Just Jayne

by Ripley Proserpina

  Ten being with me had been a concession on their part. They’d given him the night with me, but they’d wanted to be here.

  The cigarettes and booze. They’d been trying to cope.

  I affected them as much as they affected me. I leaned into Diego. “Missed you guys.” I spoke honestly, but I peeked nervously at Ten, worried he’d think that by missing his friends, I was blowing him off.

  He only smiled at me, unbothered.

  “Where were you headed?” Diego asked. He leaned back, arms around my back and smiled at me. “You’re all bundled up.”

  “The beach,” I said. “For a little walk. Maybe some surfing?”

  All at once, the three newcomers started to argue. I giggled, a sound I wasn’t used to making but which escaped more and more the longer I was in their presence. “Just kidding. But we are going to walk.”

  “Alone?” Klaus asked.

  Two spots of bright red appeared on Ten’s cheeks. “Shit. You’re right.”

  What was the problem with going for a walk?

  “Paparazzi,” Diego said. “Or fans. It’s not always safe to go out, alone. And a girl with one of us? That’s begging for trouble.”

  “It’s so different in England,” Ten said. “At least where we are. I can walk down the street and people aren’t in my face with a camera.”

  “We don’t have to go anywhere,” I said.

  “No,” Klaus said. “We don’t hide. We used to do that.” He glanced at his phone, typed a message, and then slid it into his pocket. “Security is checking the beach then they’ll be back for us. We just have to be smart. That’s all.” His phone chimed, and he didn’t look at it, but announced. “We’re good.”

  Last night, I hadn’t explored the house. What I’d seen so far was limited to the entryway and the room where I’d spent the night with Ten.

  Outside, though, I could see where I’d stayed. The house had been built on a bluff, and a set of steep steps led down to the beach. I stopped midway down the steps to turn around. “Holy cow.” The house was huge. White, with multiple balconies, it looked to be four separate floors. The top floor had a glassed in balcony that seemed to run the entire length of the house.

  “It was our first selfish purchase,” Lee said. He grasped my fingers with his, and he gave me a nudge down the stairs. “We didn’t need it, but we wanted it.”

  “A house on the beach in California,” Klaus muttered. “Rock star starter pack.”

  I didn’t get it, but the other guys did, and they laughed. At the bottom of the stairs, the four guys from the day before waited for us. They were dressed casually, but they wouldn’t blend in. Anyone who saw them would know immediately they were bodyguards. They were too vigilant, their eyes not focusing on one spot.

  The guys walked by them like they were part of the scenery, but I lifted my hand in a wave as we went by. Lee held onto my hand, leading us down the beach. “We have a recording this afternoon for the late night show. Then a TV spot tomorrow.”

  “A song?” I asked, and Lee chuckled.

  “No,” he said. “It’s one of those early morning shows. We have to go in and record our spot.”

  “Warner mentioned something about cooking…” Diego said.

  “No.” Klaus’s voice was firm, and if it had been me he was talking to, I’d have known not to push him. “Absolutely not. We’re a rock band, and I will talk about music and laugh and smile at whatever some former beauty queen says, but I’m not going to cook like I’m a normal guy. I’m not a normal guy,” Klaus said.

  “Stars! They’re just like us!” I said, remembering an article I’d seen online. Lee stopped to study me. “It’s online… you know. When the magazines or whoever post pictures of celebrities getting coffee or at the grocery store. That’s the headline.”

  Ten laughed. “You’re right. And Klaus, I think it goes without saying that we will not be making quiche. We have one early morning, I forget which day, but it’s at six o’clock, I think.”

  “You’re recording at six in the morning?” I asked, surprised.

  “We are,” Diego said. “We have to get there even earlier though. For makeup.”

  It wasn’t until they’d had a house full of guests that I’d realized how much more work their lives were than just making music. In fact, of all the things I’d seen them do, music was a small percentage. By far, most of their time was spent doing publicity and networking.

  “Did you have any idea what it would be like?” I asked. “When you first started?”

