Rock Me (New Adult Romance) (8 page)

“Wow,”
said the blonde. “What band?”

“Hazard
41,” I answered, shooting Aimee a dirty look.

“No
way!” they both said. “Do you know their lead singer, Callum?”

“Yes
and he’s not very nice,” I said huffily. “Aimee, I’m going to tell him but
everything is going so well right now. I don’t want to burst our bubble. Please
don’t be mad at me.”

Aimee
sunk into her chair, deflated. “I’m not mad, I’m just worried about you. You
have to be clear with him or both of you are going to get hurt.”

I
sulkily contemplated the hot coral polish being applied to my toes. “I will, I
just don’t know how I’m going to deal with letting him go.”

Aimee
reached out and touched my shoulder, her crystal clear blue eyes filled with
concern. “If it’s meant to be you two will find a way. But don’t chuck out your
life for him. His career is really taking off and God knows where that’s going
to take him. You need to look out for number one and then hope for the best.”

I
didn’t feel uplifted by this speech though I knew she was right. Thankfully, my
feet were done and it was time for my manicure. Aimee wisely left me to brood
over everything.

As
my nails were painted the same fresh coral as my toes, I ran over the issues in
my mind. How were we going to keep our twosome going with me in Minnesota and
him bouncing around the country? Plus, I’d be a normal college girl and he
would be living the high life. How were we supposed to find common ground?

Yet
as soon as Liam entered the salon all my negative thoughts vanished. He was
wearing black pants and a tight black T-shirt that showed off his muscular,
tattooed arms. He smiled as soon as he spotted me and I could feel a crazy
smile breaking across my face in return. He strode over, attracting stares from
every woman in the room, before planting a long, sexy kiss on my lips.
That’s
right ladies, he’s mine!

“Hey,
hot stuff,” he said in his deep, rough voice. “Nice nails.”

I
grinned foolishly back up at him. “You’re the best. This place is amazing.”

“You
two been having quality girl time? I feel bad for taking you away from Aimee.”

“Aw,
she’s fine. She’s happy for me.” But something in my eyes must have given me
away because those dazzling green eyes looked concerned.

“She’s
worried about you,” he asked. It wasn’t question.

I
looked down at my shiny nails. “I think she’s just a little concerned about
where this is all going.”

“That
makes two,” he said in a low voice. I looked back up at him, not sure if I was
ready to have this conversation. Thankfully, Aimee blundered in at that moment,
all smiles, her nails a chic shade of mint green.

“Lord,
I’m hungry! Who’s with me?” She looked from me to Liam. “Er, did I interrupt
something?”

“Nah.”
Liam extended took my hand and gently pulled me into his arms. “You guys feel
like grabbing a slice? I know just the spot.”

* *
*

Aimee
and I’s eyes bugged as the hot baked potato pie was laid out in front of us. We
both had a serious pizza weakness but we were used to the usual take-out fare.
This fresh cooked pie covered in purple potatoes and lots of cheese looked and
smelled crazy delicious.

“You
really do know all the best places,” Aimee said, her eyes fixed on our meal.

“You
haven’t brought us anywhere that didn’t have, like, the best thing I’ve ever
tasted.”

Liam
shrugged, laughing. “Yeah well I have a bit of an advantage living in a food
mecca like New York. I like this place because it’s pretty chill. Good food,
good prices, a bit of nature. It’s a deadly combo.”

I had
to agree. I loved that there was a huge patio with potted plants and plenty of
trees providing shade from the late afternoon sun. I loved Minnesota summers
and was missing taking long walks with Lucky through the piney forest trails.

We
tucked into the pie while Liam told us about his meeting with the music execs.
He was worried because they’d seemed a bit non-committal about the full album.
He wondered if their interest in the band was waning.

He
soon waved off the topic and asked Aimee about her favorite bands. She started
raving about her new love of ska punk but soon dissolved into blushes. Even she
seemed to be falling under the spell of his casual charm and his piecing green
eyes. I rolled my eyes, amused.

Thankfully
Liam’s cell started to ring, which saved her from further embarrassment. His
eyes went wide when he saw the call display.

“Sorry
ladies, gotta take this,” he said, getting up from the table.

Being
the nosy women we were, we pretended to eat while straining to hear the
conversation. Liam didn’t say much though he did begin to look more and more
excited.

Aimee
and I exchanged glances. What was going on?

