Chapter 23
“You have nothing to be nervous about,” Alice says, snapping a chocolate chip cookie in half.
“Who says I’m nervous?” I toss a crumpled paper towel at her. “Didn’t your mother teach you to eat cookies and not destroy them?”
She narrows her eyes and breaks the cookie into smaller chunks before popping a piece into her mouth. “If you’re not nervous, tell that to your hands because if that ring was human, it would be dizzy as hell.”
Shit. She’s right. I always twist my mermaid ring when I’m uneasy. I wonder if that’s why Sully stole it.
“Whatever.” I drop my hands to my sides and step into my favorite pair of black stilettos, focusing too hard on the scuff on the inside of the shoe’s right heel. I rub it over and over until it fades away.
There’s a knock on the door and I almost trip over the couch to answer it.
“Subtle,” Alice teases, eating more of that cookie, or its remains. I swear it takes her forever to eat one cookie. She says it makes it last longer, but honestly, she loves to drive me nuts. The girl gets crumbs everywhere and I’m the one who cleans them up.
When I open the door, Sully stands there wearing tight black jeans and a black Def Leppard tour shirt.
“Good show?” I ask, nodding to his attire.
He looks down as if he forgot what he had on and plucks at its collar. “Hell yeah. Caught their last tour in Germany. Have you been?”
“Seen the band, but I haven’t had the pleasure of traveling out of the country.”
“Not yet!” Alice chimes in, holding the box of cookies and digging out another one.
She chuckles as I shoot daggers over my shoulder. She blows me a kiss and disappears into our tiny kitchen.
Sully offers me a small smirk. “I can fix that. But let’s start with dinner.”
“What do you have in mind?” I grab my purse and close the front door behind me.
“Actually…I was thinking of cooking for you. I promise I’m an excellent chef.”
“Okay,” I say, sounding stiffer than I mean to.
The words Amy said, more as a threat than a contract, filter through my head. “As far as the world knows, you and Sully mean nothing. You’re nothing…to each other, I mean.”
Is that why Sully’s cooking? To hide me from the prying eyes of cameras and fans to avoid another argument with her?
A shiver travels through me, almost knocking me off balance. I grab the railing as we walk down the stairs to keep from stumbling and falling onto Sully.
Maybe he’s romantic and this is what he does on a second date. It’s not unheard of to cook for someone. But it is a little suspicious.
Sully opens the back passenger door and gestures for me to slide in first. I bend my lips into a smile and climb inside. He explains the traditional German meal he’s going to prepare and how it’s his Oma’s special recipe.
“That sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it,” I lie through my teeth. Well, maybe it’s not a complete lie. What little I heard him say about the food over the voices in my head arguing did sound good and my stomach is growling since I skipped breakfast.
The hunger-inducing smell from the kitchen makes my mouth water.
Despite us being holed up in his rented condo, he went all out to make it feel welcoming.
There are tall, red candles on the table, casting the dining room in a flickering glow.
Shadows dance along the walls, reminding me of long fingers reaching out to grab me.
To pull me into the darkness and hide there forever.
Sully shatters my thoughts when he places two plates of food on the table. “I hope you like it.”
I grab my fork and shove some sausage and noodles into my mouth. “Delicious.”
After we finish eating, Sully catches me glancing at the bedroom. The door is shut, but I can still feel the silky sheets against my skin. The warmth of his strong yet gentle arms holding me to his chest. The lingering scent of mint and fresh laundry hanging in the air.
“I can’t apologize enough for Amy this morning. Please don’t take what she said to heart.”
“It’s alright.” I twirl a piece of hair around my fingers.
At least it’s not my ring. “I get it.” I don’t really, but my bad habit is putting on a brave mask and burying whatever hurts me so deeply until the pain gnaws at my bones.
“You’re the single one in the band and some random fangirl would ruin—”
He reaches forward, placing his finger against my lips, silencing my words. “What if I want you to ruin me?” His voice is deep and his eyes are dark with hunger in the dim light.
“Then I’d say you’re a fool.”
He smiles, and his hand cups my face. I lean into his touch, feeling like a street cat who found a friendly human with food to share.
“With you, I can be myself. I don’t have to pretend.” His other hand takes mine; he fingers my mermaid ring. “Amy likes control. It’s why she’s good at her job.”
I move closer, our thighs pressing together, skin on skin. Heat pools in my belly. “Sometimes loss of control is a good thing.”
