Effortless (10 page)

Stopping in my tracks, I glared over at her and wondered if I
could slap a girl in the middle of school and not get in trouble.
This was college, right? Wasn’t it all about the freedom of
expression? “He is
not
a whore. Don’t ever call him that
again.” I felt the heat in my tone and was a little proud of myself
that my voice wasn’t shaking at all.

She put her hands on her hips, her friends moving to stand
behind her, like backup singers or something. “Huh, I guess you’re
right.” She leaned in, an eyebrow raised. “Whores get paid. He does
it for the fun of it.”

I literally had to grab my jeans to not deck her. Seriously?
Deciding getting arrested for assault wasn’t a good way to start
the school year, I stormed off down the hall. She, of course,
followed me.

“What? Can’t handle the truth? I just wanted you to be aware
that he still gets it on with every girl he can.” She laughed,
dryly. “It’s not like being with you has miraculously turned him
into a good boy now. Men are what they are, and Kellan is a sex
addict.”

Tears of anger stinging my eyes, I twisted to face her. “You
don’t know anything about him. You don’t know anything he’s been
through.” Leaning into her, I raised my own eyebrow. “I know you’ve
slept with him, but don’t confuse sex for intimacy.” Irritated that
I’d let her get to me, knowing full well that she was just trying
to rile me up, I jerked open the front doors. Luckily, Kellan was
not there.

Right on my heels, she snapped back, “Hey, I‘m doing you a
favor. You think he’s changed, you think he’s suddenly a faithful,
one-woman man now? A tiger doesn’t change his spots!”

Groaning as I dashed down the steps, I tossed over my shoulder,
“A tiger doesn’t even have spots. Get your metaphors straight.”

Prissily she marched beside me. “Whatever, my point is, Tina
here,” she jerked her thumb at the blonde striding next to her,
“saw him after a show on the Square just last week.” Smirking, she
yanked on my elbow to hold me in place. “He was shirtless and about
get it on with some skank.”

Tina nodded her agreement, adding, “And in a storage closet
too…how romantic.”

Glaring between the two of them, I felt ice pour through my
body. He had several shows during the week that weren’t at Pete’s
bar. He got home really late after those shows, because he had to
help clean up their stuff. He could have… I shook my head. No, not
after everything…he wouldn’t do that to me. A nagging voice in my
head added,
“Right, just like you wouldn’t do that to
Denny?”

Ignoring that voice, I narrowed my eyes at the gossipers. “You
didn’t see what you think you saw. I trust him.” With that, I
jerked my arm away and sauntered off.

Light laughter followed me, along with, “You know, him having
your name across his heart doesn’t mean he’s not loaning out other
parts of his body!”

My mouth dropped open as I looked back at her. Not many people
knew about Kellan’s tattoo. He was much more reluctant to strip off
his shirt at shows now, like he didn’t want the world to see his
hidden art. It meant a lot to me that he felt that way. It was
private, between the two of us. How did this group of girls know
about it? Had Tina really seen him half naked? I didn’t want to
believe it, but my mind vividly pictured him undressed, panting
with desire, with some harlot fan attached to his mouth. Then I
pictured him closing the storage room door and doing all sorts of
unseemly things to her.

I felt my stomach rising as I gaped at them. They only chuckled
at me, Tina giving me a fake, apologetic smile while Candy
shrugged. “Dogs are dogs, Kiera,” she said, smiling sweetly.

I bit my lip and forced myself to walk away from them, and not
run. They were lying…they had to be.

When I got out to the parking lot, I spotted Kellan’s shiny
black Chevelle right away. I also spotted him and instantly
understood why he hadn’t greeted me outside of class on my first
day of school. He was surrounded by a group of about five girls. He
was casually leaning against his car as he talked to them. They
giggled, tittering like thirteen-year-olds as he spoke. Even from
the distance between us, I could see the small, amused smile on his
face. After my meeting with Candy, it boiled my blood.

My hands in permanent fists, I strutted over to him. I tried to
calm myself down, but instead I seemed to get angrier with each
step. Where had they seen that damn tattoo? Where was he exposing
himself? Was I being naïve in thinking that what we have is so
monumental that he’d never stray from it? Was he still being a
whore?

