by Woods, L. R.
She’s standing right in front of me now, sobbing uncontrollably, holding herself, all the while looking me dead in the eyes with her Kimber stare. Her arms move slowly down to her sides as she tightens up her hands into little fists.
She screams at the top of her lungs, “Don’t you lie to me. Tell me you were staying in California after your tour. Tell me you were leaving me. Tell me you didn’t love me.” I can’t do anything but keep eye contact. I stand up right before she screams so loud the neighbors have to be hearing her, “You tell me right now.”
She is still screaming the word “now” and has begun to punch me in the chest.
I try to bring her to me, not knowing what in the hell is happening but wanting to console her. She continues to try and punch me and I decide it’s better to let her work it out.
When she starts to tire out, I ask softy, “Hey, I don’t understand what is happening and I need you to tell me.”
She doesn’t say anything but that’s nothing new when she’s lost in her head. I’m not backing down. “Wildfire, you need to talk to me because I don’t understand what you are talking about or what has you so upset.”
She backs away, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. I think my balls have just gone into hiding, but I instinctively put my hands in front of my crotch just in case.
“I’ll tell you what has me so upset, Evan. Your lies. I’m upset because I believed you when you told me you wanted me to wait for you. I believed you when you told me you wanted to make my dreams come true. I believed every damn word you ever told me and then I hear you talking to Alex about how stupid I was and how you were leaving me without a word. How you were going to live it up once you left me behind. So, I broke up with you. I broke my own heart so you couldn’t.”
“What the fuck did you say?” I yell out. I didn’t mean for it to come out so aggressive, but that was some fucked up shit that just came out of her mouth.
She just continues, ignoring my outburst, “But you know what, Evan. I went to that stupid festival, because for one second I thought I might have been wrong. After how it all went down, I thought maybe you did love me enough to stay. But Steve told me all about you moving to LA. He all but congratulated me for breaking it off first, saying I was smart for beating you to the punch. Steve said it was in your blood to leave. Steve said it was only a matter of time anyway. Steve said...”
She stops, her chest heaving up and down. She is staring at me with tears streaming down her face and starts shaking again because she knows. She knows I was never going to leave her. I honestly don’t know what conversation she overheard, but I’m about to kill that mother fucker Steve, who sent her away from me.
I try to bring her to me again, but she backs away, shaking her head back and forth. “No, Evan, I can’t do this. This can’t be happening.”
I see her eyes darting around like she is planning an escape. I step up to her and hug her tight. I thought she would try to get away, but instead she wraps her arms around my back, holding on like her life depended on it and I let out a relieved breath.
I separate us just enough so that I can see her eyes. “I have loved you since I saw you running down the street with wild hair and blood on your knees. You are my life, Wildfire.”
She turns her head down but I pull her chin back up. “I will live the rest of my life regretting I didn’t fight harder for you. I knew something wasn’t right and I should have walked off that stage and found you. I should have come to you every day until we worked it out. But listen, and believe me when I tell you, I am your Prince Charming, Wildfire. It is all I have ever wanted to be.”
She buries her head in my chest and continues to cry. I hold her tight, my mind racing, trying to remember any conversation where I said I was leaving her. But there isn’t. There never could have been. Everyone knew where I wanted to be. But more than any of that, my mind is racing on how I’m going to kill Steve and not go to jail for the rest of my life.
Chapter 20
Evan
I open my eyes, waking up to the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Wildfire is laid out on her back with one arm over her head and the other hanging off the edge of the bed. Her head is turned to me, her mouth wide open over a small wet spot on the pillow. I can hear a little snore and it’s music to my ears.
I tickle her nose and she begins to roll over, throwing an arm and a leg over my chest. She moans slightly at the contact and it’s all over for me. I roll into her and begin nipping at her lips. She pretends to still be asleep as I move to nibble her earlobe. When I begin kissing and sucking at the skin along her neck, her breathing begins to quicken.
“Evan,” she whispers, “tell me you are still here. Tell me you love me.”
“More than my own life, Wildfire.”
She reaches behind my neck and holds me against her as I kiss her softly, savoring every taste. I gently roll us so she is on her back, my body covering hers. I continue kissing her mouth, increasing my intensity. I can feel her nails raking up my back, marking me the way she knows I like. She tugs off her shirt and I start kissing down her neck, intent on taking my time worshipping her body.
She whispers, “I want you, Evan,” but I ignore her as I reach her collarbone, working my way down to her perfect tits. Sucking one inside my mouth, I slide my tongue around her nipple while massaging the other with my hand. She moans again and I slip a hand into her panties and begin circling her, feeling how wet she is for me. Always so ready for me. I circle pressure around her opening before slipping a finger in. She gasps and I beginning pumping into her, adding a second as I continue to kiss and suck her tits.
“Oh God, Evan,” she moans when I begin circling my thumb over her clit, continuing to pump my fingers into her, picking up my pace. Her head is thrown back, exposing her neck, and I can’t help myself when I bite down on it.
“Evan,” she screams, “I need you right fucking now.”
