Chapter 19 Riot
Riot
This fucking girl had a spell on me.
Whenever I was around her, all I wanted to do was jump her bones. To tear her clothes off and drive my cock so deep into her pussy she couldn’t help but cry out in wonderful ecstasy. It was a miracle I was able to hold myself back until we had some privacy in the alley.
But goddamn, making out with her was such a tease. It didn’t come close to quenching the insatiable hunger inside of me every time this woman smiled in my direction.
I had it bad.
Arm in arm, we strolled through downtown Charlotte. We found a bar and ordered some drinks while talking about our lives. Growing up, the teenage years, college (her) and being a struggling musician (me). I wanted to tell her everything. I felt like we had so many years to catch up on.
Hanging out with her was so easy.
She wasn’t a groupie, not really, but it was impossible not to compare her to the groupies we’d had in the past. They swooned and worshipped us while we were performing, and wanted a dozen selfies with us backstage.
It was obvious they were in love with the rock and roll lifestyle, and were attracted to our fame rather than us as individuals.
We were instruments to them, not real people.
The sex was great, but sex alone only got you so far.
With Roxie, it was all of that same lust and attraction… plus everything else. Respect. Intellectual compatibility. All the little bullshit things that Cash talked about when looking for a partner.
Eventually we made it to Washington D.C., where we had our first hotel room since the Fort Worth show two weeks earlier. Everyone was excited about not having to sleep on the bus… but Roxie and I had a different kind of anticipation.
“So, here’s the thing,” Cash said after checking us in at the front desk.
“Uh oh. This sounds bad,” Milo grumbled.
“Our label booked individual rooms, like we requested,” Cash explained. “But they declined my request to add a fifth room for Roxie. Which, in all honesty, I’m not surprised about.”
“Give me a microphone and I can do backup vocals!” she said hopefully. “Then they have to give me a room, right?”
Violet rounded on Roxie and jabbed a finger in her direction. “Watch it, Rox. Backup vocals are my thing.”
“Okay! I was only joking.”
“Atta girl.” Violet patted her on the cheek. “You can bunk with me. I’ll have the front desk switch us to a room with two beds.”
Cash held up a keycard slip. “I assumed you might suggest that, so I already took care of it. Alternatively, I was going to share a room with Milo and give Roxie my room.”
“Aww, you’re sweet,” Roxie said. “But I’ll be happy with Vi. Although I’m perfectly happy sleeping on the bus, if it’s any trouble…”
“Nope, shut up, it’s decided.” Violet threw an arm around Roxie’s shoulder. “I promise not to make any moves on you in the middle of the night. Although I do sleep in my bra and panties, so don’t you get any ideas. I’m a married women.”
Roxie grinned. “I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
Her eyes flicked to me for a moment. It felt like a promise.
After dropping bags off in our rooms, we regrouped in the hotel lobby to go out to eat. The Americana restaurant we choose had something for everything—which could be a challenge when we all had different tastes and pickiness levels.
“It’s not my fault I’m picky!” Milo insisted after two beers. “My brother made us dinner every night, and it was usually microwaved chicken nuggets and mac and cheese from a box. And not Kraft—it was the shitty Walmart brand mac and cheese! I was set up for failure!”
“The fun thing about being an adult is that you can choose to become a better version of yourself,” Cash pointed out.
“Don’t shame him for ordering the chicken tenders meal!” Roxie scolded. “Life is short. Get what you want, Milo.”
He blew her a kiss, then glared at the Cash.
I could tell Roxie was starting to really feel like she was part of the group.
Some people might have felt like an outsider, but she was meshing like she belonged.
Hopefully that helped her understand why I didn’t want to tell the others we were sleeping together: it might damage that easy dynamic we all had.
She was sitting across the table from me, and our gazes kept colliding.
A little eye-contact, followed by a suppressed smile.
I was getting impatient; part of me wanted to dispel the secrecy and take her upstairs right fucking now.
The sexual tension between us, thick like humidity, continued to grow.
“I still can’t believe it,” Roxie was saying to Cash.
The bass player nodded. “They ignore all my texts and phone calls. I thought their opinion would soften after a few months, but… it’s been almost two years, now.”
“I’m lucky as fuck,” Violet said. “I’ve got the most normal parents here. They were almost too supportive when I came out.”
“Roxie’s parents sound great,” Milo said. “They supported her art shit.”
