Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
~brAX~
I can finally hold and play my guitar without my shoulder screaming bloody murder at me.
And it’s a damn good thing because I have a gig in a few days, and I have to play.
“Play that one Taylor Swift song,” Josie says. We’re on the couch, she’s wearing my old T-shirt, and she has her bare legs draped over my lap.
This is my idea of Heaven.
“You’re gonna need to narrow that down, babe. She has about ten million songs.”
“You know,” she says, waving her hand in the air, “the one that goes ‘ I almost do .’”
“Sing it again.”
Her cheeks flame and she wrinkles her nose. “No. You sing it.”
I start to pick out the tune. “ I bet …”
I sing the song, and as the lyrics take shape in my mind, I realize that Taylor could have written this song about me and my experiences over the past couple of years.
Longing for someone, wanting so badly to reach out to them but not being able to.
I can’t say hello to you and risk another goodbye .
Fuck, it’s just so sad.
And when I finish the song and look over at Josie, she has tears in her eyes.
“I forgot how sad that one is,” she admits and wipes away a tear. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Hey.” I set the guitar down and pull her into my lap, brushing her dark hair off her face. “I’m right here.”
“Yeah.” She cups my face and tips her forehead against mine. “I almost called you a million times.”
“Me, too.”
“God, we were dumb, Brax. We lost two whole years.”
“I like to think of it a little differently. Sure, we were apart for that long. However, I don’t know about you, but I learned a hell of a lot during those two years. About myself.”
“I did, too,” she admits.
I let my hands roam over her. “I never could resist you in one of my T-shirts, you know.”
“Why do you think I wore it?” Her smile is pure vixen, and I immediately put her onto her back on the spacious couch, then hover over her and kiss her senseless. God, I love the feel of her beneath me. She’s warm and soft and everything I’ve ever wanted.
She sighs when I cup her breast, and when that hand drifts even lower, she squirms and parts her legs in invitation.
She’s always ready for me. Always eager to fuck as if it’s the last thing we’ll ever do.
It’s just one of the things that I love about her.
I can’t go slow or take my time with her right now. I just want to be in her. I manage to get my jeans down my hips before I plunge deep inside of her and groan in pleasure when she sinks her teeth into my chest.
“Flip me,” she says, her eyes bright with lust. “Put me on my knees.”
Jesus, she’s the sexiest little thing.
I pull out, and she scrambles onto all fours, braced against the arm of the couch. I smack her round ass before I grip onto her hips and push back inside her.
“Yeah, that’s the spot,” she groans.
I reach around and flick her clit with my fingertip as I ride her hard and fast. By the time she comes, she’s a moaning, screaming mess.
She pushes back against me and bears down, clenching around me like a fucking vise, and I can’t help but follow her over, coming hard into her.
“That’s the good stuff,” she says on a sigh and rests her cheek on the arm of the couch.
“We’ll kill each other inside of a year if we keep up this pace,” I warn her as I pull out and reach for some tissues.
“Yeah, but what a way to go.” She grins and stands, kissing me before hurrying off to the bathroom.
My pants are back up by the time she returns, and I’m strumming the guitar again.
“Let’s go say hi to your mom,” Josie suggests.
“Isn’t it a bit wrong that right after a really good fuck sesh on my couch, you immediately think of my mother?”
She wrinkles her nose and then busts up into laughter. “Trust me, the two are not connected in any way. I just haven’t seen her in a long time, and we should go say hello.”
“If you’re up for the drive, so am I.”
“Cool. I’ll go get dressed.”
When she bounces out of the room, I shoot off a text to my mom to tell her to expect us in about an hour and then put away my guitar.
I glance down at the couch and grin. I think we’ll have to have an encore of that little performance later.
“What a nice surprise,” Mom says as she opens her door and immediately opens her arms to hug Josie. “You’re even prettier than before. How is that possible?”
“I did change my mascara,” Josie says helpfully, making Mom laugh. “That could be it.”
“Well, whatever it is, it looks good on you. Come on in, I just made cookies, and I have coffee, too.”
“You always made the best sweets,” Josie says.
“She still does.” I wink at my mom and follow the girls through the house I grew up in, to the kitchen where a plate of chocolate chip cookies waits on the table with three empty mugs.
