He rid his pockets of his wallet and cigarettes, then crawled under the blankets and stretched out on his stomach. His eyes drifted closed and he was almost comfortable enough, but his arms nagged at him. They felt too empty. All you get’s a pillow tonight. Sorry, guys. He reached over to the extra pillow and tugged at the corner. It seemed glued to the bed. He pulled a bit harder but it stubbornly stayed put.
He cursed softly and gave it a hard yank. It moved a bit, but not still enough. “What the bloody hell?” he mumbled.
“That’s my pillow, rock stud,” purred a voice that danced on the edge of familiarity. “It’s been too long, JT. Did you miss me?”
JT’s eyes opened wide and he froze.
It was taking too long. And she didn’t want to be nosy, digging into Paul’s stuff. The hotel provided anything and everything a guest might want in the cabinets and drawers, but apparently didn’t think they’d need tape. “I haven’t looked in here yet, and it would be a stupid place to put a roll of tape, but you never know…” she said under her breath as she flipped the light switch in the master bathroom.
She pulled open the drawers and found them to be empty. She opened the mirrored door of the medicine cabinet and took a quick stock of the contents. “Extra soap, little lotion and shampoo bottles, a comb sealed in a plastic bag, a couple of shower caps still in baggies, foil packs of antibiotic ointment, band-aids, little packets of aspirin and non-aspirin… damn.” She closed the cabinet door and reached for the light switch, then stopped as loudness and pain sliced through her head.
“Tina?” JT bolted from the bed, his weariness instantly forgotten. Oh holy fucking HELL! The woman’s a bloody black widow. She eats men alive. Of all the damned groupies to find her way in here, it had to be Tina. And of all nights, it had to be tonight when I’m completely knackered. And there’s no way to kick her out quietly. This woman lives to make a spectacle.
“In the better than ever flesh, darlin’. I brought you a present. Well, a pair of them, actually,” she giggled. “Come back to bed and I’ll show you.”
JT crossed his arms over his bare chest, feeling more naked than when he’d performed before twenty thousand people on a hot summer stage wearing only the briefest of cutoff shorts and a pair of high-topped running shoes. “I don’t want whatever it is you have, Tina.”
“That’s not exactly the way to greet an old friend, now is it, lover?” she crooned from what should have been the empty side of the bed.
JT folded his arms tighter across his body and dug his fingertips into the sides of his ribcage. Nope, she’s not gonna go peacefully at all. Bloody hell in a jar… “How the fuck did you get in here? Never mind. I don’t even care to know. Just get out.” He squinted through the gloom, scanning the floor for his T-shirt.
“Oh, come on, baby, you know you don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do.” JT’s foot landed on a pile of cloth. He picked it up and felt for the sleeves, wanting more than anything to cover himself in her presence. He put one arm through, then the other and moved to pull it over his head. The knit seemed tighter than he remembered, he heard a few threads pop, and then his arms snapped back over his chest before he could put his head through. “Aw, shit,” he mumbled. “I’ll just bet…”
He yanked the shirt from his arms and turned on the bedside lamp. In his hands was a tiny bright red shirt. Glancing at the bed confirmed that it was Tina’s. Her legs were under the blankets but the part of her he could see as she sat up in the bed was decidedly bare and a pair of over-round breasts jutted hugely from her torso.
“Oh, now you’ve ruined my surprise,” she pouted.
JT threw the shirt and it landed in her lap. “New tits? Some surprise. Put your clothes back on and get out, Tina.”
She ignored the shirt and instead ran her hands up her sides to curve underneath the unnaturally large orbs on her chest, flashing him a catlike smile. “I know how much you like big tits, JT. Did I get them big enough? Do you like ‘em? They sure do feel real. Come back to bed with me, lover, and you can feel them for yourself.”
JT crossed his arms over his chest again and glared. “Tina,” he repeated, “get dressed and get the fuck out.”
Her fingers crept upward to tease at her nipples. “What’s the matter, did the show leave you too tired to let Little JT out to play? I’ll bet I can fix that.”
