Muse - Fighting Fate #1 (12 page)

Chapter 20

Jace

It was the first live show we’d done since our YouTube clip went viral, and it was f
ucking awesome. It was the biggest damned crowd we’d ever played to, and the atmosphere was so insanely amped, it was like there was a fucking electric current zipping through the air. I swear we’d never played so hard in all our fucking lives.

I knew the reason I was so off the charts
was because I was still carrying the full weight of what I was feeling for Mia, and I also knew I would continue to be like that until I stopped sitting on the fence about it. For now though, I didn’t want to think about which side I wanted to jump off. I just didn’t want to face that yet.

After the show, we joined the crowd to party like we always did, but
instead of the usual few fans who liked to come say hi, we suddenly found ourselves completely swamped. It was insane.

Aiden, being the fucking legend he is, managed to get us some seats, and then some beers. After playing so hard, the first two went down easy. Too easy. I probably should’ve had some water, but my head was still somewhere up in the clouds. Not long after that, the girls came.

I watched them as they slinked on in wearing skirts that were borderline belts, willing my dick to pay attention, but frustratingly, he seemed to have turned into a one girl kind of man.

Downing half my beer, I let the blonde who’d been eyeing me off slide in beside me
, hoping that the combination of the beer and her touch would spark something. She smiled widely, showing off her sparkling white teeth. “Hi, I’m Leah.”

I groaned. Why did she have to have a name that sounded so fucking much like Mia? I took another long swig of my beer before answering. “Jace.”

“You sounded really good on the guitar.”

I smirked. “Thanks.”

She cocked her head to the side as she studied me. “You look different than you do on YouTube.”

I hadn’t heard that before. “Good or bad?”

“Oh definitely good. You look…” her eyes ran down my length. “…hot.”

Damn, she was good. I reckon I could have her sucking my cock in five minutes flat.
Maybe I could just close my eyes and pretend she was Mia. Yeah, because that didn’t defeat the purpose or anything…

I cleared my throat. “So, you live around here?”

She smiled again. “No, we came down from Redding when we heard you guys were going to be playing tonight.”

Holy shit. I couldn’t believe people were actually travelling to come see us.

“Is it true you’re going to be touring with The Dark Hybrid?” she asked.

I took another swig of my beer and nodded.

“That’s so cool. I might even go buy a ticket now.”

I looked over at Dean, watching him t
alk to a couple of hotties. He always seemed to be able to maintain a slight distance from them. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but now I was curious how he did it without pissing them off.

Leah touched my arm softly, her fingers lingering with intent. “Do you want to go somewhere more private?”

I knocked back my third beer, feeling the beginning of a slight buzz. Well fucking shit. This was a situation I hadn’t been in before. I sat forward and sighed, rubbing my hand across my forehead. “Sorry. I can’t.”

I felt her shift beside me. “Oh. Is there someone else?”

Yes. No. I didn’t fucking know. “I guess you could say that.” I glanced back at her to make sure she wasn’t about to go all psycho on my ass, but she only had her lips pressed into a defeated smile.

“She’s a lucky girl.”

I wished someone would tell her that. I shrugged, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but there. “Thanks for the chat, Leah. I’m glad you enjoyed the show.” Shoving off the couch, I looked over at Matt who had some redhead sitting on his lap. “I’m out of here.”

He looked surprised, but I didn’t stop to explain. I just wanted to be gone.
Pushing my way through the crowd, I hit the pavement and just kept going.

I had no idea where I was heading, but when I turned onto
2
nd
St, I had an idea. Walking two more blocks, I saw the lights on and smiled.

Dan looked up when I pushed through the door and laughed. “I wondered when you’d be coming in
. Don’t tell me you’re finally going to do it.”

I looked around the cozy tattoo shop. Dan was Matt’s older brother
’s best friend. “Yep. You still got the design?”

“Fuck yeah I do. You wanna do it now?” He was grinning from ear to ear now.

