Backstage Pass: Last Call (The Backstage Pass Rock Star Romance Book 6) (7 page)

I came to staring up at a ceiling. It hurt to turn my head, but I blinked a few times and realized I was on my brand new couch, probably getting it all kinds of dirty. I could hear Axel in the foyer and the beep of a police radio, then the front door shut. I lifted my hand to my forehead.

“Oh
my gosh! Sasha!” Kerri threw herself onto my chest and hugged me tight. “I was so worried about you. Are you okay?”

“What
happened. I think I blacked out.” I struggled to sit up and found that my head hurt a lot less when I was upright and not underneath Kerri. I was probably going to have a whopper of a migraine in the morning, but for now it was just a dull throbbing at the base of my head. And my throat was raw. I pressed my fingers to my temple and bits of mulch fell out.

Kerri quickly swept them off me and the couch. “I’ll vacuum all this up later.” She peered up at me, her eyes red-rimmed from crying.

“How long have I been out?”

Axel came over and sat beside me on the couch, then pulled Kerri up into his lap.
“The cops are taking Scout down to the station. They’re going to book him tonight with aggravated assault, drunk driving, and everything else they can throw at him. But the main guy said they won’t be able to press attempted rape charges unless you file them.”

“Oh, I’m fuckin—” I cleared my throat and it burned from the attempt. Kerri scooted off the couch and brought me a cup of
ice water which I drank heartily, then started again. “I’m definitely pressing charges. Do I need to do it right now?” I wasn’t really up for leaving the house right now, but I’d do it if they needed me to.

Kerri curled up on Axel again and I was glad we’d sprung for the oversized couch. That almost made me laugh and I couldn
’t get a grip on my emotions. They were all over the place and I knew that I was trying to avoid most of them to keep the feelings from vomiting up all over everywhere. I couldn’t believe that he’d come straight to the house. And how had he even figured out where we lived? I started to shake and Axel pulled me against his side. “Shh. It’s going to be okay. Shhh.”

I let him hold me until I got myself pulled together, then I asked again what had happened.

“I wanted to show Axel and I knew Jesse wouldn’t be here for another hour so I thought it would be okay if we stopped by.” She launched herself at me and sobbed into my hair and I felt like I was the one consoling her. “Oh my god, Sasha. I can’t believe that almost happened,” she mumbled against my ear.

I pat
ted her head and Axel pulled her away. “We were about to leave and then I thought I heard something in the yard. I was pretty sure it was you out there planting some final shrub, but then when I saw Scout and what he was doing to you.” Axel wiped his hand down his face like he could scrub the image away. “I flew into a rage.” He glanced down at me. “You were unconscious, but after I got done pummeling him, we found some of your twine from one of the trees and wrapped him up.” He waved his hand toward the back yard. “Kerri called the cops, we got you inside, and now we need to get you cleaned up.”

I laid my
hand on his arm. I wasn’t sure that he and I had ever really made our peace. I’d gotten so tangled up in the craziness that was my relationship with Jesse, and then he and Kerri had been a thing, and there was that hiccup with my foot . . . I squeezed until he looked at me, then I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you came tonight. I’m glad you’ve always been there for me. Thank you, Axel.” I meant it, I meant it so much.

He cupped my face and stared at me.
“Just because I’m in love with Kerri doesn’t negate how I feel about you.” He brushed my hair back from my face. “You’ll always be my first love.”

I blushed and looked away.

“Alright you two.” Kerri pulled Axel away from me. “That’s enough. Sheesh.” She waved her hand in front of her face but I could tell that she wasn’t threatened in the least little bit by what Axel had said.

I smiled and pulled them both into a huge hug. “I love you guys so much.”

They each kissed me on the cheek then Axel pulled Kerri into his arms and put a big ol’ whopper on her. They made out until I was completely uncomfortable. “Um, I’m going to go take a shower.” Kerri struggled to get off Axel’s lap but he wasn’t done kissing her, so I scooted out of the way and picked a few bits of mulch out of my hair. I was about to stand when the front door burst open.

The last ten miles home were always the longest. I cranked up the radio and rubbed my eyes. The charity event hadn’t been as rough as I thought it was going to be, and Ainsley had met me there, keeping my participation to a minimum and helping me to get out at a descent hour. Great group of kids, but it made my heart hurt to see so many of them struggling to fight cancer.

