Authors: Karolyn James
Peter paused and Rick
looked away. He remembered the night Peter approached them. He bought them
drinks, offered them a place to stay, and that was the real beginning of it
all.
“I told myself this would
be an all or nothing deal,” Peter said. “So it became all in for Chasing Cross.
I wasn’t a happily married man, Rick. I wasn’t from the second I muttered
I do
in front of two
hundred people. But I could have worked at it. I could have found a happy
medium. I could have stayed low key, managing bands, working for record
companies, but I didn’t want that. The second I saw Chasing Cross, that became
my life. I let my marriage go and I let my life slide away. I’m not telling you
this, Rick, to make you feel guilty. Hell, I’m a millionaire because of the
band, just like you. I’m telling you this because I know I’m a hard nosed,
greedy prick... but I love you, Rick. I love you. I love Johnnie. I love Chris.
I love Davey. I love Danny. I love everything Chasing Cross and want nothing
but that. I don’t want Chasing Cross and a new drummer.”
“Neither do I,” Rick
said.
The first sense of true
honesty that had come out of his mouth.
“So then tell me what
we’re going to do,” Peter said.
“You know,” Rick said.
“My favorite time in the band was when we’d just hang out and write. That’s why
I left. This nonsense of managing a brand... I mean, I get it, Peter. But we
need to be real here.”
“Okay,” Peter said.
“Okay. I understand that. If that’s what you guys want, then do it. The hell
with the label then. You guys write and record what you want. On your time.”
“On your dime,” Rick winked.
“Does this mean Rick will
be playing drums at the next Chasing Cross show?”
Rick felt shaky. Nervous.
Nervous like he’d been with Sarah. He caught himself nodding before he answered.
“When’s the show?”
“Tomorrow night,” Peter
said. “There’s only two more shows and then it’s done. No more touring until
next year. So there will be plenty of time to relax, write, and enjoy life.”
Enjoy Sarah. Fall in love
with her more. Hold her every single day. Make love to her...
(19)
Peter cried. That was all
Rick could think about while Peter sat at his table. Even after Peter took two
phone calls and became the old Peter, screaming at someone for doing something
wrong, the emotion lingered and tore at Rick. Of all the years Rick knew Peter,
he didn’t know much about the man. They all knew of Peter’s divorce, but it was
always played off as something Peter wanted and moved on from. That didn’t seem
to be the case now. Peter had given everything up for Chasing Cross. Happy or
not, the man was married. The man had made a major commitment in his life to a
woman and broke that commitment for Chasing Cross. That was dedication. That
was love.
An hour after Peter left,
Rick finally found his way upstairs and into the shower. The second the water
touched him, he hated it. It should have been Sarah with him. His hands should
have been everywhere on her body. He showered quick, got dressed, and went out
the backdoor to the garage. He opened the squeaky door and flicked on the
light. The light bulb buzzed for a second, flickered, then stayed on as normal.
There were instruments everywhere and recording equipment stacked on itself.
The smell of the garage still had the smell of booze.
Rick spent the next hour
cleaning the place up and then grabbed his phone to make a phone call to the rest
of the guys in his new band. It was no surprise that the band wouldn’t last and
there were certainly no hard feelings when Rick explained the circumstances in
his life. The instruments would stay in the garage and everyone was more than
welcome to come over anytime they wanted to hang out and jam some tunes. That
was a great feeling of freedom for Rick to be able to get behind the kit or
grab a guitar and play when he wanted, with no pressure. What a great place to
hide out and enjoy life for a few minutes.
Peter still burned in his
mind and Rick finally had to get out of the garage and out of his house. He
went out the right garage door and walked the alley with his hands in his
pockets. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to walk around
without getting bombarded. The Chasing Cross fans were the greatest in the
world, but this sense of invisibility and normalcy was almost overwhelming. It
made the purchase of the house all the more worth it. Plus, it took him less
than two minutes to get to Sarah’s house.
As he scanned her front
lawn, he secretly pictured a For Sale sign there.
He smiled and shook his
head.
Rick, the rockstar
drummer, was now Rick, the committed man in love.
His foot hit the bottom
step and he heard the wild sound of barking followed by the sound of scratching
from the inside. He touched the door handle, but stopped himself. He knew he
was welcome inside but he didn’t open the door.
He rang the doorbell,
sending Molly into more of a frenzy.
Sarah opened the door and
Molly blasted right by her, knocking Sarah out of the way. Molly dove at Rick
putting her paws to his forearms and standing up.