Laughing at something one of the hussies said, Kellan turned his
head and spotted me. His small smile brightened at seeing me
approach, then dimmed when he noticed the scowl on my face. The
tittering girls didn’t back off at all, and I had to elbow my way
through them to get to him.

“Let’s go,” I bit out, not really in the mood to be around his
fans for another second longer.

He nodded, his brow furrowed as he opened the passenger’s door.
After shutting it behind me, I heard him say to his adoring
entourage, “I’m sorry, but I have to go. It was nice meeting you
all.” There were whines and groans of disappointment as he walked
over to his side of the car. I rolled my eyes.

Kellan watched me curiously as he started the car, the roar of
the engine matching my foul mood. Cocking an eyebrow, he put the
car in reverse. One eye on me, the other carefully tracked the
girls, so he didn’t run them over as they watched us pull away.
“You want to tell me what happened that’s got you all ticked
off?”

Gritting my jaw, I glared at the floosies staring after him.
Most turned away from my eye line, a couple glared back. “Not
really,” I muttered under my breath.

Sighing, he put his hand on my thigh. I instantly wondered where
else that hand had been recently. “Will you anyway?” I looked back
at him, trying to keep my expression and my mood even. He frowned
before turning onto the road. “You’re the one that said we should
talk things out…and you look like you need to talk something
out.”

Grunting, and wishing I’d never said that to him, I crossed my
arms over my chest. “I have another class with Candy this year. She
made sure to say hello afterwards.”

I watched him carefully as he studied the road he was driving
along. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head; it was an adorable
expression of confusion. “Candy…?”

I rolled my eyes that her name didn’t immediately register with
him. Well, when your little black book was as about as thick as the
local yellow pages, I suppose it took a while to mentally filter
through it.

A second later, as I was sighing, recognition flared in his eyes
and he peeked over at me. “Oh, right…Candy.” Twisting his lips, he
shrugged. “What…did she say?”

Full on glaring at him, I tightened my hands across my chest. If
I didn’t, I was sure I’d smack him. “She just mentioned a show that
you had last week. You played in Pioneer Square, right?”

He looked up, accessing his memory, or was he accessing the
creative part of the brain that made up rapid-fire lies. Looking up
and to the left meant one, looking up and to the right meant the
other. I could just never remember which one was which. “Yeah, yeah
we did.” He tilted his head to me. “Was she there? She didn’t say
hello.” He added that last part quickly, as if he was reassuring me
that he hadn’t seen her.

I narrowed my eyes even more as I studied him. Had I just had
sex last night with a man that was having sex with a bunch of other
people too? God, it made me sick just to think about it. “No, a
friend of hers saw you there…in the back.”

I said that suspiciously and he looked at me funny before
shifting his attention back to driving. Shrugging, he said, “Huh,
well, okay.” Peeking over at me, he raised an eyebrow. “Why is one
of her friends seeing me making you look like you sucked on a
lemon?”

Exhaling in a tightly controlled way, I resisted the urge to
smack the crap out of him. “Because she says she saw you doing
things…with someone who was not me.”

His eyes widened as he stared at me, then he jerked the car over
to the side of the road. I had to hold onto the door he moved over
so fast. With the car slightly on the curb, he slammed it into
park, and shifted to face me.

His expression deadly serious, he held my eye; I could feel mine
stinging as my fears bubbled up to the surface. “I am not doing
anything with anyone who is not you. Whatever she said was a lie,
Kiera.”

I lifted my chin, but I could feel the tear building, swelling
until it rolled down my cheek. “She knew about the tattoo,
Kellan.”

He cupped my cheek, brushing the moisture off my skin. “Then she
saw it somewhere else or someone told her about it, because I’m not
fooling around with anyone.” Unbuckling his seatbelt and scooting
closer to me, he rested his head against mine. “I’m only fooling
around with you. I’m only getting naked with you. I’m only having
sex with you, Kiera.” Pulling back, he met my eye. “I chose
you
. I love
you
. I’m not interested in anyone
else, okay?”

I nodded, feeling more tears slide down my cheeks. I felt the
truth in his words, words that were similar to the words of comfort
and reassurance that I often gave to him. I hated that one
conniving, jealous bitch had made me doubt him. If she hadn’t had
such a good point I wouldn’t have, but Kellan had a long, sordid
history of poor decisions when it came to women. I didn’t always
feel special enough to stop that cycle of behavior.

