Hunter: Rockstar Romance (The ProVokaTiv Series Book 2) (13 page)

“We just want you to be happy,” Jessie said. “And you may not be ready to admit it, but you’re no happier alone than you might be if you gave a relationship a chance, Trin.”

“You think that’s true? Wow, it sounds kind of harsh.”

“Well, let’s drink to Trin maybe having an open mind,” Brynn said. 

“Well, let’s motor,” I said.  “Check out the island some more, maybe find a place where we can sit outside and hear some great music, something like that,” I said.

Going along in the cart, I looked around and thought about Brynn not really being threatened by thoughts of Gauge flirting, but he wasn’t a real social guy like Hunter was. However, maybe I’d gotten too carried away with being put out by Hunter and that girl at the bar and hotel. Was laughter and story telling the same as flirting?  No, logically I knew it wasn’t.

I began to feel better.  Perhaps it was the fresh ocean air or the fact that I was finally allowing myself to breath in, but I didn’t cringe at the thought that entered my mind.  Something was different. It didn’t feel quite so scary to enter the risk of a relationship.

“Luau Larry’s looks kitschy cool,” I said, pointing to the sign on the outside. The letters looked like pieces of wood nailed together to form the letters, and the place seemed to be casual enough, looking lively and like a great place to get a Mai Tai, the drink I’d decided I wanted that day.

“Let’s try it. We can just have a drink, if anything,” Jessie said.

“Man, I’m craving lobster so bad,” Brynn said.

“Did you see the prices on that menu in front of that one place?” Jessie asked.

“Yeah, definitely more than I can afford,” Brynn replied.

“We may party with rock stars, but we don’t have the same budget, do we?” I commented.

“Not yet,” Brynn said.

We walked into the restaurant and it was about half full. I looked around and smiled at all the vibrant and festive décor. There were lively colors and crazy shaped tables that looked like they were in the middle of a banyan tree, or maybe a rain forest.

“Do you want to sit at the bar, or a table?” the hostess asked.

“Table,” we said in unison. It was girl’s day, not encourage-a-guy day.

“Follow me. You ladies celebrating anything special?” the hostess asked casually. She was wearing a bright colored shirt, some sandals, and a pair of tan shorts.

“Just celebrating our friendship,” Brynn said.

“Ah, a great gift to have,” the hostess said. “How does this table look?”

“Great,” I said. We didn’t get a spot in a banyan tree, but we were close to a small stage. “Is there music today?”

“In two hours. Will you still be here then?”

“Not sure. The last ferry goes back at 10 p.m. so we’ll see what happens,” I said.

“Okay, the waitress will be right over for your order. Appetizers are on the back side if you’re hungry.”

The waitress handed us a libations menu, and we perused it. I saw the Mai Tai that I’d been craving on it, but Brynn caught my attention when she said, “Ooh, this sounds good.”

“Which one?” Jessie asked.

“The Wiki Wacker,” Brynn said, unable to hide her laughter at the name.

“Maybe we should get one of those,” Jessie said. “Try something new.”

“I’m in,” I said.

A waitress came over. “I hear we’re celebrating friendship,” she said in a pert, fun voice. We looked up at her and she was holding three hats that looked completely crazy.

“Is that made of palm trees?” Jessie asked, tilting her head to the side.

“No, these are made from banana leaves. Wearing them is a sign of wonderful things to come: romance, money, and magic.”

My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“No, but it sounds good. Who doesn’t want that?” she said, chuckling at herself.

“We’re going to have three Wiki Wackers,” Brynn said.

“Got it. Put your hats on, and I’ll go place that order in.”

We all took our hats and put them on. Our hair was already snarled a bit from the wind, and with that hat on, strands of my hair kept getting snagged in the leaves. What a sight I must have been.

Wow, the Wiki Wacker was so good. It was a sneaky drink, the type that tasted so good that you drank it a bit too fast, and despite the warnings on the menu, you falsely believed you could have one more, and all would be well. We each ordered a second, and the waitress slowly slipped a card with some of the more affordable hotels that had vacancy on our table.

“Oh, we’re fine,” I said with a wicked grin.

“Just in case,” she said, smiling at us sweetly.

Then she walked away, and something caught my attention. I was staring by the door and I saw a very familiar looking silhouette standing there. The sun was a bit bright so I couldn’t really see it well, but when they turned around, I noticed wavy dark hair tied back in a ponytail.

My clear head from zip lining tied with a Wiki Wacker emboldened me. I got up without saying a word and walked over and put my hand on the shoulder and turned around. “Hey, stalking me?”

The guy turned around.  Holy shit! It wasn’t Hunter.  “I am so sorry, I thought you were someone else,” I muttered, completely taken aback with myself.

