Sound Proof (Save Me #5) (14 page)

Dan bites his lip to keep from smiling. “So sassy,” he says.

“Talk to her, damn it!”

“Fine,” he concedes. “You want to know what happened to me, well, I’m going to tell you even if you don’t wanna hear it.”

Willow shakes her head like she doesn’t really want to listen but lowers herself back against a stack of two-by-fours. She flinches when she bends her leg, closing her eyes until she can breathe through whatever pain she’s in. When she looks back up, she waves her arms, telling him to keep talking.

“When I was twenty-two I was working for a construction company trying to learn the ropes because all I wanted to do was run my own company someday. I wanted to be the guy calling the shots and signing paychecks.” Dan takes a breath and looks down at his legs. I know the look on his face all too well. I know he’s reliving that day in his head. “Then one day I was working on some scaffolding when one of the support bars broke and I went tumbling.”

When he pauses again Willow whispers, never taking her eyes off of him. “What happened?”

“I woke up in the hospital a week and three surgeries later with zero use of my legs. I thought my life was over, that I would never have my dream. I know it might not be much of a dream, but I didn’t want to be a rock star or a millionaire. I just wanted this.” He spreads his arms wide and smiles proudly. “It took me years to pull myself out of the crushing realization that I would never be the guy at the top of the building. But I did it, and now I own the company of my dreams.”

“But you will never be the guy at the top of the building again.”

“You’re right. I won’t be.” I watch Willow’s face carefully, hoping that all this is sinking in because I can’t handle seeing her like this anymore. “But I still managed to be the owner of this lucrative business. I call the shots and I sign the paychecks. I might have to adjust the sites a bit so I can get around, but I get to do what I love every single day.”

I walk away so they can keep talking and let Willow have a chance to ask him questions if she wants to without me hovering. Wandering back to the car, I pull out my phone and send a text to Payton while I wait for Willow to come back so we can leave.

Of all the things I expected, the text from AJ asking for an actual date was not one of them. I expected something along the lines of “Willow hit me with her crutch and then stole the car to get away from me”. That didn’t happen, though. She hasn’t talked to me since she walked through the door, but instead of the sad depressed look she’s been wandering around with for months, she looked confused. I guess confused is better than depressed any day, though, so I’ll take it.

I pull at the hem of my dress and spin to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be. Sage makes her way into the room as fast as she can with Duke hot on her heels to tell me that AJ is here to pick me up for our “meeting”. I grab my shoes and purse and wander out to where my extremely sexy-looking…
something
… is standing.

Is it bad that I don’t even know what to call him?

Leaning against the archway between the living room and kitchen, I just watch AJ as he stands there looking at the photos on the wall. His fingers graze over the photo of me and the girls at one of IronSound’s release parties last year.

I knock against the wall, smiling when he spins and advances toward me. He checks the room, making sure the girls aren’t around to witness what he’s about to do, and pulls me close. His fingers wrap around the back of my neck, thumbs sweeping across my cheeks as he kisses me. I have to lock my knees or the intensity of it would have me falling to the floor.

Pulling back, he brushes my bangs out of my eyes and smiles down at me. “Hi.”

I let my eyes wander back up to his and miss the rest of what he’s saying because I’m busy ogling, but it doesn’t matter to me. The look in his eyes tells me everything I need to know: that everything is going to all right.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” I ask, trailing my fingers down the front of his shirt.

“It’s a secret.”

I know I should be asking about what happened today with Willow, but I’m sure if she wants me to know, she’ll tell me tomorrow. I smile and kiss the girls goodbye when my father walks in to pick the girls up for the night. I’m not going to complain about not knowing, because if the way his eyes lit up when he was talking was any indication, it’s going to be a good night.

“Are you going to tell me where we are going now, or what?”

“Take those off,” AJ says, pointing at my head. I stare at him like he’s completely lost his mind, but he just laughs.

“Excuse me?” When he still doesn’t say anything I slap his shoulder. “You can’t sign, why would you want me to not be able to hear you?”

“I said it was a secret, Payton. I’m not telling you where we’re going, but you need to shut them off so the noise doesn’t hurt your head.”

The fact that he pays attention to what I say still amazes me. I barely even remember myself telling him that loud noises still hurt. Instead of arguing with him about the fact that I want to listen to him talk because it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite things—just below the sound of the girl’s voices—I unhook my receivers. I’ve become used to the noise that surrounds me other than when I’m sleeping so it takes me second to readjust. Opening the glove box, I set them in on top of the pile of napkins so they don’t get broken and lean back against the seat. AJ reaches out for my hand and tugs me over until I’m flush against him and we ride in silence for a while.

