Boston Avant-Garde 2 - Crescendo (20 page)

“Here.” Josh wrapped his arms around Seth’s midsection. “Let’s get him into the shower.”

“With his clothes on?”

“This is how men handle these types of things with each other.” He grunted beneath his friend’s weight. Seth was no pixie, being a hair taller and a fraction wider than Joshua. Thankfully, Leslie got the bathroom door and opened the shower stall for him. He probably should’ve been sorrier about just dumping Seth onto the floor, but he wasn’t.

“Are you sure, Josh?” She looked at him doubtfully as he flipped the cold water on full blast.

Seth coughed to avoid choking on the spray.

It was impossible to keep the satisfaction from his tone. “Yep, I’m sure.”

“I think you’re enjoying this a little too much. Are you mad at him?”

“A little.”

“I should’ve told you guys about my past from the beginning. You were honest with me, and I wasn’t with you.” She reached over and took his hand. “I’m sorry.”

Joshua thought about the conversation he’d had with Seth earlier that evening about her ulterior motives. The two of them agreed she was still hiding something. Even her apology couldn’t erase the feeling that there was still something they didn’t know.

I don’t care.

Seth struggled into a sitting position. Wet hair straggled around his face. “All right, I’m up.”

It was Leslie who turned the water off and fetched him a thick towel. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

He bobbed his head up and down, though he didn’t speak.

She gently brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear. “Can I get you some water or something?”

He nodded, and she quickly left the bathroom.

Joshua watched her go before hauling Seth to his unsteady feet. “If you puke on me, I’m going to punch you in the face.”

“I’m not going to puke.” Seth’s voice was rough, and he had to grip the edges of the shower to stay upright.

Josh gave the expensive slacks and dress shirt a once over. “You need to strip out of those clothes.”

Seth glanced down at the mushy Italian leather on his feet. “Next time, please remember to take off my shoes first. These were my favorites.”

“How about you just don’t do this again?”

Seth inhaled deeply and threw his head back, shutting his eyes against the bright bathroom lights. “Deal.”

He fumbled with his wet zipper while Joshua worked at the sodden buttons on his shirt. When Leslie walked back in with a bottle of water and a blanket, Seth had one hand on Joshua’s shoulder to step out of his pants.

She leaned against the bathroom sink. “Now there’s an intriguing sight.”

Seth cursed as he nearly toppled over while Joshua peeled the shirt from his chest. “I’m not feeling particularly sexy at the moment. Try me tomorrow morning.”

Her merry laugh made them both stare. “You’ll be so out of it tomorrow morning that Joshua and I could both have our way with you, and you’d never know it.”

Josh watched the emotions play over her features and wondered what she was really thinking. Her laugh dissolved into a melancholy expression.

She pushed away from the counter. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to bed. I’m not even sure caffeine could give me a second kick.”

She left the bathroom. They followed a moment later, Seth naked and shivering with a water bottle in hand as he walked slowly through the living room to the big bedroom at the back of the suite.

Joshua didn’t know how Seth’s alcohol binge had effected his libido, but the sight of Leslie snuggled into the center of the king-size bed was enough to send a shot of arousal straight to Josh’s cock. He bit back a groan and concentrated on shucking out of his own clothes. Shoes, socks, slacks, dress shirt, jacket, and tie all hit the chair on the right side of the bed in an unceremonious heap. By then he had himself more or less under control.

She wasn’t naked. Somehow the fact that she’d tossed aside the sweat pants in favor of a pair of plain, white cotton panties was more erotic than the sight of her bare ass in the bed. The chill in the bedroom caused her nipples to peak beneath the camisole, and Joshua wondered if he should offer to turn the heat up, or secretly turn it down and suggest they snuggle for warmth.

Seth hauled his naked body onto the left side of the bed and buried his head beneath a pillow. Reaching over, Leslie tenderly covered him with the duvet and tucked it around his body. If he noticed, he didn’t mention it, and Josh expected to hear a rumbling snore instead.

“Do you need anything before I climb in?” He removed his watch and set it on the bedside table.

“I need you to get rid of that excess clothing.”

