New Jamie backed away slowly, throwing her hands up in exasperation, while old Jamie pulled out her earrings and cracked her knuckles.
Fuck the high road.
She was going to crucify him.
“First, my balls are internal, they’re called ovaries and trust me, they’re bigger than yours. Second, I wouldn’t date, sleep with, or even talk to anyone who counts you as a friend.” Rounding the corner of the breakfast bar, she added. “And my biker is a better man than you’ll ever be.”
“I’m sure,” he grunted as she brushed past him, nearly spilling her wine in the process.
Kensie walked out of her room dressed like a Stepford Barbie. She smiled at Jamie but before she could open her mouth to speak, Jamie hissed, “Keep him the fuck away from me.” She’d had enough. The day was supposed to be about love and acceptance, but it turned into a fucking shit show.
“What did I miss?” Ken asked grabbing Jamie’s arm.
“He’s. A. Dick,” she said emphasizing each word.
“Baby,” Trey hopped off the barstool and sauntered over to the two women, “talk some sense into your friend, she’s being belligerent.”
“Can someone please explain to me what the heck is happening?” Kensie asked looking between them.
“I simply said she doesn’t need to entertain these… leeches. She comes from a great family. If she had a real boyfriend, they could be in Tahiti with us, but instead she’s spending her birthday in the slums.”
“Wait,” Jamie said, nearly dropping her wine glass, “Tahiti? When are you going to Tahiti?”
“You didn’t tell her?” Trey admonished. “I told you to tell her.”
“I was going to but…I just… and then… I mean…” Kensie stuttered.
“When are you leaving?”
Kensie looked to Trey, but he shook his head, giving her a, that’s all you, look. “On the twelfth,” she muttered weakly.
“My fucking birthday?” Jamie screamed. It felt good to scream. After the day she had, screaming was mild. She wanted to break something. She wanted to throw things. Turning to Trey, she asked, “When did you book this trip?”
“A month ago. I didn’t know it was your birthday when I did it, but I don’t see what the big deal is. You two are adults, I think it’s time to cut the cord.”
“You lied to me?” Jamie asked looking back to her friend.
“Jamie.” Jamie not Jam. Kensie fucked up. It wasn’t a misunderstanding, it was a lie and with one word, she all but confessed. “You were so happy about your birthday and me meeting your guy, and we haven’t been on the best terms lately. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“So, you lied?” Jamie shrieked.
“Look, Jamie, don’t blame Kensington. She didn’t know I was booking the trip until after it was done. It was a surprise.”
“I asked her last week about my birthday and she lied to my face.”
“I’m sure you misunderstood,” Trey offered.
“Did I Ken?”
“No,” Kensie shook her head, “I knew then and I’m sorry for not saying anything. We were having fun and I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“How about my boyfriend booked us a surprise trip to Tahiti, Bitch, I’ll meet your biker some other time. Did you really think I’d be mad? I’m not the selfish one, you are,” Jamie added because she was hurt.
Kensie bristled at Jamie’s accusation. “That right there is why I didn’t want to tell you. You’ve been living a secret life for months. I told one white lie to protect your feelings and now I’m the bad guy?”
“So, this is my fault? Of course, everything always is.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Whatever, I’m not in the mood for this,” Jamie said, retreating to her bedroom. She’d had enough disappointment for one day. Hell, she had enough for a lifetime.
The van rolled to a stop in front of the small blue house and the guys breathed a collective sigh of relief. After spending fourteen days crisscrossing the state of California, Lithium Springs was finally home. It was good to be back. The air was different in Los Angeles, not because of all the sunshine and smog, but the people there were different. Everyone was a star, but only a fraction of the population was famous; even less were talented. It made them jaded, and jealousy permeated the air.
Ryder and his band spent most of their time in LA recording songs in Creed’s home studio. The audio quality wasn’t the best, but the music was next fucking level. At the end of the first week, they had finished their official EP, four songs in total, Sex God being the title track. They then worked in shifts, burning their music onto the blank CD’s they’d purchased from Walmart by the cart full.
