Chasing Me (17 page)

“What if we say no?” Grayson asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “If we say things are good like they are, would you be satisfied with that? Or is this a deal breaker for you now?”

Looking between the two of them, I think about his question. If I were to stay on this hamster wheel for the rest of the ride, would I be satisfied? This could be the end of the band. If I lay out the ultimatum and they say no, could I just walk away from Shaft? Could they? I’d be walking away from my family. The thing is, though, Chase is right. This is important enough for me to fight for, and I won’t know until I try.

“I don’t want to, you’re my family. But I’m not here to be the sacrificial dick for the groupie pussy just because I’m not married. I need to be able to measure my accomplishments with more than empty condom wrappers.”

“So you need to do this then?” Gray asks and I nod; yes.

“Shit, Hunter, is that really how you think we all see you?” Cam asks, shock written all over her face. Poor Daisy looks hurt at my accusation too, but I can’t apologize for how I feel. All I can do is make it right. To chase the vision of myself I can see now.

“I think I’m satisfied with that answer, Gray.” Aiden says, “How about you?”

Gray nods, “Yep, sounds like he means business.”

My eyes move between Daisy and Grayson, to Cam and Chase before finally landing on Aiden. “Okay, so tomorrow morning we walk into the session with three brains instead of two.” He says, clapping me on the back.

The breath rushes from my chest, relief flooding me. “We’d never have let you walk.” Gray says shrugging. “We had to see if you’re really serious about this, that’s all. The album is too important and if you aren’t all in, we need to know now.”

“I’m all in.” I assure them, standing to my feet. Grabbing Chase’s hand, I start down the hall toward the basement door. “Going to tuck the kid in now, See ya in the mornin’.”

“Hi, Hunter. I thought I heard you come in.” Katheryn’s voice from the hall stops me. Looking up, I catch her coming out of the bathroom wearing one of Big Man’s shirts. “I hear you have a beautiful little girl.” Stepping up to us, she reaches out a hand to Chase. “I’m Katheryn, Henry’s…”

“Piece of ass.” Daisy huffs, from behind us. “You haven’t earned the right to be called anything other than a groupie piece around here. No offense to Big Man but, anyone who knows your track record with the guys so far knows you would’ve taken whoever you could get.”

“You don’t know me, bitch.” Katheryn snarls, propping a hand on her hip. “I may have started out a groupie, but I finished with Hunter loooooong before he finished with me.” Tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder, she shrugs. “Can’t help it if Henry’s just a better fit for me.”

“Huh, probably because he can parallel park the fuckin’ bus in that snatch of yours.” Chase mutters beside me.

“What was that dear?” Katheryn asks, her mouth pressing into a hard line.

“Oh nothing.” Chase shrugs, twirling her hair innocently. “I was just thinking to myself that if Henry’s the better fit for you, why are you out here with us? You should be in there with him and not tryin’ to flash your goods to men who have everything they need.” Chase steps up to Katheryn, meeting her toe to toe. “I’ll tell you this,
dear
; even though Hunter may have been balls deep in you for a minute, it wasn’t your ass makin’ him blow his load. It. Was. Me. I’m in his head, babe. Some bitches just have stayin’ power, you’re a dyin’ breed. If I were you, I’d be careful where you flap those lips.”

“You’re wrong.” Katheryn bites out.

Daisy steps closer, to Chase and me. “If that’s the case and you earn your spot, we’ll gladly apologize. Until then, I don’t even want to breathe the same air as you.”

“Baby?” Henry calls from the doorway to his room. “I wondered what was takin’ you so long.” He says, walking out in a pair of old sweat pants. Big Man assesses the situation, going rigid automatically. “What’s going on?”

“Nothin’ baby,” Katheryn chokes out, turning to Henry. “Just catching up, let’s go back to bed.”

Henry looks at Daisy, Chase and me, when Katheryn wraps her arms around his middle. “Everything go alright tonight?”