I sit up, pull off my boxers, watching my beautiful Wildfire as she rakes her eyes up and down my body hungrily. I grab myself and slowly pump twice, watching her watch me. Her breath is heavy and her eyes are hooded. God, she’s perfect, lying there waiting for me to take her.
She reaches out an arm to pull me to her, but I grab it and hold it over her head. I settle back over her and in one hard thrust, I’m wrapped in her tight heat. She cries out and the pleasure coursing through me threatens to end this too quickly.
“Fuck, I forgot how perfect you feel,” I groan out. I don’t know if I can move without blowing. She is holding me in a wet hot grip and, honestly, I don’t know if I even want to leave it.
I hold still, trying to compose myself, but she starts bucking up against me. I gaze down to where our bodies are connected and I slowly pull out and push back in. My head falls slack to my chest, the pleasure almost too much to handle.
I graze up her body until I reach her eyes, but she is watching us come together too, so I fully extend my arms and start moving, both of us watching me slide in and out of her.
I try to go slow but she feels too good and I’ve waited too long for this. I grab one of her ankles and pull it up toward my shoulder, growling as I slide even deeper. Her breaths and moans are coming quickly now, but I need her where I am so I start circling her clit with my thumb as I thrust against her, giving up on the gentle approach.
Two pumps later she screams out her release, eyes rolling in the back of her head and nails digging into my shoulders. I can’t hold on when her body begins pulsing around me so I push in as deep as I can, letting out a shout of my own as I fill her with every part of me.
I crush my lips to hers, taking everything that’s left as I relax, pressing my body to hers. We start nipping at each other’s lips, smiling, and breathing hard, neither of us wanting to lose the connection.
I’m still inside her when I realize I didn’t even think about getting a condom. I’ve never been without a condom. Ever. She didn’t ask about it so maybe she’s on the p
ill. The fucked up thing is, I really hope she’s not on the pill.
With much regret, I finally pull out of her and move to my side. I maneuver her against my chest, holding tight, needing to feel her body touching mine. I’m lost in the quietness, feeling complete, when she speaks softly, “What happens now with everything?”
I blow out a breath. “Couldn’t wait two minutes, could you?” I ask, putting a grinning kiss on the back of her head. She giggles as I continue, “I seriously hope that’s not what you’ve been thinking about for the last ten minutes.” Yeah, laugh it up for my ten minutes, but I’m thankful it wasn’t two.
“No,” she replies. “Just the last nine.”
I start to tickle her sides and she squeals, trying to get away from me.
Last night, after she calmed and stopped crying, we didn’t talk. I held her and she stayed in my arms. When I heard her breath start to even out, I carried her into her bedroom and laid her down.
I laid down too, tucking her into me, but I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t shut my mind off. Thinking about what conversation she could have possibly overheard. In no world, would I have made fun of anything about her. I also couldn’t stop wanting to wrap my fingers around Steve’s throat.
Still squealing, I pull her back into me. “Now, I’m going to lie here and hold this sexy body against mine until I’m ready for round two,” I smile out, pulling tighter, letting her feel that it won’t be long. I groan when she wiggles her ass on me, and all of the sudden I’m ready.
But the universe had other ideas because both our phones start going off at the same time. She groans too but not in the way she should be. “Who could possibly be calling this early.”
I laugh. “Wildfire, it’s one in the afternoon.”
Her eyes bug out of her head and she jumps up, scrambling to find her phone. I watch her naked body bending over and showing me everything time and time again as she searches the room for her phone.
When she moves out to the living room to search there, I can’t stop from grabbing myself to relieve the pressure building. My phone starts ringing again and I grab it off the nightstand. It’s James, pressure relieved.
“What, can’t a man get his beauty sleep?” I answer, not believing how relaxed my voice is. I’d say it was because of the sex, but I’ve had a lot of that, and I’ve never felt this at peace.
“You’re already pretty enough for me, sweetheart,” he replies, making a kissing noise. I huff a laugh and he continues, “Listen, shit hit the fan last night after you left. Steve was going out of his mind trying to find you, spewing on about you quitting the band if you and Kimber got together. No one would give him her address, but you better get down here. Something’s up with Drew and Alex too. They are being shifty. You’re not, right? Quitting the band, I mean.”
“No, James. I’m not quitting, but things are going to change.” I can’t leave the guys. I can figure this out so I get Wildfire and 23 Strokes.
“Yeah, ok, man. Just get down here.” He hangs up and my mind starts racing again.
Wildfire walks in, still naked with a worried face. “That was Penny. Everyone is down at the bar. You aren’t quitting the band, are you? I mean, I would never ask you to do that. We’ll figure it out, like you said. It’ll be a change, but change is good, right? Without change, no one grows and we all need to grow. I mean, I do have The Lucky Charm here and you…”
The stressed expression on her face tugs my heart. I cover her mouth with mine, stealing her words. The kiss starts to deepen and before I know it, I have her back on the bed, claiming her once again.
Fifteen minutes later, she starts up again, “Ok, I’m not complaining about that little distraction, but seriously, are you quitting the band?” She gets up and begins to get dressed. I roll off the bed and start to do the same. “Evan?”
“No, I am not quitting and yes, there are some things to figure out, but we will figure them out together, ok? Now, let’s go kill us a Steve.”