The second week was when the real hustle began, a grunge boot camp of sorts. The guys had traveled up and down the coast, playing in dive bars across the state. Nights were spent at dingy motels in questionable neighborhoods. During the day, the guys passed out the homemade CD’s in mall parking lots and played impromptu sidewalk performances. It was hardcore guerrilla marketing shit. The days were grueling, but it was an experience they would never forget.
“Are we unloading this shit now or in the morning?” Javi asked. Their street was quiet, the sun long since set.
“I vote for the morning,” CT yawned.
“Me too,” Ryder said, fishing his phone from his pocket. Fourteen days since he’d touched his girl and he didn’t want to waste another minute.
“You’re so fucking pussy whipped,” CT chuckled.
Ryder shook his head, “You’ll understand one day, Son.”
“Not fucking likely,” CT grinned, pushing open the door. “Come on Javi, let’s light up some of this good Cali bud while I kick your ass in Madden.”
“Not fucking likely,” Javi grunted, jumping out of the van. Before shutting the door, he peeked his head back inside, “Tell Kitty Cat we missed her.”
“Will do,” Ryder said, dialing the number he knew by heart. Resting his head against the headrest, he listened as the phone rang, and rang and rang. “Come on, Jamie, pick up.” It was late. They were supposed to be back hours ago, but Creed’s connection at Rolling Rock wanted to do a last-minute photo shoot. He thought about hanging up, about joining his friends on the couch, and letting her sleep, but he missed her.
“You’re home?” she breathed, answering on the last ring. Her voice was low and thick with sleep.
Ryder frowned, “Yeah, and you’re asleep.”
“I tried to stay awake, but the wine wouldn’t let me be great.”
He chuckled sadly, squeezing his eyes shut. He wanted his girl, in his bed, but he couldn’t ask her to get up in the middle of the night because he was five hours late. “Go back to sleep, Kitty Cat. I waited two weeks, a few more hours won’t kill me.”
“It might kill me,” she yawned.
“I don’t want you driving right now.”
“Then come to me.”
“Huh?” he asked, caught off guard. He’d never been to Jamie’s place. He often wondered if she was embarrassed by him, but he didn’t push. Jamie did things on her own time, in her own way, and that was just one of those things. He hoped it would come, but now that it had, those four words rendered him speechless.
“You heard me, Napoleon. Get your ass over here.”
“What about Mackenzie?”
“Who the fuck is Mackenzie?”
“Kenzie, your roommate.”
“Oh, no, her name is Kensington. We aren’t speaking to each other at the moment, so she’s hiding out at her boyfriend’s place.”
“Okay, well I guess I’m on my way,” he whispered into the receiver.
“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you soon.”
Ryder ended the call and climbed out of the van. It took him fifteen minutes to get to Jamie’s building. She called ahead to the front desk to put him on the list and before he knew it, he was taking the elevator up to the fourth floor.
“Hey, Kitty Cat,”
he smirked, taking her in. Her blonde hair was matted to the side of her face and she was wearing the tiniest pair of sleep shorts he’d ever seen.
“Hey, Napoleon,” she cooed. “Do you plan on standing there all night or are you going to come inside?”
“At least two times,” he smirked.
“God, I missed you.” She jumped into his arms, and wrapped her legs around his waist. Ryder walked them into the house, kicking the door shut behind them. He wanted to savor the moment, wanted to take in every inch of her space, but the throbbing between his legs had other ideas.
“Where’s your room?”
“Over there,” she panted, pointing to a door off the living room. Ryder made his way through the large industrial style apartment, soaking in what details he could in the dark. He spotted Jamie’s hand in the decor, specifically the clean lines and neutral colors. The art on the wall was eclectic, a jumbled mix of pieces, varying in color, size, and texture working together to create a playful atmosphere.
