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  About a half dozen girls wasted no time in scrambling onstage with me. Sam was on them in an instant, pulling them back into the crowd. It made me laugh, but Sam shot me more than one irritated glance. Griffin did too. He ran onto the stage so fast you’d think a naked girl was up here. Grabbing his bass, he looked my way and shouted, “Bite me, asshole.”

  Matt and Evan laughed with me as Griffin hurried to get himself ready. Giving him time, I addressed the crowd again. “Sorry about that. Looks like we’re all here after all.” Kiera and Denny were laughing, along with a good section of the back of the bar. The girls closest were still shrieking their heads off, oblivious to the humor. “Any requests?” I asked them.

  “You!” A couple people shouted that, and from different sections of the room. I scanned the bar, but I couldn’t tell who’d said it.

  Laughing, I responded with, “Maybe later. If you’re real nice.” Whistles and catcalls followed that remark, and I wondered if anyone would try to take me up on the offer. I looked back at Evan, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Everyone was ready. Twisting back to the bar, I said into the microphone, “We’ve got newbies here tonight, so how about an old one?”

  Without looking, I pointed back at Evan, cuing him to start the song. He tapped it out, then started the intro. Matt came in a few beats later. Biting my lip, I kept time by swaying my body while I waited for my turn. Griffin came in a half beat behind me, and then we really took off.

  I loved starting off with this song, because I got to curse in the chorus. Not only was it fun, but it loosened up the crowd, made them go nuts—not that this crowd had a problem with that; they were used to us here, and were always ready for a good time. It helped in new bars though. Watching Kiera’s reaction to it was outstanding.

  “You knocked me down, you fucked me up. I’m holding still, waiting for you to do it again. Call me crazy, but I can’t get enough.”

  She was gaping when she first heard the line, then she was laughing, then she buried her head in Denny’s shoulder. Her being entertained by one of my songs gave me a weird sense of satisfaction. It was a perfect way to start the night.

  We played quite a few songs after that, the crowd laughing, screaming, and dancing, wholeheartedly enjoying themselves. Denny and Kiera spent most of the time on the fringes of the crowd, dancing along to the music together. When I grabbed my guitar and slowed the set down with a mellower song, they started slow dancing. It gave me a huge smile to see Denny so happy. He looked satisfied, like everything in his life was just the way he wanted it. Seeing him that way, my mood started mirroring his. All of us living together was going to be great—almost like a family of sorts.

  They were softly kissing with their arms tight around each other, a picture of perfect peace. Kiera laid her head on Denny’s shoulder. Her head was facing toward me, and I gave her a warm, friendly smile. Then I winked at her, ’cause I just couldn’t resist making her blush. She was clearly surprised by my friendly move, and I laughed and looked away. Some of the fans right in front of me started fanning themselves like I was making them overheat. That made me laugh too.

  We played one more fast song, a fan favorite, to close out the night. Knowing it was the end, some of the girls started screaming for an encore; they did that sometimes, which seemed weird to me. We were here every weekend. If they really wanted more, they knew where to find us.

  I spoke into the microphone, and they quieted to hear me. “Thank you for coming out tonight.” I waited for the brief burst of screams to diminish, then raised a finger. “I want to take a second to introduce you all to my new roommates.” Not able to resist the temptation to make Kiera’s face fill with color, I pointed at her and Denny. She looked like she wanted to either kill me or melt into the floor. Maybe both. Denny moving to her side was probably the only thing keeping her upright. And in the bar.

  “Ladies, the tall, dark, and handsome one would be Denny. Don’t get too attached though, that hottie beside him would be his girlfriend, Kiera.” Kiera hid her face in Denny’s shoulder, mortified. Wondering if she’d convince Denny to move out before the morning, I playfully told the crowd, “Now, you’ll all be happy to know that Kiera is joining the happy little family here at Pete’s, starting Monday night.”

  Kiera peeked up and glared at me with a delightful set of evil eyes and bright red cheeks. If I were close enough, I’d probably get a firm smack too. I laughed at the look on her face. Too bad she was too far away…and I had a microphone. No matter how hard she glared at me, she couldn’t stop me from teasing her.

