Encore (Stereo Hearts Book 2) (7 page)

Aria didn’t look back. “Yoshi was just leaving.”

Yoshi chuckled, taking in her costume. “No, Lisa Left Eye, I really wasn’t.”

“I’m not Lisa Left Eye,” Aria huffed.

His eyes traveled her body. The multicolored newsboy cap, three times the size of her head. The baggy lime-green sweat suit that left her midriff exposed. The round glasses with a yellow condom taped to one lens. His eyebrow lifted.

Aria pointed a finger to the condom-covered lens. “Obviously, I’m Lisa
Right Eye
Lopes, not Lisa
Left Eye
Lopes, since my good eye is on the right and not the left.”

“When she named herself Left Eye, was she referring to her good eye, or her bad eye?” Yoshi asked. “Because you might have this whole thing backward.”

She cocked her lip at him. “Shut up.”

He smirked, knowing he’d won the moment that sorry-ass comeback left her lips.

Adam threw an arm over Aria’s shoulder. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Your drummer’s a fucking idiot.”

“Could’ve told you that,” Adam replied.

“He doesn’t know an amazing thing when it’s right under his nose.”

“No shit.”

“He’s his own worst enemy. When his life goes to the dogs, he’ll have no one to blame but himself.”

“Are you getting to the part I don’t already know soon?” Adam laughed.

Aria held Yoshi’s gaze. “Having said all that… I’m confident that he’ll always do what’s right for the people he loves. He’ll always do what’s right in the end. I know that, because I know his heart.”

“More pure than a newborn baby’s ass.” Adam grinned, tightening his arm around Aria’s neck.

They both smiled at Yoshi, and he was forced to look away. A long moment passed before he moved his eyes back to Aria. “I need to talk to you,” he said. “Alone.”

Aria’s nostrils flared.

Adam stood tall, taking his arm from around her shoulder. “So… I’ll just… go….”

“No,” Aria said. “Stay.”

Adam came back, pressing his lips together.

“What Yoshi needs to say to me, he can say in front of you, Adam.”

When a leggy blonde came sauntering over, Adam was visibly relieved, giving her every shred of his attention the moment she came to a stop in front of him. Her waist-length hair, curled into spirals, bounced on her ample bosom, right over the word ‘busted’ that had been printed on the low-cut top of her police costume.

“Adam,” she purred, immediately going in for the kill and massaging his chest with her manicured nails. “You’re a hard man to get to.”

Adam politely stepped out of her reach, taking her wrists in a gentle hand. “I’ve heard that once or twice.”

“I’ve been watching you across this pool all night. My friend invited me, and I’ll never forgive myself if I leave without a picture with you.” She swept a phone out of her bra with the kind of grace only a woman who kept items in her bra regularly could.

The blonde turned to Aria and lifted an arched eyebrow, holding the phone out to her with a smile that lit up her blue eyes.

“Do you mind?” she asked, in that same sultry tone.

“How can I say no?” Aria replied, taking the phone. She looked over her shoulder to Yoshi and nodded him into the photo.

He circled around Aria, making sure to brush his fingers on the small of her back as he passed her. He didn’t miss her shiver under the pads of his fingers.

Approaching Adam and the blonde, Yoshi got on the opposite side of her so she was in the middle. He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned in, smiling for the camera as Aria held the phone up. On the other side of the blonde, Adam leaned in too, holding up a peace sign.

The moment Yoshi’s fingers brushed the blonde’s back, her eyes shot to him quickly, as if she hadn’t even realized he was there. She probably hadn’t, too busy drinking in Adam.

“Um…” She tittered, looking back and forth between Adam and Yoshi. “No. Just Adam….”

Yoshi felt the heat climbing his cheeks, and he pulled his hand from her slim waist like it was on fire.

The blonde gave a sheepish shrug of one shoulder.

Realization tightening his eyebrows, Adam frowned at Yoshi. “Nah… stay in. Stay in the picture, Yosh.”

“It’s cool,” Yoshi muttered.

“Yeah, it’s cool…” The blonde was back on Adam in a flash, curling her body to mold to his.

“No, it’s not…” Adam gently moved her back.

Aria lowered the camera, her lips pulled tight, gaze narrowed.

