by Alla Kar
Stephanie took us to a BBQ restaurant. Seeing Missy eat a BBQ sandwich was hilariously cute. “You’re laughing at me,” she whispered.
I snorted and shoved the rest of my sandwich into my mouth. “You’ve got sauce all over that pretty mouth,” I whispered back.
She blushed.
“Are you two talking dirty over there?” Stephanie asked over her drink.
“Mom,” Missy growled.
“Oh, stop being such a prude, Missy. You can talk to me about anything. I can probably give you some pointers.”
“God!” Missy groaned into her hands. I couldn’t help but laugh. She was so damn cute.
“So, Paxton. What made you play for Fringe?” Stephanie asked.
I shrugged. “I needed a job. I got kicked out of my old band because I slept with the singer’s girlfriend, even though I didn’t know they were together.”
Stephanie laughed. “I can’t imagine anyone cheating on their boyfriend with you.” She winked and Missy sighed.
When we finished we went to the mall and Stephanie took Missy shopping. I could tell they hadn’t seen each other in a while, so I stood back and mostly watched as they shopped. For two people that looked so much alike they couldn’t have been any more different. But at the same time they fit together just right.
Missy strolled off toward the back wall of purses and Stephanie nudged my shoulder. “You like her, huh?”
I grinned down at her and scratched my scruffy jaw. “A lot. More than I’ve ever liked someone before.”
“She’s a really good girl. Better than I ever was. Her dad forced her to be perfect all the time and I think she’s turned out better than I thought she would. Especially with Patrick as a dad and me.” She scoffed at herself. “I’m far from perfect. Hence the reason Patrick and I are not together.”
“His loss,” I said. “You seem like a fun girl to me.”
“You’re a charmer. Anybody ever told you that?”
My gaze shifted over to Missy who was talking to the sales rep and pointing toward a purse on the top shelf. “Your daughter is beautiful, Stephanie. And I think I’m falling in love with her.”
When I glanced down, Stephanie was staring at me with a huge smile on her face. “Her dad is going to flip his lid. He doesn’t know yet, right?”
I shook my head. “We can’t keep it a secret forever, but no, he doesn’t know anything.”
Stephanie looked over at Missy and smiled. “She’s gentle, Paxton. Be careful with her. She’s new to this and because of her dad she hasn’t had a lot of experience. I know that you’ve slept with her, she told me, but just be careful.”
I cleared my throat. “I would never be too—,”
Her laugh cut me off. “Not like that, but be careful with her heart. She’s so innocent that it scares me sometimes.”
I gave her a reassuring nudge with my shoulder. “She’s safe with me.”
“Mom, look at this Michael Kors. I got it on Dad’s MasterCard.” Missy grinned really big and gave her mother a look. “He’ll never know.”
Stephanie snorted. “You could buy an island and he’d never know. Stupid prick,” she mumbled.
Stephanie got me back in just enough time to practice for an hour before the show. Mr. King stood in the doorway of our practice room and watched me carefully. For a second I had thought he may have found out about us.
When the music stopped playing I could hear the sound of the audience screaming from two floors down.
“They sound all hot and bothered,” Dillon said, with a huge grin on his face.
I snorted. “I bet that makes you happy Dillon.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m the only normal guy in this band. Nick won’t screw anything because of his image and you won’t because of—,”
Dillon snapped his mouth shut and looked down at the ground.
“Are you dating someone?” Mr. King asked from the doorway. I swear I felt like I was on trial. Nick had stopped shuffling through sheet music and looked up at me. There was no way Dillon or Nick didn’t know I was dating Missy.
I just hoped that Mr. King hadn’t found out without us telling him first.
“Yeah, back in California, I do.”
Mr. King kept his gaze intently on me. “She didn’t freak out about you getting caught with another girl in Panama?”
“Yeah, but she got over it,” I lied.
