Guiding my hands above my head, Bam held them there with one hand, sliding his other to my breast. As he rolled my nipple between his fingers, he kissed me deeply, slamming into me over and over again.
I cried out his name as I came, trying to drag my hands from their prison to touch him, but he held firm and didn’t release me until he came inside of me, eliciting yet another orgasm from me.
“You’re fuckin’ amazing,” Bam breathed out, pulling me over his chest.
“Back atya.” I kissed his chest and snuggled close. “I like no condoms… can we skip them from now on?”
“Not sure how I feel about that,” he admitted. “Want to get tested first. I can do that tomorrow morning.”
“I just figured we’ve done it twice now…”
He chuckled. “I’m clean, I know I’m clean, but you should be a little more concerned about your own well-being, baby.”
I shrugged. “As weird as this sounds, I trust you.”
“Love that, Luce.”
I grinned, surprised by a sudden yawn. “Sorry. Traveling always wipes me out.”
“It is late. Let’s sleep and I’ll take you to breakfast tomorrow before the band meeting.”
I yawned again. “That sounds perfect.”
He pulled the covers up around us and I let myself fall into oblivion.
* * *
Bam
Driving through town with Lucy by my side filled me with a strange sensation. Even though I had lived here for years, it was as if I was taking in my surroundings for the very first time. Her very presence made me look at my life from her perspective.
We were scheduled to meet the rest of the band at noon and we were running a little late due to the fact breakfast ran late. Truth be told, breakfast ran late because I spent an hour showing Lucy all the things I loved about her body.
The Sullynator had agreed to let me shuttle Lucy around today, but I had a feeling he wasn’t far away. As we pulled into the back lot of the band’s rehearsal space, I could see each band member’s car. Everyone was here which meant, either the band was ready to work through our shit and get back to business, or I was walking into an ambush. I was prepared for either scenario.
“The Clubhouse” had been the band’s official headquarters for the past five years. It was a converted machine shop in an old industrial area of town. It wasn’t much to look at but it was secure, secluded, and so far had remained off the radar of the paparazzi.
We climbed out of my truck and Lucy stood staring up at the stark building.
“And for our next stop on this edition of Cribs,” I joked.
“This is where you rehearse?” Lucy asked. “It looks more like where you’d split up the loot after a bank robbery.”
I laughed. “I plead the fifth, but I’d watch what you say about the Clubhouse. I spend more time here than I do at home.”
“After seeing your place, I can see why.”
“Hey! My house isn’t that bad,” I challenged. “Perhaps it simply needs a woman’s touch.”
“Your house needs more than a woman’s touch, it needs a bitch slap.”
“You didn’t say that when I bitch slapped your ass this morning.”
She bit her lip. “Your bed is amazing, as is your ability to make me come forty-two times in less than a minute.”
“It’s a gift.” I leaned in for a kiss, but Lucy pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m nervous,” she said.
“About kissing? I think you should be over that by now, no?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes. “About seeing the band.”
“Lucy, you’ve met the band.”
“I know, but now I have to go in there as your girlfriend, or woman, or whatever. They’ll probably look at me like a rookie manager with a crush, or a complication, or your side piece—”
“What the fuck? Baby, you’re not a side piece and anyone who looks at you like you are will be picking up their teeth.”
“Okay there, let’s not get riled up. I’m just nervous. This is complicated for me. The band is your family and I want your family to like me. I also want to do a good job for my family, and to complicate everything you’re right in the middle.”
“I get that,” I admitted. “The band has a lot of repair work to do before this tour starts, and I don’t know how they’re going to react to us being together, but you’re not a complication Lucy, you’re my lifeline. You are the only thing keeping me together.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her slowly. I took my time, knowing this would be the last time we’d be alone for a while.
She broke the kiss and grinned up at me. “That helps.”
I chuckled. “Good.”
I walked Lucy inside, but she dropped my hand and stepped behind me slightly.
“Nice to see you remember how to get here,” Jimmy called out in his normal jovial tone as we entered the space. He, along with the rest of the band and Hadley, were sitting in the lounge. The mood in the room was somewhat tense but certainly not hostile. I relaxed a bit when Zeke gave me a smile and a nod. It wasn’t the warmest of receptions, but at least he didn’t look like he’d showed up for a knife fight.
Unlike the sad tableau that was my house, the clubhouse was quite comfortable and stylish in its own way. Zeke’s girlfriend at the time we bought the place was an aspiring interior designer. She’d attempted a “swanky seventies vibe,” but the place ended up looking like a set from Boogie Nights.
I greeted everyone, then pulled Lucy over to the loveseat by the wall. “Thanks for meeting up on such short notice. Things have been a bit crazy for me lately, but I wanted to get together and get everyone up to speed.”
Jimmy was the only one to respond with a simple but upbeat, “Cool.”
“Y’all remember Lucy Haddon.” I felt the heat creep up the back of my neck as everyone looked at up me blankly. “Of course you do,” I said and leaned forward, settling my arms on my knees.
“It’s nice to see everyone again,” Lucy said a little too cheerily. “My father sends his greetings to all of you.”