She straightens up and puts on her game face. I can see her trying to maintain the Kimber crazy, but she keeps smiling and it’s so fucking adorable I doubt a ladybug would be scared. I put my arm around her shoulder and walk us toward the front door, laughing, “Come on, killer.”
Chapter 21
Kimber
We’ve been driving over to The Lucky Charm in silence because Evan only wants to have to do this once, but I can’t stop the millions of things running around in my head. We didn’t really discuss the conversation I heard, or what led Steve to do what he did, and it’s clawing at me to talk about it. I’m singing to the radio. Tapping out a beat on the steering wheel, but I finally can’t take it anymore.
“So he knew I overheard you guys…” Evan leans his head back and rolls his eyes, but is smiling, so I continue, “and why I was breaking up with you, but didn’t say anything either time. And then he lied when I went to ask you about it. But what I don’t understand is why. What did I do to make him do those things?”
Evan takes my hand, kissing the top of it. “It wasn’t about you. It was about me. He didn’t want us together. I might piss everyone off, but the whole truth needs to come out.”
“What does that mean, Evan? The whole truth.” I swear on everything holy he better not say anything to screw this up because I’m all in again and I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life kicking his ass. I mean, I will, because I’m never letting him go, but I’d rather not. I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I’m going to make sure it does, regardless.
“About leaving the band,” he answers and I turn to him, eyes wide open in shock. Didn’t he just get through telling me he wasn’t leaving 23 Strokes? I’ve never seen someone staying and going then staying only to go again. Make up your damn mind for crying out loud.
“I did make up my mind. A long time ago and that’s what got Steve freaked.”
Dammit! Why can’t I keep my mouth shut when I’m having an internal discussion? I need to have a sit down with my mouth and brain.
Evan laughs at me, shaking his head. For Pete’s sake!
We roll up to the parking lot and see Penny and Drew standing outside the building, gesturing around like they are about to start throwing punches. She is poking him in the chest and he is throwing his hands in the air. We sit like creepers, watching them, when Evan asks, “Did you know that Tall Girl came to our shows?”
I turn my head so fast I think I have whiplash. “Penny came to your shows?” I ask, not knowing if I heard him right.
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t remember her ever being there, but I don’t remember much about those days. But she must have because she brought it up yesterday.” He is looking at me and suddenly gets wide eyed. I’m guessing he just remembered Penny being there. I’m also guessing it must be bad, or Penny would have come home telling me I had things all wrong.
“Look, Evan, I don’t want to know what has you tense and gawking at me like you’re about to get kicked in the balls, so calm down. You don’t think I saw the headlines? I know you’ve done the whole clichéd rock and roll thing. I don’t care about that, ok?”
And I really don’t care what he did back then as long as he’s not doing it now. But just because I can… “Plus, it’s not like I’ve been a nun the past seven years. There was this personal trainer named Eric that showed me this move... “
“Wildfire, you better shut those pretty little lips of yours right now.”
I open my mouth real big and then close it, zipping it up with my fingers, turning the lock, and tossing out the key. He smiles, shaking his head. God, he’s beautiful.
We are both back to watching our little street side show. She was all over him last night and I wonder what happened. I also wonder just how well they know each other.
She said they had a fling, but it was clearly a lot more than that. “Do you think we should give them privacy and go on in?” I ask. He doesn’t answer so we both just keep watching the Drew and Penny show. I wish I had
some popcorn or something. What? Popcorn is appropriate for every situation. I dare you to tell me I’m wrong.
The scene comes to an end when, in dramatic fashion, Drew gets slapped across the face again, and Penny storms away back inside the bar. Only Drew isn’t smiling this time. He stands there for a few seconds talking to himself. He eventually kicks the wall and heads inside as well.
I turn to Evan, biting the side of my lip and raising an eyebrow. “Well, that was interesting. What’s the deal with them, anyway? Penny never told me she was even seeing him.”
He replies, “Not my story to tell, Wildfire.” I shrug, thinking I’ll get Penny to open up later. Wait, Penny never opens up. Shit. I’ll get her drunk. Yeah, that’ll do it.
We get out of the car and walk towards the front door, holding hands. This is nice. Just me and my boyfriend walking along the street enjoying each other’s company, about to walk into a shit storm where my boyfriend confronts the manager who screwed us out of seven years and he tells his brothers about leaving the band. Yes, just the nicest little moment there ever was, I think.
I keep hold of Evan’s hand as we pass through the front door, the familiar chimes ringing an alert to our presence. The band and Steve are sitting at a pair of tables that have been pulled together. They are speaking in low tones with Steve at the head. Penny is at the bar wiping the same spot over and over.
However, they all stop and stare over in our direction once the chimes ring. The man at the piano stops playing and I hear a pin drop and some crickets chirping.
Ok, there isn’t a man playing piano, but if there was, he would have stopped, because it’s like we walked into a saloon full of outlaws and we are the law. I turn to Evan as he turns to me, and for whatever reason, we start laughing. Now all eyes are on us like we are crazy and we continue to laugh. It’s funny and, for some reason, I can’t wait for it to go boom!