The Complete Groupie Trilogy (56 page)

But Andy knew.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said. “Hopefully by then you won’t need a nurse. If you need anyone to look in on you maybe your little friend would be open to it.”

“I’ve considered that,” he told her frankly. “At least we know we can trust her.”

Given they had been tabloid fodder for the last week she could hardly disagree. When it came to celebrities, just because you paid for someone’s services didn’t mean you earned their loyalty. “If you trust her I guess I will. But you can’t blame me for being careful.”

He nodded. Each one of them had a target on their heads; that was part of being considered public domain. All they could do was play defense.

In the end Vanni was released from the hospital, booked and charged with DWI and reckless endangerment. He pled no contest. After two days in the county jail he was released for a 30 day stint in a rehab facility, at the end of which he’d serve six more months of probation. The judge showed mercy mostly because it was his first offense, not because he was a big rock star. He warned Vanni if he showed up in his courtroom again he’d be sitting out his sentence in a prison, singing to a whole new group of fans, for as long as was legally allowed.

It took a while but Vanni’s ego was finally restrained. There were rules by which he had to abide, and those who couldn’t care less how much money he had or famous he was that would enforce them.

As he was shipped off to rehab Vanni could be nothing but grateful. He had fucked up but hopefully this was a lesson he’d only have to learn once.

Chapter Ten

September 25, 2010. Los Angeles.

Andy

It had been three weeks since Vanni had gone into rehab. After the first week the paparazzi found someone else to hound thanks to rumor another notoriously troubled actress had once again fallen off the wagon. Interest in Vanni waned, as did interest in Andy and Graham, so it was easy to settle into a comfortable routine.

At first that meant Andy running interference between the rest of DIB and Graham, but Leo’s unmistakable hostility proved instantly problematic. This didn’t inspire Graham to take back the reins. In fact Graham could not be moved out of the house. Despite the progress he was making he refused to venture outsid
e the walls of his Malibu home.

However the positive changes in him were undeniable to the precious few who got to witness them. He had gained some weight and his previously sinewy chest was now toned and defined. He had enough strength that he could get himself in and out of his chair, roll himself toward the bathroom and take care of some of his more personal business without the help of anyone else.

This became an imperative for him after one of Maggie’s sponge baths when, to his mixed horror and amazement, he watched himself get an erection as she gently and thoroughly cleaned him. She touched him like she always did, but this time his body had a mind of its own. He wondered if it was how she leaned over him and practically had her chest in his face while her hands slid around his long lost friend. He could smell her perfume. He could feel her hair against his bare shoulder. It wasn’t erotic as much as it was intimate, and Mr. Happy decided to salute her hard work.

Though they didn’t spotlight the new development, it was a big boost to his self-esteem. He no longer felt as vulnerable and at her mercy. He st
arted to feel like a man again.

So while he didn’t leave the house, he began to work in his home office at least four hours a day in the midst of his rigid physical therapy schedule. He could video conference with his clients and employees, which projected a strong upper body and the confidence he was slowly regaining.

Maggie had always driven him hard but it took seeing the results of her program to get him fully on board. He didn’t complain as much, instead he converted all his anger into determination. His growing strength impressed Andy, which seemed to be an even bigger payoff for him. He wanted to make her see that he was still a man she could love, even while he was confined to a chair.

He had learned that his SCI, or spinal cord injury, was classified as incomplete, which gave him hope for regaining function in this lower body. As he toiled hard in therapy, sensations began to make themselves known where they hadn’t been noticeable before. The first time they noticed any subtle change was when he came out onto the deck one evening. He joined Maggie and Andy where they sat sipping tea as they watched the inky black ocean with her magical hypnot
ic appeal.

He helped himself to some tea without any help at all from the ladies, and then rolled up to sit in between them. After about twenty minutes of friendly conversation he happened to mention he was cold and it was making his muscles ache. It took him a full minute to realize the muscles in
question were below the waist.

The next day Maggie tested him with a needle and he distinctly felt an ever so slight prick on this upper thigh, along with pressure on one of his
heels when she tested his legs.

They both had tears in their eyes when they smiled at each other, rewarded by all t
heir hard work and persistence.

He was glad he never actually fired her. She was more than a miracle worker.

She was an angel.

That night he had flowers delivered to both
of the ladies in his life.

It was his love for Andy, though, that grew stronger by the day. No one knew how he indulged nightly fantasies about how it would be to take her into his arms and make love to her at last. His body responded to the mental stimuli and, though he didn’t feel he could admit it to Maggie, he began to experiment with masturbation. Most nights he couldn’t go from erection to ejaculation, so he knew he was not ready to take Andy into his bed just yet. But knowing that it was possible to make love to her and still father the children he knew she wanted to have someday filled him with a hope he thought long dead.

In subtle ways he began to woo her. He even began to wait on her, bringing her a drink when she was thirsty or rubbing her feet after she and Maggie had trekked along the beach for their daily walk.

Andy enjoyed the camaraderie the three of them shared so much that she allowed him these little victories. It felt good not to fight with anyone, to just enjoy one another, and these gestures were fairly harmless. Maggie
expressed how he needed to show her his independence to reclaim some of his masculinity. She encouraged her to allow him to be the man he is learning all over again to be.

Watching the transformation take place was nothing short of a miracle. He had gone from a surly, self-absorbed, angry self-pitying victim to the Graham she remembered fondly and missed dearly.

