by JL Paul
“’’lo?” he said sleepily.
”Jake,” I sobbed. “What room are you in?”
“Iz,” he said, a little more coherently. “Are you okay?”
“What room, Jake?” I reiterated. “Please!”
“Um, three twenty-five. Why?”
“I’m on my way up,” I said, ending the call and shoving the phone in my pocket.
The sleeping old man behind the desk didn’t even notice as I flew by and hit the elevator button. The tears were building, I could feel them clawing their way out. When the doors opened, I jumped in and punched the button for the third floor several times until the doors closed. Anguish engulfed me, but I fought it as hard as I could.
Finally, the elevator deposited me on Jake’s floor. I read the sign pointing the direction to Jake’s room and bolted around the corner, nearly plowing into a burly man sitting in a chair in the middle of the hall. He snagged my arm without rising from his seat.
“Hold on a minute, young lady,” he began, hoisting his large, muscular frame out of the chair. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I couldn’t speak, the misery was now in my mouth, waiting for it to open.
“It’s all right, Frankie,” said a soft voice. “She’s with me.”
I peeked around the mountainous man and spotted my angel, standing in the door of his room. His shorts were crumpled and his t-shirt a wrinkled mess. His hair stood at awkward angles and his eyes begged for more sleep. He never looked more beautiful.
Frankie released me as the dam broke, and I flung my body in Jake’s arms. He tightened them around my waist and pulled me inside his room.
“Hey, Iz,” he whispered into my hair before dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
Chapter Thirteen
He stood against the door, holding me quietly while I sobbed into his shirt. He didn’t say much, only soft words of comfort, while he stroked my hair and planted little kisses on my head. When the tears slowed, I sniffed and stepped back, frowning at his shirt. I swiped at it, embarrassed how wet it was.
“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled. “I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt.”
He chuckled and took my head in his hands. His face was so soft and his eyes so gentle the tears stirred up inside me again.
“You didn’t ruin it, angel. And it will wash.” He pushed my damp hair from my cheeks and steered me further into the room. He pointed at the bed. “Sit. We’ll talk.”
I did as he asked and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I messed up, Jake. Oh, I messed up horribly.”
He squatted in front of me and rested his hands on my thighs. “Okay. We’ll figure this out. We’ll fix it.”
“I don’t know how,” I said as my bottom lip trembled irritably.
“Tell me what happened.” His brilliant blue eyes darkened in concern, and I was thankful I had him. But would I have him for long? Would he be embarrassed to know me? I stared into his eyes, so warm and caring and they answered my question. No. Jake would stick by me.
“My friends hate me. Annie moved out. Lance made a bet about me. And I think I’m an alcoholic.”
His brow furrowed as he stood and screwed his lips up in concentration. “You’re not an alcoholic, though I had a feeling you were drinking a little more than you were telling me. I hope you’re over that bit of stupidity.”
I nodded enthusiastically. That was no longer a problem.
“What’s the deal with Lance?”
I took another breath and explained about the parties and the times I spent alone with Lance. I assured him that I didn’t give in and went on to explain about how I neglected Annie and Cammy and how Annie moved out. I ended my story with Krysti’s phone call, my cheeks flaming with shame. I talked for nearly twenty minutes, tear-free for once.
He exhaled and rubbed his temples, rising to his feet. He began to pace in front of me, brow furrowed in concentration.
“I think if you start out by apologizing to Annie and Cammy, maybe they’ll let you explain. As for Lance, well, I’m going to need to deal with him.”
I cracked a tiny smile until I caught a better glimpse of the set to Jake’s jaw and fire in his eyes.
“I’m not kidding, Iz.”
Jumping off the bed, I grabbed his arm. “No, Jake. I don’t want you to get in any trouble over this. It’s my fault.”
He cupped my chin and pecked my lips. “You’re not totally innocent, no. You did do some pretty stupid things. But you didn’t deserve to be treated the way Lance treated you. No girl does.”
