Metamorphosis (27 page)

“Up next is Ash Walker,” the
announcer guy said into the microphone as the bar patrons all clapped
enthusiastically at his introduction. Ash pulled one of the available stools up
onto the stage and adjusted the microphone. He looked out into the crowd and
showed his irresistible dimple.

“Ah shit,” I heard Mason mumble
against my back.

“Thank you. I had actually planned
to do a different song that I have been working on, but instead, I just noticed
that a friend of mine that’s here, so I’m going to invite her up to play with
me, if that’s okay with all of you. I think you’ll really enjoy this.” Everyone
cheered. He turned and looked at me sitting in Mason’s lap and every eye in the
bar followed his. “Scarlett?” He asked in the microphone. “Care to join me?”

I was going to fucking kill him
when I got my hands on him. I could not believe he put me in this position and
even though he acted like it was all innocent, just two friends who like to
play guitar together, I couldn’t help but think he was sending a message to
Mason. I turned to
Mason
and asked if there was an
extra acoustic I could use. He stood up with me and walked with his hand in
mine over to the back of the stage where he grabbed a guitar out of a case. He
leaned down and kissed me solidly on the mouth. “I will beat his ass later if
you want me to.” I just nodded my head, completely aware of the silence and
stares still focused in on me. I walked up on stage where Ash had already
pulled another stool next to his and set up a microphone. I glared at him
letting him know that I was none too happy with his antics, but he just smiled
and patted the stool.

“Sit down, butterfly,” he purred.
Still contemplating bashing him over the head with the guitar, I lowered myself
on the stool. “Lover’s Eyes?” he asked. I nodded and tried to focus less on the
ass sitting
in front of me and more on not making an idiot of
myself
. I looked over at Mason and gave him a tight smile. He nodded his
head at me and smiled back. I was sure he was just as curious as everyone else
what this was going to sound like.

I closed my eyes and took myself
back to Ash’s room and pictured us sitting on his bed and tried to relax. I
allowed him to lead us in as I always did, and then I joined him, in both
guitar and voice. I looked into his beautiful face and forgot being mad at him
while we lost ourselves in each other and the song. By the first chorus, I had
forgotten about the other people there and just let go. We sang to each other,
lost in the magical melodic connection that we always seemed to produce. We cut
the song short since in its original version, it was well over five minutes,
and as we stopped playing, a hush fell over the crowd. And then, a burst of
applause shattered the silence and we even received a standing ovation from
many of the people. I couldn’t believe it; my heart filled with joy at
everyone’s positive reaction. I looked over at Mason, hoping to God that he
wasn’t mad, but he too was standing and clapping with a huge smile spread
across his face. I was so relieved that he wasn’t upset and couldn’t wait to
snuggle back into his lap.

I slipped off the stool, gave a
small curtsey, and put the guitar back in its case. I didn’t dare look at Ash
during my exit, I turned off any emotion I felt for him. I would not allow him
to ruin my night with Mason any more. People congratulated and complimented me
as I walked back over to Mason’s table and I smiled and nodded my appreciation.
I could hear Ash’s voice in the background singing, but my sole focus was on
one rather large, pierced, tattooed, really fucking sexy rocker that was just a
few feet in front of me.

Mason was standing with his feet
slightly apart, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and his lips pressed
together in a firm line. He sort of looked like a bouncer guarding entrance to
the bar stool behind him. I walked straight up to him and looked into his
charcoal eyes, everyone at the table was silent and focused in on the two of
us. I had thought he wasn’t upset since he had been smiling and clapping, but
all of a sudden, I was nervous that he was mad at me. We stared at each other
for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he said something.

“That was the fucking sexiest thing
I’ve ever seen,” Mason growled. He grabbed both sides of my face in his hands
and attacked my mouth and neck right there in front of everyone. Everyone
started hooting and hollering and yelling lewd comments, and I couldn’t have
cared in the least bit. When Mason’s lips were anywhere on my body, it was as
if all brain functions except those centered around physical pleasure were
temporarily paralyzed.

“I’m ready to go,” I whispered up
into Mason’s ear between my panting breaths.

He chuckled and pressed his lips
against my forehead, “We just got here, angel. You know what everyone would
think?”

I looked around at the people near
us. Everyone had resumed their conversations or making out or listening to the
next guy up on stage. “I don’t care what they think. I don’t want to be here if
he’s going to be. I’m really angry right now and I need you to help bring me
back down… relieve some tension,” I looked up at him through my thick
eyelashes. “Please.”

“I could never deny you anything,
Angel,” he said shaking his head at himself. “Especially if it involves me and
you and relieving tension.”

I kissed him. “Thank you, Rat.”

He threw his head back in a hearty
laugh. “What am I going to do with you, you little musical, virtuous, angel?”

I scrunched my nose at his
description of me. “I sound like I should be on top of a Christmas tree. Do I
light up, too?”

He grabbed my hips and spun me
around so I was facing the exit and my back was against his chest. “I made you
light up on Tuesday and I plan on doing it again as soon as we get back to my
place.” He kissed the center of the back of my neck and shivers ran down my
body. I couldn’t wait.

Saturday morning brought with it
stormy weather, which I thought was ominous for the “talk” that Dylan and I
were going to have later in the day. The night before with Mason had been just
about perfect, minus the Ash hiccup. Back at his apartment, we spent hours
exploring each other’s bodies and after my third orgasm, I passed out in his
bed. I had no idea that someone touching the back of my knee and the palm of my
hand could be such a turn-on. Waking up with him had been a little strange
since the only guy I had shared a bed with was Ash… and Ash and I didn’t
sleep together naked. So when I woke up in a foreign room, draped in heavy
limbs, and looked down to see
myself and a male body
completely in the buff, I had a more-than-a-minor freak out until I recalled
the events of the prior evening.

