Chapter 10
Ten
Sebastian
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask Trina.
The woman is entirely out of place in this dive, wearing a pair of designer jeans and a purple cashmere sweater that matches her lips. Her black boots were created for style, not for kicking ass, and her handbag alone is probably worth more than this entire bar.
She looks over the three full glasses in front of me—vodka tonic, tequila, and beer—then reaches for my shot of tequila and swallows it in one gulp. Her straight blond hair swings with the motion, and there’s a challenge in her green eyes.
“I was going to drink that,” I say.
“No, you weren’t. You haven’t touched alcohol in six years.” She sets down the shot glass. Her plum lipstick has stained the rim.
Annoyed, I run a hand through my hair. “How’d you even find me in this dive?”
“Social media. Someone posted about seeing you nearby.”
I don’t know where I need to go for a fucking shred of privacy, but apparently a dive bar in a sketchy neighborhood isn’t even safe.
“You haven’t said why you’re here.” I nudge the vodka tonic and IPA toward her.
She grabs the vodka tonic and takes a sip before wrinkling her nose. “This is terrible.”
I shrug. “This place is a dive for a reason.”
“Anyway, I’m checking in on my number one rockstar,” she says. “My agent instincts are going haywire and I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“I’ve told you all there is to tell,” I say. “I’m working through some songs, waiting for something that clicks.”
“It’s not always about clicking.” She finishes the vodka tonic and shudders.
“It’s about doing the work, putting in the hours.
If your muse isn’t showing up, you chase that bitch down and make her work for you.
That’s how it always was with you before, Bastian, and I don’t know why it isn’t that way now.
Because I don’t see the hardworking musician and lyricist I brought out of the college bars—I see a brooding rockstar who needs to stop whining and get to work—”
I tune her out as man outside walks past the bar’s grimy window. He has curly brown hair stuffed beneath a ball cap, full lips, a cleft chin. Ella showed me a picture of her brother, Tommy, and this guy looks just like him.
“Bastian?” Trina says, her green eyes sharp. “Are you listening?”
“Wait a second,” I say, standing up.
She grabs for my arm, but I shake myself away before she can make contact, and then I’m running out of the bar.
I stare hard in the direction the man was walking. “Tommy!” I shout.
Nobody turns around except the couple closest to me, who look annoyed that I’m being loud.
If it was Tommy, he’s long gone. Sighing, I go back inside to Trina.
“Are you seeing things now, too?” she asks. “That’ll be something for the headlines. We could make hallucinations work for your brand.”
“You’re sick,” I say.
She throws her head back and laughs. “You’re right, that was out of line. But seriously, Bastian, you have to give me something to go on, here.”
“Look,” I say, “I’m working on some songs, and that’s all I can tell you right now. I know you want more from me, but the days where we collaborated are long over. I need to find my own process again, okay?”
“Yeah,” she says, those plum lips forming a flat line. “I get it.”
“Hey, it’s not that I don’t appreciate you. I really do. You’re one of two people I trust.” There are three people I trust now, but for some reason that I don’t care to analyze, I’m not ready to tell her about Ella.
She gives me a doubtful look, but then smiles. “Well, I’m going to be in San Esteban for a week or so, scouting new talent. Then I’ll head down to LA to do more of the same. So send me a message if you want my ears on your next hit, okay?”
“Will do.”
Finally, my agent disappears. I remain at the bar, staring at the lukewarm pint glass of ale and wondering what the fuck I’m doing here when I could be helping King wring orgasmic wails from Ella’s beautiful lips.
But I don’t fucking move.
Ella
My fingers fly over the piano keys and I sing the chorus over and over again. This song has stuck in my head all day.
It’s not one of my songs, though—it’s one of Sebastian’s.
A Bastian Crown playlist has been on repeat for me.
Yep, I splurged and downloaded his first hit album after Kingston dropped me off at my apartment this morning.
I missed Sebastian last night. Being with Kingston was magical, and I’m sore today just like I’d wanted to be.
But maybe I’m a selfish hussy now, because I wanted them both with me.
Worse, I could tell Kingston was concerned about Sebastian. We texted him before falling asleep, and all he wrote back was that he was okay and he’d talk to us today.
It’s late evening and I still haven’t heard from him.
