.
“Ethan,” she murmured against his neck while her lips heated his skin. He wanted to take her right here against the wall. But maybe they should move this to the bathroom. Didn’t want little people seeing what they were up to.
As he opened the door, one of the caterers called out, “Mrs. Christopher? Are you in here?”
“Fuck,” Mia cursed softly, burying her head against his chest.
“Another time, suga,” he said, smoothing her hair beneath his hand, trying to tamp down his desire. He loosened his hold on her hips and she slid to the floor. When she looked up at him, the arousal in her eyes was unmistakable. She took a deep breath and turned to head to the kitchen, leaving him alone to deal with his own overwhelming desire.
Mia
Standing in her sun room, Mia looked out at the party before her. Over the past few hours, everyone had eaten, caught up on the goings-on of everyone, and watched the kids play nonstop on the water slide.
Mia was enjoying herself but she also felt such melancholy. Except for her father and grandmother, her entire family was here. The family she chose to have: her bandmates, Marc and his brood, Luke, Allie, and Kaitlyn, her sons. And Ethan—the most important member. She should be happy, but the thought weighing heavily on her mind was impossible to ignore—did she still want Ethan as part of her family?
She was no closer to an answer. If anything she was even more confused. Physically, she wanted him, needed him, craved him more than she had in a very long time. Over two years, she thought. Too long.
With a loud sigh, she sat down at her piano, skimming her fingers over the keys. She fought against the question creeping up in her mind. She didn’t want to think on it.
Had he noticed and what role had that played in where they were right now? She didn’t want to acknowledge that she could’ve had a key role in Ethan cheating on her.
And that’s when her heart fought back—he’d cheated on her. He’d made that choice to hurt her and their family. He could have done something else, but he hadn’t. He could’ve talked to her. Anything besides the choice he made.
“Fuck!” she cursed quietly, slamming her hands on the keys, the piano cursing right back at her.
“Mia?” Kaitlyn asked hesitantly. Mia whipped around and saw Luke’s daughter standing in the doorway to the yard and her bad mood lifted with her appearance. She loved that girl like she did her own boys.
“Yeah, sweetie?” she asked, beckoning Kaitlyn to sit by her.
Kaitlyn fidgeted with her hands and immediately Mia felt a wave of apprehension course through her. Kaitlyn was full of confidence, just like her father, and for her to be like this, Mia knew something was bothering her.
Before she had a chance to ask, the girl spoke. “How do you come up with your lyrics?”
“What’s bringing on this question?” she asked, the question pressing the “Oh shit” button in her brain.
“Are your songs about people you know? Or are they more made up?”
“I get inspiration from my life, things that happen to me, things I see, hear. And then I go from there, usually. I let the lyrics come to me.”
“Like your new song, ‘Crumbling’ … how did you come up with those words?”
Ah, fuck! Kaitlyn knew something was up. Mia didn’t know how she should handle this. Kaitlyn loved Ethan so much, but Mia needed to be honest with her. She always was.
“That song came from pain. My pain,” she replied and saw the distress that the confirmation of Kaitlyn’s thoughts brought to her eyes.
“Why are you in pain?” The girl was smart and Mia could see her rapidly putting the pieces together. “Are you and Uncle Ethan okay?”
Mia sighed, not wanting to admit this truth to the girl she always thought of as her own.
“No, sweetie. We’re not.”
“That’s why you’ve been here so often lately,” she stated. It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation. “Are you getting a divorce?”
“That is why I’ve been in Chicago, yes. As for the divorce, I don’t know. Ethan hurt me a lot. To be honest, more than I ever thought he could. But I’m trying to figure out if I can get over the hurt—the pain.”
“Last night, it didn’t look like you were in pain. You looked happy with him.”
“Did I?” She supposed the squirt was right, for the most part. She was happy last night and this morning, she felt right, at peace. She felt home.
“Yeah, you looked like you wanted to kiss him,” Kaitlyn said with a smirk. Mia sighed loudly.
“That I did, sweetie.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”
A few hours later, the adults handled the pretty easy task of putting all the kids to bed. The sugar buzz had worn off and they were exhausted from all their play. Luke and Ethan had set up a few inflatable mattresses in the boys’ room for the other kids. Kaitlyn and Bridgette would be up in the upstairs playroom watching movies.
Now it was time for the adults. And if she wasn’t pregnant, she’d be joining her bandmates at the bar. But instead, she sat alone on the sofa, her guitar on her lap, playing the first few chords of “Floating,” one of the first songs they had written together as a band. Last night was the first time they had played the song since their first tour. Back then, life was about drugs, as was this song. But it was also about the fun they had together. Sitting around, drinking, smoking, playing music, and having a great time. She missed it … maybe not the drugs so much, but everything else. Things were simpler back then. Seemed so long ago.