  Getting to the point of my speech, I told the crowd, “I want you all to be nice to her.” I turned my eyes to Griffin, who was mentally having his way with Kiera. “Especially you, Griffin.”

  Griffin turned to me and gave me an Oh, yeah smile. I shook my head at him, told the crowd good night, then sat down on the stage to rest for a bit. It got hot under the lights. The girls below me didn’t seem to care that I was sweaty. They hopped up on the stage to be near me. Since the set was over with, Sam let them approach me.

  One handed me a beer, which I gratefully accepted. Another started playing with my hair, sending shivers down my spine. I loved the feeling of fingers against my scalp. One aggressive girl made herself quite comfortable on my lap. Laughing, I let her. “You’re sweaty,” she said with a giggle, then she leaned in to lick a bead off my neck. I’ll admit, it turned me on, and I was in such a good mood, I welcomed the affection.

  I looked over at Denny and Kiera; they both looked exhausted. I doubted we’d be doing any more roommate bonding tonight. They were probably just going to go home and crash. As I watched, Kiera yawned, confirming my suspicions. Denny said something to her, then turned my direction. Spotting me in the clump of women near the stage, he lifted his hand in a wave. I raised my beer in goodbye. Yeah, I’d hang out with them later. I was enjoying a pretty good performance buzz right now, and I kind of wanted to keep it going.

  The girl on my lap was working her way toward my ear. My cock was quickly hardening, and by the way she squirmed her hips, I knew she knew it. When she got to my ear, she whispered, “I think you’re enjoying this.”

  I gave her a smooth smile. “A gorgeous woman licking my neck? What’s not to enjoy?”

  She bit her lip as I took a swig of my beer. “Want to get out of here?” she asked, a grin full of promise on her lips.

  I considered that as I swallowed the beer in my mouth. Did I want to leave with her? Denny and Kiera were on their way home, my band was currently hooking up with friends or fans and heading out, I was feeling amazing from an awesome show, and I wasn’t the least bit tired. Why the hell not spend the evening wrapped around a woman? And besides, it felt nice having her in my arms.

  “Sure. What did you have in mind?” I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted, but it was always good to double check. I wouldn’t want to assume and look like an asshole.

  “I have an apartment on Capitol Hill,” she said, and giggled again.

  “Sounds great,” I told her. Wrapping my hands around the girl’s hips, I eased her onto the floor. She played with a long strand of pitch-black hair while she waited for me to join her. I carefully extracted myself from the group of girls around me, making them groan, whine, and toss nasty insults at my date. She didn’t say anything, just gave them a vindictive smile. “Play nice, ladies,” I told all of them before hopping down to join her.

  She wrapped her arms around my waist the minute she was able to. I put my arm around her shoulder and started leading her toward the doors. The crowds were thinner now than before the show, but the bar was still pretty full, and women reached out to stroke me as I weaved us toward the exit.

  I led the girl to my car and opened the door for her. She slid in and moved all the way over to my side on the bench seat. When I sat down behind the steering wheel, there was hardly enough room for me. Her hand was instantly on my inner thigh, her mouth once again on my neck. Her tongue flicked against the vein in my throat
and I suppressed a groan. This was going to be a long car ride if she kept this up. “Where to?” I asked.

  Nibbling on my ear, she told me which way to go. When we reached her place, my date grabbed my hand and rushed me up the steps to her apartment. We dashed inside, and she immediately led me to the bedroom. I wasn’t quite sure why she was in such a hurry. I certainly wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

  Once we were inside her room, she closed the door, wrapped her arms around my neck, and forcefully pulled me over to her bed. It was almost like she was afraid I would disappear if she didn’t get me under the covers as soon as possible. “This is going to be so much fun,” she purred before ripping my shirt off.

