Don't Break My Heart (Straight from the Heart #3) (8 page)

“Sorry, just lost in thought.” I said to him as we moved our music equipment back downstairs into the basement.

“Uhhuh. You finally make the moves on our tommy girl? Alex said you guys were pretty hot and heavy toward the end of the show and of course I MISSED it,” Damon sounded disappointed.

“It’s none of your business and tell Alex to fuck off. Luce and I weren’t hot and heavy, we just kissed, nothing more,” I explained myself.

“Not yet,” Damon interjected. “I don’t want to have to pound on your door like I threatened you the last time something happened between you two.” I cringed, remembering that night. Only because of what happened the morning after, something I vowed to myself right then that I’d never do again. She was all mine, and I was going to prove it to her.

“If you did that I’d kick you in the balls so hard they’d fall off,” I threatened jokingly, and we started laughing.

“When you say it like that, I think I’ll just plug my headphones in and work on some late night writing after everyone leaves.” Damon replied. “I’ve got my brother crashing in the bedroom with me so who the hell knows what’s going to happen.”

When we returned to the big living area space, Lucy’s family and a few other friends were saying their goodbyes, so I said goodbye to her brother and sister, staying quiet since the kids were passed out cold in their arms.

“You’re pretty great with them, you know,” I went up to Lucy, whispering in her ear.

She turned around and smiled. “I miss those little squirts. I told Lucas and Lizzy whenever we get another big break, I’m going to steal them all and have a big slumber party at one of their houses where they can stay up as late as they want and have a shit ton of sweets.”

“I bet you would. Would you let me come crash?”

Lucy shrugged. “I suppose. I mean they both know something is up between us and it’s not like you’re a stranger to the family or anything. But no funny business. There would be kids pulling out demands every two seconds.” And I was all right with that. I didn’t have any young cousins on my side of the family, or nieces and nephews, so I got my kid fix in when Lucy saw her sibling’s kids.

My fingers slipped into the belt loops on her shorts, pulling her back to my front. “I think we could figure something out,” I said seductively.

“Hey, people that are still here! We’re going to play this dance game Bryn brought along, so if you don’t want to dance drunk get out of the way!” Alex ordered, and we pushed the couches back as Just Dance 2015 flashed onto the TV screen. I rolled my eyes. No way in hell was I about to do this, drunk or not.

I watched the rest of my bandmates try to get up and do some dance to
Bang Bang
, a song I vaguely knew, and I laughed my ass off as they messed up the moves, going in the completely opposite way of the person on the screen.

“Come on, Bryn.” Lucy said. “Let’s show these guys how to really bust a move.” I was afraid I’d have to stand in the corner because watching Lucy dance was going to make my dick hard. I didn’t want anyone to see that shit.

They picked
4X4
by Miley Cyrus, and even though I had never heard of the song, just watching Lucy shake her ass and dance like she’s a pro kept my eyes glued to only her. I could hear Pelton whistling at his girl as they finished the song, high-fiving each other over their near perfect score.

“Now it’s your turn,” Lucy came up to me, pushing me towards the dance area.

“Oh, no no no no,” I said as she made her attempts to get me out there. “I’ll dance in a club where there are so many people I don’t get noticed, but not here where you people are staring at me, waiting for me to mess up.”

“Come on, Pauly! Are you chicken?” Mike bellowed, drinking yet another beer.

I shot him the middle finger, giving into everyone’s shouting and comments. I let them pick a song for me, which ended up being
Bad Romance
by Lady Gaga. Dammit, these guys were going to pay. You couldn’t pay me to listen to her talking about ‘
You and me could make a bad romance
.’ I danced my way through it, maybe getting two stars, but it was worth it seeing Lucy laugh so hard her face was tear streaked.

A couple hours later, everyone had finally settled down, and the guests took their spots in the living room and Bryn stayed in Lucy’s room upstairs while Alex shared a room with Emily tonight so someone else could use it. Really though, it only made sense that Lucy share a bedroom with me tonight too, right?

By the time I got out of a quick shower, sure enough, lying on top of my bed wearing nothing but a long T-shirt and bottle of wine was Lucy.

I ran a hand through my wet hair and said, “Would you like some company?”

She nodded, opening the bottle of wine. “Obviously, I can’t drink this on my own and I am sitting on top of your bed.” Turning her head the opposite way for second then back to me, I saw her eyes take me in from top to bottom. I shed the towel, leaving my bare ass on display to her as I pulled out a pair of boxers and slipped them on, plopping down beside her. “Why do you tease me like that?”

“What do you mean?”

She gestured toward my dick, already visibly straining through my boxers. “That. You come into your room with just a towel on; you knew I’d totally be turned on by that you jerk.”

“It’s
my
room, ya know,” I reminded her. However, the fact she admitted that it turned her on only made me want to kiss her on the spot. “But I’ll remember that for next time you’re sitting on my bed and I’m taking a shower.”

