Take What You Want (22 page)

“
Is
he gay?” Avery asked.

“
Chase
tells me the guy is bi-sexual – apparently like Chase is now,”
Danni said.

“
Can
you tell me who he is?” Avery asked.

“
I'd
have to ask Chase about that before I did,” Danni said. “Maybe
if things work out with me and Chase, you can meet this guy.”

Avery rolled up over Danni
and pinned her to the mattress; holding her by the wrists. “Don't
tease me like that and not follow through.”

Danni
was giggling hysterically, “I'll see what I can do,” she
said.

“
No
pressure, Danni,” Avery said, stroking Danni's hair. “But,
if you can arrange it, I would love to meet the rock star.”

-0-

Chase was running very late
and barely had enough time to shower and make himself a quick
sandwich before meeting Alex at his house for the gig. When he
walked over to the main house, the guys were carrying guitar cases
and other equipment outside, stacking everything beside Alex's rental
SUV. Chase grabbed a case and started helping. A few minutes later,
Alex appeared in the double wide glass door going into the house and
smiled at Chase.

“
You
made it,” Alex said to Chase.

“
I
told you I wouldn't miss it,” Chase said, his eyes focused
solely on Alex, while the other guys floated around them.

A
long moment passed with each of them simply staring, until Wheland
playfully punched Alex in the bicep to get his attention.

“
Oww!”
Alex said, flinching from the sudden pain in his arm. “What
the fuck was that for?”

“
Are
you going to introduce us or stand there looking stupid all night?”
Wheland asked.

“
Jesus,”
Alex scoffed. “This is my friend, Chase Middleton.” He
turned and pointed to the other men. “The douche bag that
punched me is Wheland. The smartass over there is Tony Walcott, and
Jared Baker is beside him and the guy loading the back of my car is
Cooper Rand.” Alex spun to face Wheland and tipped his head,
his hand still rubbing the spot Wheland punched. “There, are
you happy? The introductions are done.”

“
Is
Wheland your first or last name?” Chase asked.

“
First
name is Mick,” Wheland said. “But I can't remember the
last time anyone used it.”

“
That's
because people prefer to call you asshole,” Alex said.

“
That's
not what your sister called me,” Wheland teased, and dodged
Alex's fist coming at his face.

Alex
stumbled into Chase and Chase steadied him by gripping his shoulders.
“He defiled my innocent sister,”Alex said, “And
he's never let me forget about it.”

Wheland laughed heartily.
“Your sister wasn't as innocent as you'd like to think,”
he said. “I wasn't even close to being her first.”

Alex turned toward Chase.
“And, that is why people like to call him asshole.”

The
smile on Alex's face told Chase this exchange was nothing more than
two long-term friends giving each other shit. Although he did not
doubt Wheland had slept with Alex's sister, he really didn't think
Alex was upset about it.

Alex gripped the back of
Chase's neck and tugged him close; his lips brushed the shell of his
ear. The warmth of his breath made Chase shiver. He wanted nothing
more than to turn into this touch and take Alex's mouth, but he
couldn't do that. Not in front of Alex's friends.

“
You
don't have a sister, do you?” Alex asked Chase.

“
No,
I have a brother,” Chase said, doing his best to tamp down the
arousal Alex's closeness gave to him.

Alex tipped his head in
Wheland's direction. “Looks like you're out of luck, Wheland,”
Alex said. “Chase has a brother.”

“
Is
he as good looking as you?” Wheland yelled to Chase over his
shoulder.

All of Alex's friends
laughed at that comment and Alex turned back to Chase. “Although
rare when it happens, Wheland has been known to jump the gay fence
once or twice.”

“
Shut
the fuck up, Alex,” Wheland hollered. “You're just
jealous it wasn't with you. Besides, don't go filling Chase's head
with my dirty secrets when you've got so many of your own. Which,
for the record, it'd be my pleasure to share with him.”

Alex
made a growling sound, then dropped his hand from Chase's neck.
“Come on,” he said to Chase. “We need to get this
stuff loaded and head over to Cherries.”

Chase helped Alex and the
guys set up the stage for an acoustic set on the unplugged side of
performing; which was something Alex wished he could do a lot more of
than he did. It made for an intimate show between him and the
audience and the small size of this club would give him all that and
then some.

Tables and chairs were set
close to the stage with several rows of chairs in the back of the
club near the bar. Standing room was left along the walls. It was
almost ten o'clock, when Alex and Wheland walked onto the stage and
sat on stools near the edge of the stage. Cooper sat behind a
minimal drum kit, Jared began fingering a deep bass beat, and Tony
stood behind a keyboard. Cooper picked up on Jared's pulsing rhythm
and counted off their intro before hitting his sticks against the
skins of his drums. Wheland and Alex ran their picks over the
strings of their guitars and kicked off their first song; the riff so
recognizable, it was met with a loud cheer from the crowd.

Chase
watched from the side of the stage, tucking himself in beside a stack
of crates in a dark corner he hoped obscured him from the people out
front watching. He stood still, eyes glued to Alex, mesmerized by
the vibe these musicians put off as a band. They were so good
together; each a perfect reflection to the other.