“Time to go!” Dillon shouted. “Let’s go blow their panties off, boys!” I took Dillon’s bait and followed quickly out of the door behind him. My guitar was clutched in my hand. I wanted to turn around and tell him the truth. That I was falling for his eighteen-year-old daughter and didn’t give a fuck what he thought. But, I couldn’t.
The screams became louder when we made it to the long hall before the stage. All three of us in our own heads. Probably all three thinking about different things that didn’t even pertain to the concert. The only reason I had the audience on my brain was because I knew Missy and her mom would be sitting in the center seats together.
The lights brightened and the curtains drew back, showing us the stadium of screaming fans. Even though I was used to it my heart began to thump wildly in my chest. I was performing because I loved it. It was in my bones to perform. My step-dad had given me guitar lessons when he saw me staring at his guitars in his studio.
“Hello Missouri!” Nick yelled but the sounds of screaming were too loud to overcome.
Against my better judgment, I searched the rows until I found Missy and Stephanie sitting right where they said they would be. She locked her eyes with mine, a small smile on her porcelain face. So fucking beautiful.
I hadn’t even realized I’d been playing along to the music—only staring at Missy like she was the only person in the room. If she hadn’t nudged her mother’s side—probably to tell her to stop being dirty—I wouldn’t have even noticed her mother smiling at us.
She was happy for Missy. I just wished her dad could be too. Sweat poured down my face as the night went on. I played Missy’s song for her in the first half, and her mother squealed beside her like a teenager. But Missy’s face was still. Her blue eyes wide and her mouth agape. It was pure sin to watch her watch me. Even in an arena full of people I felt so close to her. So close.
We had to tell her dad.
The concert lasted way longer than we had expected. By the time midnight hit we were finally playing the last song of the night. My fingers were numb and swollen from strumming all night, and my throat on the verge of combusting, but I loved every minute of it.
I had given Missy the go-ahead to go backstage to wait for me five minutes before, but I still stared at their empty seats and smiled.
“Thank you, Missouri! It’s been a pleasure rocking with you tonight! We love you guys!” Nick shouted into the microphone.
We all said our goodbyes and exited through the side door to a group of girls screaming back stage. Dillon ran toward them with open arms and it took all I had not to laugh. The guy was obsessed with women. The sound crew were scrambling around but it didn’t take me long to find Missy.
But I almost wished I hadn’t. The frown on her face didn’t belong there. I wanted to be the reason she smiled, and always know how to make her laugh.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as I closed the space between us. “Where is your Mom?”
She shifted her gaze quickly to the ground. “She had to leave to make her flight, Paxton.”
I reached out to touch her jaw but she sidestepped to get away from me. I knew we were in public and her dad was backstage but it stung my gut. “What’s the matter, baby?”
A sob broke form her throat. “I don’t want to do it, Paxton.”
Oh, God. My vision was starting to blur with anger. “What are they trying to get you to do, Missy?”
***
Missy
Paxton’s face was rigid. His shoulders tensed and his fingers tightened around his guitar. Every time I tried to t
ell him my throat clogged and my mouth turned to sandpaper.
“If you don’t tell me now I’m going to go ask your dad.”
I screwed my eyes shut. “He’s trying to arrange a press conference for Benton and I so we can address the issue.”
Paxton swallowed hardly. “What’s there to address? He tried to rape you, Missy.”
I nodded and choked out a sob. “I know. They want me to say it was a misunderstanding because the media has gotten so bad. And I don’t want to do it.”
“Missy, you don’t have to do it,” Paxton said through clenched teeth. I glanced up at his piercing baby blues and his slender nose. So masculine and dominate that it seemed to ooze off of him.
And I was hiding our relationship because of my dad. An eighteen-year-old was hiding her relationship to a wonderfully raw and emotional man. I was the stupidest bitch alive.
“I’m not going to,” I said, shaking my head. Surprising me, he stepped forward, grabbed the nape of my neck and dragged me closer to him. His mouth was rough and demanding and my body was too willing to be his victim. The sounds of equipment moving, screaming fan girls and demanding requests, everything turned still.
