The Stillness Of You (8 page)

It’s true she
lived on the edge and for someone like me she wasn’t exactly the
right person to be around, but…

Jesus, I missed
her.

“
Georgia,
what the fuck is going on? Is Matt not letting me up? Come on, I
miss you and I’m only home for a few more days.”

I clutched the
phone. I was caving.

I could
handle Kendall. I was strong now.

I thought
of Matt. I thought of his dig earlier.
Be
good
. And after a mental
fuck-you, I spoke. “Come on up.”

I
unlocked the door, fled to my room, and I was just pulling up my
undies when Kendall burst inside and wrapped her arms around me so
tightly that I nearly choked. A few things were soon apparent and I
frowned, pushing down the little wiggle of unease that sliced
through my gut. She was drunk and—I slid from her embrace so I
could get a good look at her—pupils dilated, eyes glazed—she was
high.

Double
fuckedy-fuck.

“
Holy
shit, Georgia, you look great. When the hell did you grow
those?”

I glanced down
at my boobs, now encased a soft peach bra that matched my undies. I
shrugged. “It’s a push-up bra, loser.”

She flung
herself onto the bed. “You look great.”

“And you look
wasted.”

She
laughed, flinging her dark red hair behind her shoulders. She was a
striking girl—tall, willowy, with a great rack, nice ass and an
attitude that didn’t quit. We’d met at school—a private academy in
the middle of bum-fuck nowhere—and we bonded over our love of music
(at the time I was all about musicians and had a weakness for
guitarists) and a shared disdain for authority.

She was
type A all the way with a highly addictive personality, and with
all the issues I had including the worst—the fact that I had no
boundaries—we were pretty toxic together. In fact for a while there
we were known as the toxic twins. At the time I didn’t know I was
bipolar. I didn’t know shit, except having a good time.

But I was fine
now.

I was
better.

“
We need
to get really fucking wasted. The Rats are playing at Kachinga and
I’ve got tickets.”

I can handle her
.

She
jumped up from my bed, her short plaid skirt barely covering her
ass and from the little peek I got I was guessing she was commando.
Some things never changed.
She hugged me fiercely. “You have to come with and I’m not
taking no for an answer. I’ll throw down with Matt if he gets in
our way.” She licked her lips and poked her hips into me
suggestively. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind throwing down with
Matt.”

“Ew.”

“No, really. I
bet he’d be great in bed.”

I screwed up my
face and pushed Kendall away. “Calm down. He’s in the Cape.”

“
Oh,” she
grinned. “Well, then you don’t have an excuse to say no. So get
your ass dressed and let’s head out.”

I exhaled
and took a few steps back, needing a bit of perspective—needing to
get away from Kendall’s black hole of decadence. “I don’t know.
I…”

A red flash
caught my eye and I grabbed my cell phone off my dresser and
glanced at a text from Ben. We’d exchanged numbers the day before
but I hadn’t expected to hear from him.

Hadn’t
expected, but was kinda sorta wanting to. My stomach did this weird
lurching thing though it faded as I quickly read his message.

Hey. Presenting offer now. I’ll be late.
Don’t miss me 2 much
.

I stared
at the message for a few seconds, and then glanced at Kendall. Her
eyes softened for a bit, the dark charcoal beneath them crinkling
in the corners. “Come on, Georgie.
It’s been forever.” She glanced around. “Besides,
why the hell would you
want
to stay here when you can be with me kicking it
down?”

I bit my
bottom lip, fingering my cell for a few moments before tossing it
back onto the dresser. Things started to bubble inside me and I
exhaled, fisting my hands for a second while everything ran fast.
And then stopped. I waited, breath held, for it to start
again.

“Hey, are you
alright?”

I nodded,
not really thinking that I was alright, but not wanting to talk
about it either. Chin thrust forward, I glanced at my closet, my
eyes falling onto the ice blue boat neck dress I’d bought just
before my incarceration. It still had the tags on it.

I’d forgotten
how gorgeous the fabric was. Oh, and the color…it sure would look
great with my Steve Madden’s.

Kendall tugged
on my arm, her face scrunched into an exaggerated pout and I
giggled. “Come on, Georgie.”

A smile
opened on my face and my hand inched toward the dress as the
pressure inside me eased a bit. “Okay,” I said as Kendall squealed.
“But just so you know I don’t drink anymore.”

“Whatever.”

“And I don’t do
weed or coke either.”

She nodded.
“Uh-huh.”

“And we’re not
going home with random guys.”

She flopped
back down onto the bed. “Gotcha.”

I glanced down
and frowned. “Are you going to put some underwear on or what?”

Her grin
widened as she cocked her head to the side. “Now why in the hell
would I want to do that?”

Shit.

Ben

Kachenga was
the kind of bar you’d expect to find somewhere on the sunset strip
in Hollywood. It reminded me of The Whiskey a bit—not exactly a
dive but not exactly respectable either. It was dark, loud and
crowded, and by the time I arrived it was close to midnight.

I was
lucky to get in—The Rats were an up and coming indie band and even
though I was more of a straight up rock kind of guy—I
preferred
Foo Fighters
or
Five
Finger Death Punch
—I’d heard of them. The place was packed
and the lineup was discouraging and even though I said I’d never be
that dude who used his celebrity, I was willing to do just about
anything if it meant getting inside and being with
Georgia.

I would
have sent her a text but my damn phone was dead and I was hoping
she was still here because she wasn’t back at the loft. I hadn’t
spoken to her since she’d replied to my text hours earlier and told
me she was heading out to Kachenga with her friend.

My teeth
clenched at the thought. She hadn’t elaborated on who exactly her
friend was and I wasn’t sure what my plan was going to be if I
found her here with a guy—who I was assuming would be that fucking
Seamus the cat character. Would I pretend I didn’t see her, slide
through the crowd and leave without saying anything? Or would I
walk right up to her and make that play, the one that had me
careening down center ice with a target in sight.