Roxie chuckled. “My art shit, yep. I’m a lucky girl. Growing up, all my friends’ parents were divorced. And mine were extraordinarily normal.” She shook her head again. “I just can’t imagine not being proud of your child. We’re playing in Detroit in a few shows! They should come!”
Cash shrugged. “It stopped bothering me a while ago. Now I’ve got a new family.”
Violet leaned over from her chair and gave him a hug. “Love you, buddy, even when you block me on stage.”
“I block you on stage?” Cash frowned.
“At the last show, where the stage was more narrow than the others. You kept drifting to the left!”
“I’ll be more mindful of that next time.”
“You’d fucking better. Or I’ll throw my stool at you.”
Cash turned to Roxie and said, “Maybe my old family isn’t so bad.”
Violet smacked him on the arm.
“Yooooo, are you Cherry Midnight?” Two fans approached our table. One of them had his cell phone out.
“Hell yeah, buddy,” I said. “You coming to the show tomorrow?”
“Fuckin’ right we are! Bought them the day they went on sale. We saw you last year in Baltimore when you opened for Rainknife. Can we get a photo?”
I smiled and took a photo with the fans, then they got a group photo of all of us at the table. Roxie tried to scoot out of the way, but Violet and Milo pulled her back into the shot.
“Yo, can I ask you something?” one of them said to Milo. “I’m trying to learn to play the drums. Got a full set last year. But I’m struggling…”
While Milo talked shop with the fan, I nudged Cash and told him I was going to bed. He fist-bumped me, and I gave Roxie a pointed look.
“I’d better get some sleep too.” She yawned.
“Me too,” Violet said, stretching her arms. “I’ve got a date with an episode of Antiques Roadshow. And don’t you say a fucking thing.” The last part was for me.
“Antiques Roadshow is very metal,” I said.
“Damn right it is.”
Upstairs in my room, I texted Roxie.
Me: Damn. Now Vi’s the one cockblocking us.
Roxie: UGH I KNOW. What should I do?
Roxie: I don’t want to be dramatic, but if I don’t get fucked by you TONIGHT I might blow up the tour bus.
Me: Make an excuse to leave the room?
Roxie: Like what?
Me: I don’t know. Pretend you’re going down to the lobby to get a snack?
She didn’t respond. I began to wonder if we would have to settle for sexting. Although with Violet in her room, Roxie wouldn’t be able to have as much fun as I could.
But that still wasn’t what I really wanted to do with her. I doubted it would even sate my hunger for Roxie for more than a day.
I wanted—I needed—to be inside of her again.
My phone buzzed, and I yanked it out of my pocket so fast I almost dropped it.
But it wasn’t Roxie.
Vi: You wouldn’t have to sneak around if you just told us.
Vi: And please don’t insult me by trying to deny it. You’re a shitty liar.
I groaned and slouched onto my bed. In spite of her text, my first instinct was to deny it. To pretend like she was paranoid and laugh it off.
But Violet wasn’t stupid. It wouldn’t work. And if I kept lying, it would just piss her off more. Violet wasn’t the kind of woman you wanted to piss off.
I was annoyed at myself for making it so obvious. For thinking I could hide something like this from my bandmates, who were my closest friends in the world. The people I knew I could trust with my life.
Me: Do the others know?
Vi: We’ve all known about it since Atlanta, you big fuck-boy.
Me: I never judged you for sleeping with fans before you met Dana. My personal life isn’t your business.
Vi: LOL, bro, come on. It’s my business because you invited her on tour with us, and insisted it wasn’t about trying to fuck her. You PROMISED she was just your muse.
Vi: I forgive you. It’s fine. But this sneaking around is pathetic and it’s heightening my anxiety.
Vi: By the way, Roxie’s excuse for leaving the room was adorable. But not believable.
Me: What’d she say?
Vi: She told me she needed to buy some Skittles from the front desk. And then she said it might take a while because she likes to talk to hotel staff because she used to work in a hotel. She was as nervous as a kitten. You know how to pick ‘em.
Me: Sorry for lying. I’ll come clean with everyone tomorrow.
Vi: Ugh, that sounds awkward. Keep me out of it when you tell the boys.
Vi: But Riot? I totally get it. Roxie’s not like the other women I’ve seen you with. She’s something special. So DON’T FUCK IT UP.
Before I could respond, a shy little knock came at my door.
And when I pulled Roxie into the room, threw her down on the bed, and saw her gaze up at me with a naughty sparkle in her eyes?
I stopped caring about what Violet thought.