I had to hold back a laugh. She sounded like a Disney princess welcoming her royal subjects to court. We had the nervous energy of two teenagers coming home after prom night.
I continued, “Um, I know Hadley’s let you know a little bit about what’s been going on with the tour and everything is great on that front.”
Silent nods all around.
“Great, so on a more personal note…”
I had to formulate a careful way to convey the deep feelings I held for Lucy to my band mates while remaining sensitive to their possible reservations about the idea of us having a romantic relationship.
“Fuck it! Okay everybody here’s the thing, Lucy and I are together. As in together. So… that’s… that,” I said.
The room remained silent for a few moments longer until Zeke posed a fair but jarring question, “Are you out of your fucking mind, Bam?”
Bam
LUCY LAID HER hand on my back, probably to keep me from losing my shit on my brothers. I glanced back at her and scowled.
“It’s a lot for them to take in,” she said, talking about them like they weren’t in the room.
“I’m okay,” I quietly assured her.
“Is that why you stayed in Seattle? So you could hook up with her?” Zeke waived a hand at Lucy.
I stood, my body locking in barely controlled anger. “Talk about Lucy like that again and you’re gonna have an easier time hitting those high notes.”
“Okay, so this meeting’s getting off to a bit of a rocky start,” Lucy said with a sigh.
Before I knew it, she was on her feet, and her hand was on my chest, feebly attempting to push me back down into my seat.
“Bam, sit down,” she continued. I glanced at her and then back at Zeke. He was already on thin ice with me and this made me want to invite him to go skating. “Beau,” Lucy snapped, and I focused on her. “Sit do
wn, honey.”
I stared down each of my stunned band brothers before slowly lowering myself back on the sofa.
Lucy smiled. “As Bam so eloquently and romantically put it, he and I are in a relationship, we’re not just hooking up. I know it’s fast, but we’ve discussed this with my family and my father has given his blessing so to speak. I get that this is way out of bounds, and so does Bam. Believe me, this wasn’t planned but it’s where we are, and Bam and I are committed to making sure our private lives don’t interfere with the upcoming tour.” She sat back down next to me and I took her hand.
“Lucy, first of all I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disrespect you. It’s just that we’ve been here before with Bam,” Zeke pointed out. “Bam’s personal life mixes with his private life and then all our lives are turned upside down. Every interview becomes about him and who he’s with. I have to hire security for my parents because the paparazzi are on their property.”
I looked at Zeke. “Shit, man, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”
“You’re always sorry. I know you’re sorry, but here we go again none-the-fucking-less. It’s always all about you. The Bam Bam Nelson hour with special guests ‘three other assholes from Alabama.’ ”
“That’s bullshit,” I spit back. “I work harder than anyone in this band and you know it.”
“Of course we know it. You never let us forget it. Tell me; are you really working harder or do you just have to put in overtime to clean up the mess you make everywhere you go?”
“Fuck you.” I rose to my feet again. “When Melody and I were together you didn’t seem to have any problem at all with the extra attention. Then, she fucks me over and you get pissed at me? How was it my fault that Melody leaked that video and then cheated on me for the whole world to see?”
“It’s not, but you brought that shit into our house.” Zeke stood and faced off with me. “Things haven’t been the same since, and now you want to do it all over again? Once again, it’s all about you and what you want.”
“What about Chas?” Jimmy chimed in. “Talk about bringing shit into our house, Zeke. You brought a fucking wolf in!”
“Don’t change the subject and stop sticking up for Bam all the time,” Zeke snapped.
“I’m not sticking up for him,” Jimmy snapped. “I’m just saying he ain’t the only one at fault here. Personally I’m sick of everyone’s shit… Bam’s included.”
“You guys are unreal. All I’ve done for the past seven years has been to help you all. Everything I’ve ever done is for this band!” I shouted.
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Zeke looked at my coolly. “Everything you’ve ever done was to help you run away from home.”
Fuck, he was right.
“Okay,” Lucy said, standing again. “Let’s take a second.” She took my hand again and squeezed. “Deep breath. Remember, they love you.”
I nodded, releasing her hand so I could drag mine down my face. After a few seconds of tense silence, I turned back to Zeke. “What do you want me to say, man? What am I supposed to do? Turn off the way I feel? I can’t. Not with Lucy. You want me to say you’re right? Fine, you’re right. I’ve spent my whole life running and I’ve dragged you along with me. I’m sorry, but I’m done running. I went back home and am trying to put the past behind me for good.”
Zeke’s face contorted in surprise. “You went back to Elwood?”
“There’s a lot to tell, Zeke. I want to tell you about all of it, hell, I want to talk to my friend, but that’s the thing, Zeke, I don’t know if we’re friends anymore.”
He dropped his head. “I’m sorry about the money, Bam. I’m so fucking sorry. I swear to you I didn’t know what Chas was up to. What I did was wrong, but I promise you I had nothing to do with that other shit.”
“I believe you.”
“I know Chas is a piece of shit and it’s my fault he was here. That’s the truth, but can’t you see where I was coming from? I needed someone in my corner.”