  “I did,” Klaus said. “With my mother and father. I saw what it was like for them. And then when I was a bit of a teen idol—”

  “A bit of a teen idol!” Ten shook his head. “No one in the English-speaking world could get away from you. You were in a tween made-for-TV-movie on every channel.”

  “And English isn’t even my first language,” Klaus deadpanned.

  I laughed, and he smiled at me, some of the tension draining away from him. He held out his hand, and Lee let me go. When I went to him, he tucked me under his arm and kissed my hair. “Did you watch my movies, little teacher?”

  “Of course I did,” I replied. “In high school, your movies were some of the few approved by our administration. They always ended with a life lesson, so they were acceptable.”

  Klaus’s arm squeezed my shoulders. The wind had picked up, and even with the sweatshirt, I shivered. “Let’s go back,” he said. He turned me to face him and pushed my hair out of my face. “I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

  “Okay,” I said. Security had been trailing behind us, but when they saw us change direction, they moved behind us again. Every so often, I checked over my shoulder. It was weird to have them shadowing us, but if they kept the guys safe, then I’d get used to it.

  We didn’t run into any other people until we got back to the house. At the bottom of the steps leading away from the beach, Warner was waiting for us.

  “I got you a gig tonight,” he said. “The Poison Room. Blanca will meet you there.”

  “We have the TV show tomorrow,” Lee reminded their manager. “And we’re getting too old to look good after late nights.”

  “You have a single releasing in a week,” Warner said. “And when you decided to leave England early, you fucked with the timetable. The social media mentions and hashtags. People have forgotten them already. I told you that you had to stay in people’s faces if you wanted to stay relevant. A fucking dog on a skateboard is trending higher than you right now.”

  The guys didn’t answer. They blew right by their manager like his words had disappeared into the air like smoke. But Klaus’s arm had tightened over my shoulder, so I knew what he’d said bothered him.

  “You’re relevant,” I said to Klaus. “Your music speaks for itself. Even if you don’t make a quiche with a beauty queen tomorrow, people will remember your music.”

  “Aww,” Warner said. “How sweet. But also totally fucking wrong. Don’t give business advice, sweetheart. That’s not your role.”

  I’d seen Klaus glower, but I hadn’t really seen him angry before. Not like this.

  And he wasn’t alone.

  The words hadn’t left Warner’s mouth before the guys rounded on him. The man immediately knew he’d made a mistake. Sweat broke out on his forehead and his eyes got wide. He tried to play it off with a laugh. “I’m just teasing,” he said. “Relax.”

  “Except you’re not,” Klaus said. “And you’ve forgotten your role.”

  “Klaus,” Lee warned. “Not now.”

  Warner glanced at Lee. He glared at Klaus and then at me. “This is you, isn’t it? You spewing poison in their ears. Messing everything up.”

  “Hey.” Lee moved in front of me. “This has nothing to do with her. Go inside, Warner.”

  “No.” He shook off Ten’s hand. “I want to know what she’s saying about me. You boys know better than to believe a piece of snatch over me. So what the fuck is happening?”


  Desperation came off Warner in waves. Things were quickly getting out of control, and he was losing his mind. His entire life was wrapped up in the band, and he was burning bridges he couldn’t rebuild.

  “Let’s go inside,” Lee said again. “Diego?”

  Diego slid his hand into mine and tugged me back down the stairs. “We’ll take the long way around,” he said.

  He led me back to the beach. The cliffs were high, and there was no way to climb them, so we trekked past the house in the opposite direction than we’d walked this morning. “I’m sorry about Warner,” he said.

  Behind us, their manager was yelling. I could almost make out the words before the wind whipped them away. “What’s his problem?”

  “It’s a long time coming,” Diego said. “He’s forgotten what he’s supposed to do. Every so often, it happens with managers. They start to believe the band belongs to them, that we wouldn’t be anywhere without them. They forget the music is what got us where we are.”

  “Not being social media savvy,” I said. “Or having your face in Times Square.”