I wiggled out from under Mason’s
body and went to the bathroom to get cleaned up and dressed. When I returned to
his room, he was still dead asleep. I didn’t want to wake
him,
he looked so peaceful and innocent. Against my better judgment, I stripped out
of the clothes that I had just put on and rejoined him in bed. The next time I
woke up, it was to Mason’s tongue teasing the most sensitive parts of my body
while his hand lightly traced patterns on the inside of my upper thighs.

One more orgasm each later, Mason
took me back to my dorm with a promise to see each other again soon. I knew
that at any time Mason could decide he didn’t want to continue to play along
with this game that I was making the rules for. I had told myself to just enjoy
any time that I did get with him, and after just our first three lessons, I had
gained quite a bit of confidence while in bed with him. Mason had not once
eluded or attempted to go all the way with me. He was respecting my wish to not
go there, even though I could’ve easily been persuaded in the heat of the
moment.

Saturday afternoon passed quickly
and before I knew it, it was time to take a shower and get ready for Dylan’s
arrival. Where part of me thought I should get all dolled up so that Dylan
could see what he would be missing, but in the end I threw on a gray camisole
and some yoga pants. I was too tired to care. I did at least blow dry my hair
and put a little mascara and lip gloss on so that I didn’t look completely
awful. I wished that
Evie
would have been there to
help calm my nerves with her always insightful advice, but she was spending the
entire weekend at Max’s because he was going to be out of town the following
week.

At five ‘til five, a knock on the
door alerted me of Dylan’s arrival. I wiped my clammy palms on my cotton pants
and went to let him in. Dylan looked as handsomely GQ as ever in his khakis and
forest green golf shirt, even with the uncommon dark circles under his gloomy
eyes. Despite what had happened or what was going to happen between the two of
us, I hated seeing him so obviously stressed and strained. I immediately
stepped towards him and we wrapped our arms around one another, neither of us
saying a word. He squeezed me so tight that I thought he may have bruised a
rib, but I didn’t dare complain.

After several minutes, we finally
pulled apart and I led him to the sofa in the living area. I grabbed us both a
bottle of water and then sat down on the couch, facing him with my legs tucked
up underneath me.

“I’ve missed you, Dylan,” I said
with a small smile.

“I’ve missed you too, Scarlett,”
he returned the sentiment. “I’ve wanted to call so bad, but I just wasn’t sure
what to say.”

“Well, let’s start with the truth.
What happened last Saturday? Everything was going so good and then you just
started acting weird and then you just left? No explanation… nothing.”

He looked around the room,
obviously uncomfortable with my direct, to-the-point questions.

“Dylan, look at me,” I scolded.
“I’m a big girl, I can handle it. Just tell me the truth.”

“Okay,” he exhaled loudly as he
began. “I have been best friends with a girl named Jillian for the last few
years. We met at freshman orientation, both non-native Texans, and we hit it
off instantly. When we first met we were both in a serious relationship with
someone from our respective
home towns
. The situation
was perfect for us to be friends because we could hang out and have fun, and
even though we were both attracted to one another, we respected and understood
the difficulties of having a long distance relationship, so neither of us ever
crossed the line. Well of course, neither of those relationships lasted, and
then we each dated other people and somehow, we just never were both single at
the same time.” He paused to take a drink. “I realized a long time ago that I
was in love with her, but I was always too scared to act on it because I didn’t
want lose her as a friend. So, I went on with life as did she.” Dylan ran his
fingers through his hair and sighed.

“When I met you back in August,”
he continued, “I was instantly charmed by your natural beauty and your honest
and sincere personality. Then, the more time I spent hanging out with you and
talking to you on the phone, the more I realized how much I really liked you. I
honestly thought that you might be the one to make my heart forget about
Jillian. But a little over a month ago, she and I were out at a bar and we
started drunk talking about love and life and all of that… and then before I
knew it, we were kissing. Afterwards, I was a wreck. I didn’t know what to
think about if or how things changed between her and me; and I felt guilty
about what I had done to you and about whether or not I should tell you.” He
looked into my face, trying to gage my reaction.

“You didn’t have to tell me Dylan,
we weren’t exclusive or anything. You just needed to tell me if y’all were
going to get together so that I wasn’t cheating with some other girl’s man. I
don’t do that,” I assured him.

He nodded. “Well, Jillian and I
didn’t decide to get together after that kiss. We really didn’t even talk about
it. But it did change things between us. The way we looked at each other became
different… more sensual, more intense, more possessive. I’m not sure exactly
how to describe it, but I know you understand the emotions behind it. It’s the
same way you and Ash look at each other.”

My eyes shot to his face at his
last sentence and he smiled understandingly at me. I didn’t even bother to
argue or defend my and Ash’s relationship because it would’ve been no use.
Dylan knew how I felt about Ash because he felt the same way about Jillian.

“I’m sorry,” I forced out of my
vocal chords, not sure what else to say.

“Don’t be, Scarlett. But just
understand why I didn’t tell you about her before, and understand that I did
enjoy spending time with you, the same way you did with me… well, at least I
hope you did.” He grinned widely at me. I simply nodded in response. I
certainly did understand.

“So back to last Saturday,” Dylan
wiped the smile off his face and looked solemnly in my eyes. “The night before
our date, Jillian and I had a sit down talk to discuss our feelings and we put
everything out on the table… including our clothes if you know what I mean.” He
closed his eyes and winced at his revelation. I stifled a laugh as I remembered
back to the Friday night before and thought that I probably had Mason’s cock in
my mouth around the same time that Dylan was
balls
deep in his
bestie
. He opened his eyes and saw that I
wasn’t even close to upset. “You’re not mad that I had sex with someone else
the night before I took you on a date?” He asked incredulously.