Liam
hung up and sat back down, his face glowing with enthusiasm. “Ladies you are
not going to believe this! That was one of the execs at the label. They said
that the recording has to be put off.”

“What!”
I exploded “Those jerks!”

He
grinned widely. “Nah, it’s because we’re going to open for Black Dawn on their
US tour this fall.”

Aimee
and I stared at him for a couple of moments, gape-mouthed, before we stared
screaming. I leapt into his arms and he gave me back a huge bear hug.

Liam’s
cell rang again after a few minutes. “That’ll be the guys. I bet they’re gonna
want to celebrate. You girls in?”

Boy,
were we ever. We went home to change and then headed over to a club in the
Alphabet District. Liam conveniently got us past security. It was 80’s night.
The lights were already flashing and the crowd pumped and danced up a storm.
The guys were in a corner drinking it up. Aimee and I decided to stick with
water—we were always a bit nervous in new places. But that didn’t keep us
from getting down on the dance floor until the wee hours.

There
was plenty to celebrate. The news had come in that Spin Magazine would send a
reporter to follow the band plus a major energy drink would be the tour
sponsor. There seemed no doubt that Hazard 41 would soon become a household
name just like Black
Dawn.

Liam
and I eventually found ourselves in a cozy corner. I sat on his lap and we
exchanged sweet kisses. However, the euphoria of the last few hours was
starting to wear off. I was really happy for Liam. A US tour would raise their
profile like nothing else—the album could wait. But what would happen to
us?

Liam
caught my hand and began to kiss my fingers as the music pounded in the
background. “You’re looking tired, sweetheart. You wanna head off?”

I
did, but not without unloading what was on my mind first. I wasn’t sure if I’d
feel brave enough later. “I gotta tell you something, though maybe it’s not as
important now as it was.” I took a deep breath. “I’m enrolled in university in
Minnesota this September.”

Liam
looked taken back. “Wow. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I
concentrated on playing with his fingers as the bass thumped behind us. “I’m
sorry, Liam. I just didn’t know how serious you were about me so I thought it
wasn’t important.”

Liam
exhaled sharply. I caught the worried look on his face and added hurriedly,

“Never
mind. We’re here to celebrate not get all depressive.”

“Don’t
worry about that. I want you to be honest with me,” Liam said quietly. He
looked deep into my eyes while gently stroking my hair. “Maybe I should have
said this before but you’re special to me and I want to see where this goes.
Yeah maybe it’s going to be difficult, what with you in college and me
traveling God knows where. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be impossible. Or maybe
should I ask whether that’s what you want?”

My
heart almost overflowed with happiness at these sweet words. “Of course I’m
serious,” I blurted out. “I’m crazy about you. Can’t you see? Ever since we met
I’ve been drawn to you. Then I got to know you and I fell even deeper. So how
can you ask me if I’m serious? I feel like it’s written all over me.”

Liam
looked at me in astonishment. “Wow, you’d think I was drunk,” I mumbled, my
face hot with embarrassment. “Maybe I should get out of here.”

“You’re
not going anywhere,” Liam said, holding me fast. “Listen, I had no idea. I kind
of assumed you wouldn’t want to get involved up with a complicated guy like
me.”

“What?”
I stammered. “I thought the problem was that you wouldn’t want anything with
some average small-town chick.”

“Hey,
you are anything
but
average,” Liam said firmly, kissing me again.
“Clearly we haven’t been communicating. Well, here we are. What comes next?”

“Who
knows?” I said, shaking my head. We held each other’s gaze for a moment. In the
background the lights flashed, people screamed, bottles clinked but it barely
registered—we were in our own private bubble.

“I
guess we can’t know,” he said slowly. “When do you leave?”

“In
two weeks,” I said reluctantly. “I have to go back to Minnesota, Liam. I
already have my place, I promised Aimee…”

“Don’t
worry,” he said, hushing me. “I’m proud of your decision to go to college. I
wish I’d had the same opportunity and I wouldn’t want you not to have it.”

“Promise
me one thing,” I said as we held each other tightly, our eyes locked together.
“I want a whole day with you before I leave New York. I know you’re busy but I
just want a day where we can we can pretend like we’re just two ordinary people
on a date, not a rock star and a college chick with a really complicated
future.”

“Anything,”
he whispered. He kissed me deeply and for a moment I forgot everything else.

