“I remember,” Toby said. “I advised them not to do that.”
“I bet they still don’t listen,” Slimmy said.
“Never,” I said. “When we cut the first few real songs you can stop by the studio and listen.”
“That would be sweeter than a stripper’s glittered tits,” Slimmy said.
We left the station and Liv was waiting for me in the hallway.
I grabbed her ass with my right hand and growled as I pushed at her. She jumped to her toes and swung a fist that connected with my shoulder damn hard.
“Like it rough, huh?” I whispered.
“I’ll break your wrist next time,” she said.
“Jesus Christ,” Toby said from behind us.
Liv looked back.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered to her. “He knows about us. He’s in on our filth.”
“Asshole,” Liv said.
“I’m not in on anyone’s filth,” Toby said. “I see nothing.”
Toby hurried to get in front of us.
When we got outside, a group of fans were waiting there for me.
Their screams pierced my ears.
“Go ahead,” I said to Liv. “Save yourself.”
“No tits,” she whispered to me.
“Oh, you’re my boss now?” I asked her.
She reached up and pulled my sunglasses down my nose. “You touch any of their tits and you don’t get to touch mine.”
She blew me a kiss and walked to the waiting SUV.
I stood there with security around me, signing anything given to me.
Liv was playing a really hard fucking game here.
“I love you, Nash,” someone said.
“Love you too, babe,” I said almost robotic.
My eyes were on the SUV.
When I finally got there, Toby opened the door for me.
I shoved him away. “Get your own ride.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I climbed into the back and leaned forward.
“What’s up, Nash?” Bill asked.
“You need a coffee break, man.”
Bill grinned. “Hell yeah, I do. Coffee and a smoke.”
Five minutes later Bill pulled over in a quiet and empty parking lot.
He got out of the SUV.
“What is he doing?” Liv asked.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward me. My hands cradled her ass as she straddled me.
“Nash…”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “You started this.”
There were no other words to speak.
“So, I guess you’ve sold a few songs, huh?” Liv asked.
She looked so damn good standing on my balcony overlooking the lights of the city, holding a glass of whiskey. Wearing the same damn jeans I fought to strip her out of in the back of the SUV. Except now she wasn’t wearing any panties. Which by now, she knew the drill… her panties were payment. Just for fun.
“Yeah, it’s been a good ride,” I said as I joined her at the railing.
She side eyed me with a little flirty stare that was deadly.
For her. Not me.
That kind of stare for too long would have her on her hands and knees right there on the balcony, listening to the sound of my body slamming against her as she cried out to the night where nobody could fucking hear her but the stars.
“Nash,” she said. “Do you want me to write about the studio?”
“What about it?”
“Just everything I saw…”
“Write what you want, babe,” I said.
She nodded. “I just want to make sure I don’t overstep.”
“Since when does that matter to you?”
“Some things just aren’t meant to be touched on.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Like what?”
She swallowed hard. “Nothing.”
“No, Liv, tell me.”
“Okay. Well, for starters, whatever the situation is with Mitchy… that’s hard on you. And I’m sure it’s hard on the band too. It would show a different side to the band. A real side. Of what happens when things go too far.”
I slowly nodded. “Okay. What else?”
“I mean, there’s Raunchy Recks.”
My blood turned ice cold. I gently touched her chin. “Babe, if you ever say that name again, you’ll be back to sucking dick on that preppy guy that showed up to the hotel.”
Liv ripped my hand away. “Exactly my point.”
“Which is?”
“Some things you just don’t touch on,” she said. “So I’m asking if the studio is okay or not.”
“I don’t care,” I said.
“I saw the picture,” she said. “On the floor. The guys said you pissed on it.”
“That’s all it was good for.”
“So the hate is that real?”
I felt my lip slowly curl. “What you read and hear is true when it comes to that. And that’s all I want to say.”
“Fine,” she said.
“Now it’s your turn.”
“My turn? For what?”
“I want to hear everything.”
“Like?”
“You want to be a famous writer, huh? Your Daddy is rich. You could be doing anything you want, anywhere in the world. Shit, babe, you could have a made up gig traveling the world on SLECK’s dime, but you live-”
“In a shit apartment,” she said. “Because I want to do it my way.”
“And what’s your way?”
“No favors,” she said. “I don’t want someone to see me as… a favor. I want them to see me.”
“That’s a bold move to make,” I said.
“Whatever.”
“But you’re selling your soul little by little,” I said.
“Am I?”
“Yeah. Going on tour with us. Sticking around now. Doing what you’re told. It’s kind of sad to see.”
“Oh, so I’m sad now?” she asked, a look of shock on her face.
“Hey, babe, I’ll cradle your ass when I’m fucking you, but after that? You’re on your own. I’ll tell it like it is.”
“Yeah? Well maybe I’ll do the same, Nash.”
“Have at it, Liv.”
She put her drink down and moved toward me. So much shorter than me, but a feisty side that had the ability to take me down. I grinned and sipped whiskey from the bottle like a rock star would do.
“I’m doing things the way I should have a long time ago, Nash,” she said. “I was stubborn, okay? I was afraid I’d turn out like my mother. Under my father’s control. She spends her days drinking, flirting with the pool boy, or the plumber, or the electrician, or whoever is at that giant house they call home. I don’t remember the last time my parents kissed. Or had dinner together.”
“What about the last time they fucked?” I asked.
Her lip curled. “Well, they obviously fucked to make me, didn’t they?”
Well played, babe.
I grinned even bigger.
“But you know what? Fuck you, Nash. And fuck them. Fuck everyone. Fuck Dillon. Fuck Owen. Okay? If I can prove myself and get what I want, then that’s what I’m going to do. And if that means writing shitty stories about you, then fine. I know what I’ve gotten out of it and what I’m going to get.”