He did as she asked, the chill air covering his skin in goose bumps. He flipped off the light and climbed into the king-size bed.

She squirmed for several moments before sitting straight up. The bed dipped, and in the darkness, he realized she was stripping off her camisole and wiggling out of her panties. His cock flared to life, thrumming with desire. With a sigh, she laid back down.

“This is the first time we’ve all slept naked in bed together,” she whispered to the room at large. “It isn’t at all how I imagined it would be.”

Regret dampened Joshua’s desire, and he reached for her smooth body. Pulling her against him, he pressed her naked backside up against his groin; his cock fit perfectly into the soft crease of her bottom. Wrapping her in his arms, he nuzzled her neck until she turned her head to give him better access.

“It’s all falling apart, Joshua.” Her voice was small in the dark room.

He sighed. “Go to sleep. Things will look better in the morning.”

It seemed to settle her, and in moments, her deep breathing told him she’d slipped into sleep. He wondered if his words were true or not. On her other side, Seth turned and faced them. There was no exchange of words between the two of them. Only silence. And in the silence, everything seemed uncertain.

Chapter Nineteen

“Wow, Talia wasn’t kidding.” Erik’s self-satisfied smile made Seth want to deck him. “She told me the two of you were whipped, and I told her it wasn’t possible. Good thing she told me to come and shuttle the two of you to the concert tonight. You don’t look capable of independent function.”

Erik strode into their hotel suite, and Joshua let the door slam closed behind him. Seth flinched. He hadn’t known a hangover could last this long or be this vengeful. Leslie had gone to her rehearsal at Lincoln Center hours before he managed to crawl out of bed. Every sound was agony and every light piercing. He wanted nothing more than to climb back under the covers and pass out.

“Look at you two.” Erik ran his fingers through his messy, dark hair. “You used to have every woman in Boston vying for a chance to lick your feet. But you weren’t satisfied with them. Nope. You had to go find yourselves the one girl who could strip you bare and turn you inside out.”

Josh eyed the arrogant tilt of Erik’s chin and crossed his arms belligerently over his chest. “So basically we followed right in your footsteps?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

They laughed, clapping each other on the back. Josh grinned broadly, trying and failing to include Seth in the banter. Seth wasn’t in the mood. Their relationship with Leslie hardly seemed worth celebrating at the moment. He was hiding things, Leslie was most likely still hiding things, and Joshua was joking about it. Besides, he didn’t want to join in when Josh and Erik were congratulating themselves on falling in love with women guaranteed to drive them insane. Was that really the way things were supposed to be? Was that what he’d been imagining when he fantasized about him and Josh sharing the rest of their lives with one woman?

“I can remember watching you run yourself in circles trying to make it work with Talia, and I felt sorry for you then,” Josh said.

Erik looked almost understanding, not something Seth would’ve expected of a hard-ass businessman. “And now?”

“The parade of willing pussies we brought through our apartment used to be enough. Unfortunately, half of them were about as smart as the woodwork, and the rest were cold, calculating bitches trying to figure out the best way to use us to their advantage.”

Erik looked right at Seth. “That’s why the right one is worth the craziness. At the end of the day, I know I can go home to a woman who isn’t trying to manipulate me, use me, or play mind games I don’t have the patience for. She’s just Talia, and I love the hell out of her.”

Something inside Seth’s heart lurched at Erik’s matter-of-fact description. The man was right. Finding a woman they could just
be
with was worth it. If only he didn’t feel like their relationship with Leslie had been built on lies and subterfuge. He’d been less than honest when he’d convinced her she had no other choice than to move in with them. At what point was he just kidding himself that it would ever be more than a business relationship distorted by casual sex?

“So.” Erik clapped his hands together. “I’ve been sent to retrieve you two for the concert.”

Joshua glanced down at his casual slacks and then up at Erik’s nicer attire. “I think we’d better change clothes.”

“Whatever you want, but you ladies need to get a move on, or my wife will string me up and beat me until I scream.”

Josh laughed. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Excuse me. I’m not as adventurous as the two of you.”

