Absolutely Unforgivable (23 page)

“Stacy!” he cried out.

“She okay, man?” Vin asked, coming towards the couch to see what was going on with me.

“Stacy, Babe please. You are hurting me,” Billy said as he tried to remove my fingers that were painfully digging into his arm.

I stared off into the distance and murmured, “There are two.”

Billy looked at me, trying to figure out what I was talking about. “Two of what?”

I continued to stare off into space. “Two of them. Two …”

“Two of who? What do you mean?”

“The man today. He wasn’t the same from the Fourth of July. He was not the same man as before. The other one is still out there.”

“Oh, is that what you are worried about? Babe, don’t. That other guy got his ass kicked. He won’t dare come back for more.”

I knew Billy was trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay but still, the thought of that other man out there haunted me. This whole thing was just all so crazy. There was just no way all of this was really happening.

Before long the front door was flung open. It scared me to death and I jumped up out of Billy’s lap as Vin leaped over the couch to stand in front of me. I stood behind him shaking, my lip started to quiver but it was all for naught. It wasn’t another crazy stalker; it was only Travis and the rest of the gang.

I loosened my grip on the back of Vin’s shirt and peeked around his massive body. I half expected Travis to make a pervy comment about what I was wearing but surprisingly he didn’t. He just shook his head and said, “Damn girl. You okay?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer before Mindy and Bree rushed to my side. “I can’t believe it. Are you okay? This is so crazy. Did you see them shoot the guy? Did he touch you? Did you recognize him? Were you scared? Did you know what was happening?”

Their seemingly endless questions were overwhelming me and I started to feel the room spin. I tugged on the back of Vin’s shirt and he turned around and scooped me up in his arms and brought me to the couch. Mindy and Bree plopped down on either side of me, not letting up even for a moment with their questions.

When I saw Brick enter the room I started to remember what Trista had said earlier about him tweeting as me, telling my followers updates about my well-being. I turned to Mindy and asked if she could show me her phone. I clicked on the Twitter app and read what he had been saying. He had tweeted a few photos of me and the police officers that had been at the house earlier. I guess Trista had given him those. He posted several messages about me being okay and how wonderfully sweet and downright sexy the police officers were who came to my rescue.

My stomach started to turn as I read the pages and pages of tweets Brick had been sending out as me over the past few weeks. He made me seem like such a ditzy bimbo in some of them; I hated it.

“Don’t mind Brick. He’s just an idiot. He thinks that is how all women talk,” Mindy said as she took her phone from my hand. “So I totally have the best news. I was talking to Trista and in light of all the buzz around the band right now she thought it might be fun if we joined them onstage for the next few shows.”

Bree added, “And we can totally coordinate all of our outfits like we did the last time. Think how hot we would be!”

“I don’t know what Billy would think about that.”

“You really think that after all of this happened he would let you more than an arm's length away from him ever again?” Mindy joked.

I shook my head no. “I guess not.”

“We are going to be the most awesome addition to the band ever!”

Darla leaned over the couch and added, “And we have the first show this weekend.”

I looked over at Billy who was across the room talking to the boys. He seemed to be pointing out where various events from earlier had taken place. I had to look away. I just didn’t want to think about it again.

I was tired, more mentally drained than anything, and wanted to take a nap but I was too scared to be away from the crowd of people so I stayed on the couch quietly listening to everyone talk around me.

Eventually Trista joined us on the couch. “Okay. So Kita and the boys will be moving some of your things downstairs to Billy’s room. You’ll be staying with him until Jeromy gets home.”

“No, I can’t. No way.”

“Stacy, why are you arguing with me? Do you really think this is optional?” Trista said as she glanced over at Billy. I sighed. She was right. After what happened today, Billy really never was going to let me out of his sight. And, truth be told, I really didn’t want to be upstairs by myself. I would rather be in the safety of Billy’s arms until Jeromy got back.
Jeromy
. Now more than ever I wished he was here with me, taking care of me.

I tried my best to keep my eyes open but as the conversations dragged on it all got just too much for me. My eyes were just too heavy to stay open. I laid my head back on the armrest of the couch and fell asleep.

When I woke up it was dark outside. Mindy and Bree were still sitting on either side of me, this time watching TV. Billy and the rest of the guys were sitting on the other side of the room at the card table they had set up in the living room, drinking beer and laughing. “Zander, you cheating mother fucker,” I heard Patrick say and then they all laughed.

“Hey, Little Miss Sleepyhead. You totally missed it.” Mindy said.

“Missed what?”

“We decided on what we are going to wear this weekend, silly!”

“Darla wanted us to cover our bodies in crystals instead of clothes. Starla wanted us to dress up like Las Vegas showgirls. While they were both great ideas, I think they are just a little much. So after some debate, we agreed to dress as go-go dancers. You know like from the sixties. We are going out tomorrow and pick up our costumes. Aren’t you excited?”

“Oh yeah, that sounds great.” I wasn’t really all that enthused about the upcoming shopping excursion. But they were so excited I didn’t want to be rude or hurt their feelings, especially after they had been so sweet and supportive.

“And while we are there we can check out what else they have. This is going to be so much fun!” Bree enthused.

“You know we don’t always have to dress up in costumes. Can’t we all just wear the same color? Like one day we all wear black, the next we all wear red?” I asked, hoping she would agree so I could get out of the shopping trip.

“Well, yeah, but where is the fun in that? I guess we can do that sometimes but we should at least try and get a few cool costumes to wear, don’t you think?”