I nod. “Nothin’ that can’t wait ‘til tomorrow, Big Man.” I assure him, because I’ll be damned if we’re gonna discuss anything with an outsider in the house. Henry deserves to have someone, doesn’t mean I have to trust her right away. I’ll tell you this much, no guy immediately trusts a bitch that mumbles her name between tongue laps at your balls. If Katheryn has staying power, great; but until then, I’m going with my gut instinct. Letting her in the loop makes about as much sense as shooting darts at my condom stash.

“I don’t like this at all.” I mumble to Daisy when Henry closes the bedroom door behind him and Katheryn.

“Well, we don’t know her.” She replies.

“What I know, I don’t like.” Chase says, jerking the door open to the basement.

“Chase?” Daisy asks grabbing her arm. “I have something I need to do tomorrow. I need you and Cam to go with me.”

Chase’s eyes snap to Daisy’s, mine do too. “Is something wrong? The baby?” I ask nervously. Ever since Tad attacked Daisy months ago, we’ve been pretty much treating her like glass. Add on top of that the fact that that douche tried again to get to her and Camaron, we’ve all been pretty worried about her and the baby’s well-being.

“No, and yes.” She answers. Looking around, she leans in carefully. “I’m having an ultrasound and since Gray can’t be there, I want both of my girls there with me.”

Chase’s eyes go misty, “Of course I’ll go, Daisy.” In true hormonal fashion they hug and jump up and down all giddy-like. “Are we gonna be able to see what it is?”

“It’s a baby, Chase.” I say in frustration.

Chase smacks me in the arm. “Hush smartass, I mean a boy or a girl.”

“I knew that.” I did.

“Fingers crossed.” Daisy says holding up her crossed fingers.

“Well this is just great news.” I say, clasping my hands together. “Can we please go get naked now? My penis hasn’t been touched in hours.”

“With that, I’m going to get Gray from the kitchen and go to bed.” Daisy says shoving around me.

Jerking the door open, I sling an arm around Chase’s shoulders and head down the steps. Jasmine comes running from the bedroom in a princess dress-up outfit, Bits hot on her heels. Skidding to a stop, she lands flat on her ass with a thump. Bits goes insane. Attacking the hem of her dress, growling and tugging. “Bits this is
my
dress. Stop!”

“Damn dog hates that frilly shit.” Mack laughs, his eyes never leaving the television.

“Those aren’t pajamas, Jazzie.” I say, reminding her of what I had just told her moments ago. Is it illegal to bribe a child with money? She likes cookies, how many cookies would it take to get her to go to bed?

“This is prettier.” She replies, standing to her feet.

“She’s right.” Chase teases, sticking her tongue out at me. “Come on princess; let’s get your bed ready. You wanna sleep in that, that’s fine with me.” Leaning down she whispers something into her ear making her gasp.

“Really?” She asks walking hand in hand with Chase toward the room that is now filled with all the shit we bought tonight. With Chase’s free hand, she crosses her fingers over her heart, making Jasmine gasp again.

“Yes, so go ahead and get ready, I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Jasmine runs into the room, dog in tow. Chase turns and winks at me. “Problem solved.”

“What did you say to her?” I ask, walking over and running my fingers up the inside of her arm. “Did you offer to pay her off in money or baked goods?” I ask, knowing I was mentally calculating how many dollar bills or cookies it would take to convince her to listen to me.

“I told her that Bits would probably sleep with her if she changes.”

“You’re such a genius, babe.” I reply, pulling her closer. “Now touch my penis.”

“As great of a line as that was, I promised to read her a story.” She murmurs against my lips, making me hard and nearly making me weep from rejection at the same time. “Go grab a beer or somethin’; I’ve got a date with a princess and your wiener.” Chase teases, grinning against my mouth.

“You’ve just totally ruined a fantasy of mine now.” Pulling back, I laugh.

“I’ll make it up to you later.” She says walking into Jasmine’s room, promise lacing her voice.

“Yes, you will.” I assure her before going in search of a beer and kicking Mack out.

Love Stories

Chase

Jasmine is lying in bed, just as I had guessed. Bits sprawled out beside her and a pile of books we bought tonight. “I’ve read all these before.” I say sitting beside her on the mattress. “How about I tell you a story instead?”

Jasmine’s eyes sparkle in excitement. “A princess story?”