Anyway, listening to Sebastian’s music helped me feel a little closer to him, and this one song, “Please Don’t Behave,” has burrowed its way into my brain.
They want to tame your spirit
Well, I wanna make it shine
Misbehave all you want, doll
While knowing that you’re mine
Your submission is a gift
It requires being brave
But when you’re in my lap, doll
Please don’t, please don’t, please don’t behave.
Someone knocks at the door and I turn to look at the tiny window.
“Sebastian!” I shout, running to unlock the door for him.
“Princess.” He sweeps me into a hug, bunching his arms around me and pulling me so tight, it steals my breath. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there last night.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “I missed you, though.”
He looks down, his hazel eyes dark. “I have some garbage in my brain that I need to work through.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask.
Shaking his head, he says, “Not at the moment, no. But thanks.”
“Let me know if it changes.” I squeeze his hand.
“Thanks.”
“How’d you know to find me here?” I have the afternoon off, but I hadn’t shared that with Sebastian yet.
“Kingston told me you’d be here. He’s on his way.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We wanted to talk to you about something.”
A squiggly, uncomfortable feeling lodges in my gut.
“Nothing bad,” Sebastian rushes to say. “Only good things, princess.”
I can only nod.
“Come sit down.” He takes my hand in his and leads me to the piano bench, where he sits next to me and starts picking out the tune to “Please Don’t Behave.”
“You could hear me out in the hall?” I ask.
He nods. “Faintly. I guess you’re a little more familiar with my music now?”
I feel myself blushing. “I’m sorry about that,” I say.
“It was before your time.” He shoots me a sly grin. “How could you be expected to know the music of an aging rockstar?”
“Oh, hush, you’re not that old,” I say, knocking into his shoulder.
He reaches the chorus, so I accompany him with my left hand and we sing it together. Damn, this guy is good. I think I could come just by listening to his voice, singing these words to me.
After we’ve gone through the chorus a couple of times, he changes the melody around and starts singing lyrics I’ve never heard before.
I said we don’t keep secrets
As I dove into your sweetness.
There’s always a risk,
Always a risk,
But baby, this fight was fixed.
“That’s amazing,” I whisper.
“It’s a work in progress. Hey, last night, I thought I saw your brother.”
Wow, that was a rapid subject change. But I can’t ignore what he said.
“Where?” I ask.
“In Bellefleur. I’m not entirely sure it was him, though. I tried to chase after him, but lost him right away.”
“I’m glad for the maybe-sighting,” I say, “but I’m still worried.”
Sebastian squeezes my hand and runs his callused fingertips over my knuckles. “Sorry, princess. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, I’m glad you did.”
Tommy has disappeared before, but never for longer than a few days. How long has it been? I think back to my apartment break-in. That was…almost two weeks ago. Crap. And I haven’t even tried to call him in a few days.
Tugging my phone from my purse, I send him a quick text while Sebastian watches. There’s no response, but I’m not really expecting one, either.
It’s easier to not think about him, not worry about him. And that very thought feels like a huge betrayal. I blink back tears.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asks. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing, I just…it was kind of nice to have forgotten about Tommy for a little while, and that makes me the shittiest sister.”
“No,” he says, turning on the bench so he can see me better, “it makes you human. You carry so fucking much, Ella, it makes sense you’d feel relief at getting a break. So baby, if you find yourself with a reprieve, enjoy it while it lasts.”
His words spear my heart in the best way. They’re exactly what I needed to hear.
“I’m starting to really worry about Tommy now, though,” I say. “He’ll probably turn up tomorrow, wanting to eat all of my groceries and take over my couch, but right now I’m concerned, you know?”
“Yeah, I do. Hey, I know someone who loves tracking people down,” he says. “Want me to ask her to look around?”
“I can’t pay her.” I pluck at the torn knee of my jeans. “And I really am feeling bad that you and Kingston keep pampering me.”
“You’re our princess.” He grins. “Let us pamper you. But Lin won’t let me pay her, anyway. She’s my cousin, and she refuses to charge family.”
“But I’m not—”
He stops that argument in its tracks by pressing his mouth against mine.
Kingston
When I reach the practice room at the university, a quick peek through the window shows my best friend and our girl making out on the piano bench.
Ella winds her fingers into Sebastian’s light brown hair and arches her body toward his.
He tugs her jeans-clad legs to his lap, pulling her closer, and cups the nape of her neck.
