Facing Me (4 page)

Evan grins,
tossing his gun to the light table.  Grabbing his phone, he starts
thumbing away with a big smile spreading across his face. “What if I were to
say that Abby and Jameson are wantin’ to see you in action?  Could be
interesting if Abby were to sign you to Ironsound.”

I look at Daisy
who is bouncing up and down, and says. “You tell them I'll have all access
passes for all of you up front tomorrow night.  I’ll give you the number
to my cell, just text me the number you need and I’ll take care of it.” She
fumbles out trying to compose herself.

“Works for us.”
Evan says, thumbing another text and tossing his phone down. “We’re done here
Hunter.” He adds, then wraps his arm to cover the fresh ink.

When Sean
mentions that a few blocks down there’s a bar that has kick ass food and great
music, it shoots our diner idea to hell.  We all decide it’s perfect to
shoot the shit for the night there, instead of a diner.  Hunter whines
about his precious bacon until Evan informs him they have some kind of bacon
covered pretzel dog.  By then, he’s ready to shove us all down the street.
 After Hunter pays for his sleeve work, we all pile into the ‘Burban,
since Evan says he can always just walk back later.    

Just as we pull
away from the curb, Hunter’s phone starts playing his ringtone for Chase.
 Sean looks over at Hunter with an amused grin. “You’re ringtone is ‘
Stroke
me, by Mickey Avalon’
?” He asks, making the entire vehicle erupt in
laughter.

Hunter shrugs,
“Yep.  The bitch can stroke like a boss.” Pushing a button he smiles, then
puts the phone to his ear. “My Tigerlily.  Are you callin’ to Facetime
from the waist down?”

“You’re a sick bastard
Cunter.” Daisy snaps, curled up against Gray in the third row seat.

Hunter’s body
tightens next to mine, I barely hear Chase’s screeching about something into
his ear. “What the fuck do you mean you ‘heard things’ Chase?” He asks in a
harsh voice. “Uh huh…  Uh huh… No fuckin’ way
!.
”
He bites out angrily, then glances at me. “You’re sure?  Um, I can’t talk
to you about it right now, Tigerlily.  I’ll call you later.” Hunter snaps,
watching my expression.  
What the fuck is this all about?
 He
ends the call, shoving the phone in his pocket without another word.  

“What the hell
was that about Cunter?” Daisy asks, leaning up in her seat.  Thankful to
her for asking the question I want to ask but didn’t want the interrogation
that would come along with the answer.

Looking straight
ahead, Hunter shakes his head. “Not talkin’ about it now.  I’ll deal with
this shit later.  I’ve got bacon to eat, beer to drink and kinky tattoo
sex stories to hear about.” He bites out. “So, Mrs. Cole, you can fuck right
off with your pregnancy hormones.  This isn’t the goddamn time or place.”

Daisy huffs
loudly, sitting back in her seat. “I’ll show you hormones when I shove my foot
up your ass dickhead!” My thoughts immediately go to Camaron.  Could she
be what the call was all about?  No.  I dismiss the thought, telling
myself Chase would’ve called Daisy if it were about Cam, not Hunter.
 Chase and Hunter don’t talk, they fuck.  

“Everything
alright?” I ask my brother, once Henry pulls into a parking lot. “Just call her
back in the bar man.  You know, make sure nothing’s wrong.” I shrug like
it’s no big deal.  Even though, I plan to eavesdrop on every damn word
while he does.  

“Yep, everything
is fuckin’ peachy.” Hunter says popping the ‘p’, “Bitches…  Always
believin’ rumors and bullshit speculations.” Blowing out a breath, he flings
open the door and climbs out. “Just gotta deal with it later, after I’ve got a
few beers in me, and no nosy fuckers listenin’.”

Daisy grabs my arm
just before we reach the door, “When I get back to the hotel, I’ll get my phone
and call Chase.  I’ll see what this shit is about, it has to be Cam.”
Leaning up, she kisses my cheek; the concern in her voice making me question
the call even more now.