“Lucky guy,” he said.

I turned around and walked back to the booth, my jaw practically dragging on the ground, and looked up at Brynn and Jessie, who were hunched over laughing.

“You thought that was Hunter and I knew that walk, it was a determined one, the one you have when you want someone badly,” Jessie said,, snorting as she spoke.

They could not stop laughing.

“Oh, shut up!  No more Wiki Wackers for you two.”

Jessie giggled. “Brynn’s the only one that has any chance of getting wiki wacked tonight. You could, but you don’t want to.”

“Holy crap, you are really buzzed,” I said. Jessie was usually the picture of control. She was always too busy and had too much homework to do, making hangovers not an option.

“I think I’m drunk,” Jessie said, giggling again.

“Well, we’d better have something to eat, and drink some water,” Brynn said. “I don’t think the ferryman will let us pass if he thinks we’re going to puke on his vessel.”

And we did just that.

After paying our bill, Brynn came up behind me and patted me on the back, kind of hard, actually. “That was a blast, wasn’t it?” She was grinning that troublemaking grin of hers, but I didn’t have a clue why. Oh well, who cared?

What a great day!  Now it was time to get back home.

We walked along and something strange was in the air.  “All right, you got your Wiki Wacked at Larry’s Luau,” one guy said, laughing. A few people whistled, and I looked at Brynn, who was practically hunched over in laughter.

“Does the rum show that much?” I asked, not able to process it all.

Jessie started to giggle, too, and I was laughing now, but I had no idea why.

I lifted my hair up, wanting to put it into a ponytail before going on the ferry, and felt some resistance. “What’s going on? Is one of those banana things in my hair?” I screeched.

More laughter.

There was only one way to solve this. “Jess,” I said, sticking my lower lip out.

“Oh, fine,” she said with no resistance whatsoever. Then she peeled something off my back and handed it to me.

“Oh my God, how long has this been on my back?” I asked. It was a sticker that said:
I got my Wiki Wacked at Larry’s Luau
. Now it all made sense.

“Not too long,” she giggled. The liar.

I looked at Brynn. “I will retaliate.”

“Bring it on,” she said.

When the ferry came, we sat inside, Brynn and Jessie both leaning on me as the ferry lulled us all to sleep.

Later that night, as I got ready for bed, I pondered on how hard it was to believe that the weekend was almost over. Tomorrow, Jessie would be heading back to school. Monday, I would be going back to the set for the last day of shooting. I hoped that my fresh air and Wiki Wacker determination to possibly explore a relationship with Hunter would still be there when I woke up and when I saw him. 

I’d had two days to process the entire scene that had unfolded at the Playhouse. Trinity said she didn’t want me, and that was fine if it was true. Except it didn’t
feel
true, and whether it was just to soothe me at the time, or by direct intention, Jessie’s words about not walking away from Trinity just because that would be easier had really resonated with me. It had forced me to do some soul searching about times in my life when people didn’t give up on me, even though they would have had every reason to. The one that really came to mind was my first serious girlfriend. Although we didn’t work out in the end, really due to me, she had stood by my side and when others thought I was destined to follow my brother’s path, she refused to be influenced by them. It had really made a difference, and I’d tried to distance her plenty of times, but she stood strong. Why? I’ll never know, or understand, but she did. I kind of felt like doing the same for Trinity would be good. It wasn’t like I was looking for a long term commitment; I just wanted to be someone who didn’t disappoint.

Today was the last day of shooting, and then it would all be over. I’d have no reason to see Trinity again, and while I knew she had a small acting gig for a few days, I didn’t know what would happen after that. There was no way in hell that I could recommend she stay in LA to help her career open up to bigger possibilities, and honestly, I didn’t know that LA brought any better guarantee of success than her current roaming grounds, but I was going to do my best to give that impression. Life was a gamble, but you had to know how to play the odds.

At the studio, I walked right up to Trinity. “We’re good, you know,” I said playfully.

“What are you talking about?” she said to me, playing coy.

“Nothing at all. Ready to get this shoot done today? It’s only been dragged out for a solid week longer than what we’d anticipated.”

“Yeah, I am ready. I’m excited for that new project-- starts tomorrow, and should last a few days. Oddly enough, I got a call about some more work, too, for some newer designer and a fashion show. That’d be pretty cool. Then again, maybe Brynn’s ready to kick me out,” Trinity said to me.

“How did you get that lead?” I asked.

“Gauge referred it over to Brynn. It kinda came together from there,” she said.

“Nice to have connections, isn’t it? Need any referrals from me?”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. Having Chaz help me that once was really cool,” she replied.

