Stage Dive 02 Play (8 page)

“You’re that good, huh?”

He leveled me with a look. “Miss Rollins, you have no idea.”

“You know, I honestly can’t decide if your ego is repulsive or just impressive.”

“You want me to lie to you instead?”

“Mal, I can barely tell when you’re being serious as it is.”

He rolled onto his hands and knees, then crawled over to me, eyes full of mischief. “If I’m talking to you, I’m serious. Now, we’ll have to kiss in public, obviously. And what if we’re out to dinner and I stick my tongue in your ear and you get all weirded out? People might start to wonder. So we need to practice the touching thing.”

“Your tongue? Really? I don’t know …”

“Lucky for you, I’m here and I do.” He stood and picked up a cell phone, his finger flicking over the screen. “We need to make sure we look tight. Lauren’s been over fucking constantly. We can’t risk separate bedrooms. Do you know she doesn’t even knock, just bursts on in like she owns the place? Some people, no manners.”

I was too overwhelmed to point out the irony in that statement.

“Yes, but we could lock the door,” I suggested, growing slightly palm-sweaty desperate again. Though, to be honest, I’d never really stopped.

Me sleeping with Mal? No. Not a good idea. Him bouncing around my apartment half-naked was enough. Touching in the dark would do me in for sure. I’d attack him despite my best intentions. Given we’d be living together for the foreseeable future, pushing for more would be a freaking disaster.

“We can’t just lock the door,” he said. “Lauren went and got another key made. You need better security, pumpkin.”

“Very true.”

“Hey, you don’t snore do you?”

I gave him my very best withering glare.

“Just asking.” He backed away, still playing with his phone. “And I’ll make sure I keep any hookups on the down low, okay? I won’t embarrass you with any of that.”

“Thanks.” I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was. Stupid, stupid me. “Were you just setting this up last night? Was that what it was all about?”

“Well, yeah.”

I opened my eyes wide. Painfully wide. I took a deep breath in through my nose. It didn’t matter really. My pride had taken a hit, but I had a roof over my head for the foreseeable future. Time to suck it up.

This sleeping-together thing wouldn’t work. It couldn’t. The fact that I was buzzing with tension just from the thought of it confirmed as much. But me playing his girlfriend part? I owed it to him to try. It could even be fun. Serious fun. And god knew I was overdue for some of that in my life.

I sat up straight, took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m agreeing to everything but the touching time.”

He opened his mouth to protest but I plowed on before he could get a word out. “And tomorrow we put a sliding lock on the door to keep Lauren out and you start sleeping in the spare room. These are my conditions.”

“Look at you, all assertive. I like it. Though really, I’d prefer it if you thought of me as being beyond boundaries.”

“I’m serious, Mal. Take it or leave it. I just got out of one clusterfuck of a roommate situation. I won’t fall straight into another.”

Mal crossed his arms and looked down the length of his nose at me. At first, I thought he would argue. Some evil subversive part of me might have even hoped he would, at least on the sleeping front. But he didn’t.

“Very well, I accept your terms. Tell you what,” he said slowly. “Why don’t I hit the couch tonight?”

My shoulders dropped in what was most likely relief. “That would be great. Thanks.”

“No problem.” He gave me a vaguely amused look. “Whatever works for you, Anne.”

“Great. I’m going to go have a bath.”

“Have fun.”

“Yeah.”

The bathroom door was locked shut behind me in record time. I sat on the edge of the big old battered claw-foot tub, blood rushing loud behind my ears. My mind was a blur. I’d just talked my way out of sleeping with a rock star. What had I done?

Disappointment made my insides ache.

But this was the right move. I needed to remember how into Reece I was. He was a far safer crush option. One day, he and I had a chance of actually working out.

Once all of the noise in my head faded, I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair hung flat around my face. My eyes were wide and wild. Within the space of twenty-four hours I’d been turned upside down. I might not be sleeping with one, but I most certainly now lived with a rock star. Didn’t see that one coming.

“What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” I asked the girl in the mirror.

She had nothing but a dazed, surprised smile to offer. Clearly she was a sucker for Mal’s particular brand of crazy. Thank goodness I was more mature.

I pulled my work T-shirt off over my head and started in on the laces of my boots. The sudden banging on the door almost made me fall off my perch. I put a hand to the floor and pushed myself upright before I fell face forward.

“Anne?”

“Yeah?” I sat back up and crossed my arms over my black bra, covering things up even though he couldn’t possibly see.

“I forgot to say thanks. For letting me live here with you and agreeing to be my girlfriend. I really appreciate it.”

“Well, thank you for paying my rent and for the furniture and everything.”