Over one-third of her life had been with those three guys who played music with her for a living. Fourteen of her thirty-six, almost thirty-seven years. They, along with Marc, had been with her through so much.
“I remember that song,” Marc said, sitting beside her, the one that had introduced her to them all.
“You should. You were there the night it was written.”
“We were fucking stoned out of our minds.”
She laughed heartily. Her memories from that night were spotty. She remembered getting high with the guys, jamming with Marty, Clark, and Todd, and waking up at Clark’s place, on his couch, in borrowed clothes. But the stuff in between was very hazy.
“I had to get you stoned or you would have been sleeping with a very bad guy.”
“Saving my non-existent honor?”
“Something like that.”
“You weren’t a bad guy, Marc. You’re one of my best friends. And if we’d slept together we could’ve just blamed Luke.”
“God, I had never seen you so mad!”
“I was so pissed at Luke.”
“Uh, excuse me,” Luke said, stopping in his tracks when he heard his name.
“Oh, hi, there, Lu
ke!” she said, her voice all sugary-sweet.
“Why were you mad at me? When?”
“The night I wrote ‘Floating.’ You stood me up because Taylor wanted something. Blah, blah, blah, like always.” She hadn’t seen him in a few months and had missed him—a lot.
“You wrote that song that night?”
“Uh, yeah. Marc got me high because he didn’t want to sleep with me.”
“He did what?” Luke asked, outraged, glaring at Marc.
“Settle down. It wasn’t my first time. Far from it.”
“Something else happened that night too. Don’t you remember, Mia?” She whipped her head around and saw Marty standing in the doorway. Clark and Todd were behind him, nodding in remembrance.
“Remember what?” she asked, putting down her guitar. How bad could this be? She hated not remembering what she’d done while she was wasted. Stupid drugs. Never ever going to touch them again, she vowed. Mia had a great fondness for remembering all the shit she did.
Todd walked into the room and plopped down on one of the chairs, settling in to enjoy what was to come. “You may not have slept with Marc, but you did sleep with someone that night.”
Shit. This was very bad.
“I did not. I …” she faltered. She was about to say she didn’t do stuff like that. But then she remembered what Tom told her about the time she slept with him and not ever remembering it.
Who the hell had she slept with?
Luke had a huge grin on his face. He enjoyed seeing her under fire. Ass.
“I think there’s still video proof too,” Clark chipped in.
“What?” she exclaimed, standing up. She was getting very nervous now. “There’s a fucking tape?”
“Well, I don’t recall if the fucking was actually filmed …” Marty began. She turned on him and his face delighted in her predicament. What the hell was it with these men enjoying this? She swung around and faced Marc.
“Marc, do you remember what you recorded?”
A camera always seemed to be in Marc’s hand. He may have been a newspaper reporter at the time but he enjoyed the moving picture as well and was always recording everything for them, documenting their rise to fame.
At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. “Uh, no.”
“There’s seriously a tape?” she worried.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure you’re the last to have it.”
How—
Down in the basement, she thought and bolted out of the room. Her eyes widened when she saw Ethan in the kitchen. How much of that had he heard?
“Why the rush, suga?” he asked, taking a step in her direction. Evading him, she swung open the basement door and flew down the stairs, a thunder of feet behind her as she approached her storage room. She keyed in the code and entered. This was where she kept all her old journals, videos, tapes, and anything music related. Copies of all the videos Marc took when they were together playing or jamming. All the video she took while on her tours.
Knowing exactly where those videos were, she stalked to the back of the room and on the top shelf, she found the box labeled, “Initial Song Videos.” She pulled down the box, took a seat on the floor, and flipped off the lid. So many memories in this box. In this room, she thought as she searched for the video.
At the bottom of the box, she found it. She was a bit surprised at the date—2004. Eleven years ago. It seemed like yesterday. Picking up the tape, she stared at it. On this tape was proof that she’d slept with someone—and had forgotten. Damn. How stoned was she that night?
Getting off the floor, Mia left the storage room, mindful to shut the door behind her, engaging the lock. She moved down the hallway and headed to the basement family room so she could watch the tape, only to find the room full of people. On the large u-shaped sectional sat Luke, Todd, Marty, Clark, Marc—and Ethan.
Ah, fuck.
“You found it?” Clark asked.
Mia paused. Maybe this would be better to watch another time … she had absolutely no idea what was on this tape and looking at who was in the room, she was a little afraid for certain things to be seen.
“Um …” Mia muttered and turned back the way she came.
“Mia, stop,” Luke called out and she did. “Whatever is on that tape isn’t going to change how any of us feel about you.”
“Come on, baby girl, put it in,” Todd urged.
“I think we’ll hear that on the tape,” Marty cracked and she glared at all of them, laughing at Marty’s joke.
