Toxic (Addiction #1) (5 page)

“No, you’re just the practical jokester,” Quinn said, laughing.
 

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, ok. So the Saran Wrap on the toilet seat on the tour bus had nothing to do with you?”

“I don’t even know what Saran Wrap is. I think you’re trying to get me in trouble, missy.”

“Whatever. You know what you did.”

“Keep thinking that.” Landon looked at Rook who was stretched out across a seat, mouth open wide and drool starting to form on the seat. “Want to have a little fun?”
 

Quinn looked at Rook and her eyes lit up.
 

“Always!”

Chapter 3

Rook sauntered downstairs as he listened to his bandmates talking in the kitchen. He woke up to all kinds of hurt scorching through his body. He had a headache that could rip a hooker’s clothes off with one pulse, his eyes stung like he slept with raw onions on each eyelid, and his breath was so wretched he thought one of his bandmates took a shit in his mouth when he was sleeping.
 

When he took his morning piss, he noticed that Quinn must have had a little fun with her make-up because his eyes were looking rather dainty and the shade of lipstick that was not so delicately placed on his lips was completely the wrong shade and not flattering one bit. He washed his face before he headed downstairs so he didn’t get ragged on too much.
 

The guys and Quinn were sitting around the table, drinking coffee and eating a box of donuts when Rook entered the kitchen. They were all showered and dressed…fucking go-getters.

“Ah, the princess has arrived,” said Landon.
 

Rook flipped off his friend, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the end of the table. His friends were looking way too chipper for Rook’s liking. Something must be brewing because he didn’t like the looks on all their faces.
 

“What?” Rook asked, while they all stared at him.
 

“Do you want to tell him?” Cruz said to Grey.

“Sure.” Grey looked at Rook and said, “Our tour troubles have been solved. Talked to the label last night; they’re excited about Twisted Perfection. All they need to do is hear them in the studio and then we can start moving forward…”

Rook held up his hand. “Who the hell is Twisted Perfection?”
 

“Seriously?” asked Cruz. “Dude, are you really that hung over? Do you not remember the band last night, the hot blondes and the drummer?”

Fuck, that wasn’t a dream, Rook thought.
 

“You mean to tell me you’re talking about touring with the typical blonde hipster with eyes that should legally not be that big, the douchebag drummer and that girl who I can only assume is Adolph Titler? Fuck no!”

Rook grabbed a donut and shoved it in his mouth to help his stomach from rolling around. He had way too much alcohol last night and he knew why. It was the typical blonde hipster, whose eyes wouldn’t escape his damn mind.
 

Twisted Perfection was good; they were really good. He couldn’t deny the fact that they took one of Rook’s all-time favorite songs and made it a hundred times better. Their harmonization was spot-on and their instrumentals were hypnotizing. Rook sat back last night, drank his life away and was enthralled by the sound of Twisted Perfection, mainly the edgy angel’s voice.
 

Rook couldn’t shake the blonde beauty with big brown eyes out of his head. She haunted him all last night and he had no clue why. He had been with women who sported larger breasts, more curves and normal-sized eyes, but for some odd reason, she was getting to him. Rook chalked it up to the sound of her sweet, yet edgy voice and the way her fingers glided across her worn out acoustic guitar. She was mesmerizing…that’s all he could think to say and he knew that if Twisted Perfection went on tour with them he would be fucked. There wasn’t a whore’s chance in hell that he would be able to stay away from her.
 

“They were really good. You were so pissed last night that you couldn’t tell the difference between a decent guitar rift and Chewbacca’s cry for help,” said Landon.

Rook pointed at himself. “I’m the one having trouble deciphering good music? Ok…I could eat alphabet soup and shit out better lyrics than them. We can find a much better band to go on tour with us and not just settle for a group who sounds worse than a fat man’s wet fart.”
 

Rook didn’t believe a word he was saying, but hell if he wasn’t going to put up a fight. He didn’t need to get wrapped up in a woman, especially one that he already couldn’t stop thinking about.

He could tell that he was pissing his bandmates off because they were all fuming in their seats, but Rook could give two shits. He needed to protect himself and if that meant lying out of his ass until the cows came home, he would.
 

Grey stepped up and stopped Rook from any more insults. “Until you get your shit together, sober up, and can go a night without drowning yourself in alcohol, your opinion doesn’t weigh two stones in this group. You’re the reason why we’re in this situation, so frankly, you don’t have a fucking say in who gets to tour with us. Maybe once you wake up in the morning without looking like absolute crap, we’ll consider what you have to say.”

Rook was speechless…for once in his life. He knew he relied on booze to get him through the night, but that was because all he wanted to do was pass out. If he didn’t pass out into oblivion every night, then that gave him a chance to think. A chance to think about the shit life he had. Yes, he was famous and everyone wanted to be in his shoes, where girls flocked to his sides and offered their pussies for his taking, but he didn’t want that kind of comfort. He had serious parental issues and if he was left to his own thoughts then he would start feeling like a twelve year old boy who couldn’t get his emotions in check. Alcohol and the occasional happy pill were the only things that helped him through his days.
 

There was no use fighting his bandmates, though, because they had already made up their minds. They contacted the label and putting Twisted Perfection on tour with them was already in the works. There was absolutely nothing he could do.
 

“Whatever. Clearly you don’t care about what I have to say about this…”

“We would if your opinion wasn’t saturated with Jack Daniels,” Landon said.
 

Rook looked to Cruz, his only ally when the Cross brothers started to gang up on him, but Cruz was silent. So much for being brothers from another mother.
 