Matt, Dean, Aiden and I had designed a ‘Fighting Fate’ tattoo when we’d first started the band. We had intentions of getting it at the same time when we finally made it. I figured now was as good of a time as any. “Yeah, I do.”

“Awesome
, man. I did some work on it when Paul told me you were getting offers shoved down your throats.” He went behind the counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a file. He slid it across the bench top. “What do you think?”

I looked down at his drawing. It was a tribal type design with hidden music notes and our band name woven into it. It was still basically what we’d designed, but a hundred times better – more intricate and meaningful. “I love it.”

“Where are you thinking?”

“Arm. I’d like to eventually extend it down and have a full sleeve.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, man. I can do that. You could even extend it up over your shoulder a bit and down over your pec. That would look fucking awesome.”

I nodded
, his enthusiasm jumping to me like wildfire. Fuck yeah.

I followed him into the back room where a couple of other guys were already working. Dan slapped one guy on the back who was sitting back, watching. “Hey guys. You remember Jac
e, Pauly’s little brother’s mate?”

They all looked at me. One of the artists lifted an eyebrow. “You in the band?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we just finished a gig down the road.”

“Pauly says you’re going to be touring with The Dark Hybrid. That’s gotta be pretty intense.”

My gaze flickered to Dan as he flittered around, getting everything ready. “Fuck yeah. Those guys are insane.”

“Yeah, but they’re fucking awesome,” Dan said. “Come on. Sit your ass down. I’ve been dying to do this for years.”

Chapter 21

Mia

By the time Sunday night came around, I was quite pleased with the fact that I’d
managed to avoid Aiden and Jace since Friday. Not that it was difficult. Aiden didn’t come home on Friday night after their gig, and Saturday, Mom said he and the guys had some band stuff to go over with Mr. Thomas - Dean’s dad. He’d been more or less acting as their manager since everything turned chaotic.

Other than that, I didn’t know where they’d been, or what they’d been doing. Even though it kind of drove me a little crazy, I preferred it that way.

Mom had gone out to a cooking class she’d enrolled in a few months earlier, and I still didn’t know where Aiden was, so I was home alone and taking advantage of being able to play my own kind of music. Loud.

When the doorbell rang just after six o’clock,
I’d just finished doing a work out and was contemplating having a shower. I jogged to the door, knowing it would be someone for Aiden. It always was. I just hoped it wasn’t any of his groupies. Ewww.

Opening the door hesitantly, I peered out the crack. When I saw Jace standing there with his hands in his pockets, I froze.

He gave me one of his cute crooked smiles and shrugged. “Hi.”

I took a deep breath.
Jace was the last person I’d expected to see. Being alone with him was definitely not a good idea. My ability to control myself when I was around him was practically non-existent.

“
Uh…Aiden’s not home,” I said, hoping to avert my soon to be crisis.

The smile disappeared.
“I know. He’s at a party with Matt and Dean.”

Okay, now I was just confused. If he knew where Aiden was then why was he here?

“He said your mom was at a cooking class, so I was hoping I could talk to you.”

He wanted to talk to me
? But why? I blinked. Oh Crap. Not good.

“So
…can I come in?”

Slowly,
I stepped back and opened the door for him. Without another word, I turned and walked back to my room. I had no idea what I was doing. I think I was panicking, but not in the way I was used to. This was more like from nerves and hormones.

I went straight to my stereo and turned down the volume so it was only just audible.
When I turned back to the door, Jace was standing just inside my room. He had this tiny little smile on his lips that made me all jittery inside. “You like Rihanna?”

I inhaled and exhaled like I did for yoga. “
Sure.”

He stood there like that for a little while, looking at me like he was trying to figure something out.

“Why are you here, Jace?” I asked softly.

He inhaled slowly and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans again. He looked nervous.
Oh no. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to deal with whatever he was here for. I walked over to the bed and climbed into the middle, crossing my legs and hugging my pillow.

Jace cautiously moved towards me and sat, but just on the edge. He looked so serious now. He sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about this all weekend and it’s driving me
fucking crazy. I guess, first I just wanted you to know the truth.”