Georgia was my
fucking target and I had it bad.

So, here
I was, hands in my pocket and shoulders hunched forward like some
loser when a, bunch of girls strolled by and saved me. Teetering on
ridiculous heels the once closest to me, a blonde with tits about
two sizes too big for the dress she was wearing, slurred, “you’re
coming with us.”

Normally,
I would have sidestepped, made an excuse and waited because they
were that drunk, but I was desperate and if anything I was an
opportunist.

We
bypassed the lineup—and by
we
, I meant the blonde and her enormous rack. The
doorman waved us in, nodding to me and smiling at the girls while
the one on my arm tried to blow the guy a kiss. But she was so
wasted I had to hold on tight or she would have been on her ass for
sure.

As soon
as we were inside it was easy to disengage myself—I was stone cold
sober and she was
not
, yet even so blondie grabbed my ass and went for the kill.
I managed to deflect a hand aimed at my dick and got the hell away
from them.

What the fuck
was wrong with these girls?

The place
was filled with hot, sweaty bodies moving to the heavy, hypnotic
beat the bass player laid down as he stood on top of the monitors
near the stage. The singer stood beside him rapping about fucking
and sucking—how original. I immediately headed for the bar and
thought that it was going to take a miracle to find Georgia in
here.

For all I
knew she was already gone, and frustrated, I ordered a beer and
leaned against the edge of the bar as I slowly moved my eyes over
the room. I had way too much pent up energy for this place and the
energy was making me crazy. It was hard. Aggressive.

I rolled my
shoulders trying to ease the tension I felt, while ignoring the
suggestive looks from a few of the ladies dancing near the edge of
the crowd.

My foot tapped
the floor impatiently and I swallowed half the bottle in one gulp
and groaned when I saw the group of girls I’d walked in with. They
had followed me over to the bar and the drunken blonde was trying
to get my attention.

I kept my
eyes averted, which probably wasn’t a smart thing because if the
blonde did a sneak shot for my cock, I’d be wide open.

Where the hell
was Georgia?

Irritated, I finished my beer in another long gulp and set
it on the bar. I moved through the crowd, enjoying the music a bit
more now that the guy had stopped chattering about getting laid and
the guitarist was sending out some tasty stuff. The heavy bass riff
touched all of us, and it vibrated against the back of my teeth as
I exhaled and ran my hands through my hair in agitation.

It was then
that I saw her.

She
glanced up and our eyes met. Even though we were in the middle of
this hot mess it felt like there was only the two of us. And just
like in the movies, you know the scene, the one when the music dive
bombs and everything goes slow-motion, fades to gray and comes to a
standstill? The one where the girl and the guy finally realize they
belong together?

Yeah. I had one
of those—a total fucking chick-flick moment.

Some guy
fell into me and cussed me out when I shoved him out of the way. I
didn’t break eye contact. Hell, I don’t even think I breathed. All
I saw was Georgia.

She leaned
against a table, wearing a hot blue dress that showed a hell of a
lot of leg along with a pair of come-fuck-me shoes, high spiky
things that inspired more than a few ideas.

I decided I
would let her keep them on when I finally had her alone and
naked.

Because that’s
where we were headed.

I knew it—and
as she swiped her tongue along her bottom lip and stared back at
me—I could tell that she knew it too.

She
pushed off from the table, her long hair swinging around her
shoulders, her eyes so huge and shiny—so fucking alive—I swear she
could see right inside me. Some guy was chatting her up but I
didn’t give a shit. As I approached her mouth opened slightly and I
shoved my way past him, slid my hands along either side of her face
and dipped my head. I kissed her as if I was starving and she let
me.

She tasted like
peppermint.

She felt like
fucking heaven.

Georgia
opened beneath me and made a sound at the back of her throat that
was so primal, so goddamn urgent, I felt like pounding my chest. I
was ready to go all Tarzan on her and that was something I’d never
experienced before.

Her arms
slid around my waist and she pressed herself against me, every soft
curve melting into my body like she was meant to be there. I kissed
her long and hard, my eyes open and so were hers.

The music
pounded us from all sides, burning into us, throbbing along every
cell in my body. The smell of sex and lust, stale beer and weed
filled the air and slid over us. It was a heady mixture and an ache
formed inside me, one that was hot and hard.

I groaned and
slid one of my hands down her back so that I could grip her ass,
and I pulled her in so that there was no way for her not to know
how fucking turned on I was.

She made that
noise again and when I slid my mouth along the side of her neck I
heard her whisper, “You have to dance with me.”

“Let’s get out
of here.”

Her hands slid
into my hair and she whispered near my ear. “I’ve been waiting all
night for you. The least you can do before you get me naked is take
me out there and dance with me.”

Naked
?

Her words were
like fire in my brain and I was so hot for her I couldn’t
speak.

I grabbed her
hand, elbowed my way through the crowd until we were in the middle
of a hot pit of lust and music. This wasn’t my thing—I wasn’t the
guy who liked to shake his ass and pull some moves but right now?
With that look in her eye? If Georgia King asked me to do the
fucking chicken dance I would.

The
guitars and drums crashed over us as the lights lowered.

The beat
changed into something slow and sensual and just as I was thinking,
‘hell yes my ass is saved’, Georgia’s hands crept up my shoulders
and she began to move against me. Real, slow and sexy.

I pulled
her close and buried my head in her hair, inhaling that summery
scent I thought would probably drive me crazy until I was old half
dead. This moment, right now, was something I’d never forget…the
way she felt, the say she smelled, and as she cupped my face and
stared up into my eyes, I knew I would never forget how beautiful
she was. How much my body ached in anticipation.