Celia Men were assholes. All of them.Lazy, big-headed assholes and my boss, Erik, was the biggest asshole of them all. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true, but I was mad at him.Yawning, I stretched my arms high above my head and my back cracked.Erik wasn’t an asshole, not really. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t appear to know I existed outside of my role as the person who fetched his coffee, ran his errands, and filed his papers so people could actually find them. For almost two years I’d been working for him, and I felt no nearer to my goals than I had done when I had started as an unpaid intern.At least he paid me now; it was the only thing that kept me in the job. I loved the band, and working with the likes of Dionysus Rising was a dream come true, but being around Erik all day, every day, being totally in love with him when he didn’t even look my way, was crushing my soul.I just didn’t get it. I was attractive. At least, I thought I was. I’d never had any complaints, and I
Louis There was something relaxing about being totally alone. Maybe because it never seemed to happen to me. Ever.My life was one big party. Not that I would have it any other way. The moment Dionysus Rising asked me to replace their original drummer, I knew my life would never be the same again. I hadn’t been wrong. And I loved it all.Well, I wasn’t too happy when my baby sister hooked up with my bandmate, although I guess the fact they were about to be married and had a baby took it a bit further than a casual hook-up. Still, I had wanted more for her than that. I kind of wanted more for myself as well, just not enough to give up everything I had now. My eyes lingered on the retreating back of one of the villa’s staff who had just spent the early morning bent over in front of me, servicing me the way I liked. I watched the curve of her ass under her tight grey skirt as it disappeared from view and sighed. I would have liked to strip her out of her clothes and have her in a f
knock on the door. Frowning, I stared at it for a second. I hadn’t ordered breakfast even though I was starving because I had been so focused on getting settled, so I had no idea who it could be.Reaching into my case, I pulled the first item of clothing I touched over my head and went to the door.Louis stood on the other side of it. His blond hair was as bright and artfully mussed as it always was. “Louis?” I took a step back without meaning to. Truthfully, I was shocked that he was at my door after literally dismissing me only an hour earlier. He stepped in uninvited, his eyes sweeping around the room before he kicked the door shut. “You look surprised to see me?” He cocked his head to the side, and this time he didn’t even try to hide the way his eyes travelled up my legs. Not like earlier, when he had been assessing my appearance when he thought I wasn’t looking. Nervously, I tugged down the short T-shirt an inch.“Were you expecting someone else?” The tip of his tongue came o
LouisI was meant to be here for some time for myself. Taking Celia for breakfast was meant to be a one-off thing, so why had I ended up sitting with her in a local bar?We had spent all day together, and it hadn’t been a chore. If anything, it had been easy. The conversation had never been stilted. It had flowed effortlessly, and the time had gone super fast. That surprised me. I wasn’t usually big on talking to women unless it was to get them into bed.Maybe that was the answer. Maybe I felt so at ease with Celia because I didn’t want to bang her. It was an interesting possibility that I could be friends with a woman and not try to cross that line. Of course, I was friends with Elodie. But she was taken. I couldn’t go there even if I had wanted to. That was one line I would never cross. And the only other woman who was regularly in my life was Lola, and she was my sister.“You seem deep in thought.” Shaking myself, I stared down at the hand on my arm. The nails were short, and the
Celia There was a warm and very hairy leg trapped between both of mine.I froze, and my eyes flew open. For a second I could do nothing but blink up at the ceiling and try to piece together what the hell had happened last night. I could vaguely recall drinking tequila shots in the bar and some kind of piggyback ride back to the villa. I was fairly sure I had tried to carry Louis on my back at one point.Louis.Slowly, because I almost didn’t want to discover the owner of the muscled leg between my calves, I turned my head. He was facing me, his too-bright hair messed up and his face completely slack.Oh. Shit.Snapping my eyes back to the ceiling, I took a deep breath. What the hell had happened last night when we got back that meant I woke up tangled in bed with Louis Michaelson? He was my damn boss. Kind of.And a giant man whore.God, what if we hadn’t been careful? What if he had given me something? Or I ended up pregnant? The last thing I needed was… I didn’t let myself finish
JaxI had done a lot of foolish shit in my life.Like a ton.But I had never gone on stage so hammered that I almost fell off and had to be carried off before the set was even over. I had certainly never been as wasted as our lead singer was tonight. Hell, it wasn’t even just tonight. Dion, sex god and crooner extraordinaire, had been teetering on the edge of a total nervous breakdown since we had kicked off this leg of our world tour in Las Vegas ten days ago. Usually, I wouldn’t have been too worried. He was going through a rough time with the press since his relationship with our old drummer Isla had publicly combusted. But this was different. This wasn’t a rockstar having a good time and pushing boundaries. This was someone I cared about hurtling full tilt towards death, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it until the tour was over. And by then I was afraid it would be too late. Dion was going downhill rapidly. He was spiralling, drinking heavily between shows. Drin