“Shut it,” she warned before glancing over at Ethan who nodded at her. He seemed almost excited to watch. She walked over to the entertainment center and put the tape in the VCR. Grabbing the remote, she sat on the floor in front of the sofa, Ethan behind her.
“Come on already! Press play,” Luke directed impatiently.
She ignored him and looked at the four guys who had been there that night. “Am I naked in this video?”
“I don’t remember. We were all so high that night,” Marty answered.
“It’s not any of you, is it?”
A chorus of “no’s” hit her ears. She tried to remember who it could be. Who else was at that party? Her brain wouldn’t cooperate in answering that. All it kept showing her were bits and pieces of playing the song and her anger at Luke. Not much else.
She glanced back at Ethan and could tell he had questions, but he held on to them. But he’d find out soon enough.
Pointing the remote at the VCR, she pressed play. Her stomach was in knots. She didn’t know what they were going to see. She didn’t know what Ethan would think about what was on this tape.
The video started with her and Marty sitting side by side on an oversized sectional, playing “Floating.” They had messed with the song a little before this night, jamming, freestyling. That’s what they were doing now, but expanding on what had been done before. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the start of the song.
“Damn, Mia. You really haven’t changed,” Luke noted. “Except maybe your hair.”
“Speaking of hair …” she said, trying not to chuckle. Marty had been going through a shaved head phase.
Marty rolled his eyes at her. “Pay attention, brat.”
Mia laughed and returned her attention back to the screen. While Marty did a little solo, a hand came onto the screen holding a joint and moved towards Mia.
“Ah, crap!” she said aloud. Video proof of drug use coming in three, two, one …
She proceeded to take a long hit from the joint in Marc’s hand. She turned to look up at Ethan. He didn’t appear to be upset. His eyes found hers and then he squeezed her shoulder. Then she glanced over at Luke who had never witnessed her drug use before, or for that matter, seen her high. She’d hidden all that from him. By the look of his clenched jaw and twitchy nose that didn’t make him happy. She pushed that thought aside. Not thinking about that now. She could do nothing to make that better.
“Whose house are we at?” Mia asked, returning her focus to the TV.
“Mine,” Marc answered. She could see him trying to remember what happened, hoping it wasn’t him.
She turned back to the video and with a flourish, the song was over.
“I really liked that,” was heard off screen and the camera worked by Marc focused on the person who’d spoken.
Mia sat forward. That voice! She knew that voice!
“Oh my God! It’s Tom!” Mia cried. Tom had been Marc’s best friend as well as Lizzie’s high school best friend. She’d met Tom the same day she’d met all her bandmates. He had often been at these parties. She had never told anyone, but she’d had a little crush on him back then. Okay—a big crush. His blonde hair was hidden underneath his ever present Chicago Cubs baseball cap. Never had a cap looked so sexy on a man. Maybe that was because of the smile that was always present on his face. Cap and then smile. But about six years ago, that smile was gone for good when he’d died from the massive injuries he’d suffered in a motorcycle accident.
“God, I miss him so much,” she said quietly, her eyes tearing up. She paused the video on his wonderfully cocky grin. He used to give her that smile many times right before he kissed her. She had never told anyone about their short relationship after she broke off her engagement to Ethan. She’d later broken things off with Tom when she’d realized she still loved Ethan and wanted to be with him. Her heart ached for the pain she’d caused him. She hated that she’d done that. But in the end, he’d had love. He’d been happy. He’d had Lizzie.
She turned to Marc and spoke his name, looking at him. He had tears in his eyes too. His best friend.
“Yeah, I’ll go get her.” He rose from the couch and went to retrieve his wife.
The room was eerily quiet while they waited for Marc’s return. Mia’s eyes locked on Tom’s beautiful face on the screen. Her friend, her lover, her savior, and too great of a man to be gone from this Earth so soon.
Mia turned at the noise on the stairs and teared up as Lizzie regarded Tom on the screen. Marc obviously hadn’t told her what to expect when he dragged her downstairs.
“Tom,” she said with a sad smile, an escaped tear trickling down her cheek as she looked upon her high school best friend, her lover. “When was this?”
“Fall 2004,” Mia answered and she saw that Allie and Bekah were behind Marc and Lizzie. After everyone got situated, Lizzie finally took her eyes off the screen and sat on her husband’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
“What is this?” Lizzie asked, gesturing to the tape and everyone in the room. Mia hesitated to answer, but that didn’t stop Marty from telling her … and Ethan. She’d been hoping that nothing would be on the tape and she wouldn’t have to tell him why they were all down here watching it. But he wasn’t upset by this. No, he chuckled.
“I always knew you had a sex tape,” he said laughingly. She tried not to smile at her husband. They may not have a sex tape themselves, but what they had done over cameras was definitely very hot.
Never Over You Page 34