Chapter One #2
The god bites his bottom lip before he stands and wipes his hands down his boxers. “I’m Colt, in case you were wondering.” He smiles. “Try to get some sleep because I’m sure as shit your head’s gonna be pounding tomorrow morning.” He moves to leave.
Panic consumes me.
I don’t want to be alone.
I’m never alone.
I need someone here with me.
He can’t leave!
Before he gets too far, I grab his hand, and he turns back to face me. Colt’s skin is rough, but so warm that a fire ignites throughout my entire body.
“Please don’t leave. Everybody leaves me. I don’t want to be alone,” I beg him.
Colt looks at me, then at the door, like he’s trying to figure out his next move. Then, with an exhale, he sits back down on the couch, and I sigh in relief while I wipe away the fresh tears forming.
“Okay, but if I’m going to stay, that right there…” he waves at me, screwing up his face. “That emotional female thing you’ve got goin’ on, it has to stop. Now!”
My stomach flips, confused why he would talk to me that way, but for some reason, my crying subsides, and I simply nod, sniffing back my emotions. “O-okay,” I say sheepishly.
Colt nods, resting his ankle on his other knee, and leans back into the couch.
Wow, if I weren’t broken-hearted and had no inhibitions, the things I’d do to this stranger beside me are totally out of character for me.
It doesn’t stop me from thinking about them as I clench my thighs together and bite my lip.
“If I’m gonna sit here with you instead of getting the sleep I desperately need, you’d better start talking. Starting with your name…” he states with a smirk.
“I’m Deliah, but most people call me Dee.
” He smiles, and I continue, “Joseph and I were in the middle of a nice dinner, then with absolutely no emotion, he explained that he didn’t and never has loved me.
That he’s keeping Princess Sophia, and I’m moving out tonight.
He drove me home, packed my bags, and now I’m here, drinking my life away and talking to some hot guy I don’t even know. ”
Did I say that last bit out loud?
He smiles with a cocky grin.
Yep, I said it out loud.
“Um… thanks. What’s a Princess Sophia?”
I laugh out loud. But unfortunately, it’s more of an undignified snort, and I shoot my hand up to my mouth.
What is wrong with me?
The corner of his mouth quirks up like he’s enjoying himself, having a great time at my expense.
“Sorry, must be the vodka.” A little girlish giggle escapes my lips.
Get a hold of yourself, Deliah Norman. You’re acting like a right git!
“Don’t worry… I get the whole broken heart, vodka thing. Been there, drunk that,” Colt says, and I laugh. “So, what is it?”
“What’s what?” I reply, slightly confused.
“What’s a Princess Sophia?”
I laugh again, and now he’s looking at me with furrowed brows and a smirk.
This man must think I’m an imbecile.
“She’s not a what. She’s my Yorkipoo.”
“Fuck! I don’t want to know anything about shit, thanks.” He screws up his nose like he’s just tasted something nasty.
“Don’t be daft! She’s my Yorkshire Terrier-cross-Poodle. She is a dog.”
Colt raises an eyebrow, then nods in understanding.
“That’s good because I was thinking you’re fucking off your rocker talking about shit like that.
Not that I mind. I mean, we all have bodily functions.
But since I only just met you, talking about crap is kinda not on my list of shit to do tonight. ”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’m… off my what now?”
He grins. “Off your rocker.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re crazy, insane, not of sound mind, mentally incapable of being normal. You know… off your rocker.”
“Right, got it! Thanks for that,” I say with a smirk and bring my feet up on the edge of the couch, cradling myself. With a heavy sigh, I say, “Maybe I am.”
“Why?”
“Joseph warned me that I’m plain and boring, and I never looked pretty enough. He said I’m not spontaneous and that I’m too stuck-up to be any kind of exciting. Perhaps he’s right! Maybe I am boring and dull and deserve to be alone.”
Colt frowns, shaking his head. “I don’t think anyone deserves to be alone. I’m with you, so technically, you’re not alone,” Colt says, resting his hand on my knee. That intense fire starts to burn up my leg and into the apex of my thighs. “Why don’t you do something spontaneous? Prove him wrong.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Have you ever been to a rock concert?”
I shake my head adamantly. “No way! Daddy would never let me go to one of those. He’d have a coronary. They’re full of drug lords and people who worship the devil.”
He laughs, and it’s not just a chuckle. It’s a full belly laugh. “Okay, seriously, have you lost your mind?”
“No, I’m not crazy.”