He paused and looked at
me, contemplating. For some reason I was holding my breath. The truth about what?

“I never had sex with Kacey or Violet. I actually haven’t slept with anyone bu
t you since Aspen.”

I stared
at him. That was not what I was expecting him to say. My mind raced, trying to process his words. He didn’t sleep with either of them? He hadn’t slept with anyone but me since our first time? Holy shit. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” I whispered.

He sigh
ed again, heavily, then ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. The whole thing with Kacey and Violet weirded me out, I mean, it’s backwards. What kind of girl spreads rumors that she slept with a guy? Isn’t that what the guy’s supposed to do?”

I had to agree. Why would they want to look like sluts? But then again, the guys were on their way to stardom.
They probably thought it’d make a good story later. “You could’ve denied it.”

He pursed his lips.
“I probably could’ve. I wanted to for you, but…” He frowned and looked down at his hands. “I wasn’t expecting your reaction. Mainly because I didn’t actually do anything with those girls, but also because it made me realize, whether you know it or not, you’re looking for a proper relationship – but without anyone knowing.”

He looked back up into my eyes, and as his words sunk in, I felt all the air leave my lungs.
Of course, I’d figured out what he was saying on my own, but hearing him say it out loud like that just cemented it for me. He was right.

“Realizing that
kind of surprised me, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it,” he admitted.

I blinked
at him. I knew I wanted him, and I knew I wanted him just for myself. I think secretly I did want everyone to know. I just didn’t want the attention that would come from it. And that, basically, was the root of the problem.

“
There’s still so much I don’t know about you, Mia. I mean, I know you find being around a lot of people hard, and that’s probably the reason why you haven’t ever dated – so, I’m guessing that even though you’re sub-consciously looking for a real commitment, you’re probably not ready for one, and that’s the part I’m struggling with.”

Yep. He hit the nail on the head. I stared down at my
duvet, not able to meet his eyes while I dealt with the truth in his words.

“I really like being with you Mia – and not just for sex.”

I looked up at him, a little surprised by his bluntness.

H
is lips twitched with a tiny smile. “And believe me when I say that’s saying something, because you are fucking incredible in bed.”

My
cheeks heated with the blush that rushed to them, and Jace whispered a soft laugh, but as he watched me, his expression slowly turned back to serious. “Look, I’m not exactly sure how to say this, so I’m just going to say it and hope to God it doesn’t sound presumptuous or cold.” He swallowed. “I want to go back to what we had before.”

I watched him stand up and move to sit on the bed in front of me
. My pulse was racing with excitement.

“I know I shouldn’t. I know that with where the band’s headed I should be thinking of keeping you as far from that as possible...but it seems I’m a selfish prick because I want you, and I don’t want to do it without you.
I’ll do whatever you want, Mia. Just tell me what you’re comfortable with and I’ll do it.”

My
breath was stuck in my chest. Was he really asking me what I thought he was? I exhaled heavily. “I want to be with you too, but the thought of you with someone else makes me a little crazy...”

Jace
reached out and gently took my hand. “So, you want us to be exclusive...that’s fine by me – I don’t want to be with anyone else...”

Holy shit
. “You don’t?”

He laughed softly at my
expression. “Believe me, Mia, it’s no sacrifice on my part to have you exclusively. I want to be with you, and I want everyone to know it.” He watched my eyes widen with horror then smiled sadly. “But I know that’s not something you’ll be comfortable with, so...”

I stared
at him for a while, trying to calm my racing thoughts. “I don’t know what to say. This whole situation is just so unexpected...”

He nodded his agreement
. “Tell me what you liked about what we were doing before. We can make that a starting point.”

I
bit my lip to try to stop a grin from spreading on them. “I liked being with you...and the sex – that was nice...”

He grinned
. “Just nice?”

I laughed
. “Okay, maybe more than nice...”

“Was it just the sex?”

God, did I tell him everything? I sighed, knowing I probably should. “I’ve kind of liked you for a while – probably since the second time you came to our house back in our freshman year.”