“Wow,” Rick said. “I
think someone missed me.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said, “I
guess Molly did too.”
Rick looked at Sarah and
she was amazing just standing there in a white t-shirt, which hugged the right
spots on her body and dark blue jeans. Her hair was down, naturally curly at
the tips.
“You look beautiful,”
Rick said.
“You’ve won Molly over,”
Sarah said, “there’s no need to kiss up to me.”
“Trust me, I’m not.”
“How was your meeting?”
“Can I come in first?”
Rick asked.
He smiled and meant
nothing by it, but watching the color of Sarah’s cheeks flush, he started to
laugh. Everything felt flirty and sexual. It was fun. Being in love was fun.
Rick closed the door
behind him and followed Sarah as Molly continued to jump at his side. The dog
wouldn’t stop whimpering until he crouched down and gave the animal the full
attention it demanded. Rick rubbed her head, under the chin, down her back, and
finally to her belly. She collapsed to the floor and rolled to her back. When
Rick finally stopped, Molly groaned and stayed in place, giving Rick a chance
to go see Sarah.
When he spotted the
bottle of wine on the counter, he saw Sarah lunge at it. She pushed it back,
trying to hide it.
Rick smiled.
He appreciated the
gesture.
He walked into the
kitchen and remembered the cabinet where Sarah kept her glasses, mugs, and wine
glasses. They were on the top shelf. He reached up and grabbed two glasses and
put them on the counter.
“Rick...”
He reached for the wine
bottle and put it near the glasses.
“I don’t know where the
corkscrew is,” he said.
“Please don’t.”
Rick reached for Sarah’s
wrists. He pulled her close and before talking, he snuck a quick kiss.
“Listen to me,” he said.
“I’m not that kind of person. I don’t think I ever was. I drank to stay in the
hole. Having a glass of wine with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met is not
the same thing.”
“What if we want a second
glass?” Sarah asked.
“By the third we’d be
drunk.”
“Drunk,” Sarah whispered.
“I don’t like that.”
“I’d never let us get too
drunk. We have too much to do.”
“Like what?”
Rick pressed his lips to
Sarah’s again. His kissed her again and again, gently parting his lips, tasting
her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of it. He couldn’t get enough of Sarah.
The kiss stopped and Rick
said, “First, we need to get that wine open.”
“On it,” Sarah said.
She slithered away and
opened the wine. She poured two glasses and Rick grabbed them. He walked into
the living room and sat down. Sarah joined him.
“Good news or bad news?”
Sarah asked.
“With you, there is no
bad news.”
“Try me.”
They sipped their wine
and Rick licked his lips. It was dark, dry wine. Perfect.
“That guy that was here
was Peter,” Rick said. “He’s been with us since day one. He’s a decent guy.
Very greedy. He showed up to spill his guts a little on some things I didn’t
know. Kind of opened my eyes.”
“About Chasing Cross?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s the verdict?”
Rick drank more wine and
placed it on the coffee table. He folded his hands and rest his chin on them.
“The thing is, Sarah... I’m a rockstar.”
He looked at Sarah and
smiled.
“That’s really sexy to
hear you say.”
“I’m glad you feel that
way.”
Rick sat back on the
couch. He let out a long breath. His mind and heart were racing at the same
time. He was a rockstar and rockstars wrote music and played shows. They didn’t
buy houses and fall in love with their neighbors.
Or maybe they did.
Rick slid an arm around
Sarah and pulled her tight.
“You’re leaving, aren’t
you?” Sarah whispered.
“Just for a couple
shows,” Rick said. “The tour is coming to an end. Finally. We’re going to talk
and figure out what to do next.”
“Don’t make any
commitments you can’t keep, Rick.”
“I’d never walk away from
the band for good,” Rick said.
Sarah pushed away. “I
didn’t mean the band. I meant... me.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Rick
said. He turned and face Sarah. He touched her face. “I’d never.”
“You can’t say that. You
can’t live here. In this little town. Knowing the world is out there...”
“I can and will,” Rick
said. “I’ve got a mortgage to pay.”
“Please... I wouldn’t
hate you for doing it.”
“For doing what?”
“Ending this,” Sarah
said. “I’d understand. I’m busy with my office. I have Molly.”
Rick slowly moved his
thumb to her lips. Sarah tried to keep talking but it was muffled.
“Don’t be afraid,” Rick
said. “I’m just as afraid as you, but I’m willing to embrace this fear because
I love you enough to do so.”
“Oh...”