Liam
ducked behind a display of endless flavors of jellybeans and came back with the
largest sucker I’d ever seen. It looked about the size of my head and was a
rainbow of swirly colors all melded together.

“I
have to buy this,” he said. “It’ll give me something to do on the tour bus, at
least.” I laughed. I was already clutching a squishy cupcake pillow and a bag
full of one of my favorite treats—chocolate covered pretzels.

“Oh
God, it’s going to take you all fall to eat that,” I joked.

We’d
ventured into Dylan’s Candy Bar as part of our promised day together. Liam had
promised he’d take me to the best tourist traps and so far he’d made good on
his promise. We’d brunched at a place where they’d filmed Sex and the City and
then headed over to Dylan’s to browse.

This
multi-level candy paradise had about 5000 kinds of sweets. If I loved cupcakes,
well I loved
loved
jellybeans, chocolates, and the rest of it. The place
was pure danger for me.

“We’d
better leave before I body dive into a vat of jujubes,” I joked. Liam grinned.
He was adorable in casual jeans, white shirt, and sneakers, a toque slouching
on his head, backpack on his back. He looked like just a regular guy, well a
really smoking hot one.

“Hey
save your appetite because we’re going to Serendipity next,” he warned.

We
cabbed it over to the famous desert place. It was crammed with tourists eating
piles of cake, whipped cream, brownies, ice cream and other goodies.

“Sorry
I’m making you go to all these lame places,” I cringed.

He
laughed it off. “Hey, none of the guys wanted to do this stuff. I’m glad I have
an excuse. Plus, I love seeing you so happy.”

We
squished into a corner and ordered the famous frozen hot
chocolates—regular for him and peanut butter for me. They were just as
rich as normal hot chocolate and came topped with piles of whipped cream.
Heaven. Even better, we held hands while feeding each other delicious spoonful.
I’d never known this kind of romance before and truthfully, I just couldn’t get
enough.

Once
I filled my boots, we headed for Central Park to walk off the food. It was a
bright sunny day. Kids were playing in the grass, couples were walking hand in
hand, and everyone looked cheerful. I was wearing my new cheap and chic pink
chiffon dress with tiny white polka dots. I felt like a million and a half
bucks. We were attracting lots of stares but I took it in stride. I was in New
York, I was feeling fab, and I had an amazing guy by my side. Life couldn’t get
better.

To
my surprise, Liam called over one of the horse drawn carriages that cart around
tourists. “Come on,” he said, grinning. “Tell me you don’t want to try.”

Of
course I did. We bundled into the back and trotted off down the bumpy road,
holding hands as the endless lush green expanses full of leafy trees and beds
of flowers in yellows, purples, and reds passed by.

We
talked about normal things. He asked about my life in Minnesota and I told him
about my high school, how I loved music class and played the flute in the band.
I described how Aimee and I had met and how we’d spent almost every minute
together since, cramming for exams, watching the latest Channing Tatum flick at
the cinema, or working together for six awful months at Dairy Queen. I
explained that I was an only child and Aimee was like the sister I’d always
wanted. I couldn’t imagine life without her.

Liam
soaked this all in, his gold-flecked eyes fixed on me instead of the amazing
scenery. I basked in his undivided attention and found that I could talk
freely. I forgot to feel shy—it just felt so natural and comfortable to
be with him.

We
eventually made it to the reservoir—an amazing expanse of water that
shimmered in the high sun, backed by the Upper East Side’s elegant gothic-style
apartment buildings. We decided to get off the carriage and take in the sights.

So
far we’d avoided talking about anything serious. The day was just too beautiful
and we were enjoying each other’s company as Shay and Liam, not a college-age
chick and an up-and-coming rock star. But the time had come to get serious. I
was set to go back to Minnesota in a couple of days and we still hadn’t come up
with a solution to our soon-to-be-separation. Of course I didn’t want to go,
but what was I supposed to do?

“Shay,
I know you have to go back to Minnesota. You don’t have to feel guilty about
that.” He looked at me intensely and once again I marveled at his ability to
read my thoughts.

He
took my hand in his and squeezed. I sighed. “It doesn’t seem fair that we just
got to know each other and now we have to separate. I mean, I don’t want to
assume anything but, you know…”

“Yeah,
I know.” He put an arm around my waist and drew me close. I snuggled close to
him, enjoying the solid warmth of him. “And you
should
assume. We have a
good thing going here, why would we want it to stop?”

