Facing Me (5 page)

“Luke has been
such a good friend to me, I don’t want to mess that up.  That’s one thing
we have to talk about.  I’m not ready to just jump into bed with anyone,
especially not Luke.” I murmur.

She pats my arm,
“Good.  One last thing.” Chase pauses, making sure I’m listening. “It’s
okay to move on and be happy.  Luke may not be it for you.  Hell,
maybe he is, maybe he isn’t...who gives a shit?  You and Aiden are over.
 O-V-E-R.  It’s time Camaron Allen gets her head on straight.
 Be the strong, powerful, sexy goddess that you are.  For one, you’re
gonna get the fuck out of these jeans and baggy shirts you are wearin’ so you
can show off that amazin’ bod the gym is givin’ you.” I arch my eye at her.
“Cammie, I just saw you get your ink.  Your bod was hot before…all this
gym time, babe, it’s smokin’ hot.  You gotta flaunt that shit!”  

Luke clears his
throat from his spot in the doorway. “I don’t think I need you to prove my case
but it’s nice to know you care Sis.” He teases.  Walking over he sits on
the couch, stretching his long jean clad legs out with a groan. “Been cramped
up for three hours in that chair.   The guys are here so we can bail
whenever.”

Chase’s eyes
perk up, “Mitch is here?” She rubs her hands together. “I’ll see you two
later.” She blurts, all but running out the door.  Poor Chase has been
nearly humping Mitch’s leg since Luke hired him a month ago.  Her mission
is to be as close to him, while he works, as possible.  She hands him his
ink, brings him snacks, whatever he asks for.  
It’s
lust, pure and simple, but she’s desperate to see his pierced equipment.
 According to him, there’s more metal than flesh in his pants and Chase is
desperate to see his transformer in action.    

“Hi.” Luke says
softly, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Hi.” I mirror
him shakily.

Crooking his
finger at me, he smiles at me. “Come here Cammie.  I wanna talk, but I wanna
touch you while we do.”  Slowly, I stand to my feet and walk around my
desk.  Luke’s eyes following my every movement until I’m sitting on the
couch facing him.

Reaching over,
he takes my hand in his, pressing his lips to the inside of my wrist.  I
feel his smile against my skin, then he interlaces our fingers. “Now, the
talking.” He reminds himself.    

My nerves have
my hands trembling, “I don’t want to have sex with you.” I blurt before I can
stop myself.  The horror of what I’ve just said to him, makes me clap both
hands over my mouth.

Luke chuckles
and pats my leg. “Well, if that wasn’t an ego boost I don’t know what is.
 My junk will never be the same.” He teases.  I bury my face in my
hands, embarrassed as hell for my reaction.  Luke grabs my hands forcing
me to meet his eyes. “Cammie, I was kidding.  It’s fine, really.” Blowing
out a breath he shakes his head. “I want you to be able to be honest with me.
 We said try.  You aren’t ready for sex, so we build on you.
 Build on us.  Simple as that.” Leaning in, he presses his lips to
mine. “Like that.  Or, like this.” He pulls me against him and nuzzles my
neck. “Being able to hold you, kiss you, or even just to say that you’re my
girl.  That’s what we start with, and maybe a date or two.”

“A date?” I ask
looking at him.

He looks at me
like I’ve grown an extra arm, “Yes, Cammie, a date.  I guess he didn’t
take you on dates?”

“Our
relationship was complicated, it was…”

Luke brushes his
lips over mine, “None of my business.” He says calmly, making me instantly
relax in his arms. “Now let’s go get some take-out and a movie.  I want to
spend tonight cuddling with my girl.”  I nod as we stand then walk out of
the room.  After tossing out a goodbye to Mitch and Chase, I catch Chase’s
grin of approval.  Luke is right, what I had with Aiden isn’t what we are
doing and, right now, I like the sound of that.

Epic First
Impressions

*Aiden*

“They’ll be here
soon.  Where the fuck is Daisy?” I ask pacing the room.  Evan is
bringing Thirty Ought Six to see our show tonight.  Their frontman...woman
or whatever, Abby, has a record label and is interested in us.  We need to
be on point tonight.  Add this on top of the fact that Chase still isn’t
answering her phone and, yes, I’m a nervous goddamn wreck.  