I told Ainsley that I’d do another one, but with some advanced warning next time. She’d agreed and promised not to bug me the entire time I was home with
Sasha this weekend. I’d believe that when I saw it. I didn’t think a day had gone by when I hadn’t heard from her at least once. She was seriously worse than my mom, or a wife. I was glad she was in charge of our career, because she was completely relentless, but I was looking forward to having some time off from her and her insane schedules.

Our driveway finally came into view and I nearly cried out in relief. That was such a pussy response, but I was
seriously so glad to be home. Being on the road sucked ass. I’d do every concert from my back yard if I could. Maybe I’d have to have Sasha add that to the list before she got started tearing into things.

I slammed on the brakes and backed up, then checked the mailbox. “Nope, this is our place.” I leaned over the steering wheel and scanned what I
could see of the darkened landscape. It was completely transformed. I had no idea how she’d managed to get it done, but I was completely blown away.

I eased off the brake and let the car inch forward. Everywhere I looked, something
new was growing or blooming and if not, there was a place to sit. The backyard angled away from the drive and I couldn’t see everything as it plunged into blackness, but holy shit I wanted to walk out there and see what she’d done. I had no idea she was such a magician when it came to yards. Maybe because the ten by ten patch of dirt at her house had never impressed me. It had all been dilapidated porch and weeds.

But this
. . . I parked the car and got out. This was insane.

I edged toward the back
yard, but I wanted to let her give me the tour. I thought I heard water running, but hopefully it was supposed to be. I couldn’t keep from grinning as I jogged around to the front of the house and through the front door. “Where’s my landscape architect!”

I
barely got the front door shut behind me when I was assaulted by the overwhelming opulence of our house. If I hadn’t checked the address I would have for sure known that I was in the wrong house. My feet stuttered to a stop and I tried to take it all in. Holy fuck! Not just the yard, but she’d had time to do the entire house too? I had no idea she was such a super star. Not that I should be surprised.

“
Sasha?” I strolled into the living room and my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing. Sasha looked like she’d been tumbled through the alley and then run over half a dozen times. Axel and Kerri were sitting beside her on the couch, Kerri was crying and sniffling and I was overcome with fury at Axel, thinking he was directly responsible for the girls’ conditions. Then I noticed the scrapes on his face and the dirt on his knees. Had he done this to her? I raced over and shoved him out of the way. “What did you do?”

Sasha
stood and leapt toward me and I grabbed her, smoothing her hair back. “What’s going on? Why do you look like that?”

She pointed at Axel and it was all I could do not to punch him in the face.
So help me, if he’d hurt her . . .

Axel stood up, palms out.
“Easy, man.” He rapidly explained what had happened and I collapsed into an overstuffed chair, pulling Sasha down into my lap. I buried my face in her chest and held her tight.

“I’m so sorry baby. I should have told you that I’d fired him. Never in a million
years did I ever think he’d have the balls to come here.” I lifted my face and begged for her forgiveness.

She crooned to me and stroked my cheek. I should have been the one telling her it was going to be okay, but all I could think about was what would have happened if Axel hadn’
t shown up. I put my head in my hands, then looked up at Axel. “I owe you man. Thank you.”

He shrugged.
“Anyone would have, man.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but I’m glad he did.
“I owe you. I owe you big.”

Kerri stood and they started toward the door. I kissed Sasha on the cheek
. “You okay if I walk them to the door?”

She stood and gave them both a huge hug. Axel brushed his fingers across her cheek and I knew he still had feelings for her but he seemed super in love with Kerri so I had to
trust that he’d worked it all out. I sure didn’t have any issue with the guy, especially now that he’d come to Sasha’s rescue.

Sasha wobbled and I helped her sit down on the couch, then I stroked the top of her hair. “Be right back.”

She nodded and sank back into the couch. The three of us walked quickly to the door and Axel gave me the run-down on the situation with the cops. I agreed to take Sasha in the morning to press charges if she felt like it. Maybe I could add a few others like trespassing and destruction of property since I was the guy who owned the place. I wanted that son of a bitch to suffer now. All I’d done was tried to help him out and this was how he repaid me. I was also going online fucking immediately to order a massive fence to keep everyone else out.

Axel held out his hand for me to shake it, but I pulled him into a hug. “Seriously, man, anything you need. Don’t ever hesitate to ask.”

“Well, I feel like this is shitty timing and maybe we should bring it up later—”

“No man, anything.”

He glanced at Kerri and she nodded. “There is one thing we’ve been meaning to ask you, but we wanted to wait until you guys got all moved in.”

