Tangled Up In You (Rogue #1)

Chapter 45

45

SOPHIE

T he atmosphere was noticeably tense when Sophie and Celia arrived at the studio where the members of Rogue had been holed up for the last several weeks. The women had lunched together and decided on the spur of the moment to bring the boys food as well, but just about everyone seemed irritated by their unexpected presence.

Celia paid no mind to their annoyance. Instead, she walked down the hallway with bags of sandwiches, coleslaw, and brownies, chirping merrily about how exciting it was to see them at work.

“Celia, babe, you should’ve checked with me,” Martin said as he followed after her helplessly. “This isn’t a good time.”

“But it’s lunchtime, sweetheart. You need to eat, don’t you?”

Sophie waited for Gavin to come greet her and introduce her to their team of producers, engineers, and other crew who suddenly seemed inspired to take a break due to the interruption. But Gavin and Conor were sitting on wood stools in an isolation booth at the far end of the studios, working intently on the rhythm of a guitar line and oblivious to their arrival.

Even though the studio was near Trinity on the Southside of Dublin, Gavin had never suggested she visit him there before. She was surprised by how small the studio was, even with its separate spaces for recording with either carpeted or hardwood floors. An enormous angled soundboard filled the front room, and its dozens upon dozens of knobs and switches and tangle of wires overwhelmed the space. Large speakers were both built into the wood paneled walls and set atop the soundboard. The equipment was complex, requiring more than one engineer to manipulate it and included a colorful keyboard and computer monitor resting in the middle of it all.

She knew the facility had a kitchen and a shower, but the air was stagnant with a lingering mixture of old takeaway food, stale alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and body odor. She sensed that the closeness of the space could easily lead to irritation.

Julia O’Flaherty was curled up sleeping in one of the battered leather chairs pressed against the wall opposite the soundboard. Sophie had seen Julia at various parties and nights out, but both women used Gavin as a buffer, keeping their distance from one another. They had come to an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t be friends.

Shay sat at the soundboard, listening to a playback of a song. He leaned back and smiled at Sophie.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Come here.” He patted the empty chair next to him and she sat down. “Truth is, we’re desperate for a break. But we’re all too fucking stubborn to admit it. We’ve hit a wall here and it hurts.”

“Is it bad?” She saw the circles under his eyes and knew out of all the band members he would take this kind of creative roadblock the hardest. The band was absolutely everything in his life.

“The record company is on our arses. We get reminders from them of how expensive studio time is everyday—sometimes twice a day,” he said with a weary, bitter laugh. “And it’s just not coming. We’ve got the lyrics and we’ve got some of the music, but for the life of us, we can’t bring it all together.”

“Oh, Shay,” she said softly, and hugged him impulsively.

She was at fault for at least part of this. The publicity around her reunion with Gavin had helped to almost double the band’s album sales to six million. The record label had made it clear they wanted to capitalize on the interest in the band—and their relationship. They had become tabloid staples since that radio phone call in Los Angeles, though the near-daily stories tended to be mundane. They’d mostly publish photos of Gavin when he was on his own or with Conor, and gleefully suggest there was “trouble in paradise!” since Sophie wasn’t with him. Alternatively, they’d make innuendos out of innocent photos of Sophie with her male schoolmates. As baseless as all this was, it still caught Celia’s attention, as she had just that day begged for details about several of that week’s stories. Sophie and Gavin found it silly and didn’t let it affect their routines, but she knew the fact that they were still garnering attention only stoked anticipation—and pressure—for Rogue’s next album.

Shay was stiff in her arms for a moment and she could feel how tense the whole process had made him. But soon he exhaled and returned her embrace.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Sophie and Shay pulled apart at the sound of Gavin’s voice. He stood with hands on hips as he glared at them. Sophie saw Julia stir, open her eyes, blink at them, and then pretend sleep again.

“Hi, baby,” Sophie said, and stood up. She knew they were all on edge and figured it was best to ignore his attempt to start a fight. “We brought sustenance. You ready for a break?”

“I’m not in the mood for this, Sophie. And this isn’t the kind of thing where you can just drop by. We’re under a fucking deadline,” he told her.

“Wow, you really are in a bad mood,” she said with a smile, trying to lighten him up.

“He’s been like this for the last two weeks,” Shay said.

“Fuck off, Shay,” Gavin told him.

