Triple Threat (32 page)

His words seemed to melt the dream away. I put my arms around him and clutched the back of his shirt, trying to force the fear away. “When will I stop seeing him?” I asked, not really expecting him to know the answer.

After I had relaxed, Giovanni loosened his grasp and kissed my forehead. “I wish I knew the answer to that, Crystal.”

He kept me close to him until I was calm enough to let go. Then he grabbed something from behind him. “Here.” He held up a pair of drawstring gym shorts. “This is all I could find. If you tie them tight enough they should stay up.”

“Thank you.”

After I took them from him I reached over and hugged him fiercely. I felt his hands touch my bare lower back as he returned the embrace. I closed my eyes, treasuring his touch. I wondered if he knew how I felt about him. I doubted it.

I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t want to be rejected. So, I let go and he slowly pulled away. I felt his fingers touch my sides and the top of my panties before he let go completely.

Then I stood up and put the shorts on with my back to Giovanni. They were really baggy, but the string was long enough than they only fell to the top of my hips when tied. I felt Giovanni touch my back and pull up the shorts a little.

“I can see the top of your panties.” He was upset. “They’re way too big.”

I turned around. “It’s OK. I won’t have them on long. We’re going to get me clothes, right?”

“Yeah, I just don’t want anyone to bother you while we’re out.” He sighed. “Your tattoo looks really good like that though.”

He took my hand in his and pulled me to his room. He picked up a backpack and handed it to me. “Here, we can put your stuff in this.”

I looked at him puzzled. “Why do I need this?”

He went to his closet and pulled out motorcycle helmets. “Because I bought a Harley the other day and we’re taking it to the store.”

I got excited. I loved motorcycles and never rode on a Harley before. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you.” He put his hand on my face. “I knew it’d make you smile.”

I got my purse, put it in the backpack and then we left.

The bike was amazing. It was black with red and yellow flames on the gas tank and fenders. I put the backpack on before Giovanni handed me a helmet. When he started the bike, I got butterflies in my stomach. I blissfully got on, wrapped my arms around him and hung on.

He showed off a bit, going down the street fast. I grabbed him tighter. The feeling I got as we drove was incredible.

When we stopped at a red light, Giovanni reached back and patted my thigh. “You OK?” he yelled over the sound of the idling engine.

I squeezed him and replied loudly, “This is so cool!” He rubbed my leg just before the light turned green and we took off again.

When we got there, Giovanni took the backpack from me and threw it over his shoulder. Then he opened the door for me. “Thanks.” He was a real gentleman.

It was not a huge store, but we separated a bit after a while, when neither of us was paying attention. I was looking at a pair of pants that had medium sized, metal rimmed holes from the ankle to the hip. I held them up against me, trying to decide if I liked them.

“Those would look real sexy on you.” I turned around and found a stranger looking me up and down. “I like those panties you’re showing off and the tramp stamp is perfect for what I want to do to you.”

I backed away from him a bit, nervous. As he followed me and came closer, I started to panic. I don’t know why, but he scared me.

“What’s the matter, baby?” he said as he was within inches of me. “Did you think no-one would look? You’re really hot.”

I could feel tears starting to well up. “Please, just leave me alone.”

He smiled and put a hand on my hip, touching my skin. “Dressed like that. No one’s gonna leave you alone.”

“Take a hike,” I heard Giovanni say as he slipped his hand in mine. Giovanni was a few inches taller than the creep and a much more imposing figure with his physique. “The lady doesn’t want to talk to you.”

When we were alone, I grabbed Giovanni. My tears started to fall and he pulled me into his arms. “What am I gonna do at the club if that happens?” I asked him.

As he rubbed my back under my shirt, he kissed my forehead. “Chad and I will both be there. We’ll keep you safe. I promise.” He pushed my hair away from my face as I looked up at him. “Come on, let’s get what you need and go home.”

Once back in my room, Giovanni helped me put away my new clothes. Afterward, he looked me in the eyes. I felt like he was going to say something very important.

He caressed my cheek. “I… I…” He looked away. “Forget it.” He sighed, looked back at me and touched my cheek again. “Would you wear the pants with the metal holes tonight? I really like them.”