My heart fluttered at his kiss but stilled at his words. I knew he was right but it hurt to hear it. My eyes welled up again—I thought for sure I’d run out of tears. He pulled me in his arms and rubbed my back.
“I’m sorry, Jake. I didn’t mean to disappoint you,” I sobbed in his chest. “I am so sorry.”
“Iz,” he said firmly in my hair. “Angel, I’m not disappointed in you. I’m just happy you came to me.” He pushed me away and smiled gently, wiping my tears from under my eyes and off my cheeks. “I’ll get you a t-shirt. Why don’t you go in the bathroom and wash your face.”
I nodded and he released me to dig in the hotel dresser drawer. He handed me a plain black t-shirt and pointed me toward the bathroom. I quickly pulled his shirt over my head, relieved it fell past my knees. I washed my face and scrubbed it dry. My eyes were red and puffy and my skin splotchy. I was a mess and I looked it but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. Taking a deep breath, I returned to Jake.
He stood, staring at the bed, rubbing the back of his neck. I ambled next to him, questioning him with my eyes.
“I can call the front desk to get you your own room but since it’s nearly three, I’m not counting on prompt service”
“I want to stay with you,” I pleaded. “Please.”
He looked at me, lips twisted to the side of his face, as he considered my request. “Iz, it’s not exactly appropriate.”
“We’ll just be sleeping. I trust you, Jake.” My heart ached for him to hold me. I just wanted to be in his arms all night. He was the closest person in the world to me at that moment—the only person on my side. I didn’t want to be away from him for a second.
“Okay. But only because I’m tired,” he relented. He flashed a feeble smile and held up the blankets. Grinning, I climbed into his bed. He deliberated a moment before crawling beside me. I snuggled next to him, heart racing in happy circles. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.
“Get some sleep, angel. Everything will look brighter in the morning.”
***
A relentless thump brought me out of my slumber, and I groaned. My head thumped, too, but I knew it wasn’t from alcohol this time. Rolling over, I rammed into a hard body. I shot straight up, forgetting momentarily where I was.
“Relax, Iz,” Jake yawned. “It’s just Nick.”
He sat up beside me and ruffled my hair. “Won’t you go in the bathroom? There’s a hotel robe hanging on the door.”
He turned his head respectfully as I scampered off the bed and hurried to the bathroom. As soon as I was safely ensconced in the bathroom, I heard a door open and a male’s voice as I found the fluffy robe and wrapped it securely around my body.
“Dude, I thought you were supposed to come get us for breakfast?”
“Something came up,” Jake muttered. I checked to make sure the robe covered me completely before opening the door and stepping into the room. I came face to face with Nick Collins, drummer for Controlled Environment.
His eyes widened and a knowing grin appeared on his handsome face. “Oh, hey, okay. No problem, dude.”
Jake’s jaw fell, horror in his eyes, as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his side. “No, man. It’s not like that. This is Iz.”
Nick’s face lit up as he stepped forward to shake my hand. “Oh. Nice to meet you, finally. Jake talks about you all the time.”
I glanced at Jake from the corner of my eye and was de
lighted to see a little color touch his cheeks.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I whispered.
“She got here around three this morning,” Jake explained. He draped an arm over my shoulder. “She’s had a rough time lately and needed a friend.”
Nick nodded in understanding, his green eyes sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is everything okay now?”
“It will be,” I said, a little shy.
“Oh, hell,” Jake cursed, startling me. “Do your parents know where you are?”
“I am eighteen, Jake,” I reminded him with a scowl. He raised a brow. “And they’re on a cruise. I left a message on my dad’s cell and told him I’d be staying with friends.”
“Does that mean you have some clean clothes with you?” he asked, winking roguishly. “Not that you don’t look great in my t-shirt.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Yeah. In my car.”
“Give me your keys and I’ll go get them. You jump in the shower and I’ll throw the bag in the bathroom.”
“What if you get mobbed?” I asked, horrified.
Jake and Nick exchanged an amused smirk. “I’ll be fine.”
