Alluring Turmoil (18 page)

He whispers in my ear, “Glad you’re here. Jude and Jessie have been at it all damn day! Maybe seeing you can calm him down!”

Jessie rolls his eyes and mutters, “That’s because Jude is a fucking prick!”

I raise my eyes questioningly and am about to ask what’s going on, but the door is now open and I see Jude… sitting on the couch with a gorgeous brunette.

Jessie rudely says, “Look who we found in the hallway!” And Dade says under his breath to Jessie, “Dude, chill the fuck out. Seriously!”

Jude and the brunette spring apart on the couch. I frown.

He gets up and comes towards me, casting a look over his shoulder at the brunette. “Hey, Baby, you made it.” He grabs my hands and pulls me towards him before kissing me hard on the mouth and squeezing my ass. He breaks away and looks over my shoulder. “Hey guys. Bradi, right?” as he nods his head towards her. Then he inclines his head to Micah and Erik. “I’m Jude. Hey, Erik. I’m glad you came, man. Real glad!”

He lets go of me and holds out his hand to Erik.

Erik awkwardly shakes it, before dropping it, and looking pointedly at the brunette on the couch.

Jude sees Erik’s reaction and says to the room, while looking at me, “Guys, this is Blue from Rock Hard Magazine. She’s doing a cover story on the band. We were just about done with my part.”

Jessie is still in the room and mutters something about needing a drink. He turns on his heel and marches out. Dade cusses and follows him out of the door. “Jessie! Man… wait up!”

I’m not sure what to do, so I just stand there, with Jude holding my hand, with Bradi, Micah, and Erik standing in an awkward silence behind me.

Jude gives my hand a yank and pulls me to the couch with him. Placing me between himself and Blue, we sit down.

Blue just looks at me, running her gaze from my head to my feet, before licking her lips. She picks up her pen and recorder. “So Jude, where were we? Oh that’s right… This is the last stop of your tour and it’s your hometown. Any particular reason you chose to end the tour here?”

I watch Jude, as he gives her a look. What the hell is going on?

He opens his mouth to respond. “Well as you said, Baton Rouge
is
my hometown. I was born and raised here. There are things here for me that I need to focus on. It’s good to come home every now and again. And some big changes are coming in my life.”

Blue raises an eyebrow and clicks her tongue. “What things? What things are here for you? It’s been widely reported that you have no remaining family. So what ‘
things
’ drew you back to Baton Rouge? And what are your ‘big life changes?’ Care to share with your fans?”

I feel his eyes on me, but I’m staring at Blue. What is with this chick? Why does she seem so bitchy?

He squeezes my hand and answers, “Important things. Things I realized I needed. Things I can only get here. As far as my life changes, they are personal. So, no, I won’t be sharing that information at this time.”

I look at him and smile.

Blue makes a rude sound and asks another question. “Are you single, Jude?”

He sets his mouth into a grimace and looks at me. Then he looks at her with a hard glint, and answers, “No, I am not single. There is a very important person in my life.” His hands move from my hands to my thigh and she follows the movement with her eyes.

She writes something down, and then asks to talk to the rest of the band.

Jude pushes to his feet, pulling me with him. “Sure thing. I’ll go get them for you now. We done here?” he snarls.

She snaps back, “Yep. All done!”

He growls and pulls me behind him. I send a confused look towards Bradi, Micah, and Erik. Bradi shrugs and they follow us out.

He shoves the door open so hard, it slams against the wall. We walk out.

Jessie, Dade, Liam, and Cruz are all in the hallway. Jessie has his arms around two groupies with ample cleavage showing. Dade is talking to a roadie. Liam has his tongue down some bimbo’s throat and his hand up her skirt, and Cruz is tapping his sticks against his legs, lost in his beat.

Jude, growls out “Your turn, guys. Go finish this shit. Now!”

All the guys send him questioning looks, but disentangle themselves from the groupies or just straighten up and walk into the dressing room.

I notice Jessie and Cruz shoot me looks from under their lashes, and Cruz grits his teeth, but they file into the room we just vacated.

I touch Jude’s arm. “What’s going on? Are you ok?”

Erik is looking at the closed dressing room door with a scowl on his face and clenching his fists. Bradi and Micah are just standing around looking perplexed.

He looks down at my hand on his arm and touches my cheek. “Yeah, babe. I’m ok. Just been a rough afternoon. It’s ok now that you’re here though.”

I’m so confused. What just happened? What did we walk in on?

Jude looks at everyone and inclines his head towards the stage area. “Y’all want to check out the stage? They’re about to get started, but it should still be relatively quiet up there. You can get a good look this way. I’m sorry about that in there. Blue can be a pushy bitch.”

Erik stares Jude down. “Right, Jude. Just so long as you know who you’re here with tonight. Make fucking sure you don’t forget it! You feel me?”

Jude grinds his teeth while squeezing my hand so hard it hurts, while staring Erik down. “Yeah, man. I know exactly who I’m with. No worries there. So back the fuck off!”

“I’m not on you, man. Do right by her. That’s all I’m saying. I didn’t come here to fight with you.” Erik closes his eyes and leans his head against the wall.

“Look, man. I’m sorry. It’s just been a crazy fucking day, ok? Can we just enjoy the concert? I invited y’all to have a good time. I want all of you to have a good time, ok?” Jude is talking to all of us, but looking deep into my eyes.

Something is wrong. I don’t know what, but something is.

