Stereo (29 page)

Shaun looked quickly up at him.  “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned your mom.”

“Yeah…” He buttoned the last button, running his pointer finger slowly along her collarbone.  “She left us when I was little.  So…”

Shaun instantly regretted having even brought her up. “Adam, I’m sorry.”

Adam was silent for a long while, somewhat enthralled with her collarbones, each of which he was slowly tracing with the beds of his fingers.  “It was a long time ago, babe.”

“Yeah, but… I’m still sorry.” She yearned to ask what happened, but bit her tongue.  “How old were you when she left?”

“I was six.”

Shaun cringed.

“She comes around in spurts.  The last time she came around long enough to make Katie.” He chuckled.  “God knows my father’s never been strong enough to resist her, even when she’s strung out.”

“He loved her,” Shaun said.

“He
loves
her. More than he should.  He still goes looking for her.”

“But she doesn’t want to be found?”

“No.  Not until she decides it, and it’s always short lived.”

“Do you remember her when she was around?”

“Not as much as I’d like, but yeah, I remember her. She’s not dead, she’s just gone. We love her, we know somewhere deep down she loves us… she just happens to love Ice a little bit more.” He shrugged.

“Ice?”

Adam’s eyes suddenly jumped to hers and he couldn’t help but smile.  His innocent Shaun.  He realized right at that moment that he would die to protect her if he had to.  If that afternoon was any indication, he thought, it might actually come to that. 

“Crystal,” he finally answered, before reiterating, “meth.”

Shaun’s eyes had grown wide.  “What about you?  Do you think it’s true that that kind of addiction is genetic?”

“I don’t know. I drink… heavily.”  He smirked.  “But I don’t like drugs.”

“Not even weed?”

“No.”

“I wound not have guessed that about you.”

“Just because I write rock music and have tattoos I must be a druggie.”  Adam was used to the immediate association with drugs people pushed on him, especially since he was such a heavy drinker, but that didn’t make it any less irritating.  Watching his mother slowly deteriorate since he was a kid was enough to keep him away from the stuff for the rest of his life.  He’d never hurt himself or Katie that way.

“How old was she here?”  Shaun asked, still running her fingers along the tattoo.

His eyes fell to his chest. He felt himself growing a bit more out of control with each second her hands were on him.  “Sixteen? Seventeen? Something like that.”

Shaun continued to admire the work. “She was beautiful.  She looks like you, or I guess you look like her.”  She smiled.  “What about your dad?  Are you close with him?”

“I was.”

Shaun raised her eyebrows, not missing the way Adam completely tensed up at the mention of his father.

He ran a hand down his face.  “We’re not speaking right now.  Probably never will.  And that really sucks because he’s the main cog behind the entire White Keys machine.  He’s invested a lot in us over the years. He’s not a bad guy… he just has no concept of reality.  No awareness of a world existing outside his own.  He doesn’t
think
about what he says—what he does--and how it can affect people…”  Adam looked off and seemed deep in thought before shaking his head with eyes jammed shut.  “I guess I really am my father’s son.”  He looked back to her.

“No, Adam.” Shaun ran her hands up and down his arms.  “Look, whatever it is… I’m sure you guys can work it out.”

“No.” Adam shook his head, again.  “No, not this time.”

Shaun continued to massage his arms gently, giving him a chance to spill his heart out if that’s what he felt like doing.

Instead, his entire focus shifted as his eyes searched her face, whispering, “your folks will hate me forever for what I said.”

Shaun took a deep breath, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. “They’re hard people to please in general so… don’t take it too personally.”

“What about you? Will you forgive me?”

“I already told you that it’s not up to me to forgive you Adam.  What you said really has nothing to do with how I feel and everything to do with how
you
feel.  I know you’re not a bad person, but there’s a reason you said what you said.  Even if you were wasted at the time and not really being serious… you still said it.  It’s something that was born inside of you and made real when you decided to speak on it. Can I see where my parents are coming from about you and me?  Sure, I can… But, they still don’t know you like I do.”

He noticed that she was no longer trembling and it eased him so much that he was able to notice for the first time how amazing she looked standing there in his plaid shirt and nothing else.

“I wish I met you first,” he whispered.

Shaun blushed. “Adam… even if you had met me before that interview, there’s no way it would have worked out the way it did.”

He didn’t respond but kept watching her eyes with bone shaking intensity, as if something heavy was right on the tip of his tongue and he was fighting to keep it at bay.

“Adam, can you take me home?”

He countered her question.  “Can I take you to my place? You don’t have to meet anyone if you don’t want to.  I just want you there to make sure you’re really okay.”

“I can take care of myself you know.”

“You don’t have to.”

“What are you gonna do? You gonna hide me away in your bedroom?”

“I wouldn’t mind having you in my bed.”

Shaun’s eyes grew at his words, taking in the honesty in his eyes and the pleasant bumps that rolled over her skin.  “Okay, but… just until I’m a little better.” She turned away from him and slipped back into her heels.  Grabbing the belt that had been holding up her soaking wet jeans, she wrapped it around her waist to make a mock dress out of Adam’s plaid shirt.  When she turned back to him his eyes were filled with nothing but desire.

“That’s sexy, babe.”

Shaun rolled her eyes. “Let’s go, boyfriend,” she said, sarcastically.

“Okay, girlfriend.”

--

As Shaun and Adam walked out of the studio and into the parking lot they were immediately surrounded by people and camera flashes.  It was something she’d grown used to whenever she was with Adam, but what really shocked Shaun this time was the sound of
her
name being screamed almost as much as his.  As they made their way down the steps to the parking lot and through the crowd, Adam took her hand in his, like he always did, pulling her close.