“Anything, man. You name it.”

“I landed a job and it means we’ll have to move, but we want to get hitched first.”

I wasn’t sure how I could help, unless they wanted me to sing at the wedding.

Kerri fidgeted. “We wanted to know if we could get married here. In the backyard.”

I laughed. “I haven’t even seen it yet, but yes!” I pulled them both into a hug. “Congrats you guys. Let’s talk about it more once Sasha’s up and better, but hell yes.”

Jesse came back into the living room and ran a hand through his hair. He looked as bad as I felt.

“What was all that about?”

He looked up at me. “Seems those two are getting married and think your amazing yard is the place to seal the deal.”

I grinned in spite of everything that had gone on tonight. “That’s fantastic.” I sobered. “You told them yes, right?”

He sat down next to me on the couch and cradled me onto his lap. “I told them they could do whatever you said they could.”

I brightened, feeling like we were back on an upward swing. “Why does this stuff keep
happening to us?”

He shrugged and rubbed my back, then pressed my head down beneath his chin. He rested his lips against my hair, then lifted them. “I’m not sure. But it sure seems like we’ve had our fair share, that’s for sure.”

We breathed steadily for a few long moments, both of us caught up in the timeline that had led us to this moment. There were so many things that I wanted to talk to him about but I couldn’t bring myself to voice a single one. We really had been through the ringer and I was worried about the band if he’d really kicked Scout out. But not enough to waste time talking about that dirt bag right now. I couldn’t wait to press charges and I hoped he stayed in jail for a very long time.

“Are you hungry?”

He shook his head. “No. Are you?”

I lifted my head from his chest and stared at him. I’d planned tonight going so
completely different in my mind and now that it had turned into a total disaster I wasn’t sure how to salvage it. “Not really.”

He stroked a scratch on my forearm. “Can I take you
upstairs and help you get cleaned up? Do you need meds? Axel probably should have called an ambulance for you.”

I shook my head. “He wanted to, I’m sure, but other than some scrapes and bruises, I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I’m sorry I pissed Scout off enough that he thought this was the way to handle it.”

“You couldn’t have known that he’d do it like this.”

He picked a leaf from my tangled mess of hair. “No, but I should have been here.”

I smiled. “You have a job to do.”

He eased off the couch and picked me up, then carried me to the master bathroom and gingerly laid me on the new rug, then started undressing me with the clinical precision of an ER doc. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay here all the time by yourself. I think now that Scout’s gone—”

“He’ll be in jail.”

He lifted his head. “I doubt he’ll be the last.” That sent a shiver up my spine and I looked away. “Well that settles it. You’re not going to be alone anymore. I don’t care if I have to carry you to every single concert, you’re not going to be here by yourself anymore.”

I
leaned up and smoothed his hair back from his face. “It’s not going to happen again, babe. He’s in jail, we’ll add a gate, which is probably a good idea since you’ll probably have groupies showing up any second. It’s fine.”

He shook his head and kissed my stomach
as he peeled my shirt away. “I can’t handle it, Sasha. I can’t keep being away from you. Leaving you every time is killing me, and that was when I knew you were safe and I didn’t have to worry about some douche bag swinging by the house while I’m away.” He shook his head again, more emphatically this time. “I love this house and it’s going to be amazing when we’re here together, but you’re not going to be alone. Not if I can help it.”

I understood his fears and for now it was easier to just agree. We’d work out the details later, but I was pretty sure I
could handle being alone, and maybe I’d look into taking some self defense classes.

He helped me up and turned on the shower, then held out his hand and helped me inside. I scrubbed my hair while he worked on my legs, easing the bar of soap gent
ly over my scrapes and scratches. With every one, he grew more reserved.

“Hey.” I touched the top of his head, leaving a small pile of soapsuds in his hair.
He looked up, face misted by the showerhead. “We’re going to be fine, okay?”

He stood and drew me against him. I tried to resist drenching his clothes, but he wouldn’t have it and crushed me to him in a fierce protective hug.
“It makes me sick, Sasha. I could kill him. Every time I touch one of your injuries, it makes me more mad.”

I kissed his wet neck. “I know
, babe. Me too. But don’t let him rob this time from us. That’s all he ever wanted. Don’t let him win.”