Out of the corner of my eye something that flashed on the TV caught my attention. I grabbed the remote and turned it up.
Oh my God!
It was a story about me. Please tell me they did not just flash a picture of me in Billy’s boxers. Oh God they did.

“Houston’s very own superstar Stacy Keller had a run in today with an overzealous fan. The story ended in tragedy when he resisted arrest and was shot by an HPD officer. After the incident Stacy tweeted a message to her fans letting them know she was okay and appreciated the officers that came to her rescue. The man who has yet to be identified broke into her home in an attempt to get closer to the star. We’ll have more on this story as it develops.”

The second the station cut to commercial everyone’s phone almost simultaneously started to buzz. I turned to Billy to see if he had watched what I just did. Vin was talking to him. “This shit’s not going to die down anytime soon. We might want to consider bringing in some additional security for the girls at the shows, at least for a while.”

“Yeah, man. Do whatever you think is best. That’s a good idea.” Billy was patting his hand on his leg, as if he wanted me to sit on his lap.

I made my way over to the table and sat down on his leg. I watched them play cards for a while but as the hour got late I really wanted to go lie down. I didn’t want to be alone but I also didn’t want to take Billy away from his friends so I just sat there quietly. Luckily my body spoke volumes for me and I let out a yawn and laid my head on his shoulder.

“It’s getting late and I need to get this one to bed.” Billy stood up with me in his arms and started walking to his room.

The next morning I woke up when I heard a noise coming from the closet. I jumped up, frightened. But it was only Kita, who had been putting my clothes in Billy’s closet.

“Miss Stacy, you are awake. I put your clothes away. Come see.”

“Where is Billy?” I asked, as I looked around the room hoping to find him.

“I’m right here,” Billy said as he walked out of the bathroom in just a towel that hung low off of his hips, with his toothbrush in hand. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of his bare chest and my eyes immediately made their way down to the shape of the V his lower stomach muscles made. I know I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop staring at him. The sight of his nearly naked body took my breath away. He smiled and was very aware that I was enjoying the view.

“Come, Miss Stacy, let me show you,” Kita said, sticking out her hand. I walked into the closet so that she could show me how she organized my clothes. She explained that she put some of his clothes in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs to make room. She then walked me over to one of the smaller dressers.

“Here this is all for you,” she said proudly as she opened one of the drawers and then the next. “I put all of your little things in these.” I reached in and hugged her, thanking her for all she has done.

“It’s my pleasure, Miss Stacy. Now head on into the kitchen and grab one of the fresh bagels before the boys eat them all.” I did as she told me to and walked out of the bedroom, headed toward the kitchen.

As I left the room I walked cautiously; I was still very shaken up from the day before. After taking my first step around the corner a big man stepped into my view. “Hey, you must be Stacy.”

I froze in place and screamed bloody murder. Billy ran up behind me and held me tight. I didn’t, however, take my eyes off the stranger who was now pleading for me to forgive him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Billy in his rush to come get me had dropped his towel and was now pressing me tightly against his body. With one arm across my chest, securely holding in place and the other stroking my arm, trying to soothe me, he walked me backwards, back into his bedroom. He turned me around, making me face him and I dug my face into his chest. Listening to his heartbeat soothed me.

“It’s okay. Those guys are just friends of Vin’s. He brought them in for extra security until some of the madness dies down.” His voice was soft and consoling.

While he was telling me about Vin’s friends, I suddenly became aware that I was leaning against Billy’s now very naked body. When he pulled me back to lift up my chin and ask me if I was okay, my eyes darted down to his private parts.

“Hey now, no peeking at the goods,” Billy said playfully. But he didn’t recoil or pull away. He seemed to have no problem whatsoever standing there buck naked for all the world to see. I blinked several times and forced myself to focus on his eyes.

Vin came into the room to check in on me and then took me into the living room to meet his friends Rocco and Devin while Billy put some clothes on. They were big like Vincent was, also as equally scary-looking. Devin in particular had a rather menacing look. Of course the big skull tattooed on his neck probably had a lot to do with that.

Rocco was the man who I had ran into before, and he apologized for scaring me. I assured him it was more than okay. It wasn’t his fault. Just after the incidents of the day before, I was still really shaky.

After eating breakfast I decided I better call my parents and let them know I was okay. I had meant to do it yesterday but I just couldn’t. I needed time to pull myself together enough so I could make myself sound okay. I knew they would be worried and if I couldn't pull off calm, cool, and collected they might try and make me come home. That phone call turned into a two hour long conversation with quite a bit of tears. But eventually I convinced them I was fine, especially after Billy hired Vin to take care of me and he never left my side.

To drive the point home, when Mindy arrived I had her help me take a picture of me standing next to Vin, measuring his arm. His biceps were twenty-two inches around. I was really impressed. His arm was just a few inches smaller than my waist. Okay well, maybe more than a
few
, but still. I texted the picture to my mother to show her she really had nothing to worry about. Vin was a beast and he was my beast, taking care of me. With him by my side, I was going to be fine and she had nothing to fret about.

When I finally got my mom off of the phone, I went to take a shower, and get ready for my afternoon of shopping with the girls for clothes to wear to our next two gigs at Rowdy’s on Thursday and Friday night. I did my best to put the thoughts of that crazy man behind me but when I was alone, in the shower, I felt the thought of him creeping up on me. I felt the terror grabbing at my chest and I desperately tried to fight it off.

Suddenly I could see flashes of the moments from yesterday. They jumped into my brain like lightning bolts. There was him coming out of the bushes, and then him coming at me upstairs. There was the blood. So much blood. I shook my head sharply to try and break the images free from my mind. Tears were now streaming down my face as the water poured from overhead.