“Nah, I got her this huge fucking gas-powered vibrator. She’s busy,” Andrew yells. “It’s cool.”
I blink and stare at one of the few blank spaces on the wall, wishing I could erase that information from my brain.
“Asshole!” A black, patent leather boot flies out of the stairwell, thunking against Andrew’s head. He laughs and tosses it over his shoulder.
Even in flannel pants, a tight T-shirt, and no makeup, Pamela is disgustingly beautiful. She waves her perfectly manicured middle finger in Andrew’s direction. “He’s kidding.”
“Help yourself!” Andrew yells, pointing a drumstick toward the coffee table.
My gaze follows the direction of his sticks to five Tupperware containers set out on the table. The lid of the middle container is off, and I’m pretty sure that’s a sandbox worth of cocaine I’m staring at. In my lifetime, I’ve seen baggies, I’ve seen bricks, I’ve seen vials of the white powder, but I have never seen anyone store it in Tupperware.
I mean, I guess if you’re storing it in such large quantities, freshness is a concern.
Pamela drops down on the floor cross-legged and carefully chops up a few lines. When she’s finished, she hands me a silver straw.
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Andrew races over, scoops the straw out of Pamela’s hand and hoovers up everything she just laid out.
Well, that explains so much.
“Help yourself,” Vinnie says to Chaser, waving his arm at a row of guitars in stands against the wall. “We weren’t sure if you’d bring your own.”
“First three are mine!” Andrew calls over his shoulder. “Use whatever you want.”
Pamela leans into her boyfriend, and they spend a few minutes licking each other before she snorts a few lines of her own.
I shift my gaze to Chaser, but he seems to miss that my eyes are screaming get me away from these crazy people and flashes me a thumbs up.
Vinnie plays a few notes I recognize as one of Kickstart’s songs. “‘Hammer to the Heart’ is a killer riff,” he shouts to Chaser.
Chaser watches Vinnie with round eyes and slack jaw, telegraphing how shocked he is that Vinnie knows any of the notes to one of his songs.
Vinnie plays it a few times, stumbling over the same section of notes. Finally, he stops. “Tricky fucker, though.”
“Uh.” Chaser hefts one of the guitars in his arms and demonstrates. “Yeah, there’s a skip from D while still hitting the B string.”
“Oh, fuuuck. Very fucking cool, bro.” Vinnie slaps Chaser’s shoulder and tries the riff again on his guitar.
Andrew races back to his drums and joins in.
“Jesus H. Christ, they can be at this until eight in the morning.” Pamela rolls her eyes.
“It’s fun watching them.” As weird as the night continues to be, I can only imagine how exciting it must be for Chaser to play with one of his favorite bands.
“God,” she drawls in the most condescending tone ever. “You are new at this, aren’t you?”
“Have you dated other musicians?”
“A few. They’re all the same. Big kids with big egos.”
“And big dicks!” Andrew yells.
“He misses nothing, huh?” I say quietly to Pamela.
“That’s an understatement.”
Except for the excessive licking, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of love between the two of them. Although, every once in a while, Andrew will stop playing, yell, “Hey baby,” and blow a kiss her way. She reaches up to catch every single one.
It’s sweet in a totally strange way.
The guys launch into a classic rock song, each of them interpreting it in their own unique style, culminating in a cacophony loud enough to rattle the windows.
“Who’s your agent?” Pamela shouts.
“Marilyn Stewart.”
“Oh, she’s good from what I hear.”
“So far.”
“I started with Plume Talent, but they’re mostly modeling gigs, and I think I want to focus on acting.”
“Have you been on a lot of auditions?”
“Not really. I’ve been taking acting classes with Vera Walters, though, trying to prepare myself. Where do you study?”
When I first arrived in Hollywood, acting lessons were suggested, but since I landed parts right away, I sort of skipped it. Now that I’ve been to more serious auditions, maybe it’s time to buckle down. Feeling foolish and unprofessional, I admit, “I haven’t found a class yet.”
“Oh, you should come with me! You have to audition to get into her classes, but Vera’s great. You’ll love her.”
Somehow, whether I want to or not, I feel like Pamela and I will be spending a lot of time together in the near future.
Chaser
Mallory’s half-asleep when we finally wind down.
“Yo, I got plenty of room.” Andrew points to the stairs. “Guest room, first door on the left is all yours if you want to stay.” He turns his sticks toward Jacob, Garrett, and Alvin. “You wanna ride my couches, that’s cool. Got plenty of ‘em.”
“That okay?” I whisper to Mallory.
“Sure.” She yawns.
I wrap my arm around her, pulling her tight to my side as we say goodnight to everyone.
Upstairs, I close and lock the bedroom door behind us. “Sure you’re okay with this?”
Without answering, she pokes around the room, searching behind the television and mirror.
“Babe, what are you doing?”
“Andrew strikes me as the kind of guy who would have hidden cameras set up,” she whispers.
“Can’t disagree with you on that one,” I whisper back.
She chuckles softly and unbuttons her jeans.
“Let me do that.”
“I’m leaving everything else on,” she warns.
Once we’re settled under the covers, she cuddles up and rests her head on my chest. “Did you have fun?”
“Fun?” How do I answer her question? Andrew’s a big personality. Jamming with a band I admire was pretty damn cool, though. “It was an experience. My mind’s a little blown.”
The bedroom door bursts open, bouncing off the wall with a sharp bang.
Mallory and I shoot straight up.
Andrew grins at us. “Are ya fuckin’?”
I’m too stunned to answer or yell for him to get out. Shocked from the intrusion and the fact that he’s wearing nothing but what appears to be a black leather thong. The material seems to be having trouble containing him. Why is everyone flashing their crotch tonight? Pamela’s pussy earlier had been one thing. But I’m in no way interested in getting an eyeful of Andrew Lane’s log and berries.
“What the fuck, man?” I bite out.
“Oh.” Andrew grins. “Door doesn’t lock.” He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the wall. “Sooo, why aren’t ya fuckin’?”
“Because we knew a crazy person was going to bust in on us?” Mallory must sense I’m about ready to answer with my fists.
“Ha!” Andrew claps his hands and points at me. “You two are totally rad. Night!”