He turned his face
to mine and kissed me soundly, drawing me deep into him and stroking my water-slicked back. I peeled his soaking shirt off and tossed it through the open door, then unbuckled his pants. I needed to feel his skin on mine. I needed his to replace the horrible feel of Scout’s. He stepped away and I whimpered, but he was only shoving his pants down and then he was back, fingers wrapped tightly around my jaw, kissing me without reserve.

He nudged my thighs apart with his knee and pressed me back against the wall.
Our bodies were slick and steamed from the water and I loved the way he slid against me, perfectly fitting his hard edges into my curves. I stroked his arms, washing waves of water down them, then back up, trailing my fingers in and out of the lines of his muscles.

He suckled my earlobe and I turned my face
into the water, letting it wash away the horror and sorrow of tonight. We would come out of this stronger on the other side. We always did. No matter what life tried to use to toss us overboard, we seemed to have this endless supply of life preservers and didn’t show any sign of running out. As long as I had him by my side, I’d always end up floating. Sometimes it was an ugly back float that barely kept my head above water, but the win never goes to the fastest swimmer, just the one who finishes.

We always managed to finish, even if it was a splashing thrashing doggie paddle, but we always kept swimming until we could rest.
He nibbled his way down my neck and I arched into him, feeling his hot erection against my hip. I grabbed it tight with both hands and shifted so the water splashed on it. He moaned and pushed against me, but I pushed my hand hard down the shaft, then back up, repeating as he bit my shoulder and twisted my nipples. I’d forgotten the sexting and phone calls until now and I was suddenly so very hot for him.

Bubbles ran down my body and he pushed me half a step backward into the water as I kept stroking him. He clenched his teeth and rinsed the soap out of my hair, trying to
focus on keeping this on a clinical level, but I wasn’t going to let him stay in that quagmire. We’d worked too hard to make a path that would lead us straight out of it. I wasn’t sure how healthy it was to always use sex to tamp the path down, but right now it was what I so desperately needed.

When all the s
oap raced down the drain, he dragged his fingers down my breasts and lower across my stomach, then pinched my waist and twisted me around. My full ass lifted as I arched my back, pressing against his hard erection. For a second, I was overcome with terror as his hand slid over my hip, but I forced myself to keep my eyes open and focus on the now, not what might have been. He stroked me, then brought his hand around front. I flinched as his thumb stroked my clit and he rolled it slowly between is fingers, then his cock pressed forward and he filled me.

I gasped and inhaled a mouthful of water, but
he reached up and turned the showerhead so it splashed on the small of my back, sending cascades of water down my sides and across my ass. He squeezed my waist and stroked deep, filling me slowly over and over. I needed this so badly. I wanted to tell him how badly but the words wouldn’t come so I stopped thinking and started feeling.

I was so wet and hot, instantly clenching around him and stroking him as he pushed in and out, making my orgasm tilt and spin as he didn’t speed up, but kept the temp
o at a raging pace that stole my breath. The water turned cold long before we were and he lifted me and set me on the floor, barely losing a stroke. I wrapped my legs around him and arched off the floor until we came together.

Without a word, he wrapped us in blankets and carried me to the bed. I curled up beside him and together we stared out the window into the moonlit night.
As we lay there entwined in each other, I thought about all my reservations about the wedding and everything that I’d come up with as a distraction or obstacle, but none of them mattered. We’d proven that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t get through together and if that wasn’t all the proof I needed to give him an emphatic yes, then there would never be another thing that would put me over the top. I was just scared, and while I had a right to be, I was done letting fear of maybe rule my world and keep me from making choices. Fear wasn’t going to keep my out of my garden at night, it hadn’t kept me from dating a musician, and I wasn’t going to let it steal our future.

I rolled over and stuck my arm beneath my head. He was staring at me. I smiled. I wasn’t exactly sure how I should
accept his proposal since he’d technically withdrawn it, but I figured if I got us talking about it, maybe he’d try it again so I could answer right this time.

I kissed him and stroked his cheek.

Then his phone rang, scaring the crap out of both of us. I sat up and tried to catch my breath.

“Sorry, let me turn it off.”

He fumbled out of bed and raced to the bathroom, finding it in his sopping pants. “Shit.” He looked up at me. “It’s Ainsley, sorry, can I grab this super fast? I was supposed to text her to let her know I got here all right. She was worried about me driving so late after working the charity event.”

I smiled and hopped out of bed. “Yep. I’ll go fix us something to eat.”

He lifted an eyebrow as he answered the call and I threw a pillow at him, but my throwing was as good as my cooking and I almost knocked a new vase off our new dresser by the bathroom door.