***

Two hours later,
I’ve tried to bury my thoughts of Cam and fight the urge to call her.  All
while watching Hunter inhale close to a dozen hot dogs with pretzel buns
smothered in cheese and bacon.  Beer bottles quickly changed over to shots
for all of us except Daisy, who is happy with her lemonade.  The
conversation has been changing from Tiger Lilies, to toothy twats that bite and
that's just before the first round!

"So you’ve
got designated days of the week for different sexual acts? Plus different women?”
Hunter says rubbing his jaw. “That’s fuckin’ legendary!  So, is it
‘Stroke
me Sunday
’?  Maybe I can implement this on tour.  I like the idea
of ‘
Fill
her ass Friday’
.”

Evan roars out a
laugh, “Fuck yeah.  I change it up when necessary.  I like your ideas
though.” He slurs. “Plus, you already have your theme music for Sunday.” He
adds, making us all laugh.  Everyone, minus Daisy and Henry, starts
singing ‘
Stroke Me
’.  By singing, I mean screaming it in unison at
the top of our lungs, while Hunter pounds out the beat on the table.  The
less than Grammy winning performance earning our table lots of dirty looks from
other customers.  Including Daisy, who every once in a while stares at me
sadly.  She hasn’t said so, but I know I’m disappointing her.  
Ha!
 Welcome to the club I disappointed Cam too by telling her to leave.
 
  

Hunter wobbles
up from his chair, grabbing the waitress by the arms circling her around the
table. ”It’s a song that doubles as an invitation.  Want me to unlace my
boot and let loose my python?” He says, making some of the guys in the bar clap
and cheer for him to drag her to the back and 'unleash the beast'.  They
really need to be told not to encourage him.  It’s like feeding the bears
at the zoo, you’re only asking for trouble.  I debate on getting some
coffee made, or some shit, to sober Hunter up.  He needs to be coherent
when he calls Chase back.  At this rate he will be drunk dialing her for
phone sex.

The longer I sit
here trying to keep up with the conversation, the feeling settles deep in my
gut that the call has to be about Cam.  If Daisy doesn’t have her phone
with her, then maybe Chase was desperate enough to call my brother to get to
her.  I know up until Daisy stopped updating me on things Cam wasn’t doing
so well in Vegas.  She would cry when she heard me, so I just started
leaving if I was around when Daisy’s phone rang.  Even though I never
heard her sobs through the phone, just the thought of her shedding tears over
me ripped my damn heart out. 

Unable to take
the fun any longer, I push to my feet, “I’m gonna head back to the hotel,
there’s some shit I need to work on…”

Daisy’s eyes
scan mine, worry etched all over her face. “Aiden, you okay?” She asks, then
starts to stand with me.

“I’m fine.
 Just want to clear my head; I’ll walk back to the hotel or whatever.”
Ignoring Hunter groping the waitress, I turn and head out the door for the
street.  

The sidewalks
aren’t crowded this late at night, which is great.  I’m not good company
for anyone tonight.  I try to put on the front, like everything is perfect
but my mask is starting to crack.  Daisy saw through it almost
immediately, now the others will follow.  They will start walking on
eggshells around me, like before.  “Oh, poor Aiden.” I mutter as my boots
slap against the pavement. “Fuck that.” I need to get a grip before I lose my
damn mind.  Cam has done this to me.  She came into my life, turned
me inside out and made me fall in love with her.  Now that she’s gone, I’m
nothing.  The more I try to get over her, the more her memory haunts me.
 

Grabbing my
phone, I scan through my contacts and find Chase’s cell number from when Tad
attacked Daisy.  At the Emergency Room, I called her giving updates when
Hunter didn’t.  I stare at the number for a minute, debating on what to
say if she answered.  Then I notice the name above it.  Cam.  I
couldn’t bring myself to delete her number from my phone.  Clicking Cam’s
name, it brings up the I.D. picture from the night we met.  Her beautiful
face makes me smile, just as it always did.  Will she even talk to me?
 

I could hit send
right now and the phone would ring, but would she answer?  After
everything I said to her, would Cam even so much as say hello to me now?
 She probably shouldn’t and I can’t blame her if she did answer just to
tell me to fuck off.  It’s been weeks, months really, but I’ve never been
so desperate to hear her voice as I am right now.  Hitting the button, I
put the phone to my ear.  Her voice soothing me instantly; so, like a
crazy man, I listen to her voicemail recording.  The loving caress of her
sweet voice doesn’t last long enough, making me hang up when it beeps.  No
way will I leave a message.  