“Why would I want a picture with him?” the blonde scoffed, motioning over her shoulder to Yoshi without even looking at him. “I mean, he’s just the fucking drummer.” Her laughter grew. She shot Yoshi a quick look that lasted only a second before flicking her hair over her shoulder and reclaiming Adam’s eyes.

“And you’re just the
fucking
groupie who’s no longer welcome at this fucking party,” Adam said.

A moment later, Steve, the head of security, appeared, taking the blonde’s arm in a gentle hand. “This way, Miss.”

Yoshi blinked rapidly, wondering how the hell Steve always did that. In his time with the band, Steve had gotten so good at his job he seemed to drop in out of nowhere like Spiderman, right in the nick of time—defusing situations without having to be asked, squashing problems before they even began. Sometimes Yoshi found himself studying Steve’s palms, looking for the web-shooter portal.

The blonde threw Adam her stunned blue eyes, clearly not used to being received this way, as Steve began ushering her off.

“Here you go…” Aria offered the blonde her phone as she passed. Just as she reached to take it, Aria let it slip from her fingers and clank to the ground.

The blonde cursed under her breath and, as she bent to pick it up, Steve winked at Aria with a smirk before pulling the blonde away for good.

Yoshi licked his teeth, eyes riveted to the ground, hands in his pockets.

“Yo, fuck her, man.” Adam nudged Yoshi. “She thinks she’s gonna walk into our party and speak to you however the hell she wants? Negative.” He squeezed Yoshi’s shoulder when he didn’t respond. “Don’t give it a second thought, brother.”

Yoshi took a second playful shove from Adam.

That time, when Adam sauntered away, Aria didn’t stop him.

Yoshi met her gaze. Once he was sure Adam was out of earshot, he spoke, his voice trembling.

“I’m signing the contract,” he said.

Aria’s face fell.

“And I really need to speak to you,” he demanded. “Alone.”

4

When Aria stomped away from Yoshi, he’d been in the midst of inviting her upstairs to his hotel room so they could talk in private. When the urge to slap him across the face became too much to bear, however, she decided she needed to be on the beach. She needed to feel the sand between her toes. That feeling always calmed her, reminded her that she was just one girl in a really big world. A small fish in a massive pond. Utterly insignificant, really, in the grand scheme of things. Even the anger coursing through her veins, at the end of the day, was insignificant.

After flying down the stairs of the pool that led to the sandy beach, she stomped through without looking back. Shards of the setting sun left a hint of blue in the sky, bouncing off the water like a white strobe light.

Aria searched the sky for the moon. When she couldn’t find it, she turned on her heel, knowing he was behind her.

“Will you please just listen to me, Aria?”

She motioned to the pool area a few hundred feet away, surprised that she’d covered so much ground. She felt the trickle of the waves tickling her toes, only getting as high as her ankles before it retreated again.

“Just because some asshole girl wouldn’t take a picture with you?” she asked.

Yoshi yanked the Popeye hat off his head.

“And who stood up for you when she tried to play you? Huh? Who had her thrown out without a second thought?”

“It’s not just about that girl. Shit, it’s not about her at all.” Yoshi looked over his shoulder.

“Look at you,” she said. “You can’t even talk about this without checking over your shoulder, making sure no one can hear us. It’s because you know how fucked up this is, Yoshi.”

He looked back to her, swallowing. “Aria, I’m signing. I’m set to fly back to Los Angeles to meet with Simon first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yoshi, I’m begging you. I’m not asking you to throw away your dream; I just want you to do it the right way,” she whispered. “I don’t want you to look back and wish you’d done it differently.”

“For the first time in my life, my dream is within reach. If I look back on this day, this moment, this second, ten years from now, and I’m still behind those drums?
That
is what I’ll regret for the rest of my life.
That
is what will keep me up at night, wondering ‘what if.’ Adam will understand. Eventually… he’ll understand. I’ll tell him it was all my idea. He won’t blame you for it. He knows you’ll always choose me over him.”

She breathed out a laugh, the setting sun replaced with a cool breeze, blowing her cottony hair into her eye. She didn’t bother to move it away as her voice went to a whisper. “Who says I’m choosing you?”

Yoshi’s eyes went big and his mount fell open. A second later, he visibly shook, and when she tried to walk past him, he grabbed for her.