Nick slung his arm around Jake’s shoulders. “I’ll go with him—protect him and all that.”
“You’ll both get mobbed,” I mumbled, put out that they thought I was being silly.
Jake pressed a kiss to my temple. “We’ll be fine. Get in the shower.”
I showered quickly, totally conscious of the two rock stars on the other side of the door. As soon as I finished, I dressed, curious about the racket going on in Jake’s room. When I stepped into the room, hair still damp from my shower, I was immediately swept up in the arms of Ronnie Stone.
“Iz!” he exclaimed, crushing me to his chest. “Great to meet you and all that stuff.” He released me and grinned. “Now can we order some food?”
I gawked at him, frantically gasping for air. “Sure?”
“Jake said I had to wait until you got out of the shower to find out what you wanted,” he pouted. I couldn’t help but laugh. He very much resembled a petulant child and not the guitarist I’d watched perform on stage a few months ago. “So what do you want?”
“Anything,” I said. He hugged me again.
“You are a woman after my own heart,” he declared. He let me go so quickly, I stumbled. A hand reached out and prevented me from falling to the floor. I looked up into the tender eyes of Matt Wenslow. His slow smile was exceptionally sweet.
“Hi, Iz. I’m Matt. It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a quiet voice.
“Hi,” I said, a little breathless. I stared at them all, sprawled casually about the room—Ronnie on the phone frantically ordering food. I couldn’t believe I was in their midst. They were currently the hottest band in the nation and I was about to eat breakfast with them. I reached back to find the wall as a dizzy spell touched my head.
“You okay, Iz?” Jake asked.
I nodded. “It’s just kind of weird, you know, to be in the same room as you guys. I mean, you’re all so normal.”
Jake laughed, eyes crinkling in the corners. “I think she was expecting a trashed hotel room.” The others laughed with him, enjoying some kind of inside joke.
“Food’s on the way,” Ronnie happily declared. He turned his eyes back on me. “So, are you staying with us this week?”
I hadn’t thought about that. I came on the spur of the moment but hadn’t planned any further in advance. I nibbled on my bottom lip as my eyes sought Jake’s. “I don’t know.”
“Of course she is,” he said, a grin flitting across his face. “I mean, if she wants.”
“I do,” I said as happiness flooded my heart. “Thanks.”
Ronnie hugged me to his side. “You’ll have so much fun, you’ll never want to leave.”
I didn’t doubt that in the least.
After breakfast, the guys discussed showing me the site where they’d shoot their video the next morning. I agreed, happy to do whatever they wanted. My lonely heart was beating a happy rhythm again, and I couldn’t get enough.
Jake pulled me aside before we left and told me that the hotel was booked solid because of the upcoming show. He offered me his room, telling me he’d crash with Nick. I shook my head emphatically.
“I want to stay with you, Jake,” I said. I didn’t want to be alone for a moment. I was afraid of the gloom and depression that loomed around the corner, waiting for the chance to take over my heart. “I trust you. And I promise to behave.”
He smiled softly and took my hand in both of his. “Are you sure, Iz? After what that idiot put you through, I don’t want you feeling the least bit uncomfortable.”
“I’m sure,” I told him. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. “I’m being selfish, I know, but I want you with me every second while I’m here.”
His face brightened as his lips twitched, curling into an eye crinkling smile. “Whatever you want.”
And that was how the next few days went. Anything I wanted, one of them gave it to me. I had to be very careful what I said because if I mentioned I liked something, I inevitably wound up with it. It was sweet and wonderful and helped my hurting heart to heal. But, I didn’t want to take advantage of any of their good natures. I’d taken to them all immediately and they obviously wanted to make me happy.
As smitten as I’d become with Jake’s band mates, it was nothing compared to what I felt for him. I was shocked at how strongly I reacted to each touch or friendly kiss. My feelings for him emerged from my heart like a rocket shooting off into space. And when I curled next to him each night, it took forever to calm my racing pulse enough to sleep.
