Rock Star: The Contest (Book 2 of a Bad Boy Romance) (13 page)

“Wake up.”

I put the beers on the counter and crouched down beside her. Why would such a beautiful girl do this shit? I undid the rubber tie around her arm and put it and the needle on the counter. I looked in her bag. It was full of little baggies, and more needles.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Did I call Meghan? Did I call the police, an ambulance? She was still breathing. Was she going to overdose? For all I knew everything could have been OK, but this was new to me. I paced back and forth and went out to the kitchen. I looked at the clock. I didn’t know how long she would be out of it. Ten minutes, thirty? An hour? Who knew? I brought my phone out and looked it up. I expected this was why people died. A misunderstanding of what happened when people got high. Marijuana, I knew about that. I had smoked that, but it didn’t knock you out like this. She was in some happy place or at least looked that way, and seemed confident that was OK. But if she died here, what would I say? I would get arrested. They would blame me for what I didn’t do. Then again, if I told someone, she could get booted from the contest. Meghan had been anal about that, how much more anal was Maisey? She might not forgive me and that would be the end of us.

I smashed my fist against the counter and then felt pain surge up my arm. What to do? What to do? Against my better judgment, I went back to the bathroom and pulled her up and laid her back on me. With my back to the wall, I laid her on her side, just in case she started to vomit. I had heard of drug users dying because they choked on their own vomit. I didn’t know CPR and for all I knew she would snap out of this in the next thirty minutes. Or she wouldn’t wake up. I could feel panic rising in my chest.

I could hear her breathing slowly. I sat there knowing that I should have probably called someone but for whatever reasons I didn’t. Twenty minutes passed, maybe forty when she started to wake up. She had fallen asleep. It was if it had relaxed her so much that she had fallen into a state of deep sleep.

She was smiling when she came to. I was angry.

“Don’t you ever do that shit again. At least around me. You could have died.”

She pulled herself up. I knew that she was still riding the high. It could last for up to three hours, sometimes longer for those who were new to it, but she wasn’t new.

“Settle down, Spike. Everyone does it.”

“I don’t know who is everyone. But I don’t do it, and I won’t put up with that shit around me.”

I didn’t care if it meant losing what little relationship we were beginning to form. Addicts only cared about one thing. Getting that next high.

T
he call came
in just after six. Spike was beside himself when I got on the phone.

“Calm down, tell me what’s happened.”

When I finally got him to take a breath, I had managed to understand through the jumble of words that Maisey had been taking drugs at my parents’ house. She was fine, but she was now acting like a completely different person, and was threatening to cut herself.

I didn’t hesitate to phone the police. The thought of arriving at the house and finding one of my best friends stabbed or dead wasn’t going to happen. Chase was with me at the time. We had been out at the lake going through songs. We raced to the truck and I floored it. I don’t think I had ever driven that fast in the whole time I’d lived in Lakeside. The truck whipped around corners. I was breaking the speed limit for sure.

By the time we arrived police were on scene as well as an ambulance. I feared the worst and my pulse was racing as fast as I had been driving. Everything kind of blurred in that moment as I tried to make sense of what was going on. Initially a police officer tried to keep me back. When I told him this was my place, he guided me through. I expected to see a slightly out-of-control Maisey, what I didn’t expect to see was Spike being wheeled out of my house with a mask on him.

“What the hell is going on?”

“He’s been stabbed.”

“Oh my god.”

I gripped the ground as I collapsed in a heap. Chase came up alongside me and lifted me up.

“Come on, we’ll go with them to the hospital.”

A few moments later I saw Maisey coming out of the house, with her hands cuffed. She was being led out and was acting belligerent. Chase had to restrain me as I leaped up and tried to pummel her. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had only ever seen the good side of this girl. It was like night and day. Leanne. I could expect her to do something like this. But I had been blindsided by this. This was happening.

The ambulance rushed off, I went inside the house and noticed immediately the blood on the tiles. I felt like throwing up there and then. If Chase hadn’t been there, I’m not sure what I would have done. I saw the police pull away; another officer remained on scene to get details from me about the house and how they managed to be here. I relayed what little information Spike had given me on the phone.

I asked what the condition of Spike was but that he didn’t know.

“I’ll take you to the hospital. Don’t worry, it’s going to be OK,” Chase said.

I know Chase was trying to console me. But this had come totally out of left field and taken the wind out of me. If he died, I did not know what I would do.

* * *

W
hen we arrived
at Lakeside Hospital, we were reassured by the nurse at the front desk that she would find out how serious the knife wound was. We settled in the waiting area and began what would become a long stretch.

Chase made a few phone calls to the coordinators of the contest and before long they had made their way to the hospital. I watched as he spoke with them. They cast a glance over but didn’t approach to offer any condolences. I had never seen such heartless people. But then again that was show business for you. They were probably more concerned about how this would affect the show. They were already walking on eggshells with the suits. I imagined they would spin this to make sure the show still looked good. How? Who knew?

I was on my third cup of coffee from the vending machine. It was awful. I thought the stuff they sold at the gas station was bad, but this had moved to the top of the bad coffee list. Sophie came racing in with Teddy.

“Meghan. What the heck?”

She hugged me and she cried a little.

“Any word?”

“Not yet.”

“I can’t believe Maisey did this.”