“Sorry, right, okay. Let’s just say there are some druggies at rock concerts, but I’m not one of them, and as for people worshiping the devil, I’m almost certain that doesn’t happen. Well, not at my shows anyway.”
His shows?
Colt’s really in a band? That’s pretty cool, but definitely not something Daddy would approve of. “So, you play in a band, then?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m the lead singer, and my brother and a couple of lads from school make up the rest. We’ve just started our Loaded and Live World Tour and had three gigs at Wembley Stadium over the last three nights.
The day after tomorrow, we move on to our US leg.
It’s our first tour where we’re the headline act. ”
“Wow, Wembley! That’s usually where the big-time acts play. Are you like totally famous?”
He laughs and tilts his head. “Maybe just a little.” Colt holds his thumb and index finger only slightly apart and winks.
“Well, I don’t listen to much music, but I sometimes listen to the radio in the car. What’s your band called?”
“12GAUGE-Slayed.”
“Oh, sorry… I’ve never heard of you, but then again, I don’t know band names. I do know songs,” I reply.
His eyes widen with a look of shock. “Seriously? You’ve never heard of us?”
Arrogant much?
“Nope. But like I said, I don’t know band names, only songs.”
“Have you heard the song, “Rapture?” ”
“Oh yeah, sure. That song has practically been on top of the charts for the last, I dunno… six weeks or something crazy like that. Yeah, that’s a good song. Do you know the band?”
“Yeah, I do. It’s us.” He laughs again.
“Oh, poppycock. Those guys are incredibly famous, and the lead singer would not be wasting his time in my room chatting with me, that’s for sure. Nice try, buddy.” I pat his leg this time with a chuckle.
“Okay, well, how about this? Why don’t you come to our final concert at Wembley tomorrow? Well, technically, it’s tonight. You can be my guest of honor if you like. That can be your first act of spontaneity,” he says, squeezing my knee.
I smile. “It’s a deal. Tonight. Concert. Right.” Daddy will not approve. Actually, he’ll lose his mind, but if Joseph is right and I am boring and dull, then maybe this little bit of uninhibited me will break the mold.
Oh, who am I kidding? I am not made for something like this. This is not how I was groomed. Let’s face it, privilege and following the rules of being a good girl are all I know.
I am out of my depth.
“Great! I’ll pick you up at seven,” Colt says and stands to leave.
With that movement, I panic again and grab his hand.
“Do you have to go?” He swallows roughly and gnaws on his lip.
“Could you stay? Keep me company until I fall asleep? Then you can leave if you want. It’s just…
I haven’t stopped crying since I arrived at the hotel, and then you came in, and I haven’t cried since.
For some reason, you’re helping me,” I say.
He grips my hand a little tighter, sending a shiver up my spine. “Please?”
“Sure, but only till you fall asleep.”
I nod and stand, walking with him hand in hand to the king-sized bed. He hesitates for a second after I lie down, but eventually lies beside me.
“So, I get why you’re here, but if your relationship with your boyfriend was that great, shouldn’t you be out fighting for it or some shit?” he asks, breaking the silence.
I shake my head. “I guess I’m more upset that I’ve always lived a certain way.
I’ve been raised believing I’m supposed to marry into social status and end up a socialite like my mummy, and that can’t happen now that Joseph has ended things.
I suppose I’m mourning the loss of the life I was raised to have, and now I feel like I don’t belong anywhere.
I have nothing to show for myself,” I admit.
“Well, to me, it sounds like you’re not so upset by the loss of Joseph but by the loss of the life you were meant to have?”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. Daddy always taught me that being socially accepted and marrying into money and status was the single most important thing I could do for our family. I guess I’m a failure at everything.”
“Nah, you just need to burst out of the social bubble your father has placed you in and live a little. You’re only young once, and it sounds like you haven’t truly lived. You’ve been stifled,” he says.
Nodding, I bite my bottom lip. I know he’s right. “Can I be honest with you?” He nods once. “I don’t know how to do anything for myself. I’ve always had everything handed to me on a silver platter. I don’t know how to be different from who I am?” I admit, and Colt exhales heavily.
“Well, for starters, I’m gonna break you out of that mold.
It’s sad that someone like you hasn’t experienced anything beyond social luncheons and high-society living.
There’s a whole world out there waiting for you.
You need to take steps for a chance to live life a little differently.
The world isn’t that scary. Plus, there are normal people out there, not just high-class pompous gits. There are real people—”
“People like you?” I interrupt.