Make Me Stay (9 page)

“Kane, guys, here are the girls,” I said with a huge smile. Their faces were priceless. “I was just telling the girls how much you were begging me to bring them over here. Ladies, these guys might be studs on the stage, but in real life, they get a little shy around women.” I glanced down to see Kane shaking his head and laughing. I held his shoulder and pinched the muscle tightly. His smile fell as he withered in pain. I then reached over to Reece and did the same thing. He didn’t say ouch, but his mouth opened wide in pain. I leaned over in between their heads and spoke softly. “You fuckers better be nice to these women. They are your fans too. If I see you being mean or rude to any one of them, I’m going to hunt you down and put your balls in a vice grip. Kitty has her claws out, so you better behave, you got me?”

They all nodded to me and I think Trent even clutched his balls.
Good my point was made.

Smacking their backs, I stood and faced the women. “They’re all yours, ladies, enjoy your night. ONS is paying your tab.”

CHAPTER 16

Kane

I can’t believe she just did that.
Elbows on the table, I rubbed my eyes then ran my fingers back through my hair. Our Kitty was clever, there was no doubting that. We all shook our heads and tried to make the best of it. I, for one, wasn’t going to mess with these women. The idea of Kitty with my balls in a vice grip was enough to make me do almost anything, including entreating these women. We all stood from the table and grabbed a chair for them.

Once we were all settled around two tables, they began asking us questions. I felt like we were being interrogated.

“We’re really big fans,” one said nervously. She was sitting next to me and Reece was on my other side.

“I can see that,” Reece said. I knew exactly what he meant by that, and I was hoping like hell that these women didn’t catch on. I turned to him, eyes wide with warning before I stepped on his foot. “Damn it, Kane, watch your fucking feet,” Reece yelled.

Just then, Caroline walked back over. Standing between Reece and me again, she grabbed our shoulders. I tried really hard not to make a pained face. Reece did the same.

“Is there a problem? Everything going okay?” she asked through a gritted smile.

“We’re fine, Kitty,” JJ said, coming to Reece’s and my rescue.

“Good! You ladies be nice. These guys are family,” she added, winking at JJ.

I didn’t know why, but hearing her say that made me smile.

We had kept our word, we were as proper as we could be. These women were fans, the real kind. They loved our music, they weren’t just here to jump us or become one of our conquests. Most of them were married. One was even six months pregnant. What we thought was going to be torture, ended up being a good time. Go figure. Kitty’s plan backfired. But we weren’t going to let her know that. We were grateful to meet with fans who actually appreciated us for our music and not just how we could please them in bed.

I caught Caroline chatting with Nate. It would be Nate. He graduated a year before us and was jealous as hell that we’d get so much tail. I didn’t see what she saw in him. I sure as hell didn’t believe that he was her type. He was boring and complacent--he was basically the complete opposite of me.
Whatever, my Monday night was most likely waiting on our front porch. I’d get over Kitty one way or another.

***

A week had turned into a month. Not much had changed. We played every Friday night at BJ’s, picked up a few other gigs. We worked construction during the day, and we practiced as often as we could. The only thing that was different was I’d get a fucking hard on every time I’d see Caroline.
Seriously, someone is going to start noticing.

Our banter was going strong and the practical jokes were getting borderline dangerous--for us, that is. It started with Reece. He was making a thrusting motion behind Caroline as she walked by, but the dumb ass forgot that there was a mirror and she had seen the whole thing. Kitty immediately turned around and kicked him in the shin, hard. The next night we had to play, and he was missing beats because he was in so much pain.

Next was JJ. He had found a photo of Caroline when they were little, in the bathtub, together. He showed us all. Now, JJ will think twice before showing any other photos like that, because she went to his mom and got a picture of him when he was twelve in a zip up PJ, a horrible haircut, and full head gear. She blew the picture up and hung it on the wall near where he stood, so everyone would see while he played.