I shook my head. “Me neither. The girl seemed to have it all together. She never said a bad word against anyone. Except Leanne.”

Chase approached. “Actually it makes a lot of sense. Izzy had said that she was given drugs by someone, but she didn’t say who. We have a strong feeling that was Maisey.”

“Wow. You just never know who you are speaking with.”

Sophie and Teddy took a seat and slowly over the next hour Luke and Leanne arrived. Despite Leanne being a royal bitch, she acted very caring for once. We still had one more show left to go before they would announce a winner. No doubt everyone’s mind was on Spike more than the show. At least mine was. I didn’t care if it all went away. I just want to make sure he was OK.

It was strange how an incident like this could make you think about your relationship with a person. All the things you have been through together. The times where we had argued or laughed. You begin to think about what it would be like without them. I couldn’t go there. It was too much for me to handle. I needed him. That silly guy meant a lot to me.

“He really means a lot to you, doesn’t he?” Chase asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s always been here. It’s easy to take for granted those around us. You don’t expect anything like this to happen.”

The hands of the clock ticked over. I had fallen asleep on Sophie’s shoulder when a nurse came over. She woke me.

“He’s good to see you now. But just a couple of you at a time.”

Sophie and I went. The nurse led us down a long hallway, up a flight of stairs and then into a room. Lying back in the bed was Spike.

“Sweet cheeks,” he croaked out.

I smiled. At least he was alive.

“You gave us a real shock there.”

“Yeah, seems the cut missed my critical arteries by a few millimeters. Guess I was lucky.”

“That cow. I can’t believe she did that.”

“She was drugged up. I don’t think she knew what she was doing.”

“Whether she did or didn’t, you’ll press charges, won’t you?”

“No.”

“Spike.” I gripped his arm.

“I don’t want to.”

“But she stabbed you. She can’t get away with that. She could kill someone next time. You’re not doing this because you like her, are you?”

He laughed a little before letting out a groan.

“No. She didn’t know. I swear it was like looking at a different person. Drugs do that to you. If she gets help, I won’t press charges. If she refuses help, I’ll press charges.”

I nodded. “I still think you should do it anyway, but...”

“You have the worst luck with women,” Sophie said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it.

“Yeah, maybe I should turn gay.”

He let out a laugh and then groaned even more.

Over the next ten minutes we sat with him and just settled in the peace of knowing he was going to pull through this. His wound wasn’t as bad as they thought. He had thin blood, so it looked as if he had bled way more than he had.

One by one each of those in the waiting room came in and saw him. Spike was pleased to get to meet the judges, and once I felt he was going to be OK, I told him I would be back in the morning. Sophie decided to stay.

* * *

O
n the way
back to my store, I talked with Chase at great lengths about what would take place when someone won the contest. He had made it clear that his management had already set up plans for a tour. It would go from the East Coast to the West, stopping in each state. It would be long but definitely a great way to see the country, do interviews and experience life on the road. He had asked how I felt about that. I didn’t reply instantly. I hadn’t given much thought to it until now. I didn’t like to get my hopes up. It was drawing to a close and we only had one more song left to sing. This would be the defining moment. The audience would be larger. The show would be broadcast on a major network and be seen in the USA and Canada.

Someone who I hadn’t seen over the past week was Mia. She had stayed pretty much off the radar. Mainly I think because she thought I was keeping my distance from Chase. If she really knew, she would have had a fit.

“What about Mia? How will she deal with it, if I win?”

“Who cares? She would have to live with it.”

“And what if I don’t win?”

He looked outside. I could see he hadn’t given much thought to it. He must have expected that I would win.

“You know, if I don’t get it, you are going to be busy and the chance of me and you seeing one another is going to be a lot less.”

“I know.”

“So let’s hope I win.”

There wasn’t really much more that could be said about that. I could sense his nervousness, perhaps it was the reality that there could be only one winner.

It was evening when we arrived back at the store. I had closed up early and invited Chase up for a bite to eat. We sat in the quiet of my apartment eating tacos. I think the day had taken its toll on both of us. There was an urge to relax, or…

I caught his eye and in an almost unmentioned way, we both knew what we wanted. Maybe it was just to blow off some steam. Release the stress of the day. But after we cleaned up the table and began putting things away, he touched my ass. At first it was just a small touch, then I felt his hands grab my waist. I turned into him and smiled.

In the next moment, I had swept off several items from the main countertop and found myself unbuckling his jeans. My body was charged; every nerve was vibrating at one end. Chase’s warm hands ran over my body, and I gripped my fingers into his meaty, muscled back. He pressed himself against me and I closed my eyes feeling the pleasure of being with him. The sound of gentle music in the background washed in waves over us as we lost ourselves in the moment. I felt his hand come down near my jeans and over the curve of my cheek, making me want him even more. His other hand came up to the nape of my neck and rubbed all through my hair. He grabbed handfuls and pulled me back so he could push his lips harder onto mine. I wanted to give myself again to him. To make him feel good. I wanted him inside me. He leaned his head close to mine and brushed his lips over my neck. I was lying back now on the counter, and I could feel his hands groping at the button on my jeans. Within seconds he had it undone and was pulling them down.

Like a current going through my body, I felt the steady pulse of arousal, as he took me right there and then.