Under My Thumb (Serenade Series #1) (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

♬

Prudence Clearwater

I didn’t question my decision after I made it. It was the perfect setup, and I was genuinely happy. Now I wanted
more than just a kiss. I wanted all of Cash. Every inch of that perfectly chiseled body, including those soft lips. I shivered just thinking about it.

Gavin was distant the next day. He barely spoke to anyone, and he
was in a sour mood. Everyone ignored him, not sure how to act around him. He was acting like a child. I wasn’t going to fall for his tantrum, but I was concerned about it. As musicians, we relied on each other immensely. The chemistry between us reflected in our performance. If Gavin hated me, everyone would know.

When
we arrived at the bar, we set up our equipment because we couldn’t afford roadies. But I liked it better this way. I couldn’t trust someone else not to nick a string or set my mic right. It gave me anxiety just thinking about it. When it came to my instruments, I was very possessive. I didn’t like it when people touched them, not even my bandmates. No excuses.

After we were set up
, we sat backstage on the moth-eaten couches. The place was dirty, and had a distinct smell of marijuana. No one in our band did drugs or even smoked a cigarette. But we did drink alcohol. And a lot of it.

I drank my ice
d tea on the couch while Desi sat beside me. She was humming to herself, warming up her vocal cords. I always stretched my vocals in the bathroom where no one could hear me. I was odd in that way.

Gavin and Mason sat opposite of us. Mason spun a drumstick in his hand then tapped his foot against the floor, practicing in his head. Our lyrics decorated his forearm. I was flattered he ingrained his flesh with some of my song lyrics. They would be forever inked on his arm.

Gavin sat directly across from me, brooding the entire time. I never slapped anyone in my life, but I really wanted to slap him. I never gave him any impression that something would happen between us. But I understood that saying, “Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.” Made perfect sense now.

Mason spu
n his drumstick against the armchair, but shattered it under his accidental force. “Damn.”

“Do you have another?” Desi asked, panic in her eyes.

“I always leave a spare in the car.”

Desi fumbled for her keys in her purse. “Let’s go.”

They both left the couches then bolted out the backdoor to the parking lot.

I was totally alone.
With Gavin.
Great…

I looked at my hands in my lap then pulled out of my phone, wanting to have something to do. Gavin didn’t move, but he finally looked at me. It was the first time we were alone. And I had a feeling no good would come from it.

Gavin cleared his throat. “So…you like that guy?”

Ugh. Seriously?
“Yeah.” What kind of question was that? Obviously, I liked him. Would I let him carry me to my apartment while I slept peacefully in his arms if I didn’t like him?
Fucking dumbass.

“What’s the big deal about him? Because he’s rich?”

My annoyance increased tenfold. We’d been playing music together for years, so he knew me pretty damn well. And I definitely didn’t care about money. If I did, I wouldn’t be a musician. “That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Then why would you date a psycho that steals your ticket to the play? That sounds pretty creepy.”

“Or insanely romantic.” Now I was trying to piss him off.

Gavin narrowed his eyes, the rage coming through. “So you’re going to screw him all summer then go home like nothing happened?”

I clenched my fists automatically. “Who I fuck is none of your business, Gavin. I’ll fuck as many guys as I want. I don’t owe you anything.”

“I broke up with Brooke for you.”

“For me?” I asked incredulously. “Gavin, I don’t have feelings for you. Period.”

That wounded his pride. I could see the hurt in his eyes. I felt bad for being so blunt.

“I’m sorry…I should have said something when I suspected you were into me.”

Gavin rested his hands on his thighs then stared at his shoes. I had no idea
what he was thinking. “It seemed like you were into me.”

“I don’t know what I did to give you that impression, but I’m sorry, I don’t see you that way.”

He rose from his chair then stepped away. “Whatever.”

“Whatever?”
Is this guy five years old?
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out like you wanted. But that’s not my fault. And you shouldn’t be rude to Cash because of it.”

“He’s a bloody asshole. I’ll be rude to him all I lik
e.” He stormed off through the exit.

I sighed and leaned back into the chair. I knew t
his would be bad. Having to live with him for the next few months made it even more of a pain in the ass.

Desi and Mason returned, looking concerned.

“What the bloody hell happened?” Mason asked.

“Gavin is being…difficult.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling cut off from everyone.

“He said he isn’t playing tonight,” Desi said.

“What?” I understood he was mad but that was unacceptable. “He better be playing. Unless his mum dies, the show goes on.”

“He said no.” Mason shrugged. “What did you say to him?”

“I said I wasn’t into him and he needed to get over it.”

Desi raised an eyebrow. “Well, that was sensitive
…”

“He was being a jerk first,” I argued. “You didn’t hear all the mean things he said to me.”

Desi ran her fingers through her hair, flustered. “I don’t care what he said. You need to make this right.”

“Me?” I asked incredulously. “He needs to be the bigger man. I’m not going to baby him. That will only perpetuate his childish behavior.”

Mason grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently. “The show starts in five minutes. Stroke his ego then give him hell later.”

I knew Mason was right. “Fine.” I walked outside then searched for Gavin. He was sitting on the curb, his arms resting on his knees. “You’re playing.”

“No.” He didn’t look at me. The LA traffic was more interesting, apparently.

I sat beside him. “You can hate me all you want but don’t take it out on Mason and Desi. That isn’t fair to them—at all. You and I can work this out in private. This is not the way to go about it.”