Aiden had finally gotten the balls to make a move on Kitty. He was trying to sweet talk her at the bar one night while she was making drinks. I don’t know what was said and he swore never to tell us, but her face went from smiling to serial killer in a split second. Reaching below the bar, she emerged with the soda hose and proceeded to spray him in the face. Two days later, he had a nasty eye infection. Red and swollen. He didn’t get laid for a week after that. She was so proud of herself.

Trent was lucky
he
didn’t lose a nipple. One night after our show, we were all sitting around out back. Kitty had plopped down on Trent’s lap, which had become routine. I hated it.
What the hell was wrong with my lap?
It had to be the big bad biker/protector vibe he put off. Women went fucking nuts for that.

Resting her feet, from running around all night, she would snuggle up and rest her head on his shoulder.

I didn’t know why, but he always got away with feeling her up. Either she would be too tired to notice or, hell, maybe she liked it. This one particular night, he took it a bit too far and paid for it. She swatted his hand away, hit his shoulder, and when he was still laughing about it, she scrunched her face up and went right for his nipple, pinching it hard and then twisting with ferocity. He screeched like a girl, jumped up, but she wouldn’t release him. Kitty had her claws in him and she wasn’t letting go.

“I like you Trent,” she had said. “But if you touch me like that again, you are going to lose this!” she said, twisting his left nipple a little more.

Of course, my pranks were the worst and every day I added at least one new bruise to my sore body. I ran the gambit. I had put a fake snake in her bed, that gained me a bruise on the left arm. I had jumped out of the closet in the back while she was cleaning up one night, which got me a punch in the gut. One of my favorites was when I told her B needed to speak with her in the walk in freezer. I watched her walk in then closed and locked the door behind her. She was in there for a good ten minutes. When I let her out, her teeth were chattering while she was swinging her arms at me. The only reason she got me right in the jaw was because I was hunched over, laughing so hard.

Now, she wasn’t a saint either. She was just as nasty with us. She had ordered thirty pizzas one night and sent them to our house. Two hundred and some odd dollars later, we had pizza for a week and a half. Then there was the group of guys who were under the impression that we swung their way. Our Kitty had managed to make sure no women were allowed on the patio, thus we were surrounded by dudes with disturbing ideas about us. That was a long and very uncomfortable night.

The worst happened last night. We were just getting ready to go on. Kitty was standing in her usual corner just before the door to the open bar. I was trying to ignore her because she had practically broken my hand. It didn’t matter that she had bent my hand back for trying to smack her ass. When she grabbed me by the arm and hulled me back so I was flush against her, I was more than surprised.

“Kane,” she breathed, running her fucking, soft hands all up and down my shirtless arm.

Swallowing the huge lump in my throat I looked down at her.

“I want to try something with you. When you’re done playing, I’m really embarrassed to admit it, but I can’t hold back any more.” She kept running her hand up and down my arm, then she bit her lip nervously.

Fuck!
I prayed that she didn’t see the raging hard on I was sporting. That would have totally given me away. I needed to play cool, like I didn’t care, but who the fuck was I trying to kid? “What do you have in mind, Kitty?” I asked leaning into her, her body was flush with mine, and fuck if I couldn’t feel her nipples through her thin shirt.
Shit!
I looked down, and she wasn’t even wearing a fucking bra.

“I want it to be special, just us,” she said, chewing on her finger
.

Holy shit balls!
I was ready to cancel the show, tell the guys to fuck off, and rush her up to her room.

“After,” was all she said as she pushed me back and pointed up to the stage.

I kept it just to the songs, no drinks, no flirty banter with the crowd, I just wanted it over. The guys kept giving me looks, but I didn’t care, I still had chub just thinking about all the naughty things I was going to do to my little kitty. When we finished, I raced straight out the back, only to find Kara. She handed me a note, I opened it and felt my jaw go slack as I read the words that were so beautifully written.
Meet me down by the river. I’ll be in the water, waiting...naked...

There just so happened to be a large river that ran behind Main Street, It was great to wade in and float down and Caroline James was naked in it, waiting for me. She had finally taken that fucking wall down and was ready to give in.