Clearly, Mom was excited after my text.
“Brax told me that you’ve started knitting.”
“I have,” Mom says as she pours us each some coffee and then sets the cream and sugar on the table. “But I’m not very good at it. I keep adding extra stitches to rows where they’re not supposed to be and forgetting other stitches, so nothing I make is very pretty yet. But I’ll keep working on it.”
“What made you decide to do it?” I ask her.
“You remember Shana Cassidy, don’t you?”
“Sure, she used to yell at me for being on her lawn. She’s always been old.”
I sip my coffee as Mom’s eyes narrow on me.
“You probably shouldn’t have been on her lawn. Anyway, she and some of the other ladies I have lunch with once a month started a knitting group. Bitch and Stitch.”
Josie spits out her coffee and then wipes her mouth. “Sorry, I’ve just never heard you swear.”
“I’ve taken up all kinds of hobbies,” Mom says, and I laugh. “Anyway, I thought that sounded like fun, but I don’t sew or anything. So, I started watching YouTube videos on knitting. I’ll get the hang of it.”
“That’s fun,” Josie says and then glances at her phone when it signals. “Sorry, that’s my uncle Luke. He’s planning a trip for the whole family at Christmas, and he sends periodic texts to fill us in on stuff.”
“Speaking of fun,” Mom says, “where are you going?”
“Yeah, where are you going?”
Josie’s head turns to me, and she frowns. “I didn’t mention it before?”
“Nope.”
“Oh. Well, we’re all going to Iceland.”
I sit back, and Mom immediately gets excited for Josie, talking about how much she’d love to see Iceland.
Hell, who wouldn’t?
But I hadn’t planned to be away from Josie for Christmas.
“It’s been in the works for a couple of months,” Josie says and bites her lip. “Sorry, Brax. I should have mentioned it.”
“You shouldn’t apologize for going on a trip for the holidays,” Mom says.
“No, you shouldn’t. I’ll miss you, but it does sound like fun.”
“Maybe you could go with them,” Mom suggests, and I shake my head.
“I’m not leaving you alone during the holidays, Mom. No way.”
My dad died when I was a kid, and I’m an only child. There’s no way I’d leave my mother alone.
“Oh, please, I’m not alone. I have lots of friends. And your aunt, Anita.”
“It’s not the same.”
“You’re a grown-ass man,” Mom says, surprising me again with the curse word. “I can’t expect you to be here every single year. I’m fine. If you decide to go to Iceland for Christmas, I won’t be upset at all.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Josie suggests and squeezes my hand. “We’re still a ways out from it.”
This just reminds me that although we’ve picked up our relationship again, a lot happened over the two years we were apart that neither of us knows about. There’s a lot to catch up on, and all I’ve been thinking about is fucking Josie every chance I get.
But who wouldn’t? I mean, look at her. She’s absolutely gorgeous.
I’m obsessed with her in every way.
Though not in a creepy way.
“How did your gardens do this year?” Josie asks, changing the subject.
“Oh, you should have seen the tulips,” Mom gushes and goes into detail about the colors, the placement, and how happy she was with it all.
Josie bites into her cookie and winks at me as if to say, “ It’s all good. We’ll talk later. ”
With that, I decide to enjoy the two women I love more than anything.
“Holy shit, you guys, Josie’s back!”
My drummer, Lex, hurries over to snatch Josie up off her feet and twirl her around.
Lex is a laid-back guy who rarely gets upset. He always says he takes his aggression out on the drums.
It seems to work for him.
“Hey, Lex,” Josie says with a grin. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“I’m better-looking than him,” Lex says and points his thumb at me. “You should dump his sorry ass for me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. You guys remember my sister?”
“Hey, you two. Good to have you,” our bassist, Steve, says.
“Maddie,” Willy says with a wink. “Good to see you.”
“It’s been a while,” Maddie says in way of greeting, and if I’m not mistaken, a little wave of awareness moves between them.
Josie and I look at each other.
I raise a brow.
Josie shrugs a shoulder.
Interesting.
The girls are beautiful. Josie’s in black leather pants with a white shirt that falls off one shoulder, and Maddie’s in a red dress that seems to be missing the skirt.
