Ice Steam (Loving All Wrong #3) (15 page)

“Ugh!” I ground out. “If I said I’m staying the weekend why would I suddenly renege on it?”

“Size of my cock?”

I rolled my eyes at his unsubdued arrogance. “Yes, Xavi, your dick is huge and intimidating and, yes, my sex feels a little abused right now, but it’s not enough to make me run from you. The sex was groundbreaking, my orgasms were earth-shattering.” I bit my lip, feeling strangely uninhibited. “Your lips, fingers and tongue make up for the ruthless brutality of your dick.”

“She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol…” This was from Tex, who was staring at me and Xavier as he crooned the offensive lyrics.

“Dude,” said Mark, “that sounds like bad high-school poetry.”

Glaring at Tex, I asked, “Did you just call me a she-devil?”

Instead of answering, he just repeated the lyrics, “She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol…” then lowered his head to jot the words down on his pad.

Xavier pulled me away from near the guys, arms circling around me. “So, just to be sure, you’re coming back, right?”

“Your band-mate just called me a
she-devil
, Xavi. Why would I want to be here anymore?”

Xavier sighed. “Tex…he’s got issues.” He pressed me up against him, making me well aware of his inappropriate hard-on. “Don’t punish me for his shit.”

“What about our sexes? They’re incompatible.”

“You too tight me too big?” He shrugged. “They’ll have to learn to sing together.”

Grinning, I crushed myself into him, needing to get as close as possible. “
You
are my favorite rock star. That is why I’m coming back. You. Rock. My. World.”

I tipped up in my boots and kissed him swiftly, then spun to leave, but he swung me back in like we were doing the tango. “Touch it before you go?”

“What?”

He thrust he pelvis forward. “Touch it.”

Reaching down, I palmed him.

With a flowing sigh, his eyes closed down. “Now squeeze it.”

I squeezed him, but he still wouldn’t let me go, and I
really
needed to go. Bending at the waist, I went face to face with his crotch, puckered my lips and kissed his hard-on three times, then cooed, “Bye-bye, Big X. Suck you later.” Then I turned and skipped off without waiting to see anyone’s reaction.

As I hurried down the stairs, I heard Mark say, “Shiiiiit, man. Would it be un-cool if I told you that right now, at this minute, my cock’s wrestling zipper for your girl? Markie boy wants inside her. Yeah?”

Two seconds later I heard a thump, a thud and a groan. Next I heard Leo howling with laughter. And in the midst of it, I heard Tex singing, “She walks, she talks like rock ‘n’ roll. Black eyes scream death, reflecting her soul. Run tall, don’t fall, her heart is Sheol….”

Goddamn rock stars
.

I decided I wanted to look fresh for Davi—er, Jake’s party later. So as soon as I was through with my appointments, I showed up on Danni’s doorstep and demanded he assist me in finding an outfit for later.

We stopped at my apartment first so I could pack a small pull-along and retrieve my gift cards, then we went wild on Rodeo Drive.

Although Danni was gay, it wasn’t obvious until he opened his mouth. At twenty-seven, he stood under six feet, had well-groomed hair, an urbane style, and always debonair. At first sight, if you’re a woman, no doubt about it, you’ll
drool
. But once he spoke, the effeminate curls and drawls to his words made it clear what team he batted for.

It took no time for Danni to find me an outfit in Versace. A super-classy white suit: skinny capris with gold zippers along the sides, and a single-button jacket that clung perfectly to my form.

When I reminded Danni I was going to a club and not an awards show, he said, “You’re here to be a model, dearest, and in order to be noticed in L.A, you’ll have to start dressing to turn heads. You’re gorgeous, honey, no denying that, but L.A is
packed
with beauties just like you and even better. You got to stand
out
. Now, at this party, all the regular chicks gonna be wearing regular shit. Sexy doesn’t always mean short dresses, cleavage and ass cheeks.”

With great care, he peeled the jacket off me, pinkies cocked. “Trust me, if you wear this tonight, the next morning everyone’s gonna be asking about ‘the girl in the white suit’.”

I took his advice. He was the stylist, after all. I knew nothing about fashion, which was the reason I brought him.

We chose a pair of nude pumps to complement the suit, then headed to Cartier to get jewelry.

As we were leaving the jewelry store, I caught sight of a killer black and yellow-gold bracelet, with sharp cut diamonds embedded around the top and bottom gold rims. In the center was a deep carved lion head, spectacularly detailed with black and white diamonds.

I could see that bracelet on no else’s wrist but
his
.

Tapping one freshly polished fingernail to the glass housing the jewelry, I told the clerk, “Ring that up for me.”

“Uh…” Danni murmured from beside me.

“I’m sorry, Miss,” said the well-adorned blonde clerk with cheekbones like
Maleficent
’s and a fake smile, eying me up and down like I was a wannabe with struck-of-luck gift cards, “but your
gift card
won’t be able to cover the price for that piece.”

Women
. They could be so catty and hateful. Even when they didn’t know you and had absolutely no reason to hate you. Something was seriously wrong with this world.

Fishing out one of my black cards from my purse, I humbly thrust it toward her. “No. But this card will.”

Danni stopped me as we left the store, waving a hand dramatically in front of my face. “Hell-
O
? Is there something you forgot to tell me?”

“Like what?” I asked, dipping into my handbag to fetch anything that would shut him up. Everyone loved freebies.

