Slide (Black Addiction #1) (20 page)

“Wow.” I panted, the pressure slowly receding as he pulled out his cock. “We need to do that again sometime.”

“Fuck, Ali.” Rusty’s butt collapsed onto the seat beside me. “I didn’t think sex with you could get any better, but wow. Yeah, that was fucking intense.” He laughed as his hand rubbed up and down my naked leg.

“Aww, are you just saying that because we had anal?” My ass shuffled up the leather seat as I tried to give him more room.

“No, I’m saying that ’cause it’s you.” His hand stopped caressing my leg as his face became serious. “I’m in love with you.”

The words just left his mouth as my brain went into free fall.
He didn’t mean it, he was just caught up in the moment
, I rationalized as my heart desperately wanted to hear it again. The thought that he could be in love with someone who had so little to offer was crazy. I was so ordinary and he was so larger than life. We had nothing in common.

“Are you sure?” I stupidly asked, the words almost getting stuck in my throat.

“Yeah, actually I’m really sure.” His face showed no hint of hesitation. “I’m in love with you. And not just because we had awesome sex.” He lifted off the seat and moved closer to me. “Being in that bar tonight made me see what I’d been missing. You said when you met me that I don’t give a shit about anything, and when it came to women, you were right on the money. I didn’t care but that’s ’cause I hadn’t met someone worth caring about. I can’t be that guy anymore. I love you, Alison.”

If this was a dream then my subconscious was an asshole. A terrible horrible evil monster that I wanted no part of. But no matter how many times I blinked, the landscape didn’t change. Same car, same guy and same weird and wonderful feeling that twisted in my lower gut. And other than the possibility that I was hallucinating—not sure if having a cock up my ass would cause that—then this was real. Those feelings were real. Those words he had said to me were real.

“You okay?” he asked, reminding me he hadn’t heard my internal conversation. Oh, yeah. The guy had told me he loved me so I should probably respond or something.

“I love you too.” The words flew out in a rush. “I love you so much.” My arms reached out as I tried to hug him. Difficult given the tiny space of the back seat and my back pushed up against the door. We hadn’t really thought this through.

“Well good, makes it easier.” He gave me one of his panty-melting smiles. Just as well I was still missing mine. “Would have totally sucked if I’d been there on my own.”

“So . . . what do we do now?” My eyes dipped down to the messy back seat. My skirt still up above my waist instead of covering the parts of me that it should. The aftermath not nearly as spectacular as the moment had been.

“We’re going to get cleaned up and go home. I need to hold you and then I’m going to need to make love to you properly. Nice and slow. Anal totally optional.”

It didn’t even seem like I’d asked him a question. Not one that really mattered anyway, like it was no big deal to ditch his friends and leave with me.

“What about them?” My head motioned to the window. The noisy, seedy bar’s lights just barely visible. “Don’t you want to go back in there?”

Not that I wanted to go back, but I wasn’t expecting him to completely forget that it had been me who crashed the party either. My surprise arrival sabotaging his plans.

“Not tonight. They’ll understand and I’d rather piss out razor blades than have to stop holding you right now.”

For Rusty the decision was simple. He wanted to be with me so he was going to be with me. End of story. I had been the one who’d been resisting every step of the way. One day I was on my own, miserable and completely down on my luck and the next I was finding my way with a new tour guide. Showing me that it was ok to be out of control and unsure. He didn’t even bat an eye at my crazy. All of which was completely acceptable to him, and what was even more shocking was that he—the hot guy I had once admired from afar—fell in love with me. With me. And oh my God, did I love him back.

“Take me home, Rusty.”

“I love it when you see it my way.”

Life was pretty fucking
sweet.

Like no shit. I felt like a superhero. Superman of course because we already established Batman had no sack.

In the space of a month my life had gone from pretty freaking awesome to goddamn spectacular. And I was riding that high all the way to the end.

The studio work was done. All of the tracks were set and ready for the airways. Even the cover didn’t make me want to stab myself; it was exactly what we wanted. We even had a live gig all lined up which would hopefully not feature the live birth of my front woman’s first child. And I had an awesome girlfriend.

Fucking outstanding. All of it.

And it was only going to get better.

I’d caught some heat from bailing from last night’s Phil-tivities but the boys managed the shark-infested waters of Chasers just fine without me. We’d been satisfied that Phil’s deep, dark secret was nothing more than his inability to be faithful, and while I thought it was bad form, it was none of my business. Phil even went home with someone, his obsession with hair-band ballads and spiraling into depression forgotten for the night. Even if it was only temporary, it was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned. Joey and Max hadn’t been so thrilled the boom-chica-wah-wah went down on their couch, but at least they didn’t have to listen to another ten hours of love songs and dedications. A win is a win.