He leaned in to tenderly kiss me and I felt myself relaxing as
he poured his heart into his soft touch. Tasting the salt of my
tears between us, I tried to let the doubt go. We’d gone through so
much. I’d seen a side of him, a vulnerability, that I was positive
no other girl had seen before. I was certain that I had his heart,
and surely he wouldn’t risk losing his heart over some stupid ache
his body might be feeling. Not when he could satisfy that ache with
me. Not when I would take him into my bed every night, and the
brand new bed that he’d just purchased for me the other day,
too.

As our kiss picked up heat, our bodies inching closer as our
breaths increased, I wanted to remind him what I could be to him,
and I wanted him to remind me exactly what we had together—a bond
that no eager fan could break. Knowing that I had a couple of hours
before work, and an empty apartment, I dragged my lips up to his
ear. “Show me that you want me, Kellan. Take me home.”

He had the car back in drive and flying down the road a
microsecond later.

It never failed to surprise me how quickly Kellan Kyle could
turn my mood around. One minute I could be positive that I’d made a
mistake and we would never work out, and the next I’d be languidly
rising out of bed with him, a dopey, satisfied smile on my face and
thoughts that everything in the world was right and good.

I felt that way now as I gave him one last peck before heading
to my bathroom to get ready for work. Pulling out my curling iron,
I made room for it on the small counter that my sister’s beauty
products seemed to multiply on. I listened to Kellan humming in my
bedroom. It was a comforting sound and my dopey smile widened in
the mirror.

Shaking my head at my frazzled I-just-had-sex hair, I yanked a
brush through my waves. Kellan just had a way about him. He could
ruin everything, or he could make everything perfect. Candy was
just trying to interfere with that because she was the jealousy
harpy that I was trying not to be. I’d heard her brag to students
about being with a rock star before. While I sometimes wished he
wasn’t, she adored the fact that he was sort of famous around here.
She wanted more of that fame. I was pretty sure she’d date him just
to attach her name to him. It made me sick that some people were so
obsessed with their fifteen minutes. For me, his fame only
complicated things. It’d be so much simpler if no one knew who he
was.

Finished with freshening up my makeup and taming my locks into a
functional-but-cute ponytail, I headed back to my room. Kellan had
made himself comfortable on the Queen-sized mattress that took up
most of my tiny bedroom. Propped up on my pillows, he was happily
rubbing his sock-covered feet together. Once again fully dressed,
he was reading one of my romance novels with a small, amused grin
on his face.

Glancing at the cover, which featured some bronze, buff man
holding a scantily clad woman to his bare chest, I shook my head at
Kellan. “What are you doing?”

Not looking up at me, his smile widened. “I’m reading your
porn.”

Smacking his foot as I walked by, I scoffed, “That’s not
porn…it’s romance.”

Snorting, Kellan looked up at me. “Really?” Glancing down at the
book, he started reading a passage from it.
“She gasped in his
mouth when his erection slid against her. He groaned when her
desire coated him. They were both so ready to be together, guilt
and remorse free…finally. Her legs wrapped around him as her hips
rocked him into place. As he felt the tip of himself press against
her entrance, he heard her groan, ‘I want you buried in me, I want
to be consumed by you.’"

I flushed red all over, remembering the part that he was
reading. It was a pretty hot scene, and usually did turn me on a
bit. And the way he read it was so sensual… Embarrassed that he was
sort of right, I snatched the book away from him, tucking it into a
dresser drawer. I was pretty certain the next time I read it I
would hear Kellan’s sultry voice in my head. It made me ache just
thinking about it.

Kellan gave me a sly smile. “See…porn.” He leaned forward. “And
hot porn too.” He pointed to where I’d tucked the book away. “I
wouldn’t mind trying that thing on page—”

I cut him off, my cheeks hot to the touch as I yanked on his
arm, pulling him to his feet. “Get your shoes on, it’s time to
go.”

He laughed at me as he steadied himself. “Yeah, all right…maybe
next time then.”

Walking into Pete’s with Kellan a little while later, I was
greeted by a bubbly Kate.  Since Jenny had the night off, she
was my partner in crime for the evening. “Hi guys!”

“Hi, Kate.” I smiled at the bouncy woman and attempted to
extradite myself from my boyfriend so I could go put my purse away.
Just as our fingertips separated, Kellan grabbed my waist, pulling
me back into his hips.