His volume rising, JT said again, “Just leave, Tina. Get out. Right fucking now.” Before I yank you from that bed and drop your naked ass out the window and forget that you were even here.
Her vision grayed and she had to hold the doorframe for support as her knees threatened to buckle. Kori scrunched her eyes tight and clenched her jaw, grappling with shutting out whoever had just invaded. JT. I should have known. She couldn’t make out what he was on about, just that it was a strong emotional reaction to something, and at the moment she really didn’t care to what. She had to make it stop before she crashed headfirst into the bathroom counter.
She sucked in a deep breath and envisioned a blinding blue light all around herself, the quickest way to seal out unwanted intrusions. She hated doing that, as it cut off all extrasensory input for hours, but she needed a wall and she needed it fast. The icepick left her brain as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a dull ache with roots in the physical. Every nerve synapse in her brain was still firing, looking for the stimulus that had just been there, every blood vessel expanded to full capacity to feed a full-on psychic episode, and now there was no need. She exhaled raggedly and opened her eyes.
The light was too bright. Kori blinked hard once and attempted to focus, then resorted to squinting to mute the glare. “God, JT, keep it down, will ya? Jeeze. Always thinking so damn loud… where’s that aspirin again?” She stepped back inside and opened the medicine cabinet. On the second shelf, right next to the band-aids, sat the little pocket packs of pain reliever. She took one down, not caring what kind it was, tore it open and dry-swallowed.
As she reached up to close the medicine cabinet door, her eyes caught on the band-aids again and she stopped in mid-reach. Well, why the hell not? She took one out before closing the cabinet.
A moment later, satisfied that the little bandage would hold the note to the television screen until the boys might see it, she dimmed the lights in the living room and turned toward the door.
Tina tossed back the covers and slid from the bed, putting her hands on her hips as she turned to face JT. Pasting on her most sincere wide-eyed stare, she said, “I’m beginning to think you really mean that.”
“I do mean it. Go away, Tina.” JT kept his voice flat, trying to get her out with as little row as was still possible.
She glanced down at his unzipped pants and saw she’d had no effect on him whatsoever. Her demeanor instantly changed. “I can’t believe you’ve decided to become celibate. What’s the matter? Can’t get it up any more, stud?” she taunted, her sex-kitten purr now forgotten.
If only you knew the half of it. “Tina, what I may have decided or not decided is none of your goddamned business. I’ve tried to be nice about it, but truth be told, I just don’t want to have sex with you. Now leave.” JT watched her eyes narrow and her face harden as she shrugged back her hair and huffed, obviously trying to find some suitably scathing response. She looks ridiculous. Her tits don‘t even move. It’s like someone glued beige softballs on her chest. He bit down hard on the insides of his cheeks to keep from laughing.
He didn’t wait for her reply, if indeed she had one. This is gonna get loud and ugly now no matter what. It’s better to get her out sooner rather than later and right now that’s all I give a rat’s testicle about. JT scanned the floor for her remaining clothing.
She’d rolled her jeans around her retro-styled platform shoes and stashed the works partway underneath the foot of the bed. He picked up the wad, leaned over the bed to snatch up her shirt from where it had landed, and strolled with exaggerated casualness to where Tina stood with her hands still on h
er hips.
He’d only intended to press it in close enough to force her to take the clothing or let it roll down her front, but as his arm extended, her eyes flashed him an angry challenge before narrowing even more. His exhausted temper snapped.
JT shoved the bundle into her chest hard enough to make her step back. She gasped, his rejection finally sinking in. Her clothes landed in a heap on the floor.
“Pick them up, put them on, and get out. Or don’t put them on. I really don’t care if you leave here bare-ass naked, Tina. I don’t want you, I don’t want you even near me. I just want you to get the hell out.” JT turned to walk away.
Tina retrieved her shirt and yanked it on. “What’s the matter, JT? Afraid the new girlfriend might find out? Oh, yes, I’ve heard things. Your crew does like to gossip. I’ll just bet that you’ve convinced both her and yourself that you’re in love with her. Poor girl.” JT halted and tightened his jaw but didn’t turn around.