  “Those things don’t hurt,” Diego replied. He smiled over at me and squeezed my hand. “It’s hard. I won’t lie. I know it probably seems like there are more perks than not…”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, glancing over my shoulder at security. One of the men trailed behind us at a respectful distance. “There’s no escape for you is there?”

  “Even if we wanted to escape it, not at this point,” he said. “That’s not woe is me. I’m lucky. All of us recognize that, but sometimes, even just for an hour or two, it’d be nice to take Soph to the park without worrying about someone snapping a picture of her and selling it to TMZ.”

  “It was a bubble,” I said. “Back in England. It occurred to me while we were there. I forgot you were famous for a while.”

  “Diego!”

  I heard footsteps pounding down the wooden boardwalk nearby before men with cameras appeared. One of them launched himself to land in front of us. He stuck a camera in my face, standing so closely I couldn’t see around him.

  “Back off!” Our bodyguard attempted to get between us, but there was only one of him and a dozen others.

  “Diego, who’s the girl? What’s your name, sweetheart? How old are you? Diego, give us a picture with the girl!”

  His hand tightened around mine as he glared at the men. With a tug, he tried to pull me around them, but one of the guys stepped right into our linked hands, and I let go.

  “Jayne.” Diego reached for me, but other people filled the gap between us. I stumbled back, lost my footing in the sand, and fell backward. Immediately, a dozen cameras were in my face, snapping pictures. People yelled questions at me, and it was so disorienting, the noise and the press of bodies, that I couldn’t get to my feet.

  “Jayne!” Over the din, Diego was calling my name. I got to my hands and knees, but even in that position, someone stuck a camera in my face.

  “Move.” I was lifted into the air as the bodyguard, whose name I had to learn especially after this, picked me up. He got me on my feet, and pushed past the photographers, moving them aside with his body.

  The cameras whirred and snapped, and I kept my head down as the man dragged me behind him. Diego grabbed my hand. Like the bodyguard, he pushed through the crowd to appear next to me. I hazarded a glance at his face, taking in the way he clenched his jaw and glared at anyone who dared approach us.

  After my tumble, the crowd kept their distance. It was only an arm’s length, but after having the cameras an inch from my nose, I’d take it.

  We went up a set of wooden stairs to a waiting SUV. The bodyguard got in the front seat, and the driver pulled onto the road as soon as the door shut.

  “Thank you,” I said as I buckled. “What’s your name?”

  “Steve,” the man said. “I apologize for not seeing them. I should have been between you.”

  “You couldn’t have known they were hiding in the bushes,” I said.

  Next to me, Diego was made of stone. He kept his fingers locked around mine, but he stared out the window. His phone chimed, and he looked down at it. “They’re in front of the house.”

  “So we go somewhere else,” I said. “Text the guys. They can meet us later. Are we being followed?” I asked Steve.

  “No,” the driver replied. “Not right now.”

  I racked my brains for a place we could hide out for a while. I glanced out the window; we weren’t far from Malibu. “Can you drive us to Canyon Beach?” I asked. “It’s probably pretty empty right now.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Is that okay?” I asked Steve, figuring he’d tell us if it wasn’t safe or if it was a bad idea.

  “Yeah,” he said. He was typing a message into his phone. “I think that’ll be fine. I’ve got another guy joining us.”

  Diego was silent, and I figured if he didn’t agree, then he’d have said something. He stared out the window. I held his hand and squeezed, but he seemed too lost in his own thoughts to notice.

  We drove along the coast, the scenery changing dramatically from billion dollar houses to open stretches of cracked pavement.

  Eventually, the driver pulled into a parking lot and leaned over the steering wheel. “Is this it?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied. Our high school had taken trips here, and in the years since then, not much had changed. The lifeguard station was boarded up, it being off-season, and the beach was also empty. It was perfect.

  “Come on.” I slid out of the car and gave Diego’s arm a small tug. Sighing, he followed me out of the car and down the steps to the beach. This place was totally different than their beach. For one, most of the beach was rocky. In the distance I made out a small strip of sand. If we didn’t want to tumble into the ocean, this was a place where we’d have to watch our step.