I flipped on the TV, finding a movie on one of the HBO channels and set the remote down on the nightstand. Between the two of us, we polished off the wine by the time the movie was finished. Lucy was sitting in between my legs, her head against my chest like I was a pillow. It felt like second nature, her lying this way.

During a commercial, Lucy whispered, “So what are we doing?”

I should’ve known that was coming. It had been such a crazy night that I hadn’t had the chance to ask her myself. Sure, I knew what I wanted us to be, but I was scared shitless that she wouldn’t want the same thing.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I replied, running my hands through her hair. “I know what I’d like to be doing…”

Lucy lifted a curious eyebrow at me. “And what’s that?”

Here goes nothing. “I think you know. But I want you to be my girlfriend, Lucy.”

Lucy turned around. “Why? I know we’ve been getting back to being decent around each other without making it awkward, but what’s changed since that night? I don’t want you telling me tomorrow morning that we need to be just friends. Again.” I understood why she was hesitant. Sure, if I was in her shoes, I’d do the same thing

I started rubbing her shoulders, trying to make her comfortable. “Because I made a mistake. I care about you way more than a friend Lucy. I see you and my heart beats a thousand miles per hour if that’s even possible. I want to prove to you I can change. I don’t need to sleep with different girls every night of the week; I just want you. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to tell you, but this is me saying I want you and me to be one hundred percent officially a couple.”

Lucy studied me, her eyes welling up with tears. “You ass. Do you know how it makes me feel hearing those words actually come out of your mouth?” I wasn’t sure what to expect next. “But that’s definitely a big fat yes.” I couldn’t help the chuckle at her answer.

A few tears falling down her face, she wrapped her arms around me, wiping her tears against my bare shoulder. I was officially turning into a pussy, but I didn’t care because Lucy Tomlinson was worth it. With her at my side, we’d be the hottest couple in rock ‘n’ roll.

“I liked your answer by the way,” I said quietly, as we continued to hold each other in complete silence, the dull noise from the TV barely sounded in the background.

“And I like this,” she replied, yawning and stretching an arm over her head. “I could get used to this the rest of the time we’re up here.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be hogging up that nice bed on the tour bus soon enough,” I chuckled. “Guys are gonna be pissed, but I don’t really care.”

“Yeah, you do don’t lie.” She grinned up at me. “I bet you the first night on tour, Damon will have someone in that bed guaranteed.” I knew she was telling the truth.

“No shit. But you’ll be in mine and that’s all that matters, Luce.” I kissed her forehead softly and yawned myself. “Now, let’s go to sleep.”

No surprise.

Ever since the 4
th
of July the guys have been heckling Pauly and me about finally being a couple.

Damon’s obvious response was, “What the fuck took so long?” I wish I knew that answer myself. Of course, I was still doubtful. I would be for a while. Anything can happen when you’re on the road touring. It’s very easy for a guy to see a pair of breasts and an ass and just screw the woman right then and there. I’ve seen it happen. But I had to trust Pauly just like he would have to trust me. I had my issues just like he did, but he never blatantly cheated on someone like I have.

“Almost ready to go?” Emily shouted over her shoulder as she started loading up the vehicle to head home. I felt kind of sad leaving the cabin this time around, wishing I could quit touring and live up here so I could stare at the lake all day long. Who was I kidding? I didn’t want to endure the snow northern Michigan gets, plus I suck at driving in snow. After since being stuck in a ditch back in high school during a huge snowstorm, I drove maybe 15 mph and didn’t care if people honked at my ass.

“Yeah, I’ve got my last bag!” I said, dragging my suitcase behind me as I shut the front door and locked it. The guys were already stuffing their things into Damon’s car when I locked up the cabin; Atreyu was blaring from the car speakers. Nearing Emily, I stuffed my suitcase in the very last open spot in the trunk.

“I can’t believe it’s already time to leave,” Emily frowned, shutting the trunk as I started the car. I nodded in agreement, taking in my surroundings. “But at least you get to see your boyfriend every day lucky girl.” Emily was going back to her job as a high school Choir teacher while we went on tour after recording, despite Alex’s constant pleas to get her to take a leave of absence. But Emily was dedicated to her students and loved what she did. I was sure going to miss her, too. Especially our late night girl’s nights when the guys were out building a bonfire without us.

“When you get a break, promise you’ll come to one of the shows?” I asked her with a pleading smile and she grinned.

“Obviously, I will. I wouldn’t miss seeing my cousin, my best friend, and my boyfriend on stage rocking it out,” Emily replied.

“How about we make this a race, ladies!” Alex yelled at us, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Oh here we go,” Emily rolled her eyes, and we both started giggling.

“I’m serious,” he said a little quieter now. “First car to get back to Muskegon has to make dinner for the rest of us at their place.”