ElodieJax Turner had just seen my tit. Sure, I had scooped the wayward appendage back in as quickly as it had popped out, but I knew he had seen. I had plainly seen the flash of interest in his eyes. There was surprise as well, which made no sense. Surely, he had been told to expect me?“You’re not Dion,” I mumbled. Sleep was taking too long to leave me, and it was making me dumb. “They told me this was Dion’s bus.”His eye roll was epic. Clearly something he had perfected over the years.“Up ya get, Goldilocks,” he said again, and this time my hand went to my hair, tugging the tangled curls into what I hoped was some kind of order. Without a mirror, I was facing a losing battle, but I had to try, because this was not how I wanted my first meeting with my new employers to be. “Dion isn’t here, and even if he was, he wouldn’t thank you for sneaking in and taking your clothes off.” The corner of Jax's mouth twitched. “Well, maybe in the past he would have, but not tonight. Maybe try on
Jax“Just a few more minutes and we can get started.” As always with Erik, there was no greeting as he pushed the takeout coffee cups towards Dion. The delicious smell hit me like a punch to the gut, and I reached for one before I could help myself. It was Dion who slapped my hand away. His fingers greedily curled around one, and I had to admit that he needed it more than me. He looked a mess: his eyes bloodshot and drooping. I hoped he was hurting after the stunt he’d pulled the night before, but I wasn’t man enough to say it. That would all change quickly, though, if I didn’t get some caffeine inside of me soon. Erik dragging us all together at eight in the morning after a show was a low blow, and I knew the others were feeling it much more than I was. The perks of going to bed early for once in my life. Well, relatively early anyway. I might have had a half decent night's sleep if that groupie hadn’t shown up and ruined my alone time. But it was hard to feel too cross about the
Celia There was a warm and very hairy leg trapped between both of mine.I froze, and my eyes flew open. For a second I could do nothing but blink up at the ceiling and try to piece together what the hell had happened last night. I could vaguely recall drinking tequila shots in the bar and some kind of piggyback ride back to the villa. I was fairly sure I had tried to carry Louis on my back at one point.Louis.Slowly, because I almost didn’t want to discover the owner of the muscled leg between my calves, I turned my head. He was facing me, his too-bright hair messed up and his face completely slack.Oh. Shit.Snapping my eyes back to the ceiling, I took a deep breath. What the hell had happened last night when we got back that meant I woke up tangled in bed with Louis Michaelson? He was my damn boss. Kind of.And a giant man whore.God, what if we hadn’t been careful? What if he had given me something? Or I ended up pregnant? The last thing I needed was… I didn’t let myself finish
LouisI was meant to be here for some time for myself. Taking Celia for breakfast was meant to be a one-off thing, so why had I ended up sitting with her in a local bar?We had spent all day together, and it hadn’t been a chore. If anything, it had been easy. The conversation had never been stilted. It had flowed effortlessly, and the time had gone super fast. That surprised me. I wasn’t usually big on talking to women unless it was to get them into bed.Maybe that was the answer. Maybe I felt so at ease with Celia because I didn’t want to bang her. It was an interesting possibility that I could be friends with a woman and not try to cross that line. Of course, I was friends with Elodie. But she was taken. I couldn’t go there even if I had wanted to. That was one line I would never cross. And the only other woman who was regularly in my life was Lola, and she was my sister.“You seem deep in thought.” Shaking myself, I stared down at the hand on my arm. The nails were short, and the
knock on the door. Frowning, I stared at it for a second. I hadn’t ordered breakfast even though I was starving because I had been so focused on getting settled, so I had no idea who it could be.Reaching into my case, I pulled the first item of clothing I touched over my head and went to the door.Louis stood on the other side of it. His blond hair was as bright and artfully mussed as it always was. “Louis?” I took a step back without meaning to. Truthfully, I was shocked that he was at my door after literally dismissing me only an hour earlier. He stepped in uninvited, his eyes sweeping around the room before he kicked the door shut. “You look surprised to see me?” He cocked his head to the side, and this time he didn’t even try to hide the way his eyes travelled up my legs. Not like earlier, when he had been assessing my appearance when he thought I wasn’t looking. Nervously, I tugged down the short T-shirt an inch.“Were you expecting someone else?” The tip of his tongue came o