Paxton’s mouth, his hands, his body was undeniably mine. It was something I’d never felt before. “Missy,” he mumbled against my mouth. “We’re going to tell your dad,” he whispered.
I gasped against his lips but nodded at the same time. “He’ll kick you out of the band. Our relationship is almost against the rules, Pax.”
Paxton smiled, rubbing his knuckles down my cheek. “Haven’t you learned by now that I don’t do rules?”
“Missy!”
I whipped around and saw my dad storming toward us. Benton and his father closely behind him. Bile rose in my throat. He was not here. How could dad do this to me?
Tears pricked my eyes and sadness etched my soul. He was a monster. “What in the hell is going on?”
Before I could talk, Paxton reached out and snaked his arm around my waist dragging me closer to his side.
Dad snarled, and stopped an inch from Paxton’s face. “Get your filthy hands off of my daughter.”
Paxton snarled and glanced over at Benton who was hiding behind his dad. “Nice eye, Benton. Raped anymore girls lately?”
“Don’t you fucking dare talk to him like that,” Mr. Ferguson snapped. “You piece of shit.”
“You’re the piece of shit!” I yelled. “You, and your fucking son!” I yelled. The words felt so, so right coming out of my mouth.
Dad’s mouth flew open. “What in the hell have you done to her?” he asked Paxton, taking another step forward.
“I didn’t teach her anything but to stick up for herself. And she won’t be doing any press conference to help this asshole get out of trying to rape her.”
Benton didn’t say a word. He wouldn’t even look at me. I bet my black eye was harder for him to look at than he thought.
“You don’t get to tell her what she can and can’t do, Paxton. I’m her father and she is doing the press conference.”
“No she—,”
“No, I’m not,” I said. My tongue felt dry but I forced the words that had always been deep down up. Dad was going to listen to me if I had to scream it at him.
“I’m not going to do the press conference. And no it’s not because of Paxton, it’s because of me. I’m sick of being treated like a child. I’m eighteen-years-old and I will date who I want to date.” Paxton stared down at me with a huge smile on his face. A proud smile. “And I’m dating Paxton Evers.”
Dad let out a hysterical laugh. The throbbing veins in his forehead were huge. I wouldn’t have been surprised if one popped. “Missy, you better listen to me now. I’m not playing this rebellion game. Your brother didn’t make me go through—,”
“Because you gave him whatever the hell he wanted. How can you rebel against someone that lets you do anything they want? I just want the freedom to date who I want.”
Mr. Ferguson pushed past my dad trying to rest his hands on my shoulders but Paxton blocked his effort. “Don’t fucking touch her or I’ll break those hands.”
Mr. Ferguson shook his head and grinned. It looked so much like the one Benton had given me. “You’re going to date this trash over my son? He made a mistake, just like you’re making one now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up! Benton tried to rape me and he deserves to be trialed for it. So, I’m not doing the conference.”
Dad had started to pace with his hands tangled into his hair. “You’re going to do it or I’m kicking you out. Your mother’s already gotten her skanky ass on the plane back to California. What are you going to do then, huh?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know but I don’t care.”
Dad’s fingers twitched against his side. “You’re out of the band Paxton,” he said. “Get your shit together and go. Unless you want to let go of my daughter’s waist and I’ll reconsider letting you stay.”
Paxton threw his head back and laughed. “Not working for you would be the best thing that could happen to me, King. I’m not a little kid and I took care of myself before you came along. Why would I need your ass now?”
“You won’t work in this business again, Kid,” Mr. Ferguson snarled.
Paxton glanced down at me, tilting my chin up to give me a chaste kiss. “Why would I need to work in this business when I’ve got the best prize right here?”
Closing my eyes, I rested my head against his chest. All three men standing across from us were cussing at me but I didn’t care. Paxton guided me away from the chaos and out of the EXIT door. “Go get your clothes, Sugar. We’re leaving.”