“I’ll have my usual,” he growled in my ear.

I bit my lip as his voice sent shivers down my spine. Twisting
to give him a dirty look, I shook my head. “I know what you like,
Kellan.”

He grinned devilishly, his hand slipping around to slink inside
the back pocket of my jeans. “Yes…you certainly do.”

Realizing how suggestive what I’d said was, I pushed him away
from me. He had such a dirty mind sometimes. Well, most of the time
actually. He laughed at the color in my face, then kissed my cheek.
“You’re so adorable.” Leaning in he whispered, “Have I mentioned
how much that turns me on?”

Laughing as I untangled myself from him, I murmured, “What
doesn’t, Kellan?”

Smiling, he shrugged one shoulder and walked back to his table.
I sighed, watching his back pockets walk away from me. Kate beside
me sighed too. I turned to look at her as she dreamily said, “God
he’s got great hair. He always looks like he just got out of bed.”
Meeting my eye, she frowned. “How does he do that?”

Biting my lip, hoping my face wasn’t beet red, I shrugged. I
couldn’t exactly tell her that he was currently rocking an amazing
head of sex-hair because he’d just had sex. That was a little too
much information to give my co-worker. Shrugging, she shook her
head and handed me a fistful of lollipops from the pocket of her
apron. “Here, Pete had these made to give out to the
customers.”

Unwrapping a red label with “Pete’s Bar” clearly written across
it, she popped one in her mouth. “I keep forgetting to give them
out though.” She smiled around the stick in her mouth. “They’re
apple flavored.”

I smiled and thanked her, then went to put my stuff away. Once I
was back on the floor, I unwrapped one too and stuck it in my
mouth. God, I love apple flavor. It’s so much better than actual
apples.

Rita had Kellan’s beer ready before I even got to the bar to
pick it up. Staring across the room at Kellan, she sullenly handed
it to me. “Here…this is for sweet cheeks.”

Snatching it from her, I murmured, “Thanks,” and rolled my eyes
as I walked away. It was so irritating to have my guy mentally
undressed over and over again. And people think men are the hornier
bunch. I was beginning to doubt that.

Pulling the sucker out as I approached where Kellan was alone at
his table, I handed him his drink. “Here you go…your usual.”

He smiled at me as he took the beer from my hand. Then his other
reached up and grabbed the hand holding my sucker. Closing his
fingers over mine, he brought the treat to his lips and closed his
mouth around it. Not breaking eye contact, he sucked on my lollipop
for a moment, then let it go. It was horribly erotic and I heard a
few groans from a nearby table of girls watching him. Wanting to
lean down and taste the apple on his tongue, I instead decided to
stick up for my rights.

Shoving his shoulder back, I frowned. “Eww, Kellan. That’s
mine.”

Nothing about his mouth on or near anything of mine actually
grossed me out, but it was the principle of the thing. You don’t
suck another person’s sucker uninvited. Smiling, like he knew I’d
let his lips go anywhere, he tilted his head at me. “What? I can
put my mouth on your—”

I covered up that mouth, taking a quick peek at the girls at the
table next to him, subtly leaning over in their seats to hear him
speak. “Kellan!” I hissed under my breath.

Removing my hand from his lips, he continued undaunted. “…but I
can’t enjoy your sucker?”

Shaking my head at him, I felt a smile creep into my mouth. He
was giving me a slight frown and puppy dog eyes. And damn if it
wasn’t hopelessly attractive. Giving up, I shoved the sucker in his
mouth. Those eyes had earned it. He smiled around the stick and I
sighed in annoyance. “You could at least ask first.”

Removing it, his lips curving over the edge of the ball
seductively, he raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think I had to ask to
suck on your…candy.”

I frowned genuinely. “Don’t say candy.” After the afternoon I’d
had, I really didn’t want to ever hear that word again.

The smirk fell off his face as he understood my expression.
“Sorry,” he whispered.

Shaking my head, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his; the
apple was as marvelous as I’d thought it would be. “It’s alright.”
Ignoring the disgruntled noises from the table of women to my left,
I softly kissed him again. “Just ask next time, sucker thief.”

He was grinning and thoroughly enjoying his sweet treat as I
walked away.

