No Holding Back (21 page)

Chris studied him as best she could through nar
rowed eyes. “You’re lying.”

“
Nope.”

“
But, if you knew…then why did you let me play?”

Now that a whole other can of worms had been opened, Chris leaned over the table, hanging onto Wade
’s every word all while he remained cool and collected.

“
Because. I may have known you were a girl, but I also knew you could play,” he explained. “You had it in the way you carried yourself across the stage. You were confident. And you had me sold before you even hit the drums.”

“
You never told the others?”

“
Should I have? Joe wouldn’t have cared one way or the other, but Os wouldn’t have listened to a single note if he knew you were a chick. They needed to hear you first before they knew the truth.”

“
That’s why you told me to take off my hoodie,” she stated.

Wade said nothing, but grinned and nodded
, confirming her theory.

Chris stared at her empty beer bot
tle almost stupidly but she felt a sense of closure when she knew the answers to the questions she had. And even to some she didn’t.

“
S’cuse me, folks?” came a voice just beside them. Chris jumped in surprise, but found it was only the bartender. “I’m sorry to have to do this, but I have to close up. It’s 3 a.m.”

“
No worries, man,” Wade said, tipping his empty beer bottle in his dirction. “Thanks for everything.”

“
Not a problem. Hey, you folks take care now.”

As the bartender
went to work cleaning their table, Chris’ eyes became heavy as if he’d placed a spell on her by giving the time. She began rubbing her eyelids until she saw spots.

“
Holy shit. It’s 3 a.m.?”

“
Congrats,” Wade said as he moved to get up. “You’re officially an alcoholic.”

“
Hardly.”

As Chris did the same, she forgot about the small stoop that stuck out from the booth. She almost tripped in the same way Joe did earlier, but this time, Wade caught her.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa there, newbie. See? I told ya.”

Wade supported Chris around the shoulders as he led her from the booth and out to the hallway. The bartender said his goodnights one last time
and already began to turn out lights.

“
Jesus…my head won’t stop spinning. I only had a few beers.”

“
A
few
?” Wade snickered as led Chris to the elevator. He hit the button to go up one floor and readjusted his grip around Chris’ waist to steady her. “You had six. And when was the last time you ate something?”

Chris struggled to remember as she was led onto the elevator, but in her state, she gave up trying and switched to another subject.

“Why are we taken’n the elevator? I’m only one floor up - we couldda taken the stairs.”

Wade leaned back on the silver railing just as it chimed to their floor.

“You can hardly stand on your own two feet and now you think you can handle steps? I’d like to get to bed
some
time this evening.”

“
Are you always such a smart ass?” Chris asked boldly but as she let go of the railing, she lost her footing and fell into Wade again. When he caught her a second time, he laughed outright.

“
Only when I’m proven right.”

“
Oh, bite me. How the hell’er
you
even standing? You had twice as many beers as I did.”

“
Years of practice,” he answered simply. As he led Chris to the door of her room, he stood there and waited while Chris swayed in her spot. Finally, Wade nudged her shoulder.

“
You got your key, right?”

“
Oh yeah!”

She reached into all her pockets at least twice before she remembered
she placed it in her back pocket. She pulled it out and held it much too close to Wade’s face. He backed up in kind.

“
That’s great. Do you remember what to do with it?” he laughed.

“
Yes, I do! Smart ass…”

Chris attempted to slide it across the locking mechanism, but she failed several times and missed poorly.

“Wow. Give it here.” Wade snatched the small plastic card easily from Chris’ fumbling hands.

“
Hey, that’s mine!”

He
took it and slid it into the metal slot just once before it turned green and unlocked.

“
Alright, in you go.”

“
G’nite!”

She took one step in, turned and waved back, but swayed in her spot and nearly fell over
again.

“
Jesus!”

Wade reached forward and grabbed her by her thick hoodie
– just in time to save her from diving face first into the floor.

“
Alright, that’s it,” Wade remarked. “Only Kool-Aid for you from now on. C’mon, let’s go.”

He took one of her arms and wrapped it around his neck. Due to his awkward height, he had to hunch over as he led her to her bed,
but as soon as he let her go, she fell onto her back and bobbed on the mattress.

“
Hey!” she hiccupped. “Just remember who knocked on
my
door!”

“
Yeah, I’ll never make that mistake again,” Wade remarked.

Chris sat up and
leaned forward to try and take her boots off. She messed with her shoelaces, but succeeded only in getting her fingers tangled.

“
What the hell’er you doin’, alchie?”

“
I’m-m n-not…going to bed…with m-my boots on!”

Wade laughed until tears came into his eyes – more than
entertained by her inexperience with booze. Eventually, he collected himself enough to bend down and help her when she became frustrated, gave up, and fell backwards onto the bed again.

“
Whadd’ya think yer doin’!?" she giggled.

She licked her lips, but remembered that she
had lost all feeling in them ages ago.

“
Helping you with your shoes. You want me to read you a story next?”

But as smooth as Wade was trying to be, he had some trouble himself with the bothersome laces. He didn
’t want to admit that he was slightly more inebriated than he let on.

“
I…I can
do
it!”

And with that, Chris
came forward so fast, she bumped foreheads with Wade with such force, they were both knocked back: Chris onto the bed, and Wade on his back.