  The waves crashed against the rock, covering us with cold water. Diego stepped in front of me, putting himself between me and the water as we started down the beach. “Can you wait here?” I asked Steve. “We’re going to go around that bend.” I pointed to the sandy part that curved around a hill. We’d be out of sight for what I wanted to do.

  “You’re upset,” I stated the obvious as soon as we were out of earshot. “Did I do something?”

  “No,” Diego replied.

  I felt like I had. I felt like I’d epically fucked up in some way. I didn’t say anything else for a while, but as soon as we turned the corner and were out of sight of anyone else, I grabbed Diego’s hands and pulled him into my arms. “Talk to me.”

  He was stiff but leaned his head on my shoulder. “I couldn’t get to you.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That was crazy. Are they always like that?”

  “They’ve never gotten quite so close before. Certainly haven’t touched me before. They’re usually a lot more careful. They’ve tried to goad Ten and Klaus into throwing a punch before, but not me. Not Lee. But they put their hands on you, Jayne.”

  “Come here,” I whispered, drawing him to a sandy spot against the hill. I sat down and pulled him until he was next to me. I could feel the cold sand seeping into my jeans, but I ignored it. Diego got on his knees in front of me. He touched my knees, rubbing his palms up my thighs before he sat back on his heels. His guilt was palpable. I could see it eating him up. “You can make it up to me,” I whispered.

  His gaze jumped from my legs to my eyes. He cocked his head to the side and studied me. “How?”

  I pushed back from him, leaning back in the sand. “Kiss me.”

  He didn’t argue. He crawled over me, cupped the back of my neck in his hand and brought his face to mine. “Just a kiss?”

  “To start,” I whispered against his lips. He pressed against me as our lips met. He was gentle, too gentle almost. His lips were like a butterfly’s wings. “You’re not going to hurt me,” I told him. “It takes more than a tumble in the sand to bruise me.”

  I pushed my tongue pas
t his lips and dragged it over his before sucking it into my mouth. With each draw, I rolled my hips into his. Diego moaned against my mouth. He skimmed his hand from my neck to the small of my back and lifted me until I sat in his lap. I ground down on him as I kissed him.

  He was hard, but this angle did nothing for me. Like he could read my mind, he pushed my legs apart until they could wrap around his waist.

  I groaned as he pushed against me. That was perfect. The seam of my jeans pressed in just the right place.

  Lifting my head, I studied our surroundings. Above us was a rocky outcropping while we were hidden in a small u-shaped cove. Unless someone was sitting in a ship with a telephoto lens, we were safe.

  “I’m ready for more than a kiss,” I said and pulled away. His lips were swollen and his eyes glittering. “Touch me.”

  He unbuttoned my jeans with skillful fingers. Fingers that played beautiful melodies on the piano and now played me until I started to fall apart.

  I wouldn’t be the only one, though. I pushed my hand down his pants until I could hold onto his hot length. I pumped him, and he arched into me.

  I was getting close and lost my rhythm. My hips rocked back and forth. I tried to keep my head, but he was driving me wild. “It’s not enough,” I said. His fingers were quickly undoing me, but release remained frustratingly out of reach.

  In one move, he had me on my back and my pants down to my knees. He jerked my underwear to the side before he licked me. I cried out, grateful for the roar of the ocean, and hoped it would mask any sound I made.

  Between my legs, Diego’s dark head bobbed as he licked my folds and sucked my clit between his lips. With one finger, he pushed inside me. He waited until I was begging and added another one before hooking them and drawing against me.

  Lights exploded behind my closed eyelids, and I called out his name. I said it again as I came down from the high he’d given me. He had his cock in his hands, stroking as he watched me.

  “I’m on the pill,” I said. “Remember?”

  “I didn’t protect you,” he said. I could barely hear him over the rush of my blood in my ears and the sound of the waves.

  I shook my head, kicking one leg free of my jeans and pulling him over me. I lined him up with my core and grabbed his hips. “We protect each other,” I said.