36. Jamie
Jamie
“What do you want to play, man? One of your dad’s songs?” Alex, the lead singer, asks.
In my drunken state, I nearly forget to school my face from wrinkling in disgust at the mention of Ross.
“Nah, let’s do something fun.” Turning, I find the digital jukebox on the wall that’s used on weeknights when Ale Mary’s doesn’t have a DJ or a band, and begin scrolling for inspiration.
After a couple swipes I see one that catches my attention, and point to the name with a grin. “You know this one?”
Alex matches my expression with a chuckle. “Hell, yeah, brother. I think that song was playing when I lost my virginity.”
I bark out a laugh in response, grabbing the guitar his guys brought out to me while he fills in his band mates on what we’re going to play.
The drummer taps off a countdown, and on his cue, I start shredding the intro to “Want You Bad” by The Offspring.
Alex and I start singing, and the drunken patrons of Ale Mary’s fade away as I let myself have fun playing on stage.
Nothing at stake.
Nothing to prove.
Nothing to pretend.
The beat of the drums behind me, my voice raw from disuse adding a rasp as I sing, the liquid courage flooding my veins.
My fingers fly over the strings as if on instinct. I never feel like this playing with my dad.
No, right now, in this bar, I feel free.
I lock eyes with Maya across the room, where her, Danielle, and Stella are cheering me on with Colt and Drew beside them.
“I want you. All tattooed. I want you bad.”
My emotions are soaring; heat and adrenaline and genuine enjoyment. I feel as if I’m having an epiphany on stage—when music isn’t tainted by Ross’s shadow, I could love playing as much as I love hockey.
Holding Maya’s gaze, I sing the last verse, watching her smile as we finish the song and the bar erupts in cheers.
Laughing, Alex clasps my hand one more time after I hand the guitar off.
“You sure you don’t want to play one more? That was insane!”
“I’m good. Thanks for having me come up, though,” I reply, smacking him on the shoulder in farewell before hopping off the stage, heading back to my friends as Alex and his band go back to playing their original set.
“Holy shit, Booker! You’re incredible!” Stella praises as I take my beer from her and finish it in one swig, needing to replenish the moisture in my mouth.
“Thanks,” I say as Drew nearly tackles me from behind, shaking me by both shoulders.
“You motherfucking badass!” he shouts. “Why don’t you play like that all the time? Fuck hockey, bro.” I laugh and roll my eyes.
“No, seriously,” Colt cuts in, “you’d probably be more famous than your dad if you actually perused music. That was crazy.”
I scratch the back of my head, uncomfortable with the praise but thankful for my optimistic, supportive friends all the same.
“Come on. I’m buying you another drink after all that,” Drew adds, steering me toward the bar.
Left and right, people pat me on the back or grab my arm, telling me how good I sounded and giving me praise. When we finally get to the bar, I pull my phone out to see a text from Maya light up my screen.
Maya
Maya: Come to the bathroom.
My dick immediately stirs in my jeans. I text back a wink and tell Drew I have to piss before making my way to the back hallway where the restrooms are.
Before I can even stop to consider whether Maya meant the men’s or women’s bathroom, a hand reaches out from a closet to my right and tugs me inside.
Maya’s smiling face registers in my brain a millisecond before her lips crash into mine and I’m consumed by the fruity, intoxicating taste of her.
Spinning us around, I pin her body between myself and the door, and hear the click of the lock where she reaches down to turn it.
“You were incredible,” she whispers between kisses, nipping at my lips playfully before tangling her tongue with mine once more. “I had to tell you. Couldn’t wait until later.”
I smile into her lips, grabbing her her under the thighs and hoisting her up so that her legs are wrapped around me.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I answer, slipping hands under both her denim skirt and wet panties, cupping her ass and pressing her body into mine.
“I’m proud of you, Jamie.” Her hands are entangled in my slightly sweat-damp hair, and she lets out a breathy moan as I lick down the column of her throat.
My heart races in my chest as I register her words in my slow-moving, drunken brain. She’s proud of me. She saw me come out of my shell on that stage, and couldn’t wait any longer to tell me that she’s proud of me.
I slow my wandering hands, my teasing kisses, and bring my face up from her neck to meet her eyes.
“I love you,” I whisper, looking into her deep, warm chocolate eyes. “I love you, Maya. Maybe a random supply closet isn’t the most romantic place for me to say that to you for the first time, but it’s true.”
Her laugh echos around us, the dim lighting glittering off her nose piercing as her head tips back in amusement, and I smile along side her.
“I love you, too,” she replies as she pulls my face back toward her lips, capturing my mouth in a soft caress. “I love you so much, Jamie.”
Kissing her slowly, reverently, I take my time memorizing the feel of her in this moment.
Maya’s hands slip under my shirt, toying with the waistband of my jeans as she kisses me harder. Her teeth graze my lip, and I groan when her tongue meets mine once more.
“We don’t have to…here…” I breathe out between kisses, borderline incoherent with all the emotions flooding my mind. Love. Lust. Awe. Need. My cock presses into my zipper so tightly it’s on the verge of painful.
“I want to,” Maya responds. She pops the button on my jeans, reaching beneath my boxers to palm me, skin to skin. “I love that you want to be romantic, but right now I want you to fuck me in this random supply closet.”
All other thoughts flee from my mind, and I kiss her with renewed vigor. My hands return to their pursuit under her skirt. The idea of her walking out of here filled with my cum awakens the neanderthal in me—a possessiveness I didn’t know I had.
Her teasing fingers ease down my zipper, pulling my cock out and giving it a firm stroke from base to tip. Rubbing her thumb over the leaking moisture. I groan and Maya smiles into my lips. “Fuck me, Jamie.”
Pulling her panties to the side, I nip at her bottom lip with a feral, sultry grin as hoist her hips higher and line myself up with her entrance. “Yes, ma’am.”