But she yanked her arm away, hurrying for the stairs.

--

He was right on her heels. From the beach to the hotel lobby. From the elevator to the top floor. As she swiped her keycard, she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.

She moved into her hotel suite with a huff.

Decorated in all white, with an ocean view and the scent of lavender, the room was just another reminder of how good Adam was to them. They always stayed in the nicest hotels, and always in a suite. Adam knew how much she loved ocean views, so he made sure she had one, even if he had to give up his own room to get it for her.

Drinking in that view at the balcony doors, Aria heard Yoshi stomping in after her. The sound of the door closing. She faced him. Her suitcase lay open on one of the double beds, clothes strewn everywhere, and she was reminded of how excited she’d been for this party just hours earlier. She’d hoped that, by day seven of his birthday week, Yoshi would’ve come to his senses. That he’d have no doubt in his mind how much his band brothers loved him. She’d hoped he’d come to the end of this week and see the error of his ways.

She crossed her arms tight.

He lingered in the arched entry, watching her. Sometime during their journey upstairs, he’d gotten rid of the Popeye hat and the pipe, leaving him in just the blue pants and a black vest, open to reveal his six-pack abs constricting with each heaving breath, and his biceps, flexing and un-flexing rapidly.

“Will you talk to me please?” he asked, saying the same six words he’d been repeating the entire walk up there.

“I’m not leaving Adam. Not like this.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not,” she spat.

“I told you I’d take the fall for you.”

“You can’t take the fall for this. Eventually, I have to be my own person. Own up to my own choices. He
would
blame me if I left with you. He would. And with no warning? No one to take my spot? All for my own selfish gain?” she sputtered. “Unlike you, I won’t be able to live with myself, Yosh. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a grown-ass woman, and following you around like a sick puppy stopped being cute somewhere around my twenty-first birthday. Adam always tells me how strong I am, and that means so much to me, but this isn’t strength. Betraying him isn’t strength. Following you isn’t strength.”

Yoshi crossed the room in one long stride, arms flexing tighter as he bent at the waist and came eye-to-eye with her. “I’m not asking you to follow me. I’m asking you to climb next to me.
Rise
next to me. I can’t do it without you… If you’re not there with me, my feet won’t leave the ground.”

She scoffed and moved away.

He followed, pressing his trembling hands to his heart as he leaned down and tried to re-claim her eyes. Every time he almost did, she’d turn her back, denying him. “Bo, the more powerful I become, the more powerful you
become. One day, after a lot of hard work and dedication, Simon is going to wake up and realize
I’m
in charge. Too famous to push around. Too big to control. Too big to move. And when that day comes…” He took her arm and forced her to look at him, waiting until he had her full attention. “When that day comes… When
I’m in charge? I’ll give you everything you ever wanted. You’re up front with me. You’re on stage next to me. You’re singing beside me, not behind me. You’ll have your own album. Your own followers. Your own singing career.”

“The black girl with the eye patch is going to have her own album and her own singing career. In America.” She chuckled. “Sure.”

He cupped her cheeks and shook softly, unable to speak. Still frowning, his shoulders softened, and he tried to remove the round glasses from her face.

She brushed his hand away.

He took the brush-off, holding his hands up while giving her a look. A second later, he reached for the glasses again, and that time she allowed him.

He let the frames fall to the floor, swallowing hard, licking his lips as his gaze latched onto the icy blue eye that she never showed in public. He ran the pad of his thumb along the skin under that eye, letting his other hand fall to her waist, squeezing so tight it was almost painful.

Aria fell back against the wall, and when he moved with her she pressed against it until her entire body was flush.

He leaned in, brushing the tip of his nose against hers.

“Is this really how you want your legacy to begin?” she whispered.

“My legacy has already begun.” His voice lowered. “When I walked into that house in Brooklyn, seven years old and alone, looked across the room, and saw you sweeping the kitchen floor? When you looked up and smiled at me? When you whispered in my ear that I should meet you on the roof to watch the solar eclipse?
That
is when my story began. Not a second sooner. Not a second later.” His eyes grew vulnerable. “I keep you, and you keep me. Right?”

“Yoshi….”

“Come with me, Aria.”