  About twenty minutes later, when we were both spent, I lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was already fast asleep, her naked body sprawled across her side of the mattress. I felt strange. She’d been right, that had been a lot of fun, but there was something missing. All I had been able to think of as I’d plunged into her was Denny and Kiera, which was a weird thought to be having at the time. But their tenderness and gentle touches were kind of what I’d been hoping for tonight. My date hadn’t given me that though. She’d wanted it hard, rough, and athletic. And noisy. I’d gotten the job done, and I’d had a pretty good climax, but I wouldn’t say I’d enjoyed it. Liked it, maybe.

  Feeling ready to leave, I quietly got up, found my clothes from where they were strewn about the room, and got dressed. After tugging on my boots, I opened the door and left her apartment. Feeling unsatisfied, I walked to my car with my head down.

  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I knew I wanted more than this. Maybe it was time I took a break from sex. Maybe I was just burned out.

  Chapter 5

  Roommates and D-Bags

  I felt better after a few hours of sleep. Perky, even. I didn’t have anything to do until rehearsal later and was looking forward to a lazy day with my roommates. I just felt like hanging out with Denny and getting to know Kiera a little better. I was continually surprised by her. She was different from most girls I knew. Different in a good way. And she had the most amazing smile…

  I was sipping on my coffee and finishing the newspaper article I’d started earlier when she ambled into the kitchen. Her hair was a mass of snarls from sleep, and she shuffled instead of walked. She obviously wasn’t a morning person. She glanced at me sitting at the table, dressed and ready for the day, and I swear irritation darkened her eyes and tightened her mouth. It was hard to tell if it was directed at me though. She could have just as easily been cursing the sun for rising.

  “Mornin’,” I cheerily told her.

  She made a grunting noise that sounded like “Uh.”

  I figured some coffee would cheer her up, so I returned my eyes to my paper and left her to it. I waited until she was seated and had a sip in her before I asked the question I’d been dying to ask her since our set ended last night. “Well, what did you think?” I couldn’t help my cocky grin. I knew from her face while she was dancing that she’d enjoyed herself.

  She struggled with her expression, like she was going to try to pull one over on me, but I wasn’t buying it. Her joy hadn’t been faked. “You guys were amazing. Really, it was unbelievable.”

  I nodded, sipping my coffee. I knew it. “Thanks, I’ll tell the guys you liked it.” Curious how she’d respond, I peeked up and asked, “Less offensive?”

  Her face flashed with remembered embarrassment, but then a small smile lightened her features. Her eyes were more of a brown color today, a shade of warm honey that hinted at the caring nature of the soul behind them. Sensuality surrounded by a crisp green line of determination. Remarkable. “Yes, much better…thank you.”

  I laughed at her response, then we nursed our coffees in comfortable silence. Well, it was silent until Kiera blurted out, “Joey was the roommate before us?”

  I slowly set down my mug as tension seeped into the room. Would she judge me for what happened with my ex-roommate? Chalk me up as a womanizer, a player, a self-absorbed asshole? It was really disappointing to think she might see me that way. Damn. Why the hell did Griffin always have to open his big-ass mouth at the most inopportune time? “Yeah…she left a while before Denny called about the room.” Let’s just leave it at that.

  The intelligence in Kiera’s eyes flared as she examined me. She was curious, but did she really want to know? I hoped not. She’d think the worst of me. “She left a lot of her stuff here. Is she going to come back for it?”

  I held my breath as I looked down. This was more because of Joey than me, but either way, it wasn’t going to sound good. Returning my eyes to her, I bluntly said, “No…I’m pretty sure she left town.” She was a drama queen, a control freak, and possibly mentally unstable, which…makes it seem even worse that I slept with her, so I’ll just keep that to myself. Please don’t ask what happened.

  “What happened?” she asked, ignoring my mental plea. Damn it.

  I paused, searching for a way to describe the situation with Joey without making either one of us look bad. “A…misunderstanding” was what I came up with.

  Kiera seemed to understand by my guarded tone that I didn’t want to talk about Joey. That was a lose-lose conversation for me. Thankfully, Kiera didn’t press the issue. She gave me a sympathetic smile, then concentrated on her coffee.