I nod. “Once upon a time, there was a princess.” I begin when Jasmine scoots toward me. “She was raised by a wicked Ice Queen. The queen was cursed; consumed by her jealously of others, her heart turned to ice. When everyone loved the princess more than her, the queen punished her own people. Her hate-filled screams freezing the entire kingdom in solid ice.” Jasmine’s doesn’t move a muscle. I watch her face, knowing that her imagination is running wild with the story as I go on.

“One day, the queen decided to pack the princess up to travel far away to a new castle. The princess was so beautiful, so special, that they all instantly loved her too. Angry, the queen lashed out at them all, determined to lock them in ice too.” Jasmine hangs onto every word. “The knights were ready to protect the princess at all cost; making the queen’s powers useless. The queen fled, leaving the princess with people she didn’t know.”

Jasmine gasps. “Was she scared?” She asks, nervously clutching at Bits.

I hope not.
I think to myself, but don’t say it. “At first she was.” I nod my head. “The new castle she was living in was full of people she didn’t know. They were a family, welcoming her with open arms. She spent her days riding the horse or dressing in her best dresses to have tea parties. She had knights that protected her and, there, no one would scare her or make her cry ever again.”

“She has nothing to be scared of now.” Jasmine murmurs sleepily, her eyes drooping.

“No, she doesn’t.” Hunter says from the bathroom door, making me jump. Walking around the bed, he kisses Jasmine on the forehead. “Night, princess.”

Jasmine grins, drifting off to sleep as I tuck the blanket around her and Bits. “Come on, I wanna talk to you.” Hunter says, leading me through the adjoining bathroom into our bedroom.

“Okay,” I purr, letting my fingers skim up his arms. “If you’d rather talk, but I was thinking of something more physical.”

“Fuck me.” He groans, when I press my body against his.

“That’s the idea.”

Shaking his head, he chuckles. “No, that’s happening in like ten seconds. I have an idea for a song.” He replies nervously. “It needs something though. The song needs you.”

“What?” I gasp, pushing away from him completely. “No, no, not happening. The wedding was a fluke, a once in a lifetime chance. It was fun, but that was for Cam.” I explain, brushing him off.

“You’ve got an amazing fuckin’ voice, babe.” He argues. “What I’m workin’ on is chilling, haunting. It’s been in my head for months, but I’ve just never written it out. Until now, I never thought it mattered enough. It’s nothing like Shaft has ever put out there, the truth is it could make us or break us. And the voice I hear singing it with me came from your lips.” Stepping up to me, he cups my face in his hands. “It won’t work without you. The power of the song will lie between us singing the lyrics to each other. I’m showin’ it to the guys tomorrow; then we’ll start workin’ it up.”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going on stage with you to sing this song; or even in a studio.” I reply. My head and heart battle, deciding how I feel about Hunter’s news. I’m scared shitless at the thought of agreeing to this. But how can I say no? He gets a shot to prove he can contribute to writing lyrics and he wants to demonstrate that by writing a duet, with me?

“I’m probably completely insane, Tiger Lily, you know that better than most.” He admits, nuzzling my neck. “I’ve never wanted any of this; the kid, you, the chance at having my name listed as song writer. None of it ever crossed my mind until you told me you loved me. Even then I doubted whether it was possible. Then when I watch you with her, it’s like the puzzle pieces all fit together.” He says, sweetly. “I’ve lived my life with no regrets, until now. I know that I can’t go back in time and fix them, but I can change things now. For you and for Jazzie, because you deserve more than what I was; but even more so,
I
want
to change.”

“I don’t want you to change for me, honey. Jazzie wouldn’t either. My feelings for you didn’t grow while you were being someone else. I’m in love with you, honey. The guy who flaunts his talents and isn’t ashamed of anything. With every piece of yourself you give me, I only find myself fallin’ harder. I don’t see that changing.”

Hunter’s lips brush against mine, silently telling me all that matters. He may not be able to say the words now, but I can feel them. Fumbling backward, he pulls us into the bathroom. Carefully, he shuts the door to Jasmine’s room, flipping the lock. “We both really need a shower.” He mumbles against my lips.