I raised my eyebrow at Alex. “Really?”

He shrugged. “Why not? You can cook a mean dinner, Lucy. And Emily told me she’s made cupcakes for her friggin’ high school students, you two would make the best meal ever.” The guys liked that idea and they started chanting about how they wanted food.

“You’re on,” I walked over and shook Alex’s hand. My eyes drifted to Pauly and his lips curled into a devious smile. “I can guarantee your asses will be pulled over for speeding and when you are, we’ll be laughing our asses off the rest of the way home.”

“Is that so, huh, tommy girl?” Pauly strolled over to me, drawing me into his arms. Kissing me on the forehead, he spanked my ass in front of everyone. “I’m looking forward to you in your kitchen wearing a French maid outfit. I know you have one in your closet from Halloween,” he whispered in my ear. I was cursing myself now for keeping that outfit stowed away, but no way was I wearing that outfit again for the rest of the band to see. It’d be for Pauly’s eyes only.

“You pig,” I teased him, playfully slapping his chest and pushing him away. “Better get on the road or else we won’t be home for dinner!” Pauly grabbed me for one last kiss and we all got into our respective vehicles. Em and I decided to listen to an old Punk Goes Pop cd to start the drive, and we took off.

“Isn’t it crazy?” Emily started to say. “That we came up north with you trying to get over Pauly and me pining over Alex, just for us to end up with them?”

I looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny how things work. But I knew you and Alex would get together at some point. You were always so cute when you were together freshman year.” I briefly remembered our first homecoming and their first so called ‘date’. Another boy in the class who was crazy about me asked me and, since Pauly was taking some snooty cheerleader, I said yes.

“But Alex is still the same smart ass he was then,” Emily sighed. “Damn is he ever good in the bedroom…”

“Okay, I didn’t need to hear that!” I giggled.

“Well, we certainly heard enough of you and Pauly to scar me for life,” Emily said with a smirk, but I knew she was only joking.

“Alright, alright now we’re even!” I briefly took my hands off the wheel, and both of us laughed hysterically until I felt like I couldn’t breathe. We started singing along to the punk cover of
Hit Me Baby One More Time
and the rest of the album just as we passed an exit for the last rest stop before reaching Muskegon.

I squinted my eyes, noticing a flash of red and blue lights not too far ahead of us. Emily and I looked at each other, and we both had a feeling our bet about the guys getting pulled over was accurate. As I kept going the speed limit, we drove past the state patrol and the vehicle they had pulled over; Damon’s vehicle was on full display.

“Holy shit, we were right!” Emily slapped the dashboard, her head peeking out the window. She leaned out even further, giving them the middle finger even though they were probably too busy schmoozing the sheriff. “Have fun cooking boys!” she shouted at the top of her lungs and picked up some speed getting away from them as fast as we could. A half-hour later, we were pulling up to my apartment.

I wiped the stray tendrils out of my face, dropping all of my suitcases at the door and plopping onto the couch. “Heard from any of them yet?” I asked Emily, who sat down beside me.

Emily pulled out her phone to show me a text from Alex. “Apparently he saw me flip them the finger when they got pulled over and said ‘ha ha, very funny’.”

I snorted. “It was pretty hysterical. If they got off scot free without a ticket I wouldn’t be surprised.” A car with four guys who thought they were hot shit? It was bound to happen.

A few minutes later, while we reminisced on the past couple of weeks, my phone buzzed, telling me I had a few text messages.

Pauly: I’m crazy about you

Pauly: And I have no problem cooking for you, but it’ll be breakfast in bed.

Pauly: Naked

My cheeks flushed, and Emily saw me squirm. “Are you and Pauly sexting?”

I shook my head and shot him a reply.

Me: I know how you cook, Pauly, and I’ll settle for IHOP!

Once we had a text from Damon closer to dinner, confirming they had a meal cooking, his fancy shmancy table was set up and ready, we drove over. The Tigers - Yankees game was on Damon’s flat screen, and I heard glasses clanging in the kitchen.

“Uh, we’re here!” I shouted, and from behind me, I felt a strong pair of hand encircle my waist and grab me. “Pauly, I know that’s you!” I squealed, his fingers sinking into my skin.

“I took that comment about you settling for a pancake joint rather than my cooking quite offensively you know,” he said to me. “Shit, that cop wasn’t going to let us go scot free. We even tried bribing him with an early copy of the new album, but he was old and wasn’t buying it at all, said we were just wannabees.”

“Oh, yeah and that middle finger stunt wasn’t that funny.” Alex entered the hallway with an apron around waist. I covered my mouth, trying to hide the laugh that was about to erupt. “You think it is funny, Luce?”