He
recoiled, looking stunned. “Really?”

I nodded. “
Up until that night in Aspen, I’d known having a real relationship was going to be virtually impossible for me, so it kind of surprised me when we got together that night.” I stared down at the duvet without really seeing it as I remembered how wonderful that night had been.

“After that night of the party though, when you came to my room, I knew I wanted more. I thought being with you
casually was better than not being with you at all, but I guess I’m not really that kind of girl. I couldn’t really separate my feelings that way.”

I looked back up to meet his gaze.
Relief flashed in his eyes, and I realized he’d been worried about what I was going to say. “So, let’s do it then.”

Wait. What? My eyes widened.
“Jace-”

“No. Wait. If you took everyone else out of the equation – took away the obvious worry you feel about having any attention on you, and it was just you and me, would you want to go out with me?”

When he put it like that the answer was easy. Of course I would. “Yes.”

“So we
’ll start out how we were before, but this time, we’ll both know it’s more than just sex. No one needs to know...at first...”

The panic was trying to push its way forward again. “
What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ll be my girlfriend.”

Yeah, that seemed to have done it. He must’ve hit some sort of freeze or mute button, because my brain function just seemed to stop altogether. “I’m...I don’t...how will that work?”

His gaze was intense
. “We’ll just make it work. We just have to put more thought into how we can see each other. The other stuff can come later – when you’re more comfortable.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

He shook his head with disbelief. “I just want to be with you, Mia. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.” He watched me while I considered his offer, then added, “But you have to promise me one thing.”

My
eyebrows rose. “What?”

“If you hear anything about what I’ve supposedly done, can you please ask me about it first, before you believe anyone?”

I knew the whole girls throwing themselves at him thing was never going to go away. Shit, it was only going to get worse really. “Yeah, but you know once Aiden finds out I won’t have to worry because he’ll be watching you like a hawk. You won’t be able to hide a damned thing from him.”

The look on his face wa
s priceless. “So, you’ll be with me?”

I grinned
. “Yes.”

Jace
couldn’t hide his elation. He reached out and caressed my face with gentle hands. I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch, then I climbed over the bed until I was in his lap, straddling him. I stared into his eyes, wanting to show him how much he meant to me. “I really do want people to know we’re together. I’m just not ready yet.” My tone was pleading. I wanted him to understand I wasn’t hiding our relationship for any other reason.

“I know
, beautiful. We’ll get there. Just trust me, okay?”

Our kiss was
slow and careful at first, but our need for each other grew fast, building and deepening with desire until our hands were frantically trying to remove each other’s clothes.

I noticed it the second I ripped his shirt off. “Holy shit.” I looked from his arm to his face and back again. “You got a tattoo? When?”

“After the gig on Friday night.”

I looked at the black swirling lines and patterns in awe. It started just on the edge of his shoulder and ran down his arm, stopping about where the bottom of his shirt sleeve would. I could make out the lettering that made up the name of the band amidst the lines. It looked awesome. It was still a little pink, and he’d
obviously put some ointments on it because it was shiny, but it was healing really well.

“It’s incredible. I love it.” I looked up at him, heat surging through me. “It’s so fucking hot.”

Fire ignited in Jace’s eyes, and before I could even blink, he rolled us so he was lying on top of me, his hands loving and sure as he stroked my bare skin. I reached for him, running my hands over his back, feeling the smooth muscular shape of his body down to where his jeans hung low on his hips. I could feel his erection pressing into me, and heat instantly flared between my thighs. I moaned with the need I had for him.

His kisses move
d to my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. I pulled him harder against me, thrusting my hips up to meet his hardness. He groaned, and the sound of it sent me wild. My hands quickly went to the button on his jeans. He lifted himself off me a fraction, giving me the room I needed to work the button and zipper free, as he continued to press kisses to my bare skin.

Then he was pulling himself up, kneeling between my
legs, and pulling his jeans off. A condom appeared in his hand – I had no idea where that came from, and he quickly ripped it open and rolled it on.