“I’m not doing this because of spite,” he snapped. “I just don’t want to play with you. Not right now, at least.”

“Then pretend I’m not there.”

“You don’t understand!” He gripped his hair. “I just can’t right now. It’s too hard.” He shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“Every love song I’ve ever written has been about you.”

I wasn’t expecting that. He had a girlfriend for the past year, so that surprised me even more. Poor Brooke.

“And I can’t sing those songs after you’ve ripped my heart out.”

I wish I had something intelligent to say. I was too awkward to think of anything. “Let it fuel you. That’s what I do.”

“I would. But it’s different when you’re standing next to me, singing the same lyrics. I can’t do the show. I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “Gavin, pull it together.”

“I just can’t do it tonight, alright? It’s just one show. We have hundreds of others.”

“People already bought their tickets. That isn’t fair.”

He stood up and brushed the dirt from his jeans. “I’m sorry I’m in love with you. I’m sorry I ruined everything.” Emotion escaped his mouth, hurting me with every sound. “This was the summer I was going to win you over. I know in my heart you’re the person I was meant to be with. Instead of being too shy to do something about it, I ended it with Brooke so I could pursue you. Then that cunt had to ruin everything.” He marched through the parking lot, not looking back. If I hadn’t convinced him to do the show by now, I wasn’t going to convince him at all. With a heavy heart, I walked back inside.

“What happened?” Desi asked.

I shook my head. “He left.”

“Fucking asshole,” Mason mumbled.

“I did my best. He said he just can’t do it—not tonight.”

“Fuck.” Desi paced in a circle. “Now we’ll have to cancel.”

“Yeah.” Mason rubbed his chin. “Fucking blows.”

“Wait,” I said. “I can play the guitar. I know all the chords and the lyrics.”

“So?” Mason said. “We don’t have a bassist.”

“But we could do a
n acoustic version of our songs.”

“Which we haven’t practiced,” Desi said.

“I can do it,” I said firmly.

“And what am I going to do?” Mason asked.

“You can still play the drums. Just follow my lead.”

“And me?” Desi asked.

“You’ll do the tambourines.”

Mason shook his head. “This is going to be a disaster.”

“As long as we’re able, we’re playing this show. I’m not letting Gavin ruin that.”

♫

When we took our places on the stage, I adjusted the strap over my shoulder and gripped Gavin’s guitar. It was different than mine, but I’d be able to pull it off. The lights were bright on my face so I couldn’t see the audience.

“Hello, everyone. Unfortunately, our lead guitarist had a sudden emergency so we’re playing without him. We apologize for
the inconvenience.”

“Marry me!” a male shouted from the audience.

I smiled then strummed my guitar. Not being able to distinguish the faces looking back at me made my performance easier. When I wasn’t singing, I had to actually move across the stage and entertain the audience. As the bassist, I could get away with swaying from side to side.

Mason did his performance based on mine, not doing the set like we normally would. But we were in tune with one another to pull it off. Desi just handled the
tambourines, seeming somewhat bored. When we finished the set, I played the final song on the piano. But when we were done, I was surprised by the applause we got. White and red roses littered the stage, falling at my feet. That was a first, and it never happened in London.

When the lights came back on, I rose from the piano and walked across the stage, waving and smiling. As soon as I was behind the curtain, I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“We did pretty damn good,” Mason said. “Fuck Gavin.”

“Yeah!” Desi said. “We don’t need him.”

A hand gripped my arm from behind. When warm lips pressed against my ear, I knew exactly who it was. “You kicked ass, baby.”

I smiled then turned around. Cash held a large boutique of fl
owers, and handed them to me. As soon as I took them, I inhaled the scent. “They’re beautiful.”

Cash stared at me with a mesmerized face. “You were amazing—really.”

I felt myself blush.
Damn, I hated it when I did that.

“I can’t believe you took over the show like that. What happened to Gavin?”

“Umm…” I felt the need to cover for him, at least when Mason and Desi were listening. “He was under the weather.”

“Well, you don’t even need him.” He put his hand on my waist and gave me a serious look. “You’re a one woman show.”

“No. I’d be nothing without my drummer and second guitarist.”

He smiled. “If you say so.” He gripped my waist and pulled me away.

“Why did you come tonight?”

“To see you, of course.”

“But you’ve already seen me.”

His hand gripped my waist, his fingers reaching to the dip in my back. His hands were so
large, he could squeeze me in half. “And I want to see you—again and again. I get to sit in the dark and listen to your beautiful voice all I want. You can’t hide behind a menu or a loose strand of hair.”

Damn, he knew m
e pretty well.
That cocky asshole. But I was moved he came to the show again. It was really sweet.

He pulled a
CD cover out of his back pocket with a permanent marker. “I would love your autograph.”

That moved me even more. “Really?”

“Of course.” He held it out to me.

After my cheeks turned bright red, I signed it. I scribbled a heart at the end, just for him.

He smiled when he took it. “This is going to be worth a lot of money someday.”

“Stop.”

“I’m serious.” His hands returned to my waist and held me close.

“We need to pack,” Mason said as he disassembled his drum set. “Come on. You can make out with your boyfriend later.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said quickly.

“Whatever,” Mason said.

“I should get going…” I really didn’t want to leave Cash, not when he was standing in front of me, being so sweet and looking so fuckable.

“I’ll help.” He packed the equipment and stored it in the
car. When everything was done, we said our goodbyes.