A Rock & Roll Romance (15 page)

“Morning
, princess.” He said.

“Morning
, Daddy.”

I opened the door and led her outside. We had strategically placed Tim’s
truck to block her new car from view. I put my hands over her eyes so that it would be a surprise. When it was in clear view, I pulled them away.

“What’s that?” She gasped
.

“It’s your new car.” I said proudly.

I picked out a cherry red Mini Cooper convertible. It had navigation, premium sound and black leather seats. It screamed Aubrey.

“You’re funny.
What is it, nine in the morning? There’s no way.” She turned and started going back inside.

“Aubrey, I’m serious. I had your dad
take me this morning. A Mini just seemed very you. Do you like it?” I asked, holding out the keys.

“You’re serious?”
She cocked an eyebrow.

“As a heart attack.”

She eyed me suspiciously. I
waited for a solid minute before a smile broke across her face. She jumped and wrapped her legs around me.

“It’s too much
. You know that, right? But, I love it. Thank you!” She squealed.

“Nothing’s too good for you
, baby. I’d buy you a fucking Porsche if that’s what you wanted because
I love you
.”

“I love you, too.” She grazed her
perfect lips along mine.

Pretty soon we we
re making out on the hood of her new car in broad daylight.

“W
ill you kids get a room already? It’s like watching pornography in 3-D.” Granny Jean yelled from across the road. “Nice wheels kiddo!” She winked.

“I know.” Aubrey yelled.

It was almost like she repressed everything that happened last night. I still felt myself on high alert waiting for the other shoe to drop. As much as I liked Aubrey’s family I wanted to get the hell out of here. I wanted to get her somewhere that Jeremy couldn’t reach her.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Claws & Daggers

Aubrey

“I cannot believe we’re here!” Piper squealed. “Jake Parker is literally like the best boyfriend ever!”

“Eh, he’s alright.” I teased.

We were sitting backstage at the show in Pittsburgh. Since it was only a two-hour drive, I convinced Jake to let us drive, especially since I got a new car. I pouted and said who knew when I would be back to drive it again. He gave in without a fight.
He could be such a pushover.
I still couldn’t believe that he bought me a damn car. Piper was jumping up and down as soon as we pulled up. She professed her undying love and faux proposed to Jake saying she would be a way better girlfriend. He laughed, and said he was, “a one girl kinda guy.”

I didn’t want to rehash what happened the other night with Jeremy
. But, just having Jake there made it easier to get through. It was horrible seeing
him
again though. He still freaked me the fuck out. I pushed
him
out of my mind and focused on hanging out with my best-friend and my boyfriend. We were going to a place called Randy’s after the show to get some food with the rest of the guys. Someone from the stage crew came to tell Jake that it was time to go on. He led us over to a little section that he had set up with two chairs for us to watch the show. He leaned in and kissed me before taking the stage. Piper looked at the whole thing in awe.

“
PITTSBURGH!!! How’s everyone fucking doing tonight? Are we ready to rock?”

A
loud sea of “
hell yeah”
followed.

“Then
LET’S GO!”

             
The band started playing, and the whole place turned electrifying. It was intoxicating to watch. Jake pretty much demanded stage presence with his ostentatious Mohawk and his virtuoso moves. Blake nailed his killer guitar riff on their song ‘Hurricane.’ Piper beamed the entire time. Even I could admit that it was pretty neat being backstage. When the show was over Jake sprinted off the stage and right over to us.

“What did you think?” He asked Piper.

“You guys are even more spectacular live. It was phantasmagorical!” She said completely in awe.

“Thanks.” He beamed. He leaned
down and kissed me long and hard. “I’m going to change my shirt quick. Don’t move.”

“You are seriously the luckiest bitch on the planet.” Piper said. “You told him about what happened with Jeremy
, right?”

She was
another one that was really protective after what happened.

“I told him everything. He understands
, Piper. He didn’t exactly have a picket fence childhood. We’re good for each other.” I shrugged.

“I’m happy for you Bean.” She hugged me.

“Hey! Can I get in on that?” Blake asked.

I rolled my eyes.
“Piper, meet Blake.”

“Piper, I’d like to lay some pipe for you.” Derek
yelled coming up behind Blake.

“Jeez, what are you guys animals? Where are your manners? She’s a fucking lady. Treat her like one.”
Kevin scolded.

“I’m Kevin. Don’t
mind them.”

I
really liked Kevin. I adored all the guys, but Kevin was more like me. He didn’t take any shit, but he didn’t go looking for it either. Jake came back over, and we headed to Randy’s. We walked in and ordered a bunch of food and a couple pitchers of beer. The place was your typical bar. It had a couple of pool tables and a karaoke booth.

“
Who wants to play pool? I call Piper.” Blake grinned.

             
She got up and happily obliged. I watched as they set up the pool table. Blake was totally checking out her ass the entire time. Derek decided to go and play with them too. Every time one of them missed a shot, they had to take a whiskey shot. They came back after two games and ate some appetizers. Kevin just sat quietly, and people watched the entire time.

“Dude
, our friendship is bad for my liver.” Derek said to Blake.

“No, it’s not. You just suck at pool.”
Blake teased.

“I do not.” He yelled. “Okay, you’re
right. I do.” He laughed.

“Hey Piper, I’m no
weatherman, but you can be expecting about six inches tonight.” Derek teased.

“Wow, how original of you. Did you
come up with that all by yourself?” She said sardonically.

“Ouch. Blake
, I think we’ve met our match.”