He looks toward the window where I stand, either sensing me here or wondering just how alone they are and just how far they can take this.
I nod at him, already getting hard at what they might get up to while I watch. I look up and down the empty hallway, making sure nobody’s about to witness me standing here like a fucking old man creeper. It’s all clear. Saturday evening, all of the students and faculty are probably off relaxing.
Bash nods back at me and eases his hand up into Ella’s shirt. She says something to him, but I can’t make out her words, and he says something back. If I had to guess, she’s protesting the idea of messing around in such a public place, and he’s reminding her to trust him.
I so fucking hope she trusts him, because I wouldn’t mind a show right now.
Sure enough, he lifts her shirt over her head and she doesn’t stop him.
Her back arches as he sucks and bites her nipples through her bra. He unfastens her jeans and dips his hand inside. I know what her pussy feels like, what she tastes like, and my cock grows heavy and hard at the sight of this and knowing what she’ll feel like to him.
With Bash’s mouth on her breasts and his hand in her pants, it doesn’t take long for Ella to come.
Her head goes back, eyes squeezed shut in ecstasy, and her mouth opens in a silent gasp.
If I were watching this at home, my dick would be in my hand right now.
Instead, I get the delicious torment of watching, but not being able to do a damn thing about the pulsing need in my cock.
Bash pulls his hand out of Ella’s jeans and says something to her. I grin as her eyes go round with surprise and she turns her head a few degrees to the right to see me watching her. She shrieks so loudly, I can hear it through the heavy door.
While she scrambles to put her shirt back on, Bash opens the door for me and I step inside.
“Hey, little girl,” I say.
“You could’ve been anyone.” Her cheeks are pink and she sounds mortified.
“I knew he was there the whole time,” Bash says, returning to the bench to sit next to her. “I wouldn’t have done anything that could put you in danger. I would never compromise you, princess.”
She sags forward against him. “I know, and I trusted you, but then I saw a big, scary man in the window.”
“Big, scary man, huh?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says, sticking her tongue out at me.
“I can think of a much better use for that tongue,” I say.
She smirks. Little brat.
But taming her isn’t why I’m here at the moment, so I reach into my pocket and pull out an envelope, which I hand to Ella. Sebastian does the same.
“What’s this?” she asks, brow furrowing as she opens mine.
“Test results,” I say, my voice gruffer then I intended. Clearing my throat, I add, “I get tested regularly. We both do, just as a precaution, and we want you to know we’re clean.”
“And there’s nobody but you in our lives right now,” Bash adds. “If you’re willing and you’re on birth control, King and I thought we could talk about ditching the condoms—”
“Yes,” she says.
A smile grows on Bash’s face. “That easy, huh?”
“Yes. I trust you. Both of you. And you should know I went to a women’s clinic and got tested right after Joel and I broke up,” she says, reaching for her purse. “Even though I’m on the pill, I always made him use condoms, and I’m clean. The test results are in my email. Just a sec—”
I stop her from getting her bag by tugging her up to stand in front of me. “I believe you, baby girl.”
Bash stands, too, and we hug her between us.
“So next time we fuck you,” he says, “we get to fuck you bare, huh?”
“I can’t wait,” she says, her beautiful brown eyes shining as she looks between us.
“But you’re going to have to,” I tell her. “Someone has work tonight, doesn’t she?”
“Shit,” she says, glancing at the clock above the door. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
I can already see her panicking, calculating bus routes and how long it’ll take her to get to the pub.
“Come on, baby girl, I’ll take you to work.”
Shaking her head of curls, she says, “No, you don’t want to drive all the way to Bellefleur before going home.”
“I think I can be the judge of what I do and don’t want to do,” I say in a stern voice.
“You’re right.” She sucks in a breath. “Thank you, Daddy. I’d appreciate a ride, if that’s what you really want to do.”
I kiss her forehead. “Let’s go. Bash, do you want to come with, and grab some dinner? There’s this pub in Bellefleur with an excellent server.” I cup Ella’s ass and wink at her as I say, “She doesn’t even mind when I get handsy with her.”
“Naw, you go on, though.” He walks out with us, though, and before Ella climbs into my car, he tugs her tightly against him and kisses the breath out of her.
My friend might be doing a few things wrong by not confiding in us, but at least he’s loving our girl right.