And, then Alex's smooth
tenor voice came through the sound system and a shiver shot through
Chase. Alex tipped his head and found Chase in the shadows at the
side of the stage. A carnal smile curled Alex's mouth as he held the
note at the end of the lyrical phrase and Chase's heart began beating
faster. Their eyes held for a long moment and it felt like Alex was
singing to him alone; like he was the only one in the audience.
Being this close to Alex and his band performing was a huge rush and
seeing Alex in his element like this was sexy beyond belief.

After
they finished their second song, Alex pulled the microphone stand
between his spread thighs and closer to his mouth. “How you
all doing tonight,” he said to the over capacity crowd. Alex
tipped his head back over his shoulders and laughed at their
boisterous response. Then he turned his head, looking for Chase
again at the side of the stage. He found Chase standing beside a
tower of equipment with his hands pushed into the front pockets of
his cargo shorts and their eyes met. The smile on Alex's face grew,
when Chase returned the sentiment.

Alex
exhaled loudly, disbelieving how happy he was in this very moment,
with his life, and how good Chase made him feel about everything.
His heart clenched at the thought of what Chase was beginning to mean
to him and how quickly it had happened. He'd come to Martha's
Vineyard feeling burnt out and broken and now in a few short weeks,
Alex felt like a new man. Revitalized and excited about life again.
The reason for Alex's rebirth was staring at him from the dark depths
of the side stage, then tipped his head and smiled shyly, and Alex
felt his heart thud faster inside his chest. Alex's throat
constricted. He had to swallow several times to pull his emotions
back in check, then turned his attention back to the audience.

“
Thanks
for having us here tonight,” Alex said into his microphone.
Another cheer washed over him and he laughed, then leaned toward
Wheland. “What'd say we play, “Make It Hurt”?”

“
Sounds
perfect,” Wheland said, and quickly laced into the face-paced
lick on his Gibson guitar. Alex followed him with the rhythm part.
Cooper counted off a four bar introduction by tapping his drum sticks
together, then joined in with three sharp beats on his snare drum and
they were off and running.

An
hour later, they all left the stage for a break in the back room,
then went back for the first of two encores. Chase stood along the
side wall watching the final encore. A jab to his ribs had him
turning around to face the offender. His friend, Jayson, stood
beside him with a shit-eating grin on his tan face.

“
I
should have known it'd be you,” Chase said, giving Jayson a
shove.

“
You
should have mentioned you were coming here,” Jayson said into
Chase's ear. “We could have come together.” Jayson
glanced at the people around Chase. “Who the fuck are you here
with?”

“
I
came with them,” Chase said, nodding in the direction of the
stage.

“
Who's
them
?”
Jayson asked.

“
The
band,” Chase said. “I'm here with them.”

“
You
know Zander Metcalf and Mick Wheland?” Jayson asked. “How
is that possible?”

Chase opened his mouth to
speak, then closed it.

“
Oh,
let me guess,” Jayson said. “They're renting one of your
properties?”

Chase nodded. “Yeah,
but, you can't say anything.”

“
Does
it look like I was born yesterday?” Jayson asked, smirking.
“I'm familiar with the drill.”

The song ended and Chase
began clapping loudly.

“
Are
you hanging with them after?” Jayson asked.

“
Yeah,
I'd imagine so,” Chase said.

“
Think
they'd mind if I came along?” Jayson asked

“
I
don't know, Jay,” Chase said. “They're pretty uptight
about that sort of thing.”

“
Yeah,
yeah. I figured as much,” Jayson said. “Maybe we can
hang some other time. You've been invisible these last few weeks.
Are they the reason why?”

Chase
thought about Jayson's question. It wasn't
all
of them that had his attention – just one; Alex. Beyond him,
Chase had barely allowed another thought to linger inside his head;
except maybe Danni, and she hadn't exactly been happy to talk to him
lately.

“
I've
been busy with work,” Chase finally said.

“
Whatever,
man, we need to have a few beers soon and catch up.”

Chase agreed and watched
Jayson push his way through the crowd back toward the bar. When he
faced the stage again, Alex and the guys were saying good night.
Chase gave the guys a hand loading their equipment into Alex's rental
SUV, then they drove back to the estate jubilant and exhausted. Once
at the estate, all the equipment was carried back into the house and
left on the tile floor in the kitchen. One by one, they changed into
swimsuits and Alex carried a cooler filled with beer outside to the
table beside the pool.

Chase grabbed a bottle of
tequila from the kitchen counter and followed Alex. He set it on the
table and Alex gripped the back of Chase's neck; spinning him to face
him.

“
Thanks
for coming to the show,” Alex said against the shell of Chase's
ear. “And for playing roadie.”

“
I
thought I was your groupie,” Chase said.

Alex pulled back; sliding
his face along Chase's whiskered jawline, and their eyes held.
Alex's hand cupped the side of Chase's neck and squeezed. His thumb
skimmed across Chase's lips, then his tongue laid a teasing lick to
the full bottom lip and Chase groaned.