A Rock & Roll Romance (11 page)

Jake: Goodnight, my sweet Aubrey. Wish you were here.

I found myself thinking
me too
. I finally managed to fall asleep. I woke up and had breakfast with my mom. I walked across the street to spend some time with Granny Jean.

“Why the long face
, bran muffin?”

“I’m just trying to work some things out in my head.” I told her
, hoping that she would let it go.

“Spill the beans.”
She all but demanded.

“You know we’re carting around Jake Parker.” She nodded. “He’s not at all
who I thought he was, but I can’t help that he’s going to end up just like Jeremy. Granny, I can’t deal with that again. We had a fight a couple days ago, and the next morning he gave me a ridiculously expensive ring to make up for it. I’m just so confused…” I put my head in my hands.

“Sounds to me like he
genuinely likes you. I think you like him, too.” She reached over and put her hand on my head. “Honey, you have to realize that if you keep yourself in this bubble you’re never going to know, and you’ll spend the rest of your life thinking ‘what if’ and I don’t want to see that. I’m not saying to jump head first, but at least throw him a life raft.”

“He i
s really balls to the wall.” As if that would change her mind.

“Good. That’s exactly the
type of person you need in your life. Go start living and quit dragging the past around like a ball and chain. Let go.” She got up from the chair and walked over to the china cabinet and pulled out the wedding photo of her and my Gramps. She placed it down in front of me. “George wasn’t the easiest person to be with. He was a schemer, always trying to come up with the next best thing. He was also the most passionate man I ever met. I didn’t fall in love with him right away either, but looking back I’m so glad that I did. Maybe Jake will be your Gramps.”

             
It made sense when she put it that way. I carried around my scars like the plague and used them to push people away. I never took the opportunity to let anyone in. Maybe the fact that Jake could touch me wasn’t a fluke thing. Maybe we were meant to cross paths. I decided that I had enough time at home. I called Mark and told him to meet me at the airport. I had a quick visit with my dad while I waited for him to show up. Before long we were airborne and on our way back to Albany. We grabbed a cab and made our way to the Lockwood Hotel. I went to reception and asked for Jake’s room. The girl behind the counter scoffed at me. I didn’t want Jake to know that I was there and if I called he would know. Instead, I called Kevin since we swapped numbers the other night. He told me that he was coming right down. Mark checked in and had already gone off to the hotel bar.

“Boy, are
we glad to see you!” Blake yelled across the lobby.

I laughed when I saw
that they all came down.

“He’s been a miserable asshole since the other day.” Derek chimed in.
“Wait, was that just yesterday?” He rubbed his head.

“Come on.” Kevin said walking up to the counter. “I need a key to room 501.” 

The girl reluctantly gave him the card.

“You better hope
that she doesn’t mention this, because if she does you’re going to be out of a job.” Blake told her. “She’s Jake’s inamorata.”

She
looked at me with pure disgust.

“She’s just pissed because she auditioned for me last night and didn’t get a call back.” Derek said. “
Isn’t that right, sweet cheeks? She was pining for Jake, but he just whined all night about how much he missed his precious
Bellissimo.
”

I smiled slightly and headed
over to the elevator. He wasn’t expecting me for another two days, so I was hoping to surprise him. I walked down the hallway and stuck the key card into the door. I took a deep breath and pushed the handle down. Brett was standing there in full on defense mode until he saw me.

“Thank fuck!” He whisper yelled
and threw his hands in the air. I laughed.

“Was he really that bad?” I teased.

“You have no idea. I was literally contemplating kidnapping.” He joked.

I put my suitcase down and headed back to the bedroom and knocked.

“Go away!” He yelled.

I pushed down the
handle, but it was locked. I knocked again.

“What!” He screamed opening the door. He was looking over my head. As soon as he looked down and saw me st
anding there he threw me over his shoulder and kicked the door shut. He gently tossed me onto the bed and crawled on top of me. I wrapped my arms around him. He crashed his lips to mine and kissed me at a frenzied pace. He pulled away and looked at me intently. 

“God, I fucking missed you
, baby.”

“Don’t hurt me again
, Jake. If you do, it will be the last time.”  

“I won’t. I promise. You’re going to mistake me for a saint.”

“I don’t want a saint. I just want you to be Jake Parker.”

“Baby steps.”
He whispered into my hair.

I nodded.

CHAPTER FIVE

A Step
In The Right Direction

One Month Later…

Jake

I’ve spent the last month being Saint Jake. I’ve crossed my t’s and dotted my i’s. I haven’t stepped as much as a toe out of line. Things with Aubrey were going pretty good. We were getting extremely close. She still refused to let me in, but I felt like she was at the point that she was ready. I formulated another master plan for the show tonight. I left her to get ready and checked in with Blake.

“Hello
shithead.” Blake answered.

“Hey
turdface. Were you able to work something out with what I gave you?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. Derek’s working on putting the finishing touches on it now.”

“Thanks, fucker. I owe you!”

“Yeah
, you do. When did you turn into such a pansy-ass? Aubrey’s it, huh?”

“I
guess you could say that. She’s just not like the other girls. You know that she doesn’t expect shit from me. She doesn’t care about the money or the fame. She likes me for me. And when I do something to piss her off, she slaps me and rolls her eyes. It’s so fucking hot!”

“You’re
glutton for punishment, bro.” He laughed.

“Whatever. You’re just jealous.”
I teased.

“Maybe you’re
right. See you in a bit.”