Her room was one hundred percent Kitty Cat. Black and white furniture with light blue accents. Easy going on the surface, but nothing out of place. She created the order in her physical space that she craved mentally.
Dropping her on the bed with a bounce, he peeled off his shirt. “I’ve been in the car for thirteen hours,” he warned.
“I haven’t been fucked in fourteen days,” she countered, lifting her ass and yanking down the tiny shorts. She was bare underneath, no panties, and freshly waxed.
“Did you do that for me?” he asked, bending down to place a kiss on her sex. Fuck, he missed tasting her. His tongue darted out and he licked up one side of her pussy and down the other before dipping inside.
“Yes, God,” she moaned, her fingers fisting in his hair.
“But we’re good for sex, right?”
“Yeah, I had it done the other day.”
“Good. So, are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked, sucking on her clit.
“What? When?” she whimpered, her thighs shaking under his assault.
“With your roommate, Kensington.”
“You really want to talk about that now?”
“Better now than before my dick is inside you and I can’t think.”
“It’s a long story, but the abridged version is we got into an argument. She’s a selfish bitch and I’m an asshole who can’t express how I feel without going on the offensive—which you already know—keep licking,” she mewled, pushing his head back between her legs.
He kissed and licked and sucked on the damp flesh, worshiping every inch of her. “Is there a chance you’re being a little hard on her?” he asked as he inserted two fingers into her core.
“A small chance,” she muttered, grinding up against his face, “but she lied to me and hurt my feelings. She is my best friend and birthdays are a big deal for us.”
“This is about your birthday?”
“No…I mean…kind of… don’t stop,” she moaned. “It’s just we’ve known each other our whole lives and it sucks growing apart.”
“Sometimes people change and grow. You gotta give them space to explore themselves.” As soon as the words left his lips, Annette’s face flashed in his mind, his subconscious calling him a hypocrite. Ryder sat back on his haunches. Jamie flashed him a murderous look. “Sorry. I was just thinking about my mom and it…got…weird.”
Jamie threw her head back in laughter as Ryder fell on top of her. He relished the feel of her soft skin against his. “I get that,” she said, “I do, but some things are supposed to be forever.”
“I’m forever,” he promised. His mouth found hers and he coaxed her lips open with his tongue, letting her taste herself, taste his vow.
A week later, Ryder found himself sauntering through the dining room at Cibo in his too tight black t-shirt. His temporary exile was complete.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Liz smirked, looking up at Ryder from behind the rim of her teacup.
Ryder pulled out a chair, and plopped down across from Liz. “I’m back.”
“I see that.”
“Did you miss me?”
Liz set the teacup down on the matching saucer, and regarded him closely, a mask of indifference painted on her face. “Like I miss a headache. How’s that girlfriend of yours?” Skepticism laced her tone and Ryder couldn’t blame her. The first and only time she’d heard of Jamie was when he nearly started a fist fight in the dining room because she was on a date with another man. It sounded as fucked up as it was, but that was Jamie, a little fucked up on the surface, but beautifully complex underneath.
“We’re good,” he assured her.
Liz narrowed her eyes as if she wanted to call bullshit, or whatever the fancy, rich lady equivalent of bullshit was, but she held her tongue. “And that little band of yours? I hear you’re making quite the name for yourselves. I had to ban cell phones on the restaurant floor because everyone was sharing some video of you dry humping a microphone stand.”
Ryder rubbed the back of his neck, cocky grin firmly in place. “Oakland,” he stated simply, reverently. That night had been epic; some sort of bizarre-o world prodigal son tale, only instead of going home to repent, Ryder brought the fucking house down. Footage from the show had gone viral. They got so many hits the Lithium Springs website crashed.
“I’m glad to see you used your time off wisely.”
“I did,” he nodded.
“Well, welcome back. Now get to work. I’m not paying you to sit here and look good.” Despite the boredom in her tone, her eyes twinkled with pride.
“Aren’t you?” he asked, raising a brow.