“Sure,” I replied with a smile.

“Um… Crystal… I kinda want you to know something… I…” He closed his eyes and sighed. “We’ll talk about it later. Why don’t you change? I like my shorts on you, but you look way too hot in them.” He put a hand through my hair. “I’ll be in the kitchen.” Then he kissed my cheek and left the room.

After putting on a new pair of shorts I went to Giovanni. He was taking stuff out of the refrigerator and putting it on the table. The radio was on and he was quietly singing along. I tried not to laugh; he sounded awful.

When he saw me in the doorway, he said, “You haven’t eaten anything all day. You gotta eat something.”

I went to him and hugged him. “Thank you for being here for me. I do need you.”

When I let him go, he smiled. “I need you, too.” Then he grit his teeth a little. He was kind of shaking, like he was nervous. Then he turned around and grabbed bread from the counter. “You like ham and Swiss with mayo and tomato, but no lettuce right?”

I smiled as I sat at the table. “How’d you know that?” It shocked me that he knew more about me that I thought.

He looked at me with a sly grin. “I know a lot about you.”

Then our song, “She’s Lost to Me,” came on the radio. Since we won the contest in Boston, our local rock station had been playing every song on the demo CD. I loved hearing us on the radio.

I looked up at Giovanni, who was smiling broadly. “Is
she
the reason you keep saying we shouldn’t be lovers?”

He sat down at the table. “No. She’s not.” He took my hands in his and looked me in the eyes. “She’s you,” he said softly. “I’m in love with
you
, Crystal. I have been for a long time.”

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Tears of joy started to fall down my cheeks.

He said, “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“You didn’t. I love you too.” It felt good to finally say it. I still felt guilty about sleeping with Chad that morning.

He got up, pulled me out of the chair and held me tight. “Thank God. I was so scared you didn’t. I tried to tell you so many times.” He sighed and went on. “I’ll find a way to talk to Chad about it. I’ll ask him if he’d be mad if I started seeing you. Find out how he feels about it. But until then, we have to keep it a secret like we have been, OK?”

I felt very relieved. “OK.”

Then suddenly, he kissed me deeply. We put our arms around each other and the kisses got intense quickly. I felt his hard cock against me as he pressed his body against mine. But when he slid his hand under my top, I pushed him away.

“Don’t, please.” I felt fear from his touch for the first time.

He let me go. “I’m sorry. I should’ve known not to do that. It’s just…” He looked at me and cupped my chin in his hand. “I love you so much, I feel like my heart’s gonna explode. And I want you so bad, my fucking balls hurt. I’m sorry. I’ll control myself until you’re ready.”

After we ate, we watched a movie to pass the time. It was a really good action movie. But at one point, there was a scene where a guy attacked a girl. I grabbed Giovanni and looked away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about that.” He quickly turned it off and held me close as I cried, memories returning yet again.

I couldn’t stand being afraid anymore. I had never feared anything before. I was always very confident, independent, friendly, determined and willing to do anything to get our band ahead. But at that moment, I felt like it was all reversed, like I lost myself.

Giovanni held me as tightly as he could. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. You’re gonna be OK. I’ll be here for you.”

When my tears stopped, I looked up at him. “I’m gonna go get ready. We’ll just go to Chad’s early.” I pulled away from him wiping the tears from my eyes and cheeks.

Soon after getting dressed, I heard. “Wow, you look incredible, Crystal.” Giovanni waited for me to put down my lipstick then took one of my hands in his. “You look just as good in pants as a skirt. It covers your tattoo also. By the way, Chad and I are probably going to be annoying tonight. One of us is gonna be next to you at all times, for sure.”

We soon found Chad in his open garage, loading amplifiers into his van. When Chad looked up and saw me, he put down what was in his hands. Then he came to me, picked up my hand and spun me around, like we were dancing.

I laughed like crazy. Then I smiled at him as he looked me over.

“You got pants. You look amazing, Crystal. I like the new style.” He kissed my lips then went back to his work.

As I sat on a folding chair, I tried to figure out why sex with Chad that morning had been so different. It felt somewhat like it did with Giovanni, like Chad was in my heart. How can that be?