I was standing on the edge of the water after walking up and down the edge trying to find her, and then I spotted her clothes, all of them! I searched the water. Lucky for me, the moon was bright, which made it painfully obvious where she was. Coming up from under the water, she pushed her hair out of her face.

“Kane, hurry up and get out here, I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”

I couldn’t speak. I just stripped as fast as I could. As I pulled off my boxers and tossed then into the pile of clothes, I realized just how much I liked seeing our clothes mixed up on the ground together.

I looked back out to the water when Caroline yelled “Now!”

I watched as she stood up in a bathing suit from the water that was at her thighs. That’s when a huge flood light turned on illuminating the whole side of the river. It’s then, that I noticed all the people standing around laughing.
That sneaky little bitch
! Everyone from the bar, the guys, B, women of all ages, stood around admiring me in all my glory. Usually, I wouldn’t mind. But as I glanced around with a huge smile on my face my eyes landed on my mom!
She fucking called my mom
!

I ran into the water at full speed. “You’re going to pay for this Kitty!” I yelled as I made my way in the cold water. When I caught up to her, I pushed her head under the water. “If you wanted to see the package that bad, Kitty, you should have just asked,” I said when she reemerged from under the water.

“Wasn’t that impressive,” she called and then pushed me down in the water.

“Oh, Kitty, when will you just admit, you want me?”

“Keep dreaming, Kane,” she said as she swam away.

CHAPTER 17

Caroline

I was sitting on my balcony, drinking a beer. It was close to three in the afternoon, and I was killing time before I had to help Dad prep for the night. There was another band coming to play. The guys were friends with them and were helping them gain a bigger audience.
I guess these rock guys stick together
. The boys had promoted them last night, telling the audience that they’d be here to watch and that everyone should come and join them.

I sat, thinking about the previous night. I still couldn’t believe I pulled it off. After the shock wore off that Kane was buck-ass naked, everyone stripped to their underwear and jumped into the river. It ended up being a really fun time. When I was planning it, I didn’t think too far in advance. I had seen Kane--all of Kane and it was making things--difficult. I’d never let on that it was, but now, I didn’t think I’d be able to look at him with a straight face, because all I’d see was that glorious package of his, that I had straight-up lied to his face about.

Sitting up a little from my chair, I heard, then saw, Kane’s red pickup truck pull up. His truck was a beautiful red color, just like his precious guitar that he called baby. It had chrome in all the right places, it was high off the ground with big tires, and it looked hot. I didn’t see him as a truck-kind-of guy. I saw him more as an older muscle car guy at first. I thought it went better with the whole rocker thing. Suddenly, my mind wandered and I got an image of me in cowboy boots and daisy dukes, jumping out of the truck and into his arms. Shaking my head quickly, I got the picture out of my mind before I could elaborate on it.

It was getting hotter by the day and, as he jumped out of his truck, I nearly dropped my beer on my lap. He was a sweaty mess, no shirt, cargo shorts, backward hat, and glistening body.
Fuck, Caroline, get it together
. He stood next to his truck, his arms hanging over the bed. The other guys pulled in next. Trent was also driving his truck, which was black like his bass. Aiden, Reese, and Trent all got out of his truck, looking just as yummy as Kane. None of them had shirts on. Their tatted-up bodies had a glorious mix of dirt and sweat coating their muscular frames. This was clearly the best perk of me being here. Them not talking to me, and me just getting to watch them in all their sexy glory. I wouldn’t be surprised if women hired them to fix their houses, just so they could get this view every day.

JJ was the last to pull up. He did have a muscle car--a blue 1969 Dodge Challenger. It was a sexy beast. I had gotten to ride in it twice since I had moved in. Once to the grocery store and once to his mom’s house for dinner. As the boys would say, it made me purr like the kitten they thought I was. As much as I hated it in the beginning, that stupid name had grown on me. Looking back, if you would have told me I’d be working in my father’s bar, be surrounded by a hunky pack of rock stars who referred to me as their mascot Kitty, I’d have laughed in your face.
Yet here I am, and I don’t hate it--that much.