Chapter 22
Fuck up – what Jett’s about to do
Jett
I enter the room backstage and spot Aurora chatting with some guy in the corner. As soon as she notices me, she rushes out of the room. The same way she’s rushed out of every room I’ve walked into for the past six days. Ever since Mike tried to fire her, she’s been hiding from me.
I’m done with this shit. I’m done with Aurora hiding from me. I want the friendship we were building in Winter Falls back. I want my Aurora back.
I hurry to follow her. I spot her scurrying down the hallway and speed up. She glances behind her and scowls at me. Her scowl is adorable. It makes me chase her faster.
But when she turns a corner and flashes me her baby bump, I skid to a halt at the reminder of why I can’t have Aurora. Of why I need to leave her alone.
I can’t be a father. I can’t be in a relationship. I’m not good enough for her.
The door next to me bangs open and Mike steps out. Great. He’s been a bear to work with this week.
“Jett. Just the guy I’ve been looking for.”
Suspicious. He’s never looking for me unless he wants something.
“What do you want?”
I don’t wait for his answer and spin around to march back to the rest of the band. There’s safety in numbers.
“The press are arriving for our after concert meet and greet.”
He throws an arm over my shoulders but I shrug him off. I don’t want the man who bullies Aurora to touch me. I draw a hand down my face. Why does every thought come back to her?
“What do you want?” I repeat my question.
“I need you to do your thing.”
“My thing?”
“Charm the press. Charm the fans. Be your charming self.”
“You have me confused with Gibson. He’s the charming one.”
He smirks at me. “Rumor has it the two of you are equally charming with the female fans. In fact, the last I heard you were winning the bet on who can sleep with the most women.”
I was never winning the bet. I haven’t slept with nearly the number of women Gibson has. Most of the time, I was faking it. The excitement of women throwing themselves at you didn’t last long for me.
Unlike my excitement with Aurora. She never threw herself at me. She’s prickly as a pear.
Enough! There’s no sense obsessing over Aurora when I can’t have her.
I need to get over her. I need to get her taste, her feel, out of my mind.
Mike steers me toward the press room. It’s packed from wall to wall with female fans. They notice us and begin screaming. I smile. I know the perfect way to stop obsessing about Aurora.
“Jett! Jett!”
“Over here, Jett!”
“I can rock your world, Jett!”
I wink at the female fans screaming for me. “Later,” I promise.
Gibson scowls at me when I take my place on the sofa next to him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m meeting and greeting the fans.”
“You can’t flirt with the fans.”
“Why not? Are you jealous?”
He glares at me. “I’m not jealous. But you are fucking stupid.”
“I’m not stupid,” I grit out.
He raises an eyebrow. “Oh really? You’re not ruining the best thing in your life by flirting with fans who mean nothing to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I focus my gaze forward. I’m not having this discussion with him. Not here. Not now. Not ever.
“You can pretend to ignore me all you want. You know I’m right.”
“You don’t know jack shit.”
I start to stand. I’ll find somewhere else to sit. But he stops me with a hand on my thigh.
“I do know jack shit. I know all about your past. I know why you’re scared. You need to stop running from your past before you lose the chance of a beautiful future.”
“My future is rock ‘n roll and this band. There’s no white picket fence in my future. I know better than to drink the Kool-Aid.”
I pull away from him and find a spot next to Fender. At least grumpapottamus won’t talk to me. He grunts at me and I hold up a hand.
“Not you, too. I don’t need my bandmates to manage my life.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“I haven’t done anything. I’m sitting here waiting for this meet and greet to begin.”
He growls. “Don’t let your past ruin your future.”
I throw up my hands. “Is everyone going to tell me how to live my life?”
Cash and Dylan nod from where they’re sitting across from us.
I cross my arms over my chest. My bandmates are my best friends, my family, but they don’t know what’s best for me. They don’t know everything.
“Time for our group picture,” Aurora announces.
The rest of the band joins me and Fender on the sofa and the fans gather behind us. The photographer quickly snaps a few shots. When he’s finished, he nods to Aurora.
“You have thirty minutes to ask the band questions,” she says before leaving the room.
I try to watch her leave but several female fans block my view.
“Hi, Jett.” A woman draws a fingernail down my chest. Her touch feels wrong. But I allow it. I need to get over Aurora somehow.
Another woman licks her lips as her gaze rakes over my body. I lock my muscles before I retch at the predatory way she sizes me up. “I’m Shannon.”
“And I’m Cherie,” the first woman says.
“I’m willing to share if you are,” Shannon offers.
Cherie bites her bottom lip. “There is a lot to share.”
I wrap one arm around Cherie and one around Shannon. “I know just the place.”
I lead them toward the door. I can practically feel the gazes of my bandmates on my back. But I ignore the burn. Despite what they think, they don’t know what’s best for me.
Cherie and Shannon drape themselves over me as we walk down the hallway. I open the second door we come to. It’s a smaller version of the room we were just in.
“Now,” I say as I nudge the women away from me. “Why don’t the two of you give me a show to start with?”
And give me some time to warm up to the idea of touching a woman who isn’t Aurora.
Cherie whips off her top to reveal a pink lace bra. It barely contains her breasts. Not to be outdone, Shannon removes her t-shirt and her skirt.
This show is going entirely too quickly for my liking. I dig out my phone and find some music. I hit play and motion for them to dance. Without missing a beat, the women begin grinding against each other.
Now we’re talking. I lean back on the sofa and get comfortable.
I enjoy watching the women kiss and lick each other. Except neither one has long, curly blonde hair. Or light green eyes. Or a smile that can get her anything she wants.
I rub a hand down my face. I’m supposed to be getting Aurora out of my mind. Not fantasizing about her while watching two women go at it.
My cock doesn’t care. It’s not interested in either one of these women. It wants Aurora. If it could huff and glance away, it would.
Fuck. This isn’t working. I stand with the intent to stop this charade.
The women think otherwise. They squeal and throw themselves at me. Their hands on me feel wrong. I bat them away.
This isn’t what I want. Who I want.
Fucking hell. If I can’t be with other women, there’s only one thing to do. I need to take a chance on Aurora. The woman I do want. The one I long for. The one I can’t live without.
The door opens and I glance over.
Shit. Aurora is here. Her eyes flash with pain before they harden. If she could spit swords at me with her eyes, I’d be holier than a block of Swiss cheese.
“I should have known,” she grits out. “You’re an asshole. I hope you get every STD in the book and your dick falls off.”
“Wait!” I holler after her when she whirls around to leave.
She peeks at me over her shoulder. “Wait for what? You want to give me a show? I’ll pass.”
“This isn’t what it appears to be.”
She lifts an eyebrow. “Really? I’m hallucinating again? There aren’t two half-naked women rubbing all over you as if they’re convinced you’re a magic lamp about to give them three wishes?”
She doesn’t wait for me to explain and stomps out of the room.
“I know what my three wishes are,” Cherie whispers.
The feel of her breath on my skin has me recoiling. I shove them away and rush after Aurora.
“Aurora!” I shout when I don’t see her in the hallway.
I try every door I come upon, but I can’t find her anywhere. She’s disappeared.
Crap. I finally realized I can’t live without Aurora and I screw everything up. She’s never going to forgive me after today. She’s never going to give me a chance.
I’m such an idiot. I should have never tried to get her out of my mind by using two fans. It was a stupid, desperate move made by a man who was denying what he wanted.
But I’m not that man anymore.
I will get Aurora to forgive me. I will get her to give me a chance. Because I’m not giving up on her and our baby.