Chapter 5

~John~

 

“Where the fuck is she?” I thunder as I switch off the microphone.

Mitch, Chloe and I have just run through two songs without Nicki. I’ve been singing and playing lead guitar cuz she’s late. She’s never late. She didn’t even bother to text me to say she wasn’t gonna make it on time. Apparently, she’s been texting Chloe though—every couple of minutes for the past half hour. That just pisses me off even more.

“She’ll be here in five minutes. They’re just pulling up outside,” Chloe tells me.

“They?” I snap.

“Her and Axel,” Chloe responds excitedly.

“What?” I fume. I catch Mitch’s eye and he smirks at me. He has the wrong idea cuz of the other night. “Fine,” I force myself to say casually, wanting to shut down his suspicions right away. I slide my guitar onto its stand. “Let’s take a break then.”

The room we’re in used to be a dining room when Mitch and I first moved in. We’ve made it into our practice room. It’s soundproof now which avoids us having to deal with pissed off neighbors complaining about the noise. Noise, my ass. Awesome music is more like it. We dealt with so many complaints in the dorms last year, so this is a refreshing change.

“Cool. I’ll get some pizza. Mitch, help me?” Chloe says.

“You too much of a princess to carry a damn pizza box yourself, Chlo?” he teases.

“Vegetarian it is, then,” she threatens as she opens the door and walks out.

“Wait! Fine, I’ll go with you!” he calls, hurrying after her.

The two of them leave and I look over the music of an unfinished song that Nicki and I were supposed to work on today. I’m so involved in what I’m reading and trying to figure out how to complete the lyric that I don’t even notice Nicki walking into the room until she says, “Hey.”

I look up and snap, “You’re late.”

“I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”

“Where were you?”

“Down by the harbor front.”

“With him?”

“Yeah. Just hanging out.”

“I see.” It comes out extremely bitter and harsh. So much for playing it cool. Shit.

“What’s your problem?”

I drop the sheet music and storm over to where she’s leaning against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. “My problem is that you’re late. Between classes and your time at the gym, every second the band can get together is precious. And you just blow it off for some asshole.”

“Blow it off? I’m ten minutes late at the most, John.”

“Whatever,” I mutter, brushing past her.

She grips my arm, stopping me and forcing me to turn back to her. “This is about me and Axel, isn’t it? Funny, considering all the girls I see coming out of here. And last night was no exception. You stank of Chanel perfume when you came over. But I never said anything, because that’s your business. For some reason, you can’t extend me the same courtesy. Why?”

I scoff. “This isn’t about your boyfriend. This is about the band, Nicki.” Like fuck it is. But it’s my only defense here; she knows me too well.

She laughs. “Boyfriend? Not even close, John.”

“He’s trying to get into your pants, Nicki,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

“Maybe he is. But he won’t.”

“He’s gonna seduce you and before you know it, you’ll be spreading your legs for him like the dirty little girl he wants you to be.”

She winces at my words. “Shut up.”

Of course. I knew she wouldn’t be able to handle that. “You deserve better. He’s not what you need.”

“And you know what I need?” she demands harshly.

I just react and before I realize what I’m doing, I grip her arms and push her against the wall as I tell her, “You need a guy who will take his time with you. Someone you can actually kiss sober. A guy who knows you and understands he needs to build you up slowly so you forget the past—your fears and anxieties—and let go until all you can do is feel. Feel his hands, his mouth, and his tongue exploring every part of you. A guy who takes you right to the edge and back.” My fingers brush the hickey on her neck. “A guy who knows you’re not ready for rough…” I touch her lips gently, “…who doesn’t bruise these beautiful lips with a harsh kiss, but slows down to revel in the taste of you, the way you move against him, the little moans you’ll make in his ear as he pleases you.”

My heart is thundering so violently in my chest that I’m sure she can hear it. I release her arms and notice that my hands are shaking. The realization of what I just said to her scares the shit out of me.

I take a step back. “Nicki, I’m sorry. I—”

But then her lips are on mine. I’m so shocked that I don’t do a damned thing. I just stand there like a fucking limp dick moron. She misreads my reaction and moves away, blushing from embarrassment.

“Uh,” she breathes. “Sorry.”