Louis There was something relaxing about being totally alone. Maybe because it never seemed to happen to me. Ever.My life was one big party. Not that I would have it any other way. The moment Dionysus Rising asked me to replace their original drummer, I knew my life would never be the same again. I hadn’t been wrong. And I loved it all.Well, I wasn’t too happy when my baby sister hooked up with my bandmate, although I guess the fact they were about to be married and had a baby took it a bit further than a casual hook-up. Still, I had wanted more for her than that. I kind of wanted more for myself as well, just not enough to give up everything I had now. My eyes lingered on the retreating back of one of the villa’s staff who had just spent the early morning bent over in front of me, servicing me the way I liked. I watched the curve of her ass under her tight grey skirt as it disappeared from view and sighed. I would have liked to strip her out of her clothes and have her in a f
Celia Men were assholes. All of them.Lazy, big-headed assholes and my boss, Erik, was the biggest asshole of them all. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true, but I was mad at him.Yawning, I stretched my arms high above my head and my back cracked.Erik wasn’t an asshole, not really. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t appear to know I existed outside of my role as the person who fetched his coffee, ran his errands, and filed his papers so people could actually find them. For almost two years I’d been working for him, and I felt no nearer to my goals than I had done when I had started as an unpaid intern.At least he paid me now; it was the only thing that kept me in the job. I loved the band, and working with the likes of Dionysus Rising was a dream come true, but being around Erik all day, every day, being totally in love with him when he didn’t even look my way, was crushing my soul.I just didn’t get it. I was attractive. At least, I thought I was. I’d never had any complaints, and I
LouisThe Wooden Spoon was rammed, which was not surprising since it got leaked quite early by management that we would be there. I couldn't blame Yvonne, the bar manager, for that. Times were tough, and if using our name got her more money in the till, I was happy to help. It didn't even matter that Dion and my sister hadn't even shown their faces. A party was a party, after all. They were busy doing their own loved up thing. And they were no doubt things I did not want to think about. “You want another one, Louis, baby?”Leaning on the sticky bar, I gave Yvonne the once over. Older, but still hot enough to be interesting. She had a hard edge to her that told me spending the night with her would be something I wouldn't forget for a while. Not that the pickings were slim, but Yvonne would know the score. I wouldn't need to explain that it was only a one–night thing, and I sure as hell wouldn't have to worry about her going to the papers or leaking photos. “Drink, Louis?” she repeat
LolaI hadn't even raised my hand to knock on the door when it swung open and Dion appeared, wearing nothing but a smile and grey sweatpants slung low on his hips. My mouth grew dry at the sight of him. It was more than the chiselled abs and the damp, dark hair. It was him. His very essence. He exuded sex appeal without even trying. In fact, he was even sexier when he wasn't even trying, if that was possible.“I thought you would never get here.” The corners of his mouth twitched. “I almost started without you.” Dark eyebrows worked their way upward. Not letting me answer him, he pulled me inside, kicking the door shut behind me. The door hadn’t even slammed before his fingers were on the buttons of my coat. “I'm pretty sure I said to start stripping in the lift.” Laughing, he popped the last button and unfurled my coat like he was unwrapping a present. With a whistle, he stood back, holding me out at arm’s length. He raked his eyes over me. “God you look hot. Have you changed since I
Lola“Fancy being my wife.” My brother's sarcastic voice hit my ears as I pushed open the door to the office barely five minutes after they had left the front of the assembly. It had taken me that long to gather my wits together. I still wasn't sure I had them together. I felt jittery and sick to my stomach in a whole new way that had nothing to do with the baby growing inside my body. “That has to be the most unromantic proposal in the history of fucking proposals, dude. We set it all up to be perfect and you go and do it like that.”Laughter filled the air. No one had even noticed that I was there. Hovering in the doorway. Listening in like a creep. “I mean, did you see her face?” Louis carried on, oblivious to my presence. Catching Dion's expression, he chuckled. “Some of the other teachers were creaming in their seats, so if teachers are your thing–”“Shut up, Louis,” I said without thinking. I knew he was joking, but I still didn't want to hear it. “I think it was sweet.”“Swee
DionI couldn't remember the last time I was so nervous going on stage. Not that what faced me was a stage as such, but it was where I was going to perform. And I didn't get nervous before a performance, not anymore. That kind of went out the window pretty early in my career, swiftly replaced by longing. A longing to hear the crowd screaming my name, and their heartbeats thumping in time with our beats.There would be screams today, but not the usual type. I couldn't feed off the adoration of the kids filing into the hall in perfect snake–like lines to sit on the floor. They were fans but not the kind of fans that I usually had any interaction with. No, there was only one person I wanted to impress today. One person whose heart I wanted to beat a little faster, and she was the only person in the whole building that really mattered. And that made this the most important performance of my life. Turning my back on the tiny gap between the door and the frame, I studied my band members.