I smile and touch his face while kissing his mouth, but a feeling of dread pools in my stomach.

“I’m here to see a sexy ‘rock star’. Know where I can find one?” I joke as I try to ease the tension in the air.

He smiles. “Why are you looking? There’s one right here that’s all yours.”

But I can’t help but wonder… is he really?

Jude

Fuck! Dammit to hell. I should NOT have let Blue mess with me like that. Now I can see that Lexi is freaking out and I don’t want her freaking out. I can’t lose her. Fuck… Dammit Jude, get your shit together. Fuck this. I can’t screw up. It’s too important. Just breathe… it’s going to be fine.

Fuck!

I have a concert in forty-five minutes.

The woman of my dreams is here. The woman in my heart… looking like a damn siren, and I’m acting like an asshole.

I am an asshole.

Ok, I’m going to fix this.

Right now.

I grab Lexi’s hand and turn her towards me, boxing her against the wall. My arms make a protective cage and my eyes drink in her appearance.

God, she’s gorgeous.

“Damn, Lex. You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you? You look amazing. So sexy. I want to lift your skirt and bury myself in you right now. I want to fuck you against this wall so that everyone here can hear you scream my name and know you’re mine.” I growl into her ear as my eyes are stripping her naked.

I forget everyone but the two of us. I thrust my cock that’s now rock hard against her and breathe just against her lips. There’s barely an inch of space between our faces.

We’re so close, I can feel her breathing get faster and smell her minty toothpaste.

Leaning in to close the distance, I scrape my teeth along her jaw, just behind her ear. She gasps and my cock gets even harder. I lick the shell of her ear and her hands grab my shoulders. She moans.

Trailing my tongue against her jaw line, I find her mouth and sweep my tongue inside.

Her hands find my hair and my hands drop to her hips, pulling her into me. I’m so turned on, I start thrusting against her as her tongue spars with mine, and her hands run through my hair, grabbing handfuls and holding on.

We are so consumed with each other; we forget where we are, until someone clears their throat and breaks our trance.

I raise my head and turn to look towards the sound. Her breathing is rapid and her hard nipples are pressing against my chest through the fabric of her dress.

My eyes meet the blue of Erik’s and I realize what I’ve just done. I’ve almost fucked her against a wall, in the hallway of my concert.

Roadies and my stage manager are all staring at us, as are Bradi, Micah, and Erik. I’m assuming it was he who cleared his throat to gain our attention.

Behind the trio are my band mates… and Blue. She’s scowling and the guys are fixated on us. Jessie looks like he wants to murder me and Dade is shaking his head in disbelief. Liam is smirking. And Cruz is rapidly tapping his sticks against his knee and gritting his teeth.

A camera goes off and I snap out of it.

Oh my God. What did I just do?

I immediately press my body against Lexi to shield her, and turn toward the camera flash.

Erik has beat me to it and has the photographer pinned to the wall by the neck. “You pathetic cretin! Give me that camera!”

While he holds him to the wall, I march over and take the camera out of his hand, pulling up the photo folder. I see the pictures of Lexi and me in our passionate embrace and delete them while growling at the photographer. “How dare you intrude on my privacy this way? These pictures will never see the light of day. You will not exploit Lexi to sell magazines. Do you hear me? She’s
not
some groupie slut! You. Will. Not. Do. It!
Do you understand me
?”

I am in his face and he’s terrified. With Erik holding him by the throat and me deleting his photos, he looks like he’s going to pee his pants.

Dade breaks in, “Um, dude. Let him go. You gave him permission to be back here and photograph everything. Don’t assault the prick. Let him go.”

Erik looks at me and I nod. He releases the photographer. I get in his face. “I may have given you permission to take photographs, but you will
not
photograph
her.
Do I make myself clear?” Drops of spittle are hitting his glasses I’m so close.

He nods and shakes, “Yeah, man. I’m sorry. I get it. No pics of the babe.”

Before I can punch him, he ducks under my arm and scrambles away.

Blue looks at me and then Lexi. “If you don’t want her photographed, she shouldn’t be here. There was no disclaimer on the photos. If she’s here, she’s fair game.”

Shaking my head to keep from strangling her, I grit out, “Shut the fuck up, Blue! No photographs of her. End of story! You got it?”

I look at Lexi. She’s got a hurt and confused look on her face. Blue looks smug. Dade and Cruz look concerned, Liam is still smirking, and Jessie just looks pissed. Bradi, Micah, and Erik look like they want to beat me into the ground.

What a fucking awesome night!

Lexi

I
don’t know what the hell is going on, but I don’t like it. What the hell is up with Jude and this bitch from Rock Hard Magazine? Why is Jessie so pissed off? Why are Dade and Cruz looking at me like they feel sorry for me? And what the fuck just happened with that prick with the camera?

Oh my God… I was basically screwing Jude against the wall, in front of everyone, like some kind of slut. I’m not a slut. And if pictures like that got out of me… I’d be ruined. Everything I’ve worked so hard for these past few years would be gone… just like that.

What am I doing? I’m not this girl. What am I doing? Why does Jude make me feel things and do things that I otherwise would never do?

This girl is not me. Well not the me that I show to the world, but if I’m being honest… this girl
is
me. This is the me I really am. The me that I can only let out when I’m with Jude.

What the hell am I going to do?

Jude takes hold of my hands, and calls my name to get my attention. Apparently he’s been calling my name for awhile. “Lex? Lexi, baby. Can I talk to you? In private? For just a second?”