A chuckle rumbles from his chest. “God, with you I want to do bad things.”
“Why don’t you?” I ask, pressing my forehead to his.
He fists my hair, tugging my face back until we’re nose to nose. My breath hitches as his lips brush mine, nothing but a touch of butterfly wings, but it causes a surge of hurricane winds inside my chest.
“Because I’d lose all sense of who I am. I’d blow off my music and ignore my band just to spend one more minute with you.” His eyes close briefly, and his lashes splash against his skin.
As if pulled by invisible strings, I’m thrust forward until I’m kissing him. His hands slide along my back until his fingers press into my hip bones. I tug on his hair to deepen our kiss. My nails sink into his flesh. The temperature has gone up ten degrees and we still have our clothes on.
“Should we…” I nod toward the bedroom.
Sully pulls me onto his lap. I can feel his length against my leg, but he shakes his head. “I want to savor you and there aren’t enough hours tonight to do everything I keep picturing in my mind.”
A blush burns my cheeks. I nip at his earlobe. “Okay,” I say, kissing along his throat.
He moans. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“You stole my line.”
He picks me up like I weigh nothing and switches our positions. I’m pinned against the couch as his legs are on either side of mine, pressing my thighs together.
“This weekend I’m going to take you out for real, and we’re not going to stop until you’re screaming my name.”
My heart somersaults, almost falling out of my chest. My teeth dig into my bottom lip as the corners of my mouth curl into an evil smirk.
“Has anyone told you how devious you are?”
He shrugs. “Once or twice,” he says before his tongue darts and licks my collarbone. My hips rock against his, but he braces against me harder until I can’t move.
“Patience,” he whispers, then bites the fleshy part of my shoulder.
I choke back a moan.
The weight of him is gone too soon. My body is limp and useless without his touch. He takes my hands and pulls me to my feet. “I wanted tonight to be romantic. Let’s get you home before I rip those clothes off of you.”
The next afternoon as I’m fulfilling orders from my website, I receive a text from Charlotte.
Hey! Sully gave me your number. Actually, I stole it out of his phone. Anyway, the boys are fighting over a new song & I’m about to strangle someone. Wanna hang out to save Sully’s life?
I shake my head, only imagining what it’s like to hear all three of those guys arguing.
Yeah. My roommate, her girlfriend, & I are about to watch The Thing. You can come over and hang out.
Yes! I’ll bring snacks.
About twenty minutes later, Charlotte hops out of her rideshare with two grocery bags full of candy, popcorn, and chips. Alice blesses her and takes the food into the kitchen to put into bowls. Emily giggles as she follows to help.
Alice and Emily snuggle on the loveseat under a blanket as they share a giant bowl. Charlotte and I sit on the couch with a blanket and bowl of our own. We laugh throughout the movie as people panic and run for their lives. The graphics from the 1980s are silly, but still damn good.
When the credits roll, Alice and Emily sneak off to the bedroom. Charlotte checks her phone. “Guess I should get back. Hopefully no fights broke out while I was gone.”
“It was good to see you.” I turn off the TV and put our empty bowls in the kitchen.
Charlotte sees the picture of me as a mermaid hanging on the wall. “Is this you?”
I brush a piece of hair out of my face. “Yeah.”
She smiles. “I love it. I can see why Sully likes you. You’re sweet, but mysterious.”
“Amy doesn’t like me,” I grumble.
Charlotte waves her hand like she’s batting away a fly.
“Amy’s annoying. We hired her because the band needed someone to run our socials and keep us on track for interviews and such.
Sully mentioned it to his aunt, and then Amy popped into our lives.
She does help get us seen by more people, but she also likes to comment on things that are not in her job description.
Like our cover art. Don’t get me started on how she went off on that last year.
” Charlotte sighs, tugging on her silver hoop earring.
“Anyway, we deal with her, but you don’t need to take her shit. ”
“Thanks.” Her words don’t offer much comfort, but at least I’m not the only thing Amy hates. She’s just a control freak.
Charlotte’s phone buzzes. “My ride’s here. See you later.”
We hug, and I open the door for her. She walks down the stairs, and a strange white car catches my attention. It’s not her rideshare because she’s walking to the idling red car near the dumpster. I don’t think I’ve seen that white car before.
I take a few steps to get a better look, and the car turns before flooring it down the street. For a second, I swear the driver looked a lot like my ex.
My stomach jumps into my throat. That’s impossible. I shake off the idea, or try to, and go back into the apartment, locking the door.