After sobering
Hunter up, we blew up her phone for hours.  It went to voicemail every
damn time making me more upset each time I heard her recorded greeting.  I
know in my gut the call was about Cam and not knowing what's wrong is killing
me.    

This morning I
gave Daisy an update so she would know to keep an ear to the ground for any
news.  Right after her meeting with the vendors, she was called into an
emergency meeting with Jackson Reed, No Approval Needed’s manager; leaving
her no time to do any digging or settle my nerves.  So, while Henry
accompanies Daisy to see what has crawled up Jackoff’s ass, the rest of us
wait.

“What the fuck
could Jackoff want with Daisy all of a sudden?” Hunter asks, his fingers
curling around the neck of his bass.  

“Don’t let him
hear you call him that again bro.  Inside joke remember?” I remind him
since Jackson went ape shit when Hunter called him Jackoff in a meet-n-greet
one night.  The asshole always looks so tense that we started calling him
jackoff instead, because that's what he really needs to do with his time.

Gray shakes his
head, biting back his laugh. “That was funny as hell though.  Stupid
fucker has been calling her on and off for days bitching about anything he can
think of.  It’s hard tellin’ what he’s got his panties twisted over now.”

“Why doesn’t she
tell him to go fuck a hot tail pipe?” Hunter tosses out with a laugh.

“Because
she’s
being professional, asshole, and since
we
open for
them,
we’re
replaceable.  Daisy has more patience than me, I’d have told him to go to
hell already.” Gray adds, looking at me from over his lyric book. “But, I may
have mentioned to Henry to feel free and stomp him like a bug if he gets
mouthy.”

The door flies
open, crashing against the wall with a loud bang. “Henry, will you make sure
that Ms. Irons and the rest of our VIPs get back here okay?” Daisy asks, eyeing
the three of us. “I need to update the guys so we can settle on a game plan.”
Henry nods, leaving the room without a word, slamming the door behind him.
 Oh shit, this can't be good.  Daisy never gets frazzled over the
business end of Shaft.  She's been a fucking ace since day one.  

Daisy blows out
a breath, then sags onto the couch beside Gray. “We’ve got a problem.” She
huffs, getting our attention. “Jackson has been calling me for days bitchin'
that with Tad and Landon gone these past couple months, he’s been taking on our
slack.  In other words he’s telling me that I’m slacking.”

“I’ll give that
cocksucker some slack.” I growl, balling my hand into a fist.  No matter
what goes on, none of us let anyone fuck with Daisy.  She's been through a
lot since the tour started and we all protect her.  Surprisingly, Hunter
has damn near killed for her more than once.

Daisy clears her
throat, ignoring my comment. “Anyway, Jackson is demanding that Shaft sign him
as manager before the show tonight.  
Or else.”  

“Or else what?”
I ask, impatiently.  There's no way in hell we are getting pushed into
shit.  

She sighs
loudly, “I informed him that after everything with your previous
representation, I took on this position in a temporary fashion.  There's
no sense in giving him the ugly details of Tad and Landon being dismissed or
why." She says with a shudder.  

No.  In
protecting Daisy, we have kept as much of what went on from everyone.  It
was, by no means, her doing and all of us agreed that she wouldn't pay for
Landon being a complete fuckwad or Tad being a dirty manipulative weasel.
 

"I also
informed him that I don’t have the authority to make that choice for you.”
Bracing herself, she continues, “If you don’t sign with him, he's disbanding
the tour, effective immediately, and
it’s
over.
  Just.  Like.  That."

“He said all
that?” Gray bites out, tossing his book to the table making her jump. “He would
kill both bands with that kind of career suicide.  We still have months
left on this tour.  The cancellations would kill his reputation as much as
ours.  He’s bullshitting us.”

She shrugs,
“It’s a possibility, but he's so fucking arrogant.  I’m sorry guys, I’ve
tried nearly everything to make him reconsider but he’s set on this.
 Jackson isn't going to budge.  What do we do now?” Daisy sniffles.
 