Tina saw she’d struck pay dirt. “She must really be something, JT. Even when you had a wife you never turned me down.” She bent to pick up her jeans. “But it won’t last. With you, it never does. She’ll see how you really are, how eventually you just can’t keep your dick in your pants and she’ll leave you, just like all the rest.”
Tina sat on the edge of the bed to pull her jeans over her feet, keeping her eyes trained on JT’s rigid figure a few feet away. “Everyone but me, that is. It sure must suck to realize that I’m the longest relationship you’ve ever had, and I’m only in it for the fuck.”
JT finally turned and he had to cross his arms over his chest to keep from smacking the smirk right off her face. God, she’s so pinched-faced ugly. How could I have ever thought she was even remotely attractive enough to sleep with?
JT kept his voice to a low growl, attempting to keep his temper under control. “I don’t care what you’ve heard from people who think they know something. But just for the record, she’s exceptional and I’m a damn lucky man. I won’t allow you, or anyone else, to damage that.” JT forced his fisted hands to relax. “Now for the last time, get out before I pick you up and throw you out.”
Kori lingered near the door, then turned back to walk to the wet bar and settle into one of the lowbacked wooden stools. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it. A few more minutes won’t make much difference, and I’d really rather not smoke near him, no matter what he says.
She stared at the swirling smoke and let her thoughts carry her off. Tendrils of the dream still wisped through her mind and she hoped to capture them before they drifted away. She knew she’d dozed off in the recliner, but couldn’t recall much of the dream she’d wrapped around the ringing of the telephone. Something about my kitchen, but it was all a mess. There were boxes everywhere. JT and Zach were off picking up hamburgers for lunch. And I had to get the packing done because… why? Kori forced conscious thought away and closed her eyes, hoping to play connect the dots with the scattered bits and images.
Because we had a plane to catch. Tomorrow, in the dream. And everything was being shipped. To where? Oh, dammit. I just can’t see any further than that. Not that it matters, anyway. I’ve only had this dream once, real as it seemed at the time. Once does not a precognition make, Kori.
She’d smoked the entire cigarette while trying to figure it out; she stubbed out the butt and put her lighter back in her pocket. Time to face the major energy drain. God, I hate thinking of him that way, but sometimes I just can’t help it. I’m just so tired, and so tired of being tired. She walked to the door, checked her pockets one last time, and stepped out into the hall.
JT stood in the doorway of his suite, lounging against the frame. He wasn’t seeing Tina out to be polite; he wanted to ensure that she left. After she’d picked up her shoes, he placed a not-so-gentle hand broadly across the small of her back and propelled her toward the door.
“Damn, JT, at least let me get my shoes on,” she said.
“Put them on in the elevator.” He maintained the steady pressure on her back and kept walking.
“Asshole,” she mumbled.
“Oh, ouch. That really hurts, coming from a slut like you.” They’d reached the door and JT opened it with his left hand. His right was still pressed firmly into her back and it took monumental effort not to shove. “Well, Tina, it has been anything but fun, and I hope to not do this again at any time in the future. Goodbye and have a nice life.” He crossed his arms and favored her with a sardonic smile that failed to reach his eyes.
Kori turned away from the door to head down the hall to her own semi-suite. She didn’t look up at first, lost as she was in her thoughts of Mark and of her elusive dream. Movement and voices brought her eyes from the carpet. She gave herself credit for only faltering half a step as she took in the scene in front of JT’s doorway.
A mussy-haired bleached-blonde woman dressed in a form-fitting T-shirt and skin-tight jeans stood holding her shoes in the crook of one arm and smiling up at a nearly undressed JT. Kori noticed that he was smiling down at her as he leaned lazily against the doorjamb. She also noticed that his zipper wasn’t done up and she could see the front of his red low-rise underwear. It isn’t what it looks like. It can’t be. I trust him, he trusts me, and he loves me.
Kori tore her eyes from the woman and back up to JT’s face, trying not to hyperventilate. Look at his eyes. He’s looking daggers right through the sleazebag. But even if JT wasn’t pissed, I have no real right to be, no matter what might have gone on between the two of them. How dare I be jealous when I’m still married? When I broke my vows to be with him? When we have no formal commitment between the two of us?
