Then Caleb’s dark eyes and sinfully sexy body played in my mind’s eye, and I was reminded exactly why.
I was so screwed.
Chapter 13
Caleb
“I love your TV,” Allie—Abbey?—gushed. The redheaded groupie was standing in the middle of my living room, looking around like she was in Disney World for the first time. My vision was swimming a little from all the shots I’d had earlier with Nick and a bunch of women he’d lined up, and I was already regretting the headache I was going to have in the morning.
I’d brought Allie the groupie home with me because I was trying to convince myself that I wasn’t exclusive to Kelly, and Nick promised that Allie sucked cock like a vacuum cleaner, but mine wasn’t responding to her at all.
“You do? What’s so special about it?” I had no idea why she was fawning over my television, or why she was eyeing my couches like they’d been spun from gold. I’d gotten them years ago, and despite Jared always being on my ass about replacing them, they were comfortable.
Allie’s giggle permeated my slightly drunken haze and grated my nerves. She twirled a lock of hair around her index finger and skipped back to where I was leaning on the doorframe. “It’s yours, silly. That’s what’s so special about it.”
“Oh. Right.” Millions of other people had the exact same thing. Mine was no different. This was why groupies annoyed the shit out of me. I’d even caught one trying to steal a closed roll of toilet paper from my trailer once. Why?
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to my gaming consoles, green eyes wide as they met mine. They weren’t as bright as Kelly’s, more watered down and—
No. Allie—or Abbey—was here so that I wouldn’t think about Kelly. I was trying to work up to fucking this woman, ditzy and annoying or not. My dick was becoming addicted to Kelly, and I couldn’t have that. Kelly and I weren’t exclusive. It was time my dick got up to speed on that.
“That’s my X-box,” I answered. “Wanna play?”
“With you?” she asked, moving closer to me.
“Sure, why not?”
Clearly, Allie had a different idea about what kind of playing I was suggesting. She grabbed my dick and squeezed. Hard. Then she giggled again and licked her lips.
Christ.
I gently extricated myself from her before I lost my favorite appendage and moved out of her reach. She was becoming more annoying with every passing second, but maybe I just had to get her to relax a little. “How about some music? What kind of music do you like?”
“Destitute. Duh. You’re such a silly billy.” She cooed, following me to my music player’s docking station. Planting her hands firmly on my ass, she pressed her body to my back and tried to peek at what I was selecting. “Instead of playing something on there, why don’t you give me a private show?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I’m supposed to be resting before the tour if I’m not in practice.” It was bullshit, but there was no way I was playing for her. If I wasn’t playing for Destitute, playing was a private thing for me.
Jared and I both started out in music because we loved it and it kept us out of trouble, and it was still my reprieve. Sure, I made my money and spent a huge amount of time playing to crowds of thousands, but when I wasn’t, my guitar was for me and me alone.
It gave me space to think, to create, to make sense of things. That wasn’t something I shared with anyone. I figured I shared enough of my music that I had the right to keep at least some things to myself.
Allie pushed her breasts flat against my back and snuck her hands from my ass to my hips, her fingers brushing the waistband of my jeans. If her intention was to turn me on, she was failing miserably.
“Come on, just one song,” she said, her tone becoming high and whiney. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Well, at least I wasn’t the only one bullshitting in this room. If I played anything for her, no doubt it would be all over her social media before the last notes even faded.
“I know you wouldn’t, but it’s manager’s orders.” I shrugged and tapped on an instrumental version of a song by a band that I’d been into for a while.
“But I love Destitute so much. It would be amazing to hear you play just for me. You guys are the best.”
I chuckled dryly. “Not by a long shot. There are some fuckin’ amazing musicians out there. We’re just doing the best that we can to contribute.”
“No, you guys are fucking amazing musicians,” Allie protested, finally letting go of my hips when I shifted to move out of her grasp and collapsed onto my couch. “Being a rock star must be so, so cool. I’m so jealous of you guys.”
“Why? It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I can promise you that.”
Allie’s eyes grew wide as she sashayed over to the couch. “I think you’re just being modest, Caleb Larsen.”
“That’s something I’ve never been accused of.”
She laughed and sat down beside me, turning so she was facing me with one of her knees bent on the couch. “Good, then I’ll be the first. I don’t believe for one second that you don’t have the best job in the world.”
“It’s not bad for a job, I guess,” I conceded. “But it’s also not what people think it is.”
“Are you saying you don’t like it?” Allie asked, looking slightly disgusted by the possibility. Good thing I didn’t give a fuck what she thought.
“Sometimes I don’t like it, yeah.”
Her pink mouth formed a perfect “o” as she raised both her eyebrows. “Now I don’t get that at all. You have it all, the fame, the glory, the money. You get invited to all the best parties. What’s not to like?”
“All of the above?” I ventured, but Allie was shaking her head. “Let me give you an example. Say you go to a music festival where all your favorite bands are playing. Do you want to watch them, or just know that you’re going to be in the same general area where they’re going to be playing at the same time that they’re playing?”
“I want to watch them,” Allie answered immediately.
“Exactly. So do I. Jared and I started Destitute because we fucking love music. It was never about any of the other stuff. Now when we play those festivals, we don’t even get to see the other amazing bands playing. It’s all about the other stuff.”
Allie shifted while I was talking, staring at the lights of L.A. blinking down in the distance. When I turned my attention back to her, she’d taken off her top and was rising up on the couch to straddle me. “I don’t think you started the band for the music. I think you did it for the women. I know all about your reputation, Caleb. It doesn’t seem to me that you’re too worried about the music when you’ve got the girls.”
Her comments made me bristle, but I pushed it down. There was an objectively hot girl on my lap, her perky little lace-clad tits right in my face and her eyes begging me to fuck her. I owed to it my teenaged self to let the irritation go and revel in the moment. “The girls have been pretty damn awesome.”