Sophie shook her head, both at Gavin’s cruel reaction and at his use of “Shay” rather than “Seamus.” That was almost the bigger insult after Gavin had made such a big point of using the full name for his friend for so many years. To revert back to the shorter name, the one his parents had so carelessly bestowed upon him, was a true slight. But even though Shay looked wounded, he remained silent.

“Gavin, don’t be such a jerk,” she said.

Gavin’s annoyance was clear as he stared at her but she didn’t back down, maintaining eye contact. “Don’t do this to me now,” he said stiffly. “I’m under enough fucking pressure as it is.”

“Bit of a domestic, is it?” Conor asked as he approached them. He waited in vain for a response and finally slapped Gavin forcefully on the back a few times. “Be nice to your girl. She’s the best thing about you, you know?”

Sophie watched the stubbornness drain out of Gavin at his friend’s semi-playful words.

“Right as usual, Con,” Gavin said. “I need some air. Come with me, darlin’.”

He grabbed her hand and she let herself be taken out of the building through a rear door. It opened into a narrow, paved brick alleyway and they had it to themselves. They stood together, mirroring each other with arms crossed over their chests in defensive poses. The silence grew but Sophie wasn’t going to be the first to speak.

“I fucked up,” he finally stated.

“It’s okay, Gavin.”

“Thanks, but it’s not. I’m at a loss and I don’t see any change coming. It’s more than frustrating. I’m sorry for taking it out on you.”

Sophie took the few steps to close the gap between them and leaned her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

“I’m sorry to show up like this. I really didn’t think it through. I only even suggested it because I didn’t know what to say when Celia told me she doesn’t like to have sex with Martin.”

Gavin laughed and pulled away. “What now?”

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Seems she’s not that into it. Says it’s a lot of ‘fuss’ over nothing much.”

“Oh, poor Marty!” he groaned. “And he’s completely fucked ’cause he’s so in love with her.”

“And she’s in love with him, too. But she’s just not into sex. It’s too sweaty,” she said, her nose crinkled with distaste.

“Jesus, what else did she say?” he asked and they giggled together.

Gossiping about their friends’ unsatisfactory sex life and agreeing they had no such worries oddly helped to alleviate their earlier tension.

“I’ve missed you, Gavin,” Sophie said. She wrapped one arm around his neck and tried to tame his wavy hair with her other hand.

It had been months now of the band working together tirelessly, first at Conor’s and now in the studio. Gavin had been keeping opposite hours from her, meeting with the guys in the afternoon and returning home at four or five in the morning, while she was committed to early classes and daytime study groups. Despite the lack of quality time together, they had stayed connected in bed. Once home, Gavin would strip naked and coax Sophie into lovemaking that began each morning with him trailing kisses and gentle bites over every exposed part of her body. She began to sleep nude in tingling anticipation of his arrival. They established a delicious routine where he would kiss, lick, and touch her while she feigned sleep. When he’d brought her close to the edge, and she could no longer maintain normal breathing, he would whisper in her ear, “now I’m going to fuck you” and she would reach for him. The extended foreplay combined with his forceful confidence always led to an intense experience.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Gavin examined her. “We have been a bit off these last few weeks.”

“Try months.”

“Yeah, suppose so. It’s been hard to keep up with you in school and me working on the album, right?”

She nodded. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Never gonna happen. You’re my girl.”

“That’s true,” she agreed with a smile. “But do you think there’s going to be an end to these studio sessions?”

“Yes. We’re mostly there. Just need the final push. Be patient for me.”

“I can do that.” She kissed him.

“We have our Christmas trip to look forward to, don’t we?”

Christian Hale had invited them all to his Sunshine Beach home near Brisbane for the Christmas holiday. Martin had opted out to spend his first Christmas at home with his wife, but Conor, Shay, Gavin, and Sophie had accepted the offer. Both Conor and Shay would be going solo. Conor had ended things with Sondra, suggesting maybe they could get together again after the band finished the album, but both knew the truth about his lack of commitment to her.

“We do! I’m so excited about having a summertime Christmas.” The Australian seasons were opposite of theirs, so they would be arriving in time for a warm celebration.

“Look, we’ll wrap this up with plenty of time to go shopping for togs.”

She laughed. “Togs,” she mocked. “Doesn’t bikini have a nicer ring to it?”

“When I’m picturing you in one, it does.” He pressed his lips to hers for a long, slow kiss.

“Okay, I’ve distracted you long enough,” she said reluctantly. “Time for you to go back in and apologize to Shay.”

“Apologize? Guys don’t apologize to other guys, darlin’.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, then do whatever you do to make it right.”

“That I will. Let’s go in.”