“Here’s the thing. I don’t get that,” I admitted. “I didn’t even know we were in opposite corners. I thought it was us against the world.”
“It was, until it wasn’t,” he said with a certain amount of defeat in his voice. “You say you do most of the work, but I say you took most of the control.”
Zeke’s words hurt because there was more than an element of truth in them. In an effort to hold onto the family I created, I crushed them. Instead of protecting them, I had become controlling and angry. In an effort to “take the hill” at all costs, I had forgotten to have my buddies’ backs, and instead acted like a crazy general marching them to slaughter.
I was so burned out; it hadn’t occurred to me that they might all be going through similar things. I figured they were having the time of their lives and I was the only one in pain.
I flopped down next to Lucy again and dropped my face in my hands. Lucy slid her palm along my thigh and her touch instantly soothed me. I raised my head and studied Zeke. “I’m really sorry, brother.”
He gave me a quick nod and sat down again.
“So… um… can you guys hug it out and then we can actually have a band meeting?” Hadley asked, and the room busted out laughing.
“Dude, you guys are more drama than my sisters… and they’re both actresses,” Edward retorted.
“The mute speaks,” Jimmy joked, and Edward cracked a semblance of a smile.
“You sure you want to dive into this?” I asked Hadley.
Lucy giggled behind me. I craned my head and raised an eyebrow at her.
“What?” she challenged. “Edward’s right. You’re also more drama than one Roxie Haddon, and believe me, that’s saying something.”
I grinned and took her hand, kissing the palm gently, before facing the band again. “So, unless anyone has any objections, Hadley has agreed to be our new manager.”
“Fuck!” Jimmy breathed out. “Finally.”
Hadley rolled her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘finally’?” she challenged.
“It took you a while to accept.”
“Two days,” she countered.
He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. “Shoulda just said yes right away, I reckon.”
I chuckled. “Well, she’s said yes now, so shall we move on?”
“Yes, let’s move on,” Hadley said. “I have something I want to run by you guys.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Lost Highway found out you guys were in town―”
“How’d that happen?” Jimmy challenged.
“There are a lot of little birdies around,” Hadley retorted. “Anyway, they want to know if you want to play next Friday night. Home show kind of thing.”
“It’s good for me,” I said. “You negotiate a good deal?”
“Of course I negotiated a good deal,” Hadley said.
I chuckled. “Great. Let us know the details.”
The rest of the meeting covered everything from roadie support to travel plans while on the RatHound tour. Lucy and Hadley worked in tandem to fill in the details of what we needed to know, but I had full confidence, the women would take care of everything without any input from us. I loved watching Lucy in her element and couldn’t wait to get her home and back in my bed.
* * *
Lucy
Later that night, Bam and I were laying in bed, one more epic love making session under our belts. I had flopped across his chest (my favorite position), and I was tracing his Roses for Anna tattoo while he stroked my back. “So, set up Thursday night, then show on Friday night?”
“That’s the plan,” Bam said. “Hadley’ll have final schedules tomorrow.”
“Well, whatever you need me to do, please make sure you put me to work.”
“I’m not puttin’ you to work, Lucy.”
“Um, why not?” I challenged.
“Because you’re here to enjoy the show… not work.”
“I appreciate that, honey, but if you need help, I wa
nt you to feel comfortable asking.” I stroked his cheek. “I let Hadley know I was available as well.”
“Okay, baby. Thank you.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Where’s Sully?” he asked. “I haven’t seen him all day.”
“Dad needed the plane, so he flew it back.”
“Wait… Sully’s a pilot?”
“Yes.” I met his eyes. “Did I forget to mention that?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, baby… you kind of buried the lead.”
“He used to fly for United, and he and Dad met at one of the coffee places in… I think Singapore? They kind of hit it off and Sully told him to say hi if they were ever on the same plane. Short story long, Dad offered him a job when the band decided to buy a plane and Sully helped negotiate the sale and guide the refurbishment. He also stepped in as my bodyguard and the rest is history.”
“Can I ask a really nosy question?”
I giggled. “Of course.”
“How the hell does your dad have so much money? It’s not like RatHound’s as big as Metallica, you know? I know how much bands make, and the 90s weren’t that generous to artists.”
“Mom. She’s always controlled the money, because Dad’s smart and he made sure she was in charge. She negotiated some pretty incredible deals, invested really smartly, and made sure Dad, and the band, kept control over their publishing rights. They never gave up anything when it came to songwriting credits and the like. So, even when the stuff happened with rehab and everything, Mom kept everyone flush, and even gained power of attorney over Jack’s finances when Pam died. He went dark for a while there and probably would have lost everything if she hadn’t stepped in.”
“Wow,” he breathed out.
I nodded. “Never ever repeat that.”
“I won’t.” He smiled. “Your mom’s a fucking badass.”
“You have no idea.”
“I see where you get that from.”
I gave his waist a squeeze. “That’s the best compliment on earth.”
“Where did your red hair come from?”
“Dad’s side. My grandmother looked like Lucille Ball. I got her boobs and hair.”
Broken Road (Limelight Series Book 1) Page 15