Willy can’t keep his eyes off her, and I can’t blame him. They look like they’re here to see a rock concert.
Because they are.
And it’s hot as fuck.
We’re at a bar in downtown Seattle that’s well known in the music scene and has been for at least fifty years. Bands like Nirvana, Nash, and Pearl Jam have all played here. Pearl Jam still does once in a while.
It’s awesome.
This is our third time back this year, and it never gets old. The audience is always fun.
“I got you a table up front,” I inform Josie and kiss her cheek.
“Oh, good. I won’t have to throw my panties very far.”
“I sure missed her,” Lex says with a laugh.
“Just your panties?”
“I could throw my bra, too, but you’ll have to earn that. It’s a matching set.”
I narrow my eyes and grin, and she just laughs and sips beer from a can that someone gave her.
“Okay, guys, you’re on in five,” the producer says. “Let’s do this. Have a good show, everyone.”
“We’ll be out front,” Josie says and boosts herself up onto her toes to kiss me. “Break a leg, handsome.”
“See you all later,” Maddie says with a wave, and they’re off.
“Okay, guys,” Lex says as we huddle up the way we always do before a show. “We got this. We’re going with the standard set, but we’re mixing it up a bit with My Girl going last. It’s a hit right now, and we want them to wait for it.”
“Let’s kill this,” Willy says, and we all bump fists.
“Before you go out,” Ralph, our manager, says as he marches into the room, “I have some good news. Get packed up, boys, because you’re going on a six-month tour with Radiohead. You leave right after Christmas.”
He leaves again, his phone pressed to his ear, and we all just stare at each other.
“That’s it?” I ask. “No contract to look over, no discussion?”
“It’s Radiohead,” Lex says. “Are you seriously thinking about turning that down?”
“No, it just seems so…informal.”
“We’ll have to talk about it,” Willy says.
“Ralph’s a moron,” Steve adds. “We’ll hammer out the details later. Focus, guys.”
“Right.” I nod and take a drink of water. “Let’s do this.”
The bar is packed, and even though it’s a small venue, it’s loud, and the crowd’s energy is amazing.
I love to perform, and there’s nothing better than when those in attendance sing along.
Better yet is when I look down at Josie and see she’s singing every word, clearly very proud and happy to be here.
It’s a hell of a night.
When we get to the last song, I sit on a stool, just me and my guitar, and start strumming.
The crowd goes wild. Having this song hit the radio has been incredible.
But there’s only one woman I’m interested in right now, and she’s smiling at me like I’m her prince charming.
When I finish the song, I offer Josie my hand, bring her up onto the stage, and kiss the hell out of her. As the crowd goes wild, we all walk off.
“You were all fantastic,” Josie says. “Where’s Maddie?”
“Here I am,” Maddie says as she hurries through the door. “Good show, guys.”
“They’re calling for an encore,” Lex says. “Let’s go give them one. Brax, let’s do that song we wrote a few months ago. Back in Time. ”
“Yeah, let’s try it out on them,” Willy agrees.
“Go give them what they want,” Josie says. “We’ll be here.”
“Let’s do it.” I kiss my girl and then hurry back out onto the stage with the guys to thunderous applause. “You want some more?”
“YES!”
I nod at the others as I drop my guitar strap over my head and start to strum.
“One, two, three, four.”
It’s an upbeat song, heavy on bass and drums, and by the time we’re done, the crowd goes wild.
“Let’s keep going,” Lex yells out.
We play for the next hour. Maddie and Josie return to their seats, and we weave in covers of other bands’ songs that the crowd knows by heart, along with some original stuff of ours that no one’s heard yet.
It’s one of the best performances of my life, and I’m so fucking grateful that Josie’s here to see it.
By the time we’re finished, after nearly a three-hour set, all of us are ready to drop.
I’ve pretty much lost my voice.
“Totally worth it,” Willy says. “You were a maniac tonight.”
“He was a rock star tonight,” Josie amends with a proud smile. “You all were. Good job, boys.”
“Fuck, yeah,” Lex says and twirls one of his drumsticks in his fingers.
There’s just nothing like this.