“Hey, Crystal, you all right?” Chad asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. He crouched down to my eye level and took my hands in his. Giovanni was outside talking to Chris, who had just shown up.

I looked up at him. “Yeah, this has just been a confusing 24 hours. I was thinking how unlike me I’ve been acting.” I started to whisper. “If I was in my right mind this morning, we wouldn’t have had sex. I know it was different, and I’m not sure why. But if I knew what happened to me, I would’ve pushed you away. Please don’t read anything into it.”

He squeezed my hands and quietly said, “You know, I was dreaming about making love to you. When I woke up, I was confused, but when you pleaded with me to do it again, I couldn’t stop myself. You know I love you. I’m sorry I couldn’t hold back.” He leaned close to me and whispered softly. “It was absolutely incredible. I never felt so good in my life. I wish I knew what changed.”

I smiled at the thought of my body shuddering so much hours earlier. It was still too hard to believe I had felt romantic love for Chad. Maybe I knew subconsciously that he had saved me. Maybe that was it. I had to make Chad believe it was nothing more.

I closed my eyes and then leaned close to Chad’s ear. “It was so good, I can still feel it.”

He pulled away and wore the widest smile I had ever seen. “One day you’ll love me back. I know it in my heart. I felt you respond to me, not what I was doing, this morning.” Then his expression turned serious. “Baby, did your boyfriend come check on you yet?”

“Uh, well, yeah.” I replied, forgetting I had to keep playing that game.

He frowned. “Did he or didn’t he? Does he know you went through hell last night?”

“He did. He was here. I swear he’s helping me through this. I’m just not ready for you to know who he is yet, OK?”

He sighed. “I’m just trying to protect you. Does Giovanni know him?”

Giovanni and Chris came into the garage and the conversation was dropped.

“Hey, Chad! Mark and Phil got a flat,” Giovanni said.

Chad left me and started to help Giovanni load his drums in his van.

Chris came over to me and got down to my level and picked up my hand. “Giovanni told me what happened. I’m sorry. How you doing?”

I looked into his hazel eyes. “I’m OK. Chad and Giovanni are taking good care of me.” I pushed away the feelings he begun to stir by mentioning it.

“Well, if you need anything, just ask.” Chris offered as he stood back up. He walked over to Chad and started to help him and Giovanni.

When we were on our way, I held Giovanni’s hand tightly. I was anxious about fans hitting on me that night. I wasn’t sure how I would react. I shuddered with fear.

Giovanni squeezed me. “You OK?”

“I’m nervous,” I replied. I leaned on his arm and let his hand go.

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “Me, Chad and Chris will be with you the whole night. Nothing will happen,” he reminded me. Then he quickly kissed my lips and whispered. “I love you. Once you get your bass in your hands, your fear’ll be gone.”

Then Phil added, “We’ll all be there for you.”

When we arrived, I got out and started walking to the club to check in with the manager. Giovanni grabbed my hand and stopped me before I got too far away.

“You ain’t going nowhere,” he said to me.

I looked at him. “I have to go tell them we’re here.” I wasn’t sure why he was so upset.

“No, you’re not leaving my side.” Giovanni replied. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go in there alone. Chris can do it. Right, Chris?”

Chris was walking towards us. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll do it.”

Giovanni pulled me to him. “I’m never letting something happen to you again. I’m serious. One of us is gonna hold your hand all night unless you’re playing. Then we’ll still be watching out for you.”

I sighed, knowing it was better to be safe than sorry. They were only trying to protect me. I reluctantly complied with what he wanted and stood next to him as Mark and Phil helped him unload his drum set. Several times he reached out and touched me to make sure I was there.

Chris soon came back, “We go on in like a half hour or so. They’re running late today.” Mark, Chris, Phil and Giovanni started to bring instruments inside, while I stayed with Chad.

“Chad, I’m really anxious about this.” I admitted, feeling worse than earlier. “What if I freak out, or something?”

Chad picked up my hand and pulled me inside. “Come on. You need a drink to calm your nerves.”

He almost dragged me to the bar. He ordered us both a Kamikaze, something I had never tried before. When they were in front of us, Chad told me. “Drink it fast. It might burn going down.”