Shoving the
phone in my pocket, I walk the rest of the way to the hotel with too much on my
mind and no resolution to any of it.  Hearing her voice, on top of looking
at her picture, has done nothing but ignite my hunger for her.  My Cam.
 I want to see her face, smell her skin, I want to touch her.

The second I hit
my hotel room, I grab my sticks and start beating out a rhythm.  The song
that has been coming lately, isn’t my usual beat to go with Gray’s lyrics.
 This is coming with words of
it’s
own. 
Every single line is my own bleeding heart.  The more time I am away from
Cam, the more it pours out of me.  No matter how hard I try to ignore the
words, they push their way onto the paper as I write out the counts and notes
to go along with it.

“Beauty cut open
my heart and watch it bleed.

Don’t look away
from me

Smile as you
conquer my soul.

Blue Flames
ignite me from the start

I want to burn

Just let me
burn.”

I scribble the
words down on the page then send a text to Henry, planning my next move.
 I’ve got a dumbass brother to drag, possibly against his will, to my
hotel room.  Need to fill him up with coffee, maybe even have Henry toss
his ass into a cold shower.  After years of this shit, with his drunken
ass, we are used to it.  I’ve gotta get him sober and quick, that way he
can call and check on my girl.  
No.  
I remind myself yet
again.  
She’s not my girl...not anymore.
       

*Camaron*

After eating
Thai with Chase and Luke, I go back into my office to finish this week’s
invoices, while Luke handles his last appointment for the evening.  With Vegas
being the city that never sleeps, Luke was working all hours until he hired on
three more guys.  Now he really only does work for those who request him
or if he needs to cover for one of his boys.  Luke runs his business like
a family.  Our problems are his problems too and he makes sure he knows
what’s going on with each of us.  If you need something he makes sure you
know to come to him about it.  

It’s one of the
reasons I bonded with him so quickly.  Luke started building groundwork to
be there for me from day one.  When Chase brought me to the shop, he
instantly put me to work on the books.  When he saw what the independence
gave me, Luke encouraged me to do something else.  Moving into my own
place, going the gym, even getting my hair cut; Luke was there cheering me on.
 Seriously, give the big six and a half foot tall guy some pom-poms, Luke
is my biggest cheerleader.  

Since it’s been
a couple months since Aiden and I have been together, I should be able to move
on.  But I’m just not ready to jump into bed with someone and I nearly
made that mistake today with Luke.  Burying my face in my hands I blow out
a breath.  What would I have done if I had slept with Luke and it ruined
our friendship?  I have so few people in my life; I can’t afford to fuck
something up so badly.

A knock on the
door makes me jump.  Chase struts into the room, slamming the door behind
her. “You little vixen!  It’s about time!” She squeals, flopping down onto
the couch that I was making out with Luke on just hours ago.

My eyes go wide,
“What?”

“You know
exactly what!  All this time I thought you were pining away over Aiden and
you’re bumping the uglies with my brother!” Her crazy squealing ass says, while
bouncing up and down on the cushions. “I’m so proud of you Cammie!  Such a
bad, bad bitch!  He hasn’t gotten any in so long, I’m surprised he
remembered how but...”  The expression on my face must be scary as hell
because her face falls. “Oh shit, Cammie...I…”

“No.  It’s
okay Chase.” I start, “I was upset and things got heated with Luke.  I
didn’t mean for it to… I just don’t want…” Unable to finish my words, I just
shake my head.

“I know you
didn’t babe.  I’m sorry.” She stands, walks over, and props her hip on my
desk. “Listen, Luke has a thing for you.  Crushin’ hard from the
beginning.  Just talk to him, tell him how you feel.  Take it slow,
see where it goes.  He’ll understand.  It’s not like he’s madly in
love and ready to name the babies.”

“We’re going to
talk after he’s done here.” I reply, blowing out a breath.

“That’s good.
 I like you being around so don’t let him fuck this up.  No rushing
into whatever you think he wants.” She says nudging me with her leg.