“Plus, you’re going to be
busy in the next couple days.”
“I am?” Sarah asked.
“Sure. You’re going to
need a realtor, boxes, let Molly sniff around...”
“What are you talking
about?”
“Pack up and move to my
house,” Rick said. “Let’s make it our home. Together.”
“Your house?”
Rick looked around
Sarah’s house. “I hope you don’t take it the wrong way... but look at this place.
It looks like a model home people walk through. It’s too clean. It’s too...
blah...”
“Too blah?” Sarah asked.
“Okay, Rick, try to be honest here...”
“I’m not trying to
offend, sweetheart,” Rick said. “I know you know I’m right. It’s like this
place was delicately wrapped and kept a certain way. There’s not even dog hair
on stuff.”
Sarah looked to her right
and pointed to a piece of dog hair. “Look. Right here.”
“Sarah.”
She looked at Rick.
“What?”
“I love you,” he said.
“I’m not telling you what to do. But I know this. Having our stuff together in
one house is going to make life easier. It’s going to be a pain to run house to
house each time we need one another... because right now, how I feel, I’m going
to need you every second of every day.”
Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Rockstars.”
Rick laughed and in a
swift move, he grabbed Sarah and pulled her on top of him. He slid down the
couch and they were connected together perfectly. Sarah hovered over Rick, her
hair dangling down her face, touching his.
“And you’re sure about
this?” Sarah asked.
“I’ve never been so sure
of something in my life.”
“Why? Why me?”
“Because it’s what my
heart wants. The second I saw you, my life changed. The thing that had been
missing is now here, and I’m not letting it get away. You’re not getting away
from me.”
“Confident, huh?”
“Nope. Just truthful.
Plus, I think Molly would track me down and keep bringing me back.”
“Of all things in my
life... a rockstar and a dog.”
“Sounds like a terrible romantic
comedy,” Rick said.
“Hope it plays better in
real life,” Sarah said.
“It is right now,” Rick
said. He moved Sarah’s hair out of her face. “And it will forever.”
He pulled her down to
kiss him and everything felt right.
**
It was Sarah who brought
up the shower thing. She said something as a flirty joke and Rick wasn’t going
to pass it up or let anything interrupt them again. Knowing he had to move fast,
he scooped Sarah up and took her upstairs. He turned on the water and stripped
himself to his boxers. He told Sarah he’d be waiting and went into the shower.
The minutes collected
until Sarah finally showed up in the bathroom wearing bra and panties. Rick
poked his head from the shower and teased Sarah, telling her she was almost
there. Then to his pleasure, Sarah stripped out of her matching bra and panties
and attacked him in the shower. She had him against the cool tile, her body
tight to his. Her fingers interlocked with Rick’s fingers. It was complete
torture, because it stopped him from touching her and stopped him from being
able to guide himself where he wanted.
Sarah kissed his neck and
his chest, teasing him now as she moved down and up, making sure her body
gently touched his. Rick felt Sarah’s tender nipples sliding against his chest.
When she stood up, she moved to her toes and positioned herself so Rick was
finally between her legs. She lowered herself and Rick felt the warm pressure
of Sarah’s body.
“Now this is a shower,”
he whispered as the warm water pounded on both their bodies.
“Rick,” Sarah said.
“Rick, take me...”
Sarah opened her fingers
and Rick’s hands were free. He gripped Sarah by the waist and switched their
position, taking the dominating lead. The second he entered Sarah’s perfect
body, he knew they wouldn’t last long in the shower. His hands were down around
her ass, holding her up as he offered all he had to her.
They managed a few
minutes of enjoyment in the shower before Rick turned the water off and picked
Sarah up. Her legs wrapped around him tight, and her breasts pressed against
his chest. He was between her legs, just touching, but he could feel her. He
could feel her desires, her needs, her love.
Rick took Sarah from the
bathroom and gently placed her on the bed. He then gently entered her again and
they spent the next hour slowly and seductively savoring each other’s bodies.
They were under covers. They kicked the covers off. Rick was on top. Sarah
pushed to get on top. When it all finally ended and Rick slid from Sarah but
still held her, he now understood what it felt like to make love to someone. He
was wide awake, his mind full but clear. His heart heavy but strong.
“I’m sleeping with a
rockstar,” Sarah whispered and kissed his chest.
“Almost,” Rick said.
“After the next couple shows... then you can say that.”
Sarah picked her head up
off his chest. They stared at each other and smiled. In that moment they didn’t
need words, they simply had each other.