She makes a move to the door, but I cut her off. Standing in front of her, I stare at her. She’s fiddling nervously with her hair, not knowing what to do, where to look. I take a deep breath and then I do the very thing I’ve resisted for the last four years.

I cup her face and press my lips to hers.

I kiss her softly, slowly and she makes the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. I feel her kiss me back as my hands slip under her shirt and slide up her back. I reach her bra clasp and the animal in me—or the guy in me—wants desperately to unclasp it, to feel her perky little tits in my hands, in my mouth. But I stop myself. This is Nicki, not some random chick.

I ease her back against the wall. I pull back and slide my tongue along her jaw line, down her neck, her collarbone, to the tops of her tits. She makes a sexy purring sound. And then her fingers are in my hair, tugging, urging my mouth back to hers. Her lips part, granting me access. My tongue plunges into her mouth.

As soon as I taste her, I lose control, ravaging her mouth, claiming every part of her. My fingers dig into her hips, jerking her tightly to me as I roll my hips, grinding my hard dick against her. She whimpers into my mouth and claws at my neck.

And then she suddenly pushes me back.

Before I can figure out what and why, the apartment door flies open and Chloe and Mitch stride on in arguing loudly, as they carry three pizza boxes to the kitchen.

“I heard their voices in the hall,” Nicki tells me.

“Oh.” So that’s why she pushed me away.

“Guys! You coming or what?” Mitch calls from the kitchen.

Nicki starts for the kitchen but I grab her arm and pull her into me. I whisper in her ear, “You taste so good.”

She trembles at my words and can’t look at me. I release her, smiling with amusement, and watch as she hurries into the kitchen. Damn, that ass of hers looks amazing in those jeans. Hell, it looks amazing no matter what.

I take a moment to calm down and adjust the hard-on straining against my jeans. And then I make my way into the kitchen. The three of them are already devouring the pizza in the open boxes on the table. I grab a slice of pepperoni and lean back against the kitchen counter, my eyes fixed on Nicki and that mouth of hers.

She catches my eye. I give her a sly wink and she looks away shyly. So damn cute.

As the three of them start chatting away, I munch on my pizza and pull out my phone from my pocket and text Nicki: Pour Some Sugar On Me–Def Leppard.

A second later I hear her phone chime. She pulls it out of her pocket and reads my text. Her gaze snaps to mine, her eyes wide. I cock an eyebrow in a challenge.

But before she can text me back, Mitch asks, “Sexting with Axel, Nicki?”

I cringe at his words. If that isn’t a mood killer, I don’t know what is.

Nicki avoids my gaze as she answers, “I barely know him. What do you take me for?”

Chloe laughs and tells her, “That’s what dates are for—getting to know the guy.”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“What happened on this not-a-date? What did you guys do?” Chloe presses.

“We just walked down by the harbor front. Ate ice-cream. Talked.”

“Sounds like a date to me,” Mitch says.

Before I can stop myself I discreetly kick his chair. He almost chokes on his pizza and then flashes me a look of what the fuck? I just continue to glare at him and he gets the message. He clears his throat and says, “Nah, it wasn’t a date.”

“What? You just agreed that it was,” Chloe questions, eyeing him over her slice of pizza.

“Axel doesn’t do dates. He’s a caveman. He hits on a girl, throws her over his shoulder and carries her up to his bedroom to fuck her.”

Nice.

“You’re wrong. A couple of the girls in my sorority have dated him. And I mean an actual date. Dinner and a movie and everything.”

“And then some fucking,” Mitch says.

Chloe blows out a breath. “You’re such a dick.” She shoots me a look. “Both of you. You’re no better. Cavemen to the core. Every time I’m here in the morning, there’s some poor girl doing the walk of shame from your rooms.”

Nicki bursts out laughing. At us. At me. I know in that moment that she believes Chloe’s claim that Mitch and I are cavemen. And it really, really bothers me.

Dammit, I don’t want Nicki to assume I’m gonna be like that with her. But there’s nothing I can say right now while Mitch and Chloe are here.

“Five minutes and we get back down to it,” I say, before storming out of the room like a kid throwing a temper tantrum. Dammit, Chloe!