“Thanks again, Blake. I
mean it.”

“Jeez, do you have your period? Don’t
go getting all sentimental on me. We’re best friends, it’s what we’re supposed to do. Now go get ready and I’ll see you in an hour.”

“
Bye asshole.”

I hung up and walked back into the room. Aubrey was in a black dress and a
pair of black strappy shoes. She looked hot as hell. We headed off to do the sound check. I picked up the mic and started singing Justin Bieber’s, ‘Baby’. Everything sounded good, so we went to hang backstage until show time. I was suddenly nervous. Thankfully, the time flew by, and we were up. I kissed Aubrey and waltzed onto stage.

“
BALTIMORE!!!” I yelled into the mic. “We’re going to do something a little different here tonight. I wrote a new song, and I want to know what you guys think.”

They went wild.

Kevin walked to the front of the stage
and handed me over one of his guitars. I strapped it over my shoulder and started playing a couple cords. Derek started tapping on the drums. I started humming softly before looking at Aubrey.
Here goes nothing…

“Please
Aubrey… let me in, you shot me down, yet again,

It’s
chaos everywhere I go, I know, they won’t leave us alone,

You’re my little piece of heaven,
the dream I never want to escape,

H
ow I wish we could ride into the sunset, but I’ll take what I can get,

I’ll cross my T’s and
dot my I’s until you see that you’re the girl for me

All I
really want is you… Aubrey

Let me
in…”

I handed the guitar back to Kevin and smiled at Aubrey. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears.
Score!

“
I know it wasn’t great.” I laughed. “Since my life is pretty much an open book I figured that I would share this with you. I know that there are a lot of discrepancies of whether or not love at first sight exists. I always thought that it was a crock of shit until I met this girl. Now, I’m a believer. I love you Aubrey, and I promise to spend every minute proving it to you.”

The crowd was chanting her
name. It was the first time that I actually wanted to rush a show. I wanted to get off stage and see if my hard work paid off. Her eyes were glued to me for the rest of the show. When we finished out the set, I practically sprinted off the stage. I grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder. I ran into an empty dressing room and sat her on the table. I crashed my lips to hers and practically devoured her. She kissed me back with equal passion. I pulled away and looked at her. I was completely enamored.

“Did you like your song?” She
nodded shyly. “I meant every word, Aubrey.”

“I know.”
She whispered.

Aubrey

There was nothing going on after the show tonight, so we all headed back to the hotel. Everyone said goodnight and headed to their respective rooms. Once Jake closed the door I tugged on his hand. I told him that I wanted to shower but that I needed to talk to him after. I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom. I gave myself a pep talk the entire time. It was time, and his song just reinforced it even more. I needed to let him in. He’s been working so hard the last month to try and prove that he was good enough for me. If he only knew, I was the one that felt like I didn’t measure up. I took my time getting dressed and walked into the bedroom. Jake said that he wanted to shower, too. I wondered how I should go about telling him. Do I just spit it out? Do I ease into it? I’ve never been close enough with anybody since
it
happened to have this discussion. I was nervously pacing the floor when he came back into the room in his boxers with a puzzled look on his face. I looked at him and decided to throw all my cards in.

“Jake, I’m going
to talk to you about a couple things. I want you to promise that you won’t judge me. Please.” I begged. My biggest fear was rejection. I felt like damaged goods and was worried that once he knew what happened that he wouldn’t want me anymore.

“
Aubrey, I don’t judge. I’m listening.” He looked at me incredulously.

“
I’m worried that you’re going to be repulsed by me.” I said sadly.

“Seriously, do you have any idea how
sexy you are? I feel like a fucking teenager again. Every time you as much as smile I’m sporting a semi. When you roll your eyes, forget about it!” He lifted me so that I was sitting on his lap. “What’s really going on, Aubrey? I know there’s more to it. Help me understand.” He pleaded.

I felt myself start to tear up. I lifted his hand to my chest and ran his fingertips over my tattoo. I knew
that he could feel the raised lines under the ink. They were concealed so well you can barely notice them, unless I pointed it out. Something I’ve never done before. I was about to sever myself wide open for him.

“There’s a reason for this tattoo. It was my
first. I got it to cover something ugly. Can you feel them?” 

“Are they s
cars?” His hand started trembling. His eyes were thick with emotion. I nodded and tried to hold it together.

“Yes,
I have more. The others aren’t nearly as bad. Some of them you can barely even make out anymore.”

“How did you get them?” He inquired.

Here goes nothing…

“I was attacked by my ex-boyfriend.
Je-.” He quickly put his finger to my lip.

“I know his
name, you don’t need to say it.” He whispered and pulled me closer.

“
I was almost eighteen when it happened. My parents were away for the weekend, and he convinced me to stay at his apartment. I was a naive teenager, so of course I said yes. When I got there, he was strung out. Unbeknownst to me, he was on meth at the time. I didn’t even know that he started taking it. I tried to leave, but he wouldn’t let me. He snapped… He beat the hell out of me because I refused have sex with him. I was in and out of consciousness, but it was more brutal than sexual. It went on for over six hours until his roommate came home and called the cops. He went to jail for a measly two years. He claims that he doesn’t even remember any of it, but I call bullshit. He’s tried to contact me a couple times since, even though I have a restraining order. Hence, why I was so upset when I got that message in New York. Every time I see his name the pain comes to the surface. It’s almost as if it’s happening all over again.”