  When Denny came down a while later, Kiera got up and gave him a monstrous hug, like he was returning from the war, not the shower. It made me smile. Denny closed his eyes as he returned her hug. His embrace was just as all-encompassing. I’d never seen two people who hugged with their entire souls. And again, I found myself envious of both of them.

  Pulling apart, Denny asked Kiera, “It’s our last day of complete freedom. What would you like to do?”

  Kiera bit her lip while she thought about it. “Veg?” She shrugged.

  Denny laughed and rubbed her arm. “I can veg.” He looked over at me. “What about you, Kellan. Want to veg with us for a while?”

  “Sounds great,” I told him.

  Kiera was nervous about starting her new job at Pete’s, so Denny and I spent the next hour or so prepping her. We ran through every drink we could think of. There was no way she was going to remember them all, but we had a good time with it. We even made up a few drinks, just to get her extra prepared.

  When I left the house later in the evening, Kiera finally seemed comfortable about her new job, and Denny was the one starting to lose it. I considered canceling rehearsal to stay home and have a drink with him or something, but by the look Kiera was giving him, I was sure she had a better way to relax him. With a chuckle and a wave, I left her to it.

  The next morning Denny looked pale, but calmer. I was drinking my coffee and reading the paper when Kiera walked into the kitchen. She took one look at my T-shirt and started laughing. I was wearing one of the many band shirts that Griffin had made. DOUCHEBAGS was proudly splashed across the front in large white letters.

  I teasingly told her I could get her one, and with a good-natured grin, she gave me an enthusiastic nod. When Denny came down a little later, in a snazzy pressed shirt and pleated pants, he also commented on my shirt. I made a mental note to grab a couple from Griffin.

  Kiera and I bolstered Denny’s spirits for his first day of work. She told him he was hot; I teasingly agreed. She gave him a goodbye kiss; I playfully gave him a peck on the cheek. He was laughing as he left, and I knew that even though he was still a little nervous, he’d kill it at work. Denny was a smart guy. Always had been.

  After that, I was completely alone with Kiera for the first time since she’d arrived. It was strangely nice to have just the two of us in the house. She filled the home with a peaceful energy. Warm, sweet…innocent. Just being around her made me feel better.

  I worked on lyrics at the table while she watched a little TV in the living room. I could see her watching me from the couch, and wondering if she’d be open to helping me, I asked her, “What do
you think about these lines: Silent eyes shout in the dark, begging for an end. Cold words fall from closed mouths, cutting to the quick. We bleed out, two hearts pumping, but timeless, endless, the pain carries on.”

  She blinked at me, wordless. For a moment, I thought maybe I shouldn’t have shared that verse with her. Maybe I should have picked a more benign one, something light and peppy. But this was what I was working on right now, and by asking for her opinion, I could share myself without really sharing myself. So long as she didn’t ask me to explain the lyrics, I was safe.

  Swallowing, she inhaled a deep breath and said, “Well, I’m not that great at music, but maybe if you came up with something in the second line that rhymed with ‘end,’ it would flow better?” She shrugged, and her face skewed into an apologetic expression.

  I smiled at her, letting her know I wasn’t in any way offended by her suggestion. Most people just said, “Sounds great,” and didn’t bother giving one. I appreciated her honest attempt to try to make the song better.

  “Thanks, I think you’re right. I’ll work on that.” Her eyes lit up when she realized I was genuinely grateful for her assistance.

  As I went back to work, a feeling started in my chest and crept over all of my muscles, until I was coated with the warm sensation. I wasn’t sure if it was contentment, comfortableness, happiness, or something more, but it was wonderful, and I soaked it up like a sponge.

  Kiera disappeared a couple of hours before her shift to get ready. I wondered if she really needed that long. She didn’t seem the type to primp and preen for an ungodly amount of time. Her beauty was natural; she didn’t need to do anything to improve upon it. But when she came downstairs and asked me for a bus schedule, I understood why she was getting ready so early.

  Shaking my head, I told her I would take her. She stared at me from the entryway, jacket in hand. “No, no. You don’t have to do that.”