“No,” I replied, pointing at the apron that wasn’t even tied right. “You’ve obviously never worn an apron, huh?”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Alex retorted. “Now it’s ready so you girls need to get your asses in here and eat up.” He shot Emily a smile and spanked her ass as she walked past him. I was still in Pauly’s hold, not wanting him to let go.

“So what’s on the menu?” I looked back at him, my eyes meeting his.

“Just some macaroni and cheese with bacon, pepper jack cheese, fancy shit. Then Mike made some garlic mashed potatoes and Damon put in some garlic bread.” Pauly explained to me, his hands leaving my skin only for him to come to my side and grasp my hand. Squeezing it, he licked his lips. “It’s kind of what Damon had here so we had to think quickly.”

When I saw the spread in the kitchen, my mouth started watering. We hadn’t eaten since Emily and I had stopped at a rest stop. The skittles I had eaten were long gone, so my stomach was growling very loudly, and I started piling food on my plate. I had grown up with these guys and never had I seen them cook as they had tonight, and they had done it in such a short time.

By the time we were done with dinner, I was drooling over the taste of cheese in my mouth, and I wanted to take the leftovers home with me so I could pig out on them in the middle of the night. Em and I hung out for a while with the guys, leaving not too long before midnight. The band had to be up bright and early in the morning to get to the recording studio.

“I’m going to miss seeing your beautiful face, Lucy,” Emily said, pulling me into a hug after we pulled into the parking lot to the apartment. “Before you guys go on tour, come see my kids in class sometime. They would love to see a real live rocker since they’re all obsessed with you guys.”

“Of course,” I replied. “And I’ll save you a backstage pass.” 

“Sounds good. See you later, hun!”

“See ya!” I waved.I took a quick shower, letting the cool water wash over me, before I put on a nightgown and crawled into bed. I dialed Pauly’s number before I dozed off for the night just so I could say good night to him.

After three rings, he finally picked up. “What’s up, babe?” he answered, music playing in the background.

“Where are you?”

“At home. I couldn’t get to sleep so I put on some music to help me chill a bit.” I heard him chuckle. “You in bed, yet?”

“Mhmm, I wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep.” I was turning all sappy toward him and I kind of liked it. Cale and I had never been the most romantic couple there ever was, but we’d had our moments.

“Aww, I should just come say good night to you in person, it’d be much sweeter,” Pauly replied. “Plus, I’d get to feel you next to me, and I’d kiss you and…”

“Okay, none of your sweet talk, Pauly! I’ll have dreams about you now.”

“Good. But just think, in a few hours you’ll be locked in a studio with me and we can sneak off…”

“Goodnight Pauly,” I cut him off before he could give me the explicit details of his plan.

He laughed again and said, “Sweet dreams, my Lucy girl.”

***

The next morning, my alarm woke me up bright and early. I’d slept like a baby, but all of my dreams were about Pauly and me. I was anxiously waiting to make some head way on recording the album. Management, of course, expected us to be done with recording in a week and the album out in a month. Crazy bastards. But they’d never steered us wrong yet so we just went with it and hoped the fans would like the new music.

I decided to wear some PINK sweatpants and a Detroit Tigers T-shirt since we were going to be cooped up in the studio all day and I wanted to be comfortable. I straightened my hair and twisted it into a sloppy braid, making a cup of coffee before we all headed to Detroit. A couple of minutes before seven, I heard a pounding on my apartment door. I knew it was the guys and rolled my eyes as they started to sing
Freakshow
way too loud for this time of morning.

“All right, all right,” I said, letting them in. “I’m ready, so let’s go! You’re lucky no one else heard you out there!”

“I’d be happy if they did,” Damon stuck his tongue out at me. “Who doesn’t like to hear a song in the morning?”

“Not my neighbors, you ass.” I nudged him and the guys pulled me into a big bear hug. I let them continue to hug me for another minute then I said, “Okay, I love you guys, too, but shouldn’t we have left by now?”

“Pushy, pushy.” Pauly slapped my ass, kissing me on the mouth before he went into my room to grab my bass. “You look beautiful this morning by the way.” A blush immediately formed on my cheeks and I grabbed my purse before we headed toward Mike’s van. We only used his oversized van when we had to take our equipment to the studio. It was a lot easier than taking the tour bus.

“I call shot gun!” Alex shouted, instantly opening the passenger side door and slamming it shut.

“You dick, I was going to sit next to my boy Mike.” Damon sounded sad, but the smile on his face indicated otherwise. “That’s okay; I’ll keep you two love birds entertained.” He gestured toward Pauly and me.

“This is going to be a long drive,” Pauly groaned, tightening his grip around my waist. “We need to find him a girl,” he whispered in my ear.

“Easier said than done,” I retorted, keeping my voice low so he wouldn’t hear us. “Damon settling down? Have we ever seen him have an actual relationship with a girl?” According to Damon, he’d dated a girl back in high school when he was in Mackinaw City, but she’d cheated on him before we started touring for the first time.