Max calling Alison was beyond what I’d expected. Sure I had been a miserable son of a bitch who would rather have his dick slammed in a car door than sit in that fucking bar, but I was fully prepared to be a team player. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who was willing to make the sacrifice. Did I mention how fucking awesome my life was? Hells to the yeah.

“Dude, your stomach is doing that Alien thing again.” My eyes stayed glued to Angie’s stretched out T-shirt. A rogue arm or leg doing its best to find the ejection hatch. “Seriously, is that shit normal?”

“Yes, it’s normal.” Angie gave her belly a rub. “He or she just wants in on the band. Every time I play it’s like a mosh pit in there.”

“Hey, are you sure this gig is a good idea?” Max weighed in, his eyes also doing the stare routine on Angie’s cargo hold. “I know we’ve joked about it but you cannot go into a labor on stage. I was watching TLC and yeah . . . I’m pretty sure the insurance will not cover the mess.”

“It’s my first baby, losers. It doesn’t happen that way.” She waved off our concern like the badass that she was. Had to hand it to her, she wasn’t letting a little thing like being a life support system slow her down.

“Hi, everyone. I brought snacks. Anyone hungry?” Alison joined the party balancing two pizzas and a six-pack, even had a bottle of water tucked under her arm for Ange. My chest puffed out proud at the sight of her.

“Hey, babe. Let me help you with that.” My feet were on the floor and walking toward her before she got much further. “You’re awesome.” The kiss she got was in lieu of wrapping my arms around her, which would totally be happening later.

“Rus, I am a little bit in love with your girlfriend right now, dude.” Joey grabbed a longneck from my girl and gave her a shit-eating grin. “She got us pizza and beer. We didn’t even ask for it.”

“Well, thank you, Joey.” Her cheeks pinked as she handed another bottle to Max, my bass player just as appreciative, shooting her a smile. “I thought you guys might be hungry, it’s no big deal.”

“Stand down, asshole. She’s taken.”

With the pizzas finally on the coffee table I was free to show my own personal brand of thanks. A lot more physical than the two she’d just received. And anyone who didn’t dig the PDA could happily show themselves to the door.

“Thanks, Alison.” Angie palmed the water that had been designated for her. “I could eat a horse.” The lid of the pizza boxes was popped open and the savages dove in.

Oh, and another thing that I could add to my list of awesome. My best friend and my girlfriend were now completely kosher with each other. Angie had shelved her concerns and was on Team Alison with the rest of us. Another fucking win.

“So you guys nervous for tonight? It’s been awhile since you’ve been on a stage, huh?”

My girl had come a long way, from previously needing to get high just thinking about hanging out with the band to now being all cool, calm and collected while we ate pizza and conversed. To say I was proud of her was an understatement.

“I’m itching to play,” Joey answered between chews, his slice of pepperoni getting demolished. “The stage is where we shine. Studios blow ass.”

“Yeah, we’re a better live band. Get a feel for the crowd and feed off the energy. Can’t wait.” Max was right on the money. We didn’t trick up our sound so playing for a crowd was always going to be boss.

“And I am beyond excited you’re going to get to see me play. Just be prepared to be wowed, woman. When it comes to guitar playing, I pretty much own that shit.” Maybe I was arrogant but the chance to play our new stuff, with my girlfriend in the front row—no chance I was choking. I would be channeling my inner Jimmy Hendrix and setting fire to my axe.

“It will be a good time. Our last time playing together for a few months.” Angie’s belly on cue started rocking and rolling. The kid obviously agreed with the consensus.

“Wow, that’s so cool.” Alison got an eyeful of what we’d spent the morning watching. “Can I touch it?” She didn’t even bother trying to extend a hand until she’d gotten the green light nod.

Watching Alison with her hand on Angie’s belly was super surreal. One, there was a freaking human in there. A real life, living, breathing person that was going to come out and be part of this crazy awesome family. Two, for the first time ever—and I do mean ever—I could totally see myself doing that with a girl. Yep, I’m talking putting a ring on it, knocking her up and growing old in the rocking chair. All of it totally on the table if the chick sitting across from me would be my other half. Only way it was going to happen.

I was as surprised as anyone by the revelation, the marriage and kid thing not something I was counting on. I assumed it
might
happen later, but I sure as hell wasn’t looking for it now. But I was smart enough to know that what we had was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and I would sooner give up playing in the band and work a shitty nine-to-five job before I’d give up Alison. Planning a future, having babies—it was something that absolutely made me freaking happy beyond belief.

Maybe pregnancy was like the measles. You got exposed to that shit and before you knew it, you too were rocking a diaper bag. Honestly, no problems with it here.

“It’s amazing that there is a tiny little version of you in there, all perfectly formed just waiting to be born.” Alison echoed my thoughts as she pulled her hands away from Angie. “It really is a miracle.”