             
Blake took a long sip from his beer and nodded. He was totally into her, I could tell. They decided they wanted to sing karaoke. Blake went first. He sang ‘Talk Dirty To Me’ by Poison. Derek went up next. He was horrible and should definitely stick to the drums. At the end of the night, we said goodbye to the guys and told them that we would see them at the next stop. Jake said that he would drive back since it was late and he never slept. I climbed into the backseat and snuggled with Piper.

Jake

Two weeks had gone by since Pittsburgh. We were backstage after our show in New Orleans. There was a pretty sizable crowd gathered for our VIP meet and greet. I always hated these things. I felt like I had a bulls-eye on my head. We were waiting for Kevin to come back from the bathroom before heading to the table. A slew of girls came over and got pretty close. They were each looking to become a “groupie” for the night. I guess that you could say they were a good-looking bunch. Honestly nothing got me going anymore, except Aubrey. Nothing. Blake and Derek felt otherwise.

“Well hello, you look like a bad decision. Come with me.” Derek said
to a dark haired girl. She grinned excitedly and took his arm. Aubrey looked utterly repulsed.

“You need to share him
sometimes, Aubrey.” Blake teased.

“I will not
share him with a bunch of skanky girls that have daddy issues. My thoughts on that alone would be enough to give you nightmares.” She shook her head as if she was trying to shake the thought out of her head.

I chuckled
and leaned down to kiss her. When Kevin was back, we were escorted over to the table. It was mayhem here tonight. Two fans even tried to trip Aubrey while we were making our way through the crowd. Luckily I had her hand, so she didn’t fall. These girls were a whole new breed of crazy tonight. Aubrey was looking
seriously
pissed off. She looked at me and glared.

“What’s the matter baby? Are you mad at me?”
I suppressed a smile.

“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the
situation you created.” She pouted.

“The
situation I created? I do nothing except show up and do my job. As a matter of fact, whenever I’m up on stage and I look out at the crowd you’re everywhere. It’s not my fault that your boyfriend also happens to be an extremely desirable rock star.” I joked. “All I want to do right now is go back to our room and snuggle
you
.”

I rubbed her shoulders until the first gaggle was escorted over.
I knew how much she hated coming to these things because the girls were vicious to her. By vicious, I mean they were flat out nasty, horrible, brutal, monstrous and cruel to her. I felt guilty because she didn’t have to be here, but I hated these things too and she made them tolerable. I also hated having to be away from her. I cringed when I saw the first girl come up to the table. It was Veronica. She was a bleach blonde groupie that had been pining after me for as long as I’ve been famous.  She was also a witch. I thanked all that was holy that I never slept with her because lord knows she tried to deliver herself on a silver platter more than once.

“Hey boys.”
She purred.

She looked at Aubrey with venom in her eyes. I
shuddered.

“Veronica.”
Blake said irritated.

             
Derek was too busy making out with his companion for the night to notice that she was even there. Kevin ignored her, so she came over and stood in front of me. She was appraising Aubrey as if she was competition.

“Are you a hipster or a hooker? I can’t tell the difference.”
She spat.

Oh shit
, this is going to get ugly!

“
I’m neither, but you call that classy? The proper length of a skirt is two inches below your cellulite.” Aubrey spat back.

“I can’t
believe that you’re with someone that looks like her, Jake. She’s just bleh! You could do so much better, like me.” She pushed her tits together. I was getting ready to open my mouth when Aubrey glanced at me. I nodded for her to say whatever she wanted.

“You don’t like me
… that’s a shame, I’ll pencil in some time to cry later. Right now I’m busy enjoying life.” Aubrey grabbed my hair and crashed her lips to mine. I liked jealous Aubrey. She pulled back with a smug look on her face. “Granny always says if someone hates you for no reason then you give that motherfucker a reason.” She smirked.

“You’re so pretty when you
’re mad.” I teased.

“If I’m pretty when I’m mad
, than I’m about to get fucking gorgeous!” She turned back to face Veronica.

“I’d take my anger out on your face
, but I think genetics already did a pretty good job.”

“Word on the street is
that you’re just a homely simpleton after Jake for his money.”

             
I had to laugh at that one because that wasn’t even close to the truth.

“Awe
, you’re spreading rumors about me? At least you found something to spread other than your legs.”

Veronica huffed. I nodded to Brett who had her removed. I a
pologized to Aubrey and promised that I would make it up to her later. She was still seething when the next gaggle came over. At least they were a little tamer. They were also smart enough not to try anything and risk being tossed out. I signed CD after CD until they called a wrap. We clambered into the limo and headed back to the hotel. Derek still had his groupie in tow.

“Aubrey
, those were some good comebacks tonight.” Blake said.

“If you’re looking for my
comeback go wipe it off your mom’s face.” Derek said.

“My favorite position is called WOW. It’s where I
flip your mom over.” Blake retorted.

“That’s fucking hilarious!”
Derek laughed.

I kept my
promise last night to make up for Veronica and ordered Aubrey the biggest brownie sundae that the hotel had to offer. She moaned the entire time, which led to me having to excuse myself to the bathroom for the “shits.” This morning we were meeting everyone in the lobby for breakfast. Surprisingly, we got there first. Aubrey and I ordered waffles and bacon. Brett ordered eggs and sausage. Kevin came down next. He was always so laid back and easy going. Aubrey called him the Valium for the group. He said good morning to everyone and ordered his tofu scramble. Blake was next. He stumbled into the booth half awake. He ordered a coffee and put his head on the table. Derek was last. He showed up with a huge grin on his face. He was most likely up all night doing horrible things to corrupt the girl that he brought back to his room.