All I could do was smile. When she mentioned Brynn getting sick of her, I couldn’t help but like that thought and how nice it would be if that was true. Because maybe, just maybe, Trin would consider staying with me. Even if it was out of desperation, it might be a good thing.
Or a fucking lousy idea,
my conscience protested.
You’re being a manipulator, dude. Very uncool.
My inner voice was right, but I liked the thought despite it.

“What are you smiling at?” Trinity asked me.

“Nothing, just thinking about someone,” I said and gave her a look that made it clear whom.

“It must have been a hell of a thought because your grin was ridiculous,” Trinity said. Then she turned around and began to walk away, pausing to look at me like she had something to say.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said. She turned around again and walked toward make-up and costume in double time.

I watched her walk away and my mind went wild with lusty thoughts. It was hard not to appreciate a woman like that. She was built perfectly in my opinion. It was those thoughts that I carried with me through the rest of the filming, which was mostly finessing little scenes here and there. Then Dara yelled, “It’s a wrap.” Both Trinity and I started laughing. It was so cliché it was comical.

Then we removed all the makeup, put on our own clothes, and gathered in the lobby for a final wrap-up from both Chaz and Dara.

“It’ll take us a week to get the video cut and edited, ready to show,” Dara began. “Then we’ll have a small soiree here at the set, watch the video, and get drunk off our asses. Well, I will anyway. This has been a hell of a shoot, glad it’s over. No offense…” Dara rambled.

I looked over at Trinity, who was two people away from me. She was staring at someone. I glanced and saw it was Steve, and then looked at her again, and was relieved. Her “don’t even think about it” eyes were in action. The guy had gotten on her bad side. I didn’t feel bad for him, though. I felt bad for me. Then she looked at me and winked. I walked over.

“I hope your job goes well and you get the other one you heard about. It would be great for you to be here for the party, too, since you had such a big role in my project.”

“Your project, Hunter?”

“Yeah, my song, my video. Remember?”

“No, I’d forgotten,” she said.

“You are such a smart ass. A little time in sunny LA and you think you’re the vixen of the west.”

“Hmm, I like that. It suits me.”

“I know,” I said, but I was smiling. She wasn’t going to get my feathers ruffled. How could she? I knew something that she didn’t. I’d arranged for that opportunity tomorrow, the one to keep her here a bit longer. It wasn’t a deliberate deceit but I’d asked Gauge to hand the contact over to Brynn to give to Trinity. I didn’t mind being devious when it served my purposes.

“Well, I’ll see you next week, then,” Trinity said. “Take care.”

“See you then, Trin,” I said. “And thank you, it’s been so cool working with you.” I leaned in and gave her a huge, tight hug. As my chest pressed against hers I could hear our heartbeats thumping louder, almost like they were in a competition to be the stronger one. I pulled away before I got too aroused and looked at Trin. Yes, she’d felt it, too.

“Great working with you, too,” she replied and she paused.

I think she was waiting for me to say something, but I wasn’t about to play into that game. I walked toward the door, and then walked out and left the set.

My entire week had been really busy, and a bit crazy, which was good. It allowed me to keep Trinity pushed to the back of mind. Not seeing her that entire week helped, too. But I’d be lying if Trinity didn’t cross my mind at least a few times every day. And every time my phone rang I automatically hoped it was her.  Then there was the day I’d seen Brynn. She finally got around to interviewing me for her online column, and talking about the song, which she had a lot of questions about. That interview also gave me an invigorating smack in the face in the form of a question. Brynn had asked about the lyrics, mentioning they might be insulting to some women. I flashed back to Trinity’s odd behavior.  Holy fuck! I’d insulted her and she hadn’t gotten the meaning. I cleared up the real meaning pronto, realizing that the song meant to pay tribute to her might have been misunderstood.

Getting ready for the release party, I couldn’t help feeling nervous about the song and video. Finally, all the hard work and planning was set to be revealed. My strong feelings about it all really surprised me. I’d done dozens of video shoots with ProVokaTiv and seen my share of song releases, most of them met with praise. But even when a few of them met with the stinging words of critics, I’d always been able to ignore it. But this was my solo project. It was far easier to brush off harsh words with Gauge and Simon, as a collective. How would I react to something that was really near and dear to me? Hopefully I’d manage to reply with some witty line.

The past week, I’d called Dara a few times, asking if I could watch her do her magic on the video, but she’d given me a firm “no.” I’d called Chaz about it, knowing that wasn’t usually the case, and he reminded me that I’d known her method before we’d gotten her. She was the best and you didn’t piss off the best if you could help it. She was to music videos what Amy Pascal was to Sony Pictures as its chairman, a master who held a big grudge if you fell onto her wrong side. Okay, that was a bit of a grandiose thought, but it did feel that way.