Yes, you do, chimed in another voice inside her head. He asked you to marry him.
“No, he didn’t,” she muttered to herself. “He assumed that I would, and that’s a totally different thing.” I wish I knew what was going on with them, that I could see what he’s thinking. Dammit JT, why did you have to scream into my head? She felt her own fatigued anger beginning to bubble and kicked herself for being too weak to hold on and let his earlier emotional storm pass, for wondering if he had sex with the bimbo standing in front of him, and for being jealous of even the possibility. Trust. Trust. You’ve got to have faith and trust and keep a lid on the temper, Kori.
As her footsteps brought her nearer, the blonde glanced over and noticed Kori approaching. JT followed her gaze, taking in Kori’s wide-eyed unblinking stare. His own eyes grew wider and Kori was certain she saw a ripple of worry in them before they went flat again to study the woman standing in front of him. The blonde raised her voice for the audience that was Kori, ensuring that she couldn’t help but hear the last words exchanged between them. “She’ll discover how hard it is for you to keep that trouser snake caged, JT. You can count on it.”
JT laughed. “Fuck you, Tina.”
“You already have. What other reason would I have to keep coming back?” Tina slipped Kori an exaggerated wink before sashaying her way to the elevator.
Slap the bitch, sang the voice inside her head. Kori’s eyes narrowed and she set her teeth. He told you it was time to leave, you groupie whore. I can see that much, at least, in his eyes. So why in the hell aren’t you on the elevator yet? Maybe you’ll get lucky and the cable’ll break on your way down…
A loud pop sounded in her ears; Kori realized it came from her jaw. She also noticed her fingernails digging into her palms as she fought the urge to clout the woman into next Tuesday. Kori deliberately opened her hands, splaying out her fingers stiffly.
Chill out, Kori.
Chill out, my ass, she told the muted voice of logic and sent it packing. The anger was clawing free, prowling for a target and wanting to inflict.
Faith and trust. Trust and faith, piped the voice again. She shrugged and tried to wall off
the jealousy and suspicion. After all, she had nothing definitive to indicate he’d slept with the backstage tramp. Well, not tonight anyhow.
Her eyes raked down J
T and up again, taking in his shirtless chest, the apprehension in his bagged eyes (something sure wore him out), the hair that now brushed past his shoulders in chaotic disarray (bad pillow hair, JT? What in the hell were you doing lying in bed with that sleazebucket in your room, anyway? It sure as shit better be just bedhead and not any other kind… ), the tight set of his shoulders and snugly crossed arms as he slouched against the doorframe (worried or angry? And worried about what? At getting caught, or at looking like he’s been caught doing something that he wasn’t? Could be just pissed at the overbleached bimbo).
God! How do regular people do this when all they have to go on is what they see with their eyes and what they hear with their ears? I’m traveling blind and deaf and can’t even pick up a thread of an emotional aura for guidance. And I’m too tired to play flippin’ guessing games.
JT’s eyes followed Tina as she headed for the elevator and he hoped she wouldn’t say anything more. A loud and nasty scene had so far been averted and he wanted to keep it that way. He shifted his eyes back to Kori as she came closer. Her face was unreadable. She looks as done in as I feel. My poor sweetheart.
He tried a gentle nudge into her thoughts but strangely picked up nothing at all. Must be blocking me out for some reason. Most likely she’s pissed off at security ‘cause Tina somehow found her way up here. Or maybe it’s just my headache and exhaustion isn’t going to let me connect at will. I still don’t grasp everything about how to do this anyway.
JT heard the elevator ping as it arrived, then the doors shushed open and closed again. He heaved a deep sigh, glad to have Tina gone at last.
Kori stopped in front of her door but didn’t go inside. She was still staring at JT with the same flat expression. He smiled at her and this time it reached up to crinkle the corners of his eyes.
“Sorry you had to see that, love,” he said affably. “I’m not even sure how she managed to get up here, but I’ll have a talk with the security chief tomorrow to let him know about the breach.”
Dream Me Off My Feet (Sex, Love, And Rock & Roll) Page 53