Not too much later, as I was relaying my day at school to Kate,
minus the Candy-fiasco of course, the doors burst open. Startled, I
looked over to see Matt stepping through them. His face was beaming
as he immediately looked back to the guys’ table. Seeing Kellan,
his smile got even bigger and he practically bounded to the
table.

Not used to seeing the shy man so exuberant, I looked back at
Kate. She shrugged. We both twisted back to the front doors when we
heard it open again. Griffin stepped through this time, with Evan
right behind him. Both men were glowing as brightly as Matt had
been.

They both darted to follow Matt, who was approaching Kellan,
telling him something with an excited expression. Kellan frowned
and looked over at the rest of the guys coming towards him. 
Scrunching my brows, I tried to figure out what was going on.

“What’s up, Kiera?” Kate asked me, pointing to where Matt,
Griffin and Evan were seated around Kellan, leaning into him as
they all talked to him at once. Kellan’s expression was one of
shock as he looked between all of them. He occasionally asked
questions when one of them paused long enough for him to do so.

“I have no idea,” I murmured, stepping away from her to find
out.

Kellan’s eyes snapped up to me when I was almost within ear
shot. I paused when he leaned back and ran a hand over his mouth.
His eyes looked worried, really worried. It made my feet feel like
lead, made me afraid to go any closer to him. I’d thought it was
good news by the look on the guys’ faces, but Kellan didn’t seem
like he’d just heard good news. He seemed like they’d just told him
life as he knew it was ending.

Excited, they all patted his shoulder. They were trying to get
him to smile, but Kellan shook his head and murmured something to
them, his gaze still locked on mine. Eventually they all turned to
look at me. I actually took a step back as each of their eyes met
mine. Evan’s was sympathetic; that scared me. Matt’s was
appraising; that concerned me. Griffin’s was irritated; that…was
really nothing new.

Kellan leaning forward brought all of their attentions back to
him. He started talking, low and intensely, and I couldn’t make it
out. The guys were instantly shaking their heads and throwing their
hands about, irritated. I’d never seen the group fight before and I
had the horrid feeling they were somehow fighting about me.

Someone nearby called out to me, asking for something, but I
couldn’t move to respond to them. Something big was happening.
Something that Kellan wasn’t excited about but the rest of the
group was. Something that seemed to involve me. Ice poured through
my body as I tried in vain to snap the puzzle pieces together.

Griffin suddenly shouting, “Oh, come on, Kellan! Fuck!” made me
flinch. Kellan raised a calming hand to Griffin and quietly said
something, shaking his head. Griffin shook his, crossing his arms
over his chest. Griffin scowled back at Kellan while Matt hung his
head, disappointed. Evan clapped Kellan on the shoulder and leaned
in to tell him something. Evan’s hand swung back to me and Kellan’s
eyes followed the movement.

Feeling my heart increase about ten times faster, I watched
Kellan sigh and scrub his face with his hands. Slumping back in his
chair, he finally shook his head and looked at his friends.
Nodding, he said something, then slowly stood up.

His eyes met mine and he sighed again. I felt like my heart was
going to explode as I watched him excuse himself and start to walk
towards me. I nearly wanted to run away as I felt that tension from
his table follow him up the aisle way to me. Maybe it was all in my
head, but the bar seemed deathly quiet. Kellan and I had a history
of making scenes in this bar. I wasn’t sure if that was what was
going to happen, but the rest of the patrons seemed to think so as
they eagerly waited for us to meet up.

His head down, Kellan stepped in front of me. I held my breath.
“Can I…talk to you,” he looked up, his expression tight,
“outside.”

I nodded woodenly, wanting to do anything but go outside with
him. I couldn’t move my feet, but he grabbed my hand and started
dragging me away. The action prompted the muscles in my body to
involuntarily respond, and I followed him out of the double
doors.

A flurry of whispers started right before the doors shut. Then
all of the sound from the bar was cut off. Kellan dropped my hand
and ran his back through his hair. Looking around the lot, he
seemed to be focusing on anything that wasn’t me. I felt tears in
my eyes as fear roiled in my stomach.

“Kellan?” I whispered, my voice shaky.

He finally looked at me when he heard my tone. Sighing, he
cupped my cheek. “I need to tell you something, and I don’t know
where to start.” He bit his lip as my heart thudded against my
chest.

“Just tell me, because you’re really starting to scare me.”