“So
what are we going to do?” I whispered. I was terrified to hear the answer.

Liam
paused for a moment. “I really don’t know. You need to go to university and I
need to go on this tour. We need to chase these dreams or we’ll never forgive
ourselves.”

“And
I wouldn’t want to take that away from you,” I said quickly, drawing back
slightly and looking up into his handsome, serious face.

“That’s
why you’re the girl for me,” Liam said, looking warmly back down at me. “You
get my dreams but you keep me grounded, too. Plus, you’re smart, sweet, and
damn sexy,” he added, patting me gently on the bum, a twinkle in his eyes.

I
blushed and curled back into his arms to hide my embarrassment. “I don’t want
to let you go,” I whispered finally.

“You
don’t have to,” he said, kissing my hair. “I’ll come visit as often as I can
and you me. We’ll Skype, we’ll use whatever crazy technology the kids are into
these days.”

I
laughed into his shoulder. “Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr…”

“We’ll
make it work, Shay. We just got to believe in what we have.”

“What
about all the pressures on the road?” I asked quietly. “I know your band mates
don’t think I’m the best match for you. They’ll be tons of groupies hanging off
you guys. I don’t want to hold you back from living that life you’ve worked
towards.”

Liam
kissed me softly. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re the kind of
life I want? I want a real life with a real girl. I don’t need to party hard to
prove to myself that I’m a good musician. I don’t feel like I’m being held
back, I feel like you’re helping me to be myself.”

We
chatted a little longer but there wasn’t much left to say. We really just
wanted to alone. We downed a quick and dirty deli meal and then headed back to
Liam’s hotel room.

The
light was waning as we entered his plush, hushed quarters. We started off in
the shower where we gently soaped each other, kissing softly. Liam paid plenty
of attention to my breasts and behind, washing them and smiling as he did so. I
was a little shy but I lapped up the attention.

Our
kisses soon became more urgent. His tongue eagerly met mine, stroking it again
and again while his hands caressed my entire body. He teased my slippery
nipples with his calloused fingers. As I gasped for breath he moved lower
before his fingers met the most sensitive part of myself.

At
first he was careful, stroking my folds with gentle but constant pressure. Soon
he circled inwards with increasing pressure. I inhaled as his fingers met my
clit, which he began to stroke in lazy circles. My knees buckled as the
pressure doubled and those lazy circles became smaller and more intense. I
could feel my toes curling, my fingers tingling, my nipples tightening. I felt
shy being so obviously turned on but my desire overwhelmed that feeling. I
collapsed into Liam’s arms as waves of unstoppable pleasure seized me from
breasts to belly to vagina, crippling me and sending me into an exhausted, collapsed
state.

I
was only vaguely aware of Liam turning off the shower, carrying me out, drying
me, and laying me down on the bed. I sighed, enjoying the decadent feeling of lying
naked on the high thread count cotton sheets.

Liam
continued pleasuring me, at first with total gentleness. He kissed every inch
of my squishy body. I was too drunk on pleasure to feel an inch of
self-consciousness. Every curve, every limb was completely alive to his touch.
Even the softest caress had me groaning in ecstasy.

“I’m
going to have you coming like you’ve never done before,” he whispered, a threat
I was ready to see happen.

After
he’d tortured me with plenty of kisses and caresses, he unwrapped and put on a
condom before lying on top of me. The feeling of his naked body along mine
drove me wild. I could feel the lean muscles of his body and the hardness of
his erection against my thigh. I writhed in anticipation. “Come inside me,” I
whispered.

Liam
kissed my tender neck as he pushed the tip of his penis against the slippery
folds of my vagina. He pressed in slightly, causing me to gasp, and then worked
his way in further, slowly and gently. Once completely in he paused, allowing
us both to enjoy the mind-blowing feeling of fullness.

“I’m
never going to let you go,” he whispered in my ear before beginning to draw in
and out. I writhed under him, meeting each plunge with a thrust of my hips. We
rocked together, again and again, before his cries became more intense and the
agonized craving in my belly propelled us towards a loud, crashing orgasm. We
frantically bucked together, dying for release, for connection, to stay
together and never be pulled apart.

We
lay entwined together in the dark room, breathing hard as the sounds of traffic
filtered in. I was aware how strange this all was but I was also totally at
home. “I won’t let you go either,” I whispered before letting myself drift into
deepest sleep.

* * *