She flashed back to the first time he’d whispered those very words to her, on that Brooklyn roof five years ago. She could still see his face back then, a little younger, a little fresher, with the kind of innocent gleam that could only exist before The White Keys got its claws into him. But his eyes, she noticed, were still exactly the same. The only facet of him that hadn’t found themselves a little darker, a little grittier, a little more tainted by the crazy new world they were immersed in.

When she found herself unable to look away from his hazel orbs, sure they were turning green the closer he leaned in, Aria gasped in a breath.

“One,” Yoshi whispered.

She swallowed thickly, taking his vest in a fist and tugging, gnawing her bottom lip so strongly she nearly drew blood. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came, and when his hard stomach brushed against hers, sealing her to the wall, she knew they never would.

Yoshi reached up and pulled the newsboy cap off her head, throwing it across the room before reclaiming her cheek. “Two…” He raised his eyebrows and took her waist in both hands, tightening his hold as he whispered. “Three—”

“
Three
.” Aria put her hands on his chest and pushed him back, finding her bearings in the nick of time, just as his lips were a breath from hers.

His hold on her waist didn’t relent though, so her push didn’t take him far. He was back on her in moments, holding one arm on the wall over her head. His other arm encircled her waist, tugging her in. Their pelvises crashed and he leaned close, letting her feel every inch of him—even the parts he’d never dared until that moment—searching her gaze.

Their chests were frozen, and the only sound that had filled the air a moment earlier—their strangled breathing—ebbed away, leaving them in complete silence.

Then, Yoshi stepped back.

Aria’s lashes fell shut.

When he was a good foot away, she found it safe to push away from the wall, laughing softly, smiling at him from under her eyelashes.

Yoshi gave her the side of his body, his square profile, just in time for her to see his jaw go tight.

She swallowed, straightening her clothes. “Okay. So….”

Yoshi faced her and took the waistband of her sweatpants in a fist, yanking her forward. He caught the gasp on her lips in a kiss, before it had a chance to meet the heated air between them. He drank in her gasp, taking it inside his body as he spread his lips softly over hers, sucking her bottom lip between his own. His arms snaked around her waist and he brought her to her toes, their bodies flush, his heat, pushing into her belly, more apparent than ever.

Aria was the first to break the kiss, cupping either side of his face and pressing her forehead to his. She didn’t even have a second to take in a breath before he was on her again, that time taking her top lip with a moan. She returned the favor, tugging his bottom lip between hers, taking her time savoring it before she pulled back and teased it with the tip of her tongue. The soft invitation was all he needed, spreading his mouth wide over hers and giving her his weight, forcing her backward until they slammed into the wall.

Aria jolted at the sudden impact of his warm mouth, his insistent tongue, and his soothing touch, his wandering hands lighting fire in her and cooling her down all at once. Her fingers clawed the back of his neck, and his clawed in return, taking as much of her hot flesh under his hold as he could, tightening at each new destination. When he reached the beginning swell of her ass, his breathing picked up as he fought for control.

His fight not to manhandle her re-manifested itself in his kiss; he tilted his head and went in hard, deep, taking control until she whimpered and gave herself completely, allowing him to take the reins.

He groaned as their tongues dueled, sliding his hands up her back and under her armpits, brushing the curve of her breasts with his thumbs.

Soon, the room was filled with only the music of their lips and tongues, the harsh whirl of their strangled breathing, and the sweltering heat of their embrace.

The jagged edge of the safety pin holding his bracelet together pricked her cheek when he buried his hand in her hair, looking for more leverage, but she barely felt it. He licked her bottom lip and then trapped it between his teeth, releasing a breathy laugh as he pulled back just enough to brush the tips of their noses.

“You’re coming with me,” he breathed.

Aria’s gaze rose and claimed his. Searching his eyes, digging her nails into the back of his neck, her lips parted for more of the embrace she was still entrenched in, an embrace she somehow already missed.

“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered.

He took her lips again, in a kiss that didn’t ask and wasn’t sorry.

When he pulled back that time, their glistening lips smacking in his departure, his gaze grew serious in hers. “I’m keeping you.”

She heaved out each breath, unknowingly clawing her nails down his vest, trying to catch her breath. Finally, she managed a choked, strangled, “I’m keeping you.”

And then their lips met again. The shockwave that flashed through her body brought her back to her toes, so high she felt like she was flying.