Oh shit, not hormonal, pregnant tears.  I can’t do tears!

“We tell him to
fuck off, that’s what we'll do.  No way in hell is Jackson Reed forcing us
into shit.  If they leave the tour then that’s their problem, not ours.” I
reply, hoping to calm her nerves. “Besides if No Approval is dumb enough to
walk from a sold out fuckin’ tour then good riddance.  You’re doing a
great job Daisy and Henry is looking for someone permanent.  Just a matter
of finding the right fit.”

She nods with a
sad smile, “I love taking care of you guys but I need some help doing it.
 Especially now, with the baby being here before we know it.  This is
one time I have no problem admitting that I'll need help.  Just not him.”

“That settles it
then.” Gray says, kissing her temple.  Looking at them, Hunter and I both
nod our agreement.  It’s a no-brainer, Shaft is a family.  These
people in this room are all I have and all that matter now that I’ve lost
Camaron.

“That piece of
shit hasn’t shown his face for most of the tour.  Well, unless his band’s
playin’.  Hell, we barely see any of those fuckers anyway.  No skin
off my ass." Hunter shrugs then sits his bass on the stand beside the
chair.

A tap on the
door makes all four of us turn to watch as Abby Irons, lead singer of Thirty
Ought Six and head of Ironsound Records, walks in the room.  Behind her
are nearly a half dozen people, including Sean and Evan. “I still don’t see why
we had to bring you two with us.  This is business; well, mostly.” She
says rolling her eyes.

Evan shoves
around her to bump Hunter’s fist. “You brought
me
?  Those passes
were left for
me
.”

Abby arches her
brow, rolling her eyes in amusement. “Those passes were left for Mr. Gungasm Mc
Toothy-Twat.  If you’re going by that now, I officially don’t know your
stupid ass.”

Daisy glares at
Hunter, who is smiling smugly.  Jumping up, she reaches out to shake
Abby’s hand. “I’m so glad you could make it tonight Ms. Irons.”

“My name’s Abby.
 There’s nothing formal about me or this meeting tonight.  We’re here
to watch Shaft kick ass.”  Looking around, she smiles.  Abby is a
tiny thing with fiery red hair.  Just by looking at her though, you know
she holds her own with these guys.

“This is my
husband, Jameson, who, sadly, is Mc Toothy-Twat’s brother.  Then,” she
turns pointing to a gorgeous brunette standing off by herself. “That’s Tuesday,
best friend and go to gal.”

I nod as Jameson
sits in a chair, Abby perching herself on the arm. “I’m Aiden, that’s Gray and
his wife, Daisy.” Jerking my chin, I groan. “That’s Hunter, my brother.”

Tuesday laughs,
“You mean Cunter Cunterfield?”

Hunter jumps to his
feet, “That’s where I know you from.” Walking over, he cups her jaw sweetly.
“The sexy kitten that's one of Evan’s days of the week.  Well, it’s ‘Fill
her ass Friday’ here, let me make you purr.”

Tuesday smirks,
letting her eyes drop to his mouth and I’m pretty sure what is going on in her
head.  Just as I start to say something, she knees him right in the beef
stick.  Hunter crumples to the floor, gagging and heaving while cupping
his damaged junk.  

Leaning down,
she glares at him. “I’m nobody’s day of the week, and I’m definitely not your
kitten
.
 You wouldn’t know how to make a real woman purr if you had two tongues
and a vibrating penis the size of a mic stand.” She bites out, kicking him in
the hip, walking by him to sit in the chair he left.
 

All of us laugh
hysterically as Evan and I help him up. “I’m good.  Just help me walk this
off before the show.” Hunter squeaks, sounding more like Daisy when she’s
excited about something.

Helping Hunter
out of the room so that Daisy and Gray can talk shop with Abby, Evan and I take
him down the hall away from the crowd that is starting to gather.  Hunter
gets his footing as I let go of him.  Evan glances at him, still clutching
his arm, “You good man?”

Hunter nods
blowing out a breath. “Yeah, thanks; she’s a feisty one.”