She clung to it like a life raft in a hurricane.

Andy no longer rushed off to bed at the end of the day. They resumed much of what they had had before when she’d come to stay with him. They could talk. They could bond. They could find shelter in one another.

Night after night they’d share a cool evening out on the deck by the fireplace, chatting long after Maggie turned in. They’d sit side by side as they stared into the distance, reestablishing the relationship between them. There was no guilt or pressure.

One particular night they listened to the radio as they drank wine. He glanced over to where she sat peacefully with a slight smile on her face. She looked so beautiful his heart filled to overflowing. He set down his glass and turned his wheelchair to face her with his hand outstretched. “Excuse me, miss. Would you care to dance?”

She giggled. She loved it when he was silly. They needed a little more silly. “I’d love to,” she said as she rose to her feet, curtsied and took his hand.

He rolled backward and pulled her down toward him until she sat across his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he spun them in slow circles to the music. He did a bit of a wheelie while he twirled her around, and she pointed her toes and tossed back her head to laugh. His eyes danced as he looked down at her. “You ready for the dip?” he asked with a grin.

She nodded and allowed him to lean her backward from the chair until she nearly touched the floor.

His strength was impressive. He no longer looked like a shriveled old man who was drowning in his clothes. In fact he was more impressive than he had ever been prior to the accident. His chest was solid as he pulled her back up for a hu
g, which she allowed to linger.

His lips brushed her forehead and then their eyes met. Slowly his mouth descended onto hers for a long, chaste peck. It was all he dared.

He reached out to caress the side of her face with the back of his hand. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

She smiled. “And you’re amazing,” she responded. He was so determined to walk again that he was working small miracles every day. It was impossible not to be in awe of everything he was capable of doing in such a short period of time, with a dose of healthy good humor to boot. This was the Graham she met two years ago.

Right or wrong a piece of her heart would always belong to him. It was that part of her that reached for another kiss. She didn’t even think about it. Somehow, in that moment, it was right. He was no half-man, and he more than almost any other deserved to know he could be desired.

He groaned softly before he deepened the kiss. She didn’t fight him. In fact she cherished the fact he was alive in her arms, not just from surviving the gunshot wound but finally putting to rest the emotional torment he’d suffer
ed facing life as a paraplegic.

He was alive in all ways that mattered and all man in every way that counted. It was suddenly very important to her that he knew that.

She let him drag his hungry, open mouth to her neck while his hands slipped over her generous curves. She gasped as he touched her. It felt like a lifetime since she’d been touched and kissed and loved so tenderly.

She whispered his name as she ran her hand through his hair. He shuddered as she planted kisses along his neck and back toward his lips.

When he claimed her mouth again she nearly jumped as she felt the unmistakable sensation of him stirring against her. It wasn’t a fluttering; he was surging to life in her arms – like Lazarus coming back from the dead. He kissed her deeper and further he stirred, pressing hard against her hip where she sat on his lap.

She gasped as the kiss ended. Her wide eyes met his. “Why Graham Baxter,” she said with a teasing grin. “Just what exactly have you been hiding?”

He gave her a sideways grin that mirrored hers. “I guess an old friend just wanted to say hello.”

“And just how long have you been keeping this little secret?”

“Not so little,” he insisted with a playful growl as he tickled her. “I mean, I’m sure you’ve probably noticed Maggie doesn’t give me sponge baths anymore. I think I may have intimidated her.”

Andy laughed as she threw her arms around him. “That’s such great news, Graham,” she said sincerely. “You really are on your way back.”

He couldn’t help but give her a bashful hug. He knew he had a long way yet to go. “Things are not yet working like they used to,” he clarified. “But I finally feel like they can… that they will.” He touched her face. He wanted to tell her how taking her into his arms and making love to her at last was what got him out of bed every morning, especially now that he knew it was a real possibility. But he sensed that conversation was better saved for another time. Instead he began twirling her around to another song as they “danced” under the moonlight.

He carried her to her bedroom and deposited her right at her door. She gave him another goodnight kiss, but he didn’t press it for anything more than a chaste peck on the lips. As always he was a gentleman of infinite patience. He wanted it to be right. He wanted it to be perfect.

He wanted it to be forever.

As for Andy, she had a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep. After Vanni’s accident she had stopped worrying about the future. She wanted to enjoy the moment, and this was pretty monumental. For the first time in months, maybe even years, it felt as though things were finally aligning. Vanni was getting the help he needed and Graham was finally on the road to recovery, such as it cou
ld be for an unpredictable SCI.

And for the first time in a long time she didn’t feel pressured by either man – or herself – to make a choice between them during this complicated process. She gave herself permission to love them both because they both needed her as much as she realized she needed them.

There were things far more important than a relationship status one would plug into a social media website for the whole world to see. She had come to accept the fact she was taken and it was complicated. She loved two men, both who needed her in very different ways. She felt certain when the time came they could all make much better choices regarding “forever” once the immediate crises had passed.

But then again maybe there were no happily ever afters. Maybe there were no fairy tale weddings and white picket fences. Maybe this was what love looked like in the 21
st
century.

Or maybe, just maybe, she was lying to herself yet again on how she could be all things to both men what they both desperately needed her to be, without any consequence for the future. That everything else was just convenient justification so that she didn’t have to hurt anyone.