Tossing his mug in the sink and raking his hand through his hair, he looked at his bandmates, his three best friends, the guys that helped him through every shit thing that happened to him. They were cutting him a break, if he thought about it. They put up with a lot of his misgivings but Rook was always looking out for number one, no matter what. He learned the hard way that when he looked out for someone else, he got burned.
 

He didn’t want the tour to put a wedge between him and his friends though, so he let it go and decided that he would just stick to himself, be the ass that he was and not interact with the opening act. He could easily do that…hopefully.
 

Running his hands over his face, Rook said, “Alright, do what you want to do. Just keep them away from me.”

His friends knew that was Rook’s version of conceding, so they all high fived and Grey was on the phone before Rook had a chance to even leave the kitchen. Rook needed a hot shower and his guitar, he needed to escape into another world, but he didn’t want his usual vices this time. He wanted his music.
 

***
 

It had been one beyond crazy, extremely busy and very stressful week, but they finally made it. Maisy was sitting on a tour bus with Shattered Souls, driving to their first concert on the first leg of their tour. Maisy was unsure of the strings Grey had to pull in order to make it all happen, but whatever he did worked because they were finally doing it; they were finally going somewhere with their careers. They had their big break and Maisy couldn’t believe it was with Shattered Souls, a band they idolized and practically worshipped.
 

They had to sing for the label multiple times during the week, which was very intimidating, but after the fourth showing, they got used to the pressure. Now, if only they could prepare themselves for the sold out arenas they would be playing in.
 

The last week had been a whirlwind of excitement, stress, and lots of time spent in the bathroom thanks to the attack of the nervous shits.
 

As she looked around, she still couldn’t believe she was in a tour bus, with the leading alternative rock band in the country. Shattered Souls were nice enough to share their tour bus with them until the label was able to get a separate bus for them. She knew the bus for Twisted Perfection wouldn’t be half as nice as what she was currently in, but she didn’t care, she was going to live it up.
 

The guys had been so sweet and nice to them, it was kind of hard to imagine their luck. Grey handled all the dealings with the label, which was nice because they had no clue what they were doing. Landon gave them some comic relief while Cruz was constantly giving them advice for their first show. The only person who was not helpful…well, not even around, was Rook. She had yet to say hi to him since she signed up for the tour.
 

She knew Rook was kind of an asshole, but she didn’t think he was going to ignore them completely. A little hi would have been nice, since they were sharing a bus and all, but how much could she really expect…he was too good for them and she knew it.
 

Maisy found it fascinating to watch everyone on the bus and see what kept them busy. Landon and Cruz were playing some kind of video game with a controller that looked way too difficult to use. Willow and Kaid were going over the set list, something Maisy should have been paying attention to, but was too distracted, and Quinn and Grey were snuggled up on the couch, fingers laced together, talking quietly to each other.
 

They were an adorable couple; it was hard for Maisy not to stare at them and get jealous that she had never had a relationship like theirs. Whenever Quinn was around, Grey had a huge smile on his face and you could see the love he had for her. Seeing Quinn and Grey together was endearing to Maisy, but Willow despised it. Maisy tried to tell her that her infatuation with Grey was just that, an infatuation. Quinn and Grey had been together since high school and nothing was going to change that. Willow had other ideas which Maisy tried to talk her out of since they didn’t need any problems. Their dreams were finally coming true, they didn’t need to mess them up with infatuation.
 

Speaking of infatuation, Rook finally came out of his lair. He staggered out from the back with a strut that oozed sex. Maisy felt herself melt on the spot. God, he was gorgeous. He was wearing jeans that fit him perfectly, a t-shirt that was tight around his muscular chest and loose where his waist met his jeans. His hair was messy, but styled nonetheless, which made her heart race at a deathly speed.
 

Fuck, he was sexy.

He raked his hand through his hair as he sidled up next to the coffee maker and made himself a cup. He looked like he might be hung over, but then again he wasn’t a guy who showed much emotion. She knew that because she had watched almost every single interview he ever was in. She bordered stalker status when it came to Rook, which was why she kept reminding herself to keep at least a couple of shreds of self-respect whenever he was around.

“Look who decided to grace us with his presence,” Landon said, making everyone turn and look at Rook.
 

Rook smirked at Landon and said, “Sorry, babe. I didn’t know you were having withdrawals. Do you need me to take you to the back and make you feel whole again?” Rook started moving predatorily toward Landon, making Maisy’s heart skip a beat. She only wished Rook would walk toward her like that and take her to the back room.
 

“Touch me and you’re dead,” Landon said while stiff-arming Rook.
 

Cruz held out his arms while making kissing noises and said, “I’ll take some sugar. I always love a rough and brooding man in my embrace.”
 

“Landon already tapped your sorry ass and to hell if I’m going to have his sloppy seconds. Find another man to hold you,” Rook said with a grin.
 

Maisy felt herself sigh. She was Pathetic.

She must have sighed out loud because Rook looked up and made eye contact with her. As if he had hit her with liquid nitrogen, Maisy’s whole body seized from his stare. His eyes were a brilliant blue that stripped her to her soul and spoke of years of hurt. He was perfect, disturbed, and barely functioning, which was why she was so drawn to him. She knew what he was feeling, she knew the broken feeling he portrayed because it was the same feeling she lived with every day.
 

Under his gaze, she couldn’t move; she couldn’t even acknowledge him; she just sat there as the feeling of rigor mortis took over her body. He didn’t acknowledge her either, he just stared back. Time stood still as they communicated their first interaction through their eyes.