“That was nothing. I would’ve done that anyway. Didn’t like seeing you sad last night.”

“Really?” My throat tightened and I stared at the door, amazed. That was huge. I really didn’t know what to say. He barely knew me and yet he would have come to my rescue? Mal Ericson might be a bad boy, but he was also a good man.

One that I liked very much.

“Yeah. ‘Course. It’s going to be fun, Anne,” he said, his voice close to the door. “You wait and see.”

“Okay.”

He sounded like he needed me to believe him. Funny thing was, I did.

I started getting Mal’s texts just before lunch.

“Problem?” asked Reece, moseying on up and looking over my shoulder.

“No. Sorry.” I shoved my cell into my back pocket. “I’m working, I swear.”

“Sure you are.” He winked. Being friends with the boss did pay off sometimes. “Do anything interesting last night?”

Had I ever. Mal seemed hell-bent on driving me crazy today, but last night had been fantastic. We’d had a floor picnic with some of the best tapas I’d tasted in a long time, washed down with Spanish beer. He’d told me hilarious stories about big-name musicians. Lots of tawdry sexploits and insane backstage demands, Mal knew about them all. He made for awesome company.

I wasn’t ready to explain Mal to Reece, however. Looking at Reece, I might never be ready. Where would I begin? Even if I could keep a straight face, he knew me well enough to know I didn’t jump into relationships. Not in this way. Luckily, Reece’s attention had already slipped away. I shouldn’t have worried. His gaze rested on a young woman browsing in the True Crime section. You’d have thought he’d have enough sense to turn away when she picked up a book on female serial killers, but no.

“I didn’t get up to anything much last night,” I lied, feeling zero guilt.

He did a half nod, probably not even listening. “I’ll just go see if she needs help.”

“Okeydokey.” I pulled my cell out, switched it back on. As soon as the screen flashed to life I started one finger typing, a smile already on my face.

Ben was lazed on the love seat, hands busy on the game controls, when I walked in the door. There was lots of blood and guts happening on the TV screen. The novelty of walking in to find famous people hanging in my apartment would probably never fade. I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t. Disappointingly, Mal was nowhere in sight. I’d been rushing through tasks, eager to see him all afternoon. Lizzy had called me and it’d almost killed me not telling her about him. But I honestly didn’t know how to plausibly explain his sudden appearance in my life. She’d been furious about the shit with Skye. I hadn’t been able to muster much anger about it, funnily enough. Good things were happening. That was all in the past.

Now I was finally home, my heart banging around inside my chest, and I felt inexcusably shy. Hesitant almost. Forget it, this was my apartment. My home. And he had chosen to live here, with me, for whatever reason. Back straight and boobs out, what little there was of them.

“Hey, Anne,” he said.

“Hi, Ben. Is Mal around?” My ability to play it cool was improving. I hardly stuttered at all.

“In the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” I dashed past him, trying not to mess with his on-screen killing spree.

Mal was staring out the small kitchen window, his cell to his ear. “What aren’t you telling me?”

A pause.

“Yeah, okay. What’d he say?”

Another pause.

“No. Just lay it out for me. C’mon.”

The break was longer this time. After a while, he grabbed hold of the edge of the counter, gripping it so hard his knuckles turned white. Obviously, this was a private moment, but I couldn’t walk away. The pain in his voice and the lines of his body were acute. He was hurting.

“That can’t be right. What about if we–”

He listened in silence. Back out in the living room, the boom of explosions and the rattle of gunfire continued on.

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” He pressed end on the call and threw his cell aside. Both hands now gripped the edge of the counter, squeezing so hard it creaked.

“Mal?”

The whites of his eyes were huge, rimmed with red. What the hell was going on?

“Anne. Hey. Didn’t hear you come in.”

“Are you okay?”

He breathed in hard, shook his head. “Yeah! Slept like shit. Then the run with Jimmy wore me out. But all good. Aren’t you cute, worrying about me? That’s very girlfriendish.”

“Ha.” I smiled. He didn’t smile back.

“Let’s, ah … You say hi to Ben already?”

“Yes, I did.”

His hands grasped my shoulders, turning me and marching me back out into the living room. “You really need to greet your guests properly, pumpkin. You don’t want him thinking you’re rude.”

“Mal, I—- ”

“Ben. Look, my awesome girlfriend came home.”

“Hi, Mal’s awesome girlfriend.” Ben didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “This place is a bit smaller than your LA pad, dude. You gonna stay here or buy bigger?”

“Anne’s been talking about getting a dog, so I’m thinking we’ll trade up eventually.”

Ben nodded.

I didn’t bother to correct Mal. Really the best way to handle him was to simply roll with it. Plus, this current mood of his concerned me.