Although he never treated me as if he thought of me as more than a friend, especially at night when we were alone in his room, something else lingered in his eyes. We’d be laughing with the others over Ronnie’s antics when I’d catch his eyes on me, longing for…something. My heart would race and my breath would come in harsh spurts. What I felt for Lance was child’s play. What I felt for Jake was real.
I wanted him for more than a friend.
The thought came to me while I sat on the sidelines, watching them work with the directors as they filmed a video. I sank to the nearest chair, heart hammering and nerves jangling. I wanted to shout it to him, but I was afraid. Not of embarrassing myself, but of ruining the one true friendship I had left in this world.
New Year’s Eve came before I could blink, and suddenly I was holding Jake’s hand as he led me through a complicated maze to the dressing room at West Village University’s auditorium. The others were hyper—Nick was drumming on any available surface, Ronnie and Matt pacing, comparing notes and going over the set list. Jake sank to a sofa and yanked me down beside him. I was still hyperventilating because I’d nearly run smack into Flyby’s drummer.
A woman with a iPad peeked inside the dressing room and smiled in relief. She greeted the guys, said a quick hello to me, and ran down the evening’s schedule. She left, and Ronnie opened the mini fridge. I tensed, afraid he would start passing out alcohol but he surprised me by handing each of the guys various soft drinks. He tossed a lemon lime soda to me with a smirk. He knew me so well already.
Jake, who’d correctly read the tension in my body, chuckled softly before leaning over to whisper in my ear. “We don’t drink much at all, Iz.”
His breath tickled the skin surrounding my ear, and a shiver ran up my spine. I nodded as I looked into his eyes, mesmerized again by their beauty. He winked, and a blush started at my toes and stopped only when it had to at the top of my head.
Amanda, the iPad lady, popped back in to check that they were indeed ready and popped back out just as quick.
“It’s hurry up and wait, huh?” I asked no one in general.
“Pretty much,” Matt agreed. He tossed his empty can at a recycle bin and missed. He smiled apologetically at me. “See why I got into music?”
I laughed until Rob Ross stepped in the dressing room. M
y jaw dropped. Rob Ross was lead singer for Society Lost, one of my favorite bands. He also founded and ran Ross Records, the label that had discovered and signed Jake and his band.
“Hey, how’d the video shoot go?”
Nick explained the last few days to him and Rob nodded his head, finally noticing me. He smiled and my ability to talk left me in a whoosh. “And you are?”
“Rob, this is my friend, Iz,” Jake said.
Rob’s smiled widened. “Nice to meet you, Iz.”
“You, too,” I squeaked. He turned his attention back to the guys and explained the same thing Amanda had fifteen minutes ago before he waved and left.
“Star struck much, Iz?” Ronnie asked through a bout of hysterical laughter. I would have gladly thrown anything at him, even my shoe, but I was still flabbergasted and didn’t have the energy to expend. I stuck my tongue out at him instead.
By the time Flyby finished and Controlled Environment took the stage, the crowd was rowdy and ready to explode. Jake positioned me just off stage where I had an excellent view—and not only of him but also the front row bimbos. This would definitely be a night I’d not soon forget.
It was one thing to go to a concert and sit in the front row but it was an entirely different thing to be right off stage, so close to the band. I witnessed all their little quirks, delighting in the way Nick shook his leg nervously as he waited for a new song to start or the way Matt and Ronnie threw guitar picks at each other between songs. And how close Jake’s mouth was to the microphone—that little quirk sent sparks though my body.
When they played the song we danced to at the Fall Festival, my legs grew weak, and when they did the one he wrote about our night together, tears fell down my cheeks. He turned sideways and smiled at me, making it all the more wonderful. My heart jumped through hoops, and I had a strange urge to run on stage to throw my arms around him. I didn’t, of course, because I didn’t think he would appreciate it too much. Plus, the security guards were pretty hefty, and I could just imagine one lifting me easily and carrying me off stage. That would be embarrassing. And Ronnie would never let me live it down.