“
Tsss! Ahhhh!”

Wade rubbed his head vigorously in an attempt to spread out the stinging sensation but to no avail. The shocking pain raced throughout his scalp and it took him a long time to shake off the dizziness.

Chris’ reaction was less severe and she seemed only mildly aware that anything even happened – continuing only to stare up at the ceiling.

“
Whoa…I think I’m gonna feel that one later.”

“
Fuck! That’ll leave a bruise! Just…just stop moving!”

Wade didn
’t know whether to laugh or cry, but finished pulling off both boots before she got a wild hair to do something else.

Then, Chris started to sing one of Heretic
’s songs and Wade couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw her hands weave through the air as if she were conducting an orchestra.

“
Now
what’er you doing?”

“
You’re not the only who can sing, bud,” she spout off.

“
If I were you, I’d stick with the drums. C’mere.”

Wade grabbed a hold of one of Chris
’ hands and yanked her up.

“
Whoa!”

Chris shook her head and fought off the swirling dizziness as he pushed back her hood and pulled off her beanie.

“Stay still. I’m just checking something.”

As Wade pushed aside a few wayward strands of her hai
r over her forehead, he found a small red area and gently grazed it with his thumb.

“
Tss!” Chris winced and jerked away.

“
Looks like you’re gonna get a bruise, too.”

“
Well, at least I’ll be able to c-cover my face though, right?”

She laughed again
and so did Wade. For some reason his hands felt glued to her face and he couldn’t let go. He stood completely frozen – staring at the face of a girl that he had never seen so close before. Less than twelve hours ago, she was shy, quiet, and socially dysfunctional. But at that moment, Wade didn’t see her as a member of Heretic anymore. Now, he saw a girl with a bright and bubbly personality.

Chris
’ eyes were glazed and she was still a bit unsteady as she held onto Wade’s arms for support. It took a while for her to realize that he still hadn’t let go of her face. He was looking down at her and despite the suffocating heat of her thick hoodie, she felt a chill under his stare.

“
W-Whas wrong? Do I h-have something on my face?”

Wade melted when she smiled, displaying
a gorgeous set of beautiful white teeth. Teeth from beneath a killer smile that Joe told her to hide.

“
I…I uhm,” Wade stuttered, not really sure of what to say.

But Chris, in her drunken state, poked him playfully in the chest.

“Hey now!” she remarked. “Remember…heh. I’m a guy y’know!”

“
Yeah. And not a bad lookin’ one either.”

Chris rolled with laughter.

“I bet you never kissed a guy before!”

“
Heh. No,” he said, licking his lips. “Not yet.”

Suddenly, Wade
’s response caught Chris off guard and she forced herself into sobriety as best she could. All laughter, all joking, stopped and then there was nothing, save for an eerie silence between the two of them. Wade told himself to let go of her face but instead, he saw his thumbs brush lightly over her flushed cheeks. Chris was caught in his soul-penetrating stare until her face reached a boiling point. Then, she swallowed audibly.

“
W-Wade? Wh-What’er we doing?”

Chris
’ bottom lip quivered from both fear and excitement. She couldn’t help but be captivated by his ocean blue eyes and chiseled jawline – looks that other women swooned over. Of course she noticed that Wade gained his considerable bulk back from the gym, but she never gave it a second thought. Until now.

W
ade barely shook his head. “I-I don’t know.”

“
Then maybe…we should stop.”

Chris licked her dry lips but
wished at once she hadn’t. She saw how they got Wade’s attention in an instant and he couldn’t help but see how pouting and full they had become. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swore he felt heat coming from every pore in her face and then suddenly, the image of her in her thong made his groin come alive.

He remembered the
glow of her skin, the smooth curve of her buttocks; he tried to stop the thoughts that threatened to consume him, but without even thinking, he was already half erect. Now it was all he could do to stop thinking about her. He couldn’t stop wanting her. The animal wanted out of its cage.

A
nd it wanted Chris.

“
Yeah,” he said, pulling her face closer to his. “…we should.”

But before Wade knew what he was doing, he brought Chris in and locke
d onto her lips. For a brief moment, he thought that he had gone too far, but Chris made no move of protest as she allowed him to devour her soft lips.

Chris
’ breasts swelled and she felt drawn into Wade. His heat added to her own and it caused her skin to ignite further. She swore that if she wore that damn hoodie any longer, she’d pass out and as she worked to remove it, Wade was only too glad to help her.

As soon as the thick garment fell to the floor, Chris placed her arms completely around Wade while he moved his own over her arms and neck and
pulled her in even closer. Chris cried out from under his lips, but such a tiny sound drove Wade mad with lust. His own skin burned and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he felt the rise and fall of her breasts against his chest.

Wade wondered if the body she
was told to hide would still be there waiting for him that same night he stole a glance over her nude skin. But he could hardly wait another damn minute to find out.

His hands fished down the middle of her chest and over her stomach, finding the zipper to her jeans. When he heard the familiar sound of them
coming undone, they fell down around Chris’ feet. Wade clenched his teeth and a deep guttural growl came from deep within as his palms found each tantalizing cheek of her ass forcing her closer into his groin. But then, what he felt next made him smile.