Maybe we both were on the same train of thought, her eyes locking with mine and giving me a smile. That alone was enough to light a fire under my ass and start the baby-making right now.

“Knock, knock.” Jason—the baby daddy—walked through the front doorway and into the room. “You guys done? I’m all for being supportive of the band but I need to take Angie home. And just for the record, I think playing a show tonight is crazy.”

“Irwin, you should know better than to think we can tell Angie what to do.” I gave the big guy a grin. Hell no. I liked my balls very much where they were, I wasn’t about to tell our lead singer whether or not she could get on stage.

“We’re done.” Angie wrapped her arms around her dude as he helped her out of the chair, her struggle onto her feet a little more than when she’d arrived. Maybe Power Station Jase had a point.

“Hey, Angie. We can rain check tonight if you want? Honestly, the songs are solid, we can wait a little longer to give them airtime.” As much as I wanted to play, I was willing to sideline it for the greater good.

“I’m fine, we’re playing the gig.” She shot down any further discussion, giving us all a tired wave and leaving with her knight in shining armor. She was adamant even if we weren’t sold.

“So, Alison. You sing? We can always use the back up.” Max broke the silence, the nice dude that he was making sure he didn’t leave her out of the loop.

“Oh, no. I can’t sing to save my life. Think about the worst noise on earth and then multiply it by a hundred. That sound—that horrible noise of death—is still better than I sing.”

“No one is that bad.” I threw my arms around my girl, glad I was finally able to give her the attention. “I bet you’re awesome and just selling yourself short.”

“Actually, I’m not. I’m really that bad. If there were any hope, I’d happily join the band. It’s not like I’m doing much else.” The playful mood of the conversation took a dive.

I gave exactly zero fucks about Alison not working. Zero. As far as I was concerned she could happily stay unemployed and be my head cheerleader. Certainly made shit easier for me in that we didn’t have to deal with her nine-to-fiving. But, I knew deep down it ate at her—her not doing her own thing, not having her own cash. And if I had it in my power to make that girl happy, I was going to do it. Even if it meant I’d see her less.

“Hey, have you thought about working with a label? I know James and the boys were looking to expand, but given they are running it like an old-school ma and pa shop, it’s been difficult to get staff.”

Not sure why I didn’t think of it before but Ali working with Power Station would be a good fucking move. For personal reasons—I make no apologies about being selfish—it would mean she’d be right there with me. We’d be in it together. But more importantly, it was something I knew she’d excel in. They needed someone trustworthy and organized and my girl was so anal she color coded Post-it notes.

“Work for the label? You mean for Power Station?” Her eyes got wide at the suggestion.

“Babe, I really hate that they impress you more than I do. As your boyfriend I’m going to have to insist you think I’m the bigger deal. Lie to me if you have to.”

I was nowhere near offended to be honest, but I was hoping I’d be seeing that look of awe directed at me some time soon. Call me vain or conceited, I’d take it.

“You are a huge deal. Bigger than big. Massive.” She turned on the enthusiasm, the boys laughing at her attempt at appeasing me.

“Laugh it up, bastards, but I’m a genius.” It was really an amazing suggestion, adulation was definitely deserved.

“Well, you enjoy that.” Max rose to his feet, picking up a slice of pie for the road. “Joey and I are going to bail too. I’m hoping by now Phil’s random chick has left so we can get some sleep. Oh and head’s up, he’s coming tonight. I fully expect he’ll be a ballbuster, but he hasn’t seen me play in years so couldn’t really say no.”

Joey followed Max’s lead, the eye roll clueing me in that he wasn’t thrilled about their couch tenant riding shotgun. Not that I blamed him, the guy was a massive drainer.

“Yep, see you tonight.” I gave them both a chin tip as way of saying goodbye, my hands leaving Alison wasn’t happening.

With our impromptu band meeting over and the guys heading out the door, my attention was fully on my earlier suggestion. The one that would see the two things I loved happily come together. The band, and the girl who pretty much owned me right now. As far as I could see, there were no negatives.

“You think they would seriously consider hiring me?” Ali asked, her train of thought obviously sharing the same redirection. “If nothing else the experience would be amazing.”

“Well we can sit here and wonder or we can talk to the people in charge. All I know is, they need help. It’s worth a shot, what have you got to lose?”

As far as guarantees, I couldn’t give any. Me vouching for her would hopefully go a long way but as far as business was concerned, Power Station and their wives ran a pretty tight ship. But I also knew that nothing great ever came from playing it safe.

“True, it’s not like I’m not already broke and without a job. Even if they say no, the interview process would be great experience.”

Sitting in front of me was a different girl than the one I’d first met. The one who’d been screwed over by her piece of shit ex-boyfriend and life in general. And that was by far a greater achievement than any album or show I’d ever play.

“I’ll make the call but whatever happens, know you are fucking awesome.”