We got most of our things shoved into our bags by the time we saw dad storming out of the arena toward his SUV. He didn’t even glance our way before driving out with a squeal of his tires.
Paxton squeezed my shoulder, and it was more reassuring than he thought. My father and I never got along but him showing he had absolutely no concern or love for me stung—bad. He was my dad. If he couldn’t love me, who could?
The cab Paxton called showed up ten minutes later. I slid into the leather seats and pressed my head against the headrest while Paxton took care of our bags. My body felt weak. I’d gotten Paxton fired and I’d been disowned.
I thought about calling my mom but thought I’d be better off waiting until she had landed. Mom on a flight angry was never a good thing.
Paxton stroked my arm until we turned into a Howard Johnson in downtown Jefferson City. Paxton paid the taxi driver and ushered me into the waiting room. I didn’t even remember sitting while Paxton got us our room.
When he walked into room 306 I immediately felt relief. I needed to know we were safe. I’d been sheltered my entire life and being alone with no money or support was scary.
Truth was that I had no idea what I was doing.
Paxton guided me to the bathroom and I flinched at my reflection. My blond hair was a mess around my swollen eyes. The extra makeup my mom put on my bruise had washed away from tears, and my lips were chapped.
Paxton stirred behind me. He looked amazing compared to me. The sadness in his eyes was there and I knew I’d caused it. “I’m sorry,” I choked out. “I just got you fired.”
Paxton furrowed his brow and pulled me back against his chest. “You have no reason to be sorry, Missy. Your dad is the biggest dick I’ve ever met. And I didn’t really like Fringe that much anyway. Not my style.”
“They kind of suck.”
Paxton busted out laughing and kissed my cheek. “Do you want to get a shower while I order room service? I’m starving.”
Nodding, I stood at the sink until he disappeared from the doorway. I stripped out of my clothes and got into the hottest shower I could stand. The two showers I’d taken since yesterday didn’t seem enough to get Benton’s stench off of me.
After my skin was red from scrubbing I got out and pulled on a t-shirt and panties Paxton had left on the cabinet for me.
A silver tray of food sat on the desk in the corner. None of it had been opened yet.
“You feel better?”
I jumped. Paxton was leaning against the closed closet door, shirtless with a small smile on his face. His hands were shoved into his pockets and his feet crossed. “Much better. I’m really hungry.”
He grinned. “Thank God because I was about to gnaw off my own hand waiting on you.”
I snorted and took a seat in the rolling chair beside the table. “You didn’t have to wait on me. I wouldn’t have minded.”
He rolled his chair and pulled the ottoman over to sit on. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I ate without you?”
I grabbed my drink. “Who said you were a gentleman at all?”
He lifted a brow. “Don’t get spanked, Missy.”
I bit my straw and laughed. “You know. My friend Val called you Rocker Hercules that night at the club.”
He frowned. “Is that even a compliment?”
I nodded. “For Val, yeah. But it kind of matches, ya know. You’ve got Hercules’ body but you look like a rocker.”
“We need a new nickname. Do not ever call me that in public.”
I laughed and my Coke shot out of my mouth which caused me to laugh even harder. “Sorry!” I shouted, trying to wipe the Coke from his arms.
His laughs mended with my own, and he grabbed my arms. “I don’t think there is one thing I wouldn’t do for you.”
Oh. Smiling, I leaned in and kissed his waiting mouth. “Well, I have a bucket list full of things I’d like to do.”
Circling his arm around my waist, he drug me over his lap until I was straddling him. “You have a bucket list?”
I nodded nipping his bottom lip. “Yep. It’s in my wallet folded up so no one can ever see it.”
“Well we have to look at it now.”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
Paxton stood and my legs wrapped around his waist. “What are you doing?” Paxton smiled while carrying me toward the night stand where my wallet was sitting.
“No!” I screamed at the same time he tossed me onto the bed and dove for my wallet.
Paxton held the wallet over his head as he dug for the piece of paper. I jumped and he held it higher. “Give it back!”