The image of Leslie bound in the middle of their bed while he and Joshua teased and tormented her naked body burned itself into Seth’s mind. He bit back a moan and retreated to the bedroom. Though his heart might be conflicted about Leslie, his body knew without a doubt she was the only one he would ever want again.

* * *

“I’m insane. Do you think Professor Williamson will be pissed if I call the whole thing off and change my mind?” Leslie pulled the curtain closed and tried to take slow deep breaths to quiet the rising sense of panic. Taking a peek at the massing audience had been a bad idea.

“Oh, there’s Erik!” The satisfaction in Talia’s voice was enough to make Leslie cry.

“How do you do it?” she asked. “How do you trust that he’ll still love you when you wake up every day, even when he goes to sleep mad as hell?” She put her face in her hands.

“Love isn’t always pretty, Les. Sometimes it
is
mad as hell.” Talia smoothed a hand down the long skirt of her slinky black dress. “At some point you have to trust in what you feel and what they feel and quit trying to micromanage.”

Leslie thought of the moment she’d opened her eyes that morning, of the three of them tangled naked in the center of the bed. Joshua’s body had been curled protectively around hers. In sleep, Seth’s subconscious had set his anger aside, and he’d draped his arm over her hip. With her head nestled into the hollow of his shoulder, she was soothed by his presence on one side and Joshua’s on the other. If she could wake like that every morning for the rest of her life, she’d consider herself the luckiest woman on earth.

“It’s nearly time.” Professor Williamson appeared in a tux complete with tails. His conductor’s baton whipped through the air with each word. “Are you ready?”

“It’s too late to say otherwise, isn’t it?” Leslie tried to be nonchalant.

“It’s never too late.” The professor cupped her cheek. “But your grandfather dreamed of you and that violin debuting together on this stage. Tonight is his moment as much as it is yours.”

I will not cry. I will not cry.

Of all the things he could have said, the professor had chosen the one thing that could take her back to childhood. She’d been hiding for so long. Hiding where she’d come from, what she could do, and most of all, hiding the violin her grandfather had given her. She’d let her fears keep her from everything, even from the two men who loved her.

Sucking in a deep breath, she felt the years of training sweep her nervous system with an icy calm sense of purpose. No more hiding. Not for her, not for
La Bella Ragazza
. She could do this. Grandfather would’ve
wanted
her to do this. It was way overdue.

“They will announce each of you individually. Wait for your cues.” The professor shook his shoulders and pasted a wide smile on his narrow face. He pushed through the curtain with more flair than Leslie could ever hope to match.

Talia burst into a fit of giggles. “Was your grandfather like that?”

“Less dramatic, but in some ways, yes. It’s the passion.”

“Well, if you do the whole-body drama-queen shake, I’m going to kick your ass back to reality.”

The clapping died down, and an announcer’s voice crackled to life. “Soloist Talia Davies-Aasen.”

Talia took a deep breath and strode confidently out onto the stage. Leslie felt a rush of pride on behalf of her friend. Talia had changed so much since the night she’d met Erik. There was almost nothing left of the insecure foster child who’d spent years feeling inferior to everyone else in her life. She was talented, graceful, beautiful, and loved by a man who had moved heaven and earth to make her his.

Lucky bitch.

Seth had never been inside the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. He knew the New York Philharmonic played there, but a trip to watch them perform had never made it to the top of his priority list. Calling the facility dazzling was a massive understatement. It had been designed to inspire awe. Practically everything inside had been gilded. The central stage was bracketed on either side by boxes. He, Joshua, and Erik had seats near the right edge of the stage in a box with a magnificent view. Below them, floor seats stretched toward the back of the auditorium, and three balcony levels lined each side above.

On the stage, Julliard’s orchestra was arranged into an impressive U shape on the smooth, wood stage. The house was full, even though the audience hadn’t come to see the celebrated Philharmonic. Instead, they waited patiently for the two musicians who would take their places in the empty chairs directly underneath him.

“There she is,” Erik whispered when Talia appeared. She perched on the edge of her chair. Violin resting in her lap, she arranged her skirt around her legs. “God, I love that woman.”