Liz chuckled, “Sit, was the operative word. Your good looks and charm won’t work on me, so save it for the customers.”
The chair screeched on the hardwood as he stood. “We could’ve had something great.”
“Yeah, well, your loss,” she winked. When she wasn’t being scary, Liz was actually kind of a cool boss.
The rest of the day flew by with relative ease. Ryder spent the first hour of his shift telling and retelling the story of his Californian adventure to his co-workers. At noon, when the lunch rush hit, no one cared that he was a rock star, they only cared about having their tables cleaned. It was strange, this life he was creating for himself. He was internet famous, but broke as fuck.
Being back at Cibo was humbling to say the least. The highlights of Ryder’s day included turning up the charm on a couple of bored housewives and getting felt up by a man wearing a suit that probably cost more than his Harley. It was worth it though. While the guys’ hands were on his ass, he slid two hundred dollar bills into Ryder’s back pocket. Later, Trav, the bartender, bet him twenty bucks he couldn’t chug a jarful of olive juice.
Easiest twenty he’d ever made.
That, combined with the show money they made in Cali, was enough for him to cover his third of rent next month and buy his girl something for her birthday. It wouldn’t be the most extravagant gift his five-million-dollar baby would receive, but he knew Kitty Cat. He knew what made her rub her tattoo against her lips, what turned her on, what made her happy, and none of it had anything to do with money.
“Ry,” one of the hostesses called as he loaded his tub with dirty dishes.
“What’s up?” he asked, placing a half-eaten plate of fried calamari into his bin.
“There’s a guy at the door asking for you.”
“What does he look like?” Ryder questioned, furrowing his brow. Everyone at the restaurant knew his bandmates by name, some of them biblically, so that ruled out CT and Javi.
“A rich asshole,” the hostess replied with a tick of her jaw.
Realization washed over Ryder. It was probably the handsy prick with the fancy suit. Ryder knew the money was too good to be true. “Alright, let me take this to the kitchen,” he said. He’d listen to the proposition. Ryder was keeping the money, the least he could do was let the tool down gently.
After dropping the
dirty dishes off, Ry made his way to the hostess stand. The front of the restaurant was bright, a stark contrast from the dimly lit dining room. The sun shined through the large windows, and pink flowers—which were shoved in every corner—perfumed the air.
The hostess nodded towards a man sitting on the plush pink sofa. Ryder’s voice dropped an octave and he puffed out his chest. “Jared,” he bit.
The sinister motherfucker didn’t fool him. He was evil and his intentions regarding Jamie were so far from pure, they might as well have been that murky olive juice he drank earlier.
“Busboy,” Jared said by way of greeting. His arms were stretched out wide behind him, and his legs were crossed at the ankles like he owned the place.
“Why are you here?” Ryder chewed out. He silently reminded himself that he was already on thin ice, and knocking this fuckers teeth down his throat would surely result in his termination.
Jared picked at imaginary lint on his black slacks. “Why do you think?”
“Jamie is an adult and fully capable of making her own decisions. So, again, why are you here bothering me, instead of somewhere trying to convince her to choose you? Or did she already tell you to fuck off?”
Anger flashed in Jared’s eyes, his cool guy façade cracking for the first time since their little encounter began. “I came here first, to address you like a man. James is mine. She’s as good as bought and paid for. Her father froze her trust, so it’s only a matter of time before she realizes how cruel the real world can be and comes running into my arms.” Jared uncrossed his legs, licking his lips like the goddamned predator that he was. “And between me and you, I’m looking forward to breaking her.”
Ryder was so stunned he couldn’t even process Jared’s comment about breaking Jamie. He was too busy trying to process the fact that Jamie gave up her trust. Jamie never mentioned it to him. On top of it being crazy and impulsive, she was keeping things from him, big, life altering things. Regardless of her reasoning, it stung.
The smug bastard leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Judging by the look on your face, I’d say she didn’t tell you.”
Lithium Waves: A Lithium Springs Novel Page 19