Everything going
to shit around me is making me lose it.  I can’t believe Hunter pulled a
fucking stunt like that.  What the hell is he thinking?  If Ironsound
was going to sign us, they sure won’t now.  Who wants to represent a bunch
of loose cannons who can’t keep their dicks in their
pants.
 Control.  It’s all about keeping a handle on the situation.  My
hands are shaking as I take in Evan staring at Hunter like he wants to rip him
a new ass.  
Dude you aren’t the only one who wants to, but it will be
me doing it.

“Why don’t you
go check on Tuesday, Evan?  I’ll tend to dumbass here.” I blurt, knowing
that this could go bad if Hunter says the wrong thing right now.  Nodding,
Evan disappears back the way we came, leaving me with Hunter.  Turning to
face my dipshit brother, I shake my head. “You need to get your shit together.
 We all heard Daisy, if Ironsound signs us that would solve everything and
here you are hitting on Abby fuckin’ Irons’ best friend like that?  What
the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m horny.” He
shrugs.  
Wrong thing to say Hunter.

Losing my shit
in 3, 2, 1…

Grabbing his
shirt, I shove him into the wall. “Get some control on your dick Hunter.
 You can’t just walk up to any woman you want and ask her for a fuck.
 Quit focusing on yourself all the goddamn time!  Everything.
 Is.  Not.  About.  You.” I shout in frustration.  He
is reckless and doesn’t care what his actions could do to those around him.
 What they could cost all of us right now.  

“No, it’s never
about me.  You got that right little brother.” He snaps.  Letting him
go as his words hit me, I step back watching him sag against the wall. “I’m
sorry, Aiden.  Fuck!  Just back off, okay?”

“Then get a grip
on yourself before you do something to embarrass Daisy.  She really wants
this to work with Ironsound and so do I.” I huff, then walk back up the hall so
that I can, hopefully, get in on the conversation before we are called to the
stage.

Walking up to
the door, I come face to face with Jackson Reed. “Just the man I was looking
for.  Shall we go in with the others so we can make this official?” He
asks, tapping his paperwork with a knowing grin. “It’s about time you all see
it my way, Aiden.”

Anger boils in
my veins.  This bastard has been badgering Daisy for days and is now
threatening to close the tour, all to gain control over us.  Over.
 Me.  I don’t give anyone power over me.  Fuck, even Daisy keeps
me informed of everything as it happens.  She knows that’s how I operate.
 Jackson has decided to push me, to demand I submit to his demands. 
That is something I don’t do.  All my control goes out the window as my
rage erupts like a volcano.  The final straw breaks the camel’s back and I
am ready to blow.  My eyes blur and I see fucking red.  I know,
without a doubt, this will end badly; but it’s like I am watching the entire
thing play out as it happens.  

My fist connects
with Jackson’s jaw, causing him and his paperwork to spill to the floor. “You
crazy bastard!  What the hell are you doing?” He yelps, rolling away from
me.  Not giving him a chance to get to his feet, my boot connects with his
ribs, again and again.  His scream echoing through the hall while he tries
to defend himself.  

Daisy runs out
into the hall, Henry and Gray try to pull me back. “What the hell is wrong with
you Aiden?” Daisy shouts.

“That bastard
isn’t threatening to fuck up everything we’ve worked for.  No.  One.
 Controls.  Me.  Nobody!” I roar, fighting to get free.  I
want nothing more than to send Jackson to the E.R.  I want him to hurt.
 I want him to feel on the outside like I feel on the inside.  The
helplessness is choking me, the fucking inability to keep control over the
situation, I can’t focus.  Flashbacks of belt slaps, shouting, and closet
doors flash in my mind.  Fuck!  Where did that come from?  I
struggle harder against their hold.  I gotta get the fuck out of here.
 

“You’re losing
it Aiden.” Meeting me toe to toe, she gets in my face. “Get a fucking grip!”

My mind goes
back to not even five minutes ago, me telling Hunter the same damn thing.
 How am I any better than my idiot brother by beating Jackson’s ass in a
hallway? I lose all fight and nod. “I’m sorry.” I murmur to her.