“Shaun, can you please sign this?  Please?!”

Shaun looked to the young girl next to her, who
wasn’t
a photographer, but a young black girl with big curls similar to hers, and stopped in her tracks.

“I just
love
you. Can you please sign this?” She held out a picture of Shaun with a shaky hand.

Shaun took in the photo.  It was from the shoot she’d done yesterday.  As Shaun gingerly accepted the Sharpie that the young girl held out and signed the photo Adam took in the photo from over her shoulder. Shaun was in a floor length trench coat with that tiny-tiny bikini underneath. There wasn’t a cloud in the crystal blue sky and she appeared to be in the middle of nowhere with a mansion visible in the distance.  The coat fit her like a glove, all the way down her body, and flared out once it hit her thighs, where a pair of burgundy thigh high, suede boots were hugging her flawless brown skin.  She was in mid step in the photo and seemed determined to get wherever she was going.  It was a stunning picture that said so much—more so than the photographer himself probably knew.

“Where did you get this?” Shaun asked with excitement.  “I, literally, just took this picture yesterday.”

“It’s all over the internet.  Someone must have leaked them.  You look beautiful!”  The girl beamed.  “Can I have a picture, too?!”

Shaun threw Adam a look that screamed ‘do they think I’m someone else?!’ and took in the sound of his laughter before smiling into the camera for the girl.

“Thank you
so
much!  You’re so freaking beautiful!”

“Thank
you!”
Shaun accepted the hand that Adam held out to her before they began making their way down to his Lexus.

“That YouTube video, though,” someone else called.

“Yeah, not my finest hour,” Shaun said, while pulling a face.  She felt Adam’s hand tighten around hers and it warmed her heart.

“It’s okay, you’re still awesome!”

“Thanks.” Shaun laughed.  What was happening?  She had fans?  She looked to Adam, who was watching her as if seeing her for the first time.

She felt like she was seeing
herself
for the first time, too.

Adam, of course, was getting the bulk of the attention and, unlike his wide eyed, bushy-tailed companion, was not in such a big hurry to sign a million autographs and take a million pictures.  He stopped for one or two of the fans, completely ignored the paparazzi, and began walking quickly to his car with Shaun at his side.

“How about a kiss, Shaun?” someone yelled in the distance.

Shaun and Adam looked at each other and, before he could say another word, she grabbed his cheeks and laid one on him.  Adam had already been shaken to his core at the unexpected sight of her half naked earlier, but to feel her lips on his… something he wasn’t sure he’d ever have the pleasure of experiencing again, was to his undoing.  Unable to control himself, he froze, afraid to move or do anything to stop her.  A groan slipped out of him as her familiar smell and flavor surrounded him and he tilted his head, parting his lips over hers, needing more. Their tongues met in wet haste and Adam groaned, again, in an attempt to counteract the amazing sickly rumblings in his stomach.  It was the sweetest torture, being near her.  As he explored her mouth he wondered how he could have someone so fully and, at the same time, not at all.  As if they were reading his wild mind, his arms wrapped possessively around her waist and pulled her to him violently.  So violently that it sent both of them tripping backward into the crowd of people about them.  The stumble didn’t stop their wild kiss.  There wasn’t a thing in the world that could.

When Shaun finally pulled away she looked up at him with stars in her eyes, as if she belonged on the sidelines with all of the people begging him for a picture, and not enfolded in his arms.

“Take me home,” she said, softly enough for none of the people around them to hear but loud enough for it to be loud and clear to Adam.

--

Adam didn’t live far from Vogue headquarters and barely had the car in park before he was pulling Shaun up the stairs of his home towards his bedroom.  Shaun allowed him to pull her, taking in his massive home as he did.  It was decorated with modern furniture but still had a classic feel.  It also
smelled
like him, which had Shaun immediately comfortable.  Although no one saw them come in, and they hadn’t seen anyone, Shaun could still hear the sounds of happy voices, laughter and music banging from nearby. It was the first time that she’d ever felt the urge to meet Adam’s people—they sounded like a fun bunch, but she knew she couldn’t.

Meeting his friends and family would be taking this all way too far.  It would make it all way too real. She had to figure out what she was going to do about this article first.

Adam pushed open the door of his room, hand in hand with Shaun, stepped in and stopped cold.

Confused by his sudden frozen stature, Shaun came up next to him and covered her mouth at the sight of a long, toned young body sprawled across Adam’s perfectly made bed.  A long head of brown hair fanned perfectly across his pillow and billowed down to shadow the girls stunning young face.

Shaun felt her heart drop.

Adam turned to her.  “That’s my sister,” he whispered.

Shaun felt her entire being relax. She almost laughed at herself for getting jealous over a face that was almost the spit of the face that was tattooed on Adams chest.  Of course it was Katie.

“She has her own room but she insists on sleeping in mine.”  He began making his way towards the bed.

Shaun immediately grabbed his arm, stopping him. “No, don’t wake her up.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I want
you
in my bed, not Katie.”

“Adam…”  Shaun gave him a look.

He challenged the look right back before sighing in defeat. “Come here.”  He curled a finger into the belt cinched around her waist and began into the house, pulling her behind him.  He passed right by the doors that led to his backyard and expertly managed to avoid all of the people who were still milling around his house.  Shaun’s head flew frantically back and forth with each corner they turned, sure that they would eventually run into someone.