So, just as in the dark as everyone else, I made my way to the set for the party that was being given, thanks to my recording contract. Knowing that I’d be seeing Trinity got me thinking about her again, making me toss back and forth between nervous energy about the video and her presence.

I arrived early and walked onto the set and it was transformed again, no sign of the video shoot existent any longer. Instead, the title of my song, Raw Heart, was written in red letters that looked like Freddie Kruger had slashed them out, pretty cool. My face was next to it and it made me pause. I had a quick reflection on when I wrote that song and how the inspiration had been so good. If I would have had any idea of how much impact the song would have been in my personal life, I might have just stopped writing it right then and there. It had sideswiped me in ways that I never would have imagined.

To deal with my nerves, I worked my way around the room, finding everyone who’d worked on the set. I’d gotten gifts for all of them, mostly gift cards to my favorite restaurants in LA, and it was important to me to personally thank them for their involvement in the project. Mama taught me manners, and I used them on occasion, too.

As more people started filed in, I kept busy talking and enjoying a few Jack and Cokes. However, I kept glancing toward the door, hoping to see Trinity. What if she’d decided not to come? No, there was no way. Brynn, Gauge, and Simon would be there. She wouldn’t stay behind. Plus, this was a solid career move, if nothing else.

Finally Brynn, Gauge and Simon arrived. But no Trinity. I walked over to say hi, dying to know why Trinity wasn’t there, dreading hearing that she wasn’t coming at all. But then the door opened and she walked in, tossing her hair back and throwing those eyes of hers everywhere. Shit. She looked amazing. She was wearing a low cut black dress, clinging in all the right spots and it had a plunging neckline, back, and a slit on the side that revealed her thin, muscular legs. She was ideal material for a young guy’s first wet dream. But stop! Steve walked in right after her. Had she come with him? I wasn’t planning on that.

Well, the gift card I’d gotten for Trinity wasn’t one to be used with Steve, and I debated if I should even give it to her. I had to, but I didn’t want to.

I walked up to her and gave her a warm hug. “Trinity, it’s great to see you,” I said before turning to Steve. “Hey Steve.”

“Hunter,” he said and then he kept walking.

“Is he your date?” I asked. Might as well find out and deal with it.

“No, he was trying to make me his post date, but the guy is such a doofus. I don’t know how he wakes up to himself every day.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s trying to wake up with you,” I said.

Trinity laughed. God I loved how our sense of humor jived.

“You look great by the way,” I said. She was so incredibly, effortlessly sexy. A picture of her in my bed flashed through my mind. Hell, she looked just as sexy when she was sleeping or just waking up as she did at that moment, maybe even more so.

“Thanks. You look sharp, too,” she answered.

“I got you a little something. A thank you,” I said.

“The paycheck was the thank you. You didn’t have to do this,” Trinity said.

“Well, I did. I think you’ll like it,” I replied.

I handed her the small envelope and she opened it up and a wicked smile crossed her face. “A gift certificate to Agent Provocateur. Is that a hint that you don’t like my under garments?” she teased.

“Oh, I’ve enjoyed them—on the floor, on the lamp, or whatever place they’ve ended up in the past, I’ll admit. I welcome the opportunity to see some on you, too.”

“Well, if I recall correctly, the video has some skimpier underwear revealed in it. That’ll have to do for now, yes?”

“I look forward to it,” I said.

“Well, I’m going to go catch up with Brynn and the others. You’d better greet your other adoring fans. Did you get Steve a lingerie gift card, too?”

“Definitely not,” I said. “Out of curiosity, are you an adoring fan?”

“I can’t reveal that. Your ego is inflated enough.”

“Well then, I’m going to take that as a yes, and go and greet the new people coming in. I’ll see you later.”

“Later,” Trinity said. She walked away.

I walked toward the door where Dara was. We talked for a bit, and just a short time later, everyone had arrived and we were within fifteen minutes of seeing the video.

“You’re going to fucking die, Hunter,” Dara said to me.

“And that’s a good thing?” I asked.

“Don’t be a shit. It’s brilliant, my most brilliant yet, I dare say.” She looked at me, and then peered in closer, lowering her hot pink reading glasses down her nose. “Are you nervous?”

“A bit. Don’t tell anyone,” I said.

“I forget how nerve-racking these things can be for you kids, sometimes.”

“Kid? I can’t be that much younger than you,” I said, laughing merrily.

“I’m fifty years old, so I’m pretty sure I have you beat by a solid twenty, Hunter.”

“Well, you look damn good for your age,” I offered.

“Yeah, I’m a sucker like all women for a compliment from a hot rock star. Good work. I’ve got to go now, get things set. Have your speech ready?”