The gift cards, I told him I got them from Saskia Day, who everyone knew I was associated with. He’d bought it.

But the black card scene, I hadn’t been thinking clearly, and now he was being nosy.

“Uh, I don’t know, that you’re, uh, loaded?!” he exclaimed.

Giving him a dismissive wave off to indicate his assumption was inane, I said, “I’m not rich, you idiot. Just screwing someone who is, okay? I just bought him a gift with his own money.”

Danni’s eyes went wide as he leaned in, licking his lips, hungry for gossip. “Name. Now.
Spill.
”

“You’ll know soon enough.” I captured two Starbucks gift cards and held them up. “In the meantime, will this shut you up?”

He clapped his hands in delight, twinkling eyes fixed on the cards. When he made a mad grab for them, I quickly drew back. “Tell
no one
what you saw in there. Deal?”

“What did I see?”

I laughed and let him have them.

I
studied Xavier in the dresser mirror as I poked gold earrings through my lobes. I was all dressed and ready, but he was just getting out of the shower, towel-drying, abdominal muscles rippling with each movement.

His casual outfit was laid out the bed, and I watched as he bypassed boxers and donned his jeans, looped in his studded belt, attached a scull-head chain wallet to one of the loops and slid the wallet in his back pocket. It amazed me how men could dress so quick and easy without hassle.

I held my breath when he picked up his T-shirt—but still hadn’t noticed the box beneath it—and his whole upper body muscles flexed when he went through the act of pulling his light-brown shirt over his head. It was one of those burnout, paper-thin long-sleeved T-shirts, almost see-though, which made his abs near visible and his taut nipples poke against the flimsy fabric. Small buttons ran down to the center of his chest, but he popped all of them open to show off his definition.

Sexy beast.

Then, he paused, finally spotting the red box I’d hidden under his clothes on the bed when he was in the shower. Hesitantly, he picked it up, and his gaze shot across the room to meet mine in the mirror. He raised a brow in question and I nodded, then turned around to watch him open it, heart racing.

Xavier stared down at the bracelet for a long while, before turning his back to me and sitting down on the bed.

I released a deflated breath. He didn’t like it. Maybe he wasn’t a jewelry person. Or maybe women buying him gifts made him feel emasculated. Whatever. Rock stars had issues. And I wasn’t in the mood to feed into it right now. Or ever. I had my own issues.

I bought the bracelet for him simply because I liked it, I liked him, and I was the kind of girlfriend who got off on doing nice things for her man.

Turning back to the mirror, I selected a bronzer from my make-up kit and dusted a little over my cleavage. The suit jacket was deep cut with a single button just above my navel and Danni instructed me to skip wearing a bra so the swells of my breasts were on display, along with a sexy little peek of my lower abs.

Once I was pleased with my appearance I picked up my clutch and walked to the door, paused to look over at Xavier, who was still staring down at the bracelet, and asked, “Are we leaving or what?”

Without raising his head, he asked the box, “You gonna explain how you’re able to afford this?”

Ohhhhhh
…

From the moment I bought the bracelet until now, I’d never thought about the fact that he might be curious of how I was able to afford the thing. Nope. Didn’t think. Except that he would love it, kiss me and express how much he appreciates it, take me to the party, then give me an even bigger, orgasmic, tongues and fingers “thank you” when we returned.

“The bracelet is five thousand, Xavi,” I nonchalantly replied. “I have a credit card with a ten thousand limit. I saw the bracelet, thought it would look wicked on your wrist, so I put it on my card. Now can we go?”

Lifting his head, Xavier gave me a look that had nothing but disappointment written all over it. “I look like an idiot to you? This piece, I know it.
Coveted
it. Know how much costs, Chino. Nearly a hundred thou.
”

“Well, now you have it,” I snapped, growing impatient. “Put it on your wrist and let’s go.”

“You seeing someone else, Chino?” he questioned, standing up and throwing the box down on the bed. “You got like…a sugar-daddy or something?”

I tried to hold it in, I really did, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t help the strangled laugh that left me. “Are you serious?”

Do people even use the term “sugar-daddy” anymore?

If I could see thunder, I’d use it as comparison to what Xavier looked like right now. “First it was the penthouse. Then it was the personal driver. Then you left me on your day-off and returned with gold and diamond jewelry and that
suit
. You might have switched the bags, Chino, but that’s
not
Forever 21. Know Versace when I see it. Said nothing. Let it slide. But now this bracelet?
” He combed angry fingers back through his hair. “You so caught up in yourself that you think everyone around you is dumb?”

Sighing, I pressed two fingers to my forehead. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this relationship crap yet. Relationships meant truths and loyalty, and I wasn’t certain how much of those ingredients were in my veins.

This badgering thing was irritating me. Why did I owe anyone any kind of explanation? All I wanted was to live my life how I wanted to live it without people in my face asking me goddamn questions all the time.

Another reason why I stayed locked up with Jacob over the past two years. People were just…eww.

“Sask—”

“You
dare
try using Saskia or Dancer Douche or Tmar’s name to lie to me again Chino, I’m walking out of this room.”

I threw my hands up. “I’ve been suggesting we do that all along. We should
go
.”

“Chino!” he barked at me, taking a step closer. “
Tell
me if you’re seeing someone else! That where you went today? To see him?”