I tilt my head back on AJ’s shoulder so I can try to make out what he’s saying as we drive, but it’s so dark I miss it all.
Smart ass tells me to shut shit down and then thinks it’s funny to talk in the dark
. Instead of sitting there and having no clue what he said, I pull out my phone and hit the text to speech button while holding it next to his mouth. His fingers tighten around mine as he starts talking again and when he’s done he kisses my knuckles.

I said to calm down. I can feel your mind racing wondering where we’re going. We’re almost there and I promise you’ll love it.

Just when I’m about to try and pressure him into telling me, we pull into a concert arena. Sex On Sunday flashes across the sign as we drive under it.

I laugh. “What are we doing here?” He grabs my phone again after he finds a parking spot and shuts the car off. Instead of speaking into the phone this time, he types what he has to say and hands it to me as he slides out.

The first time I actually remember seeing you was here. You had on those tight jeans with the rip on the left thigh, and a dark red tank top with your hair loose. I wanted you more than anything that night but you told me to stuff my dick up my ass. I think that was the night I started to fall in love with you…

Holy fuck, did he just…?

Taking AJ’s hand, he helps me out of the car and tucks my arm under his as we walk. I let my head lean against his shoulder again as I think about the last sentence of his message. Walking around back, we slip past security with just a nod and make our way toward the side of the stage by a set of speakers.

“Why won’t you kiss me in front of the girls?”

He types his response, but before he hands me the phone again, he pulls me flush against his body. His fingers tangle in my loose hair and he kisses me, coaxing my lips apart with his until he’s able to slip his tongue in to touch mine. I’m left breathless and more than ready to leave and take whatever this is further than we have.

I look down at the phone and know that somehow through all this chaos and heartache, I’ve found an amazing man.

You wanted to keep it under wraps and I didn’t want the girls thinking I was just with you to get in your pants, because I’m not. It hasn’t been that way since the last time we were here.

I don’t have a chance to respond before AJ spins me in his arms, trapping me against his body, but there isn’t anywhere else I would rather be right now. He pushes me forward to the center of the stage and for a second I question what he’s doing. I hesitate until I realize that the entire stadium is empty and the only thing on stage is a drum set and a stool.

“What…” I drift off because I can feel his breath hitting my neck as he laughs and shakes his head. Pushing me forward, he holds my hand, helping me onto the stool, and then walks away without telling me what is going on. Instead of sitting down behind his kit like I expect, he heads back to the left side of the stage. When he notices me watching him he points at me and then to his drums, waiting for me to look where he wants me to before doing whatever he walked away for. I stare straight forward, locking my eyes on the double bass drum set in front of me. It doesn’t take long before I know what he walked away for because the lights above me dim out and the drums light up like a Christmas tree. Each one has a light inside of it, all in different colors.

I’m so completely captivated by what is in front of me that I don’t see AJ come back and I jump when he wraps his arms around me. Shifting my hair to the opposite side, he presses his lips against my neck, sitting there while he breathes me in. His hand comes up in front of me with his phone screen lit up.

Private concert? I want to show you what everyone else gets to hear.

“Why show me what I can hear now?”

Pulling his phone away, he takes a minute deciding what he wants to say before typing it out.

I want you to know that even if you couldn’t hear, we could make this work. I don’t want you to ever think that it would change how I feel for you.

Spinning around, I pull him down for a kiss— biting his bottom lip gently—and run my tongue across it. He pushes away, shakes his head and adjusts his pants before taking his seat in front of me. Grabbing his drumsticks, he checks a few things and smiles at me.

AJ’s feet start moving, hitting each of the bass drums one at a time, making the floor under me vibrate. Reaching for the hem of his shirt, he drags it over his head and tosses it to the side. My eyes draw down his dark muscles and I get stuck staring until he raises his arms and they come down on his toms. Water splashes, throwing the color up with every hit. It’s honestly probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. The faster he drums, the more the water flies and the colors merge together.

The beat radiates through my body, hitting me in the chest which I love. My eyes want to close, to lose myself in the feeling, but I don’t let them. Watching the show he put so much effort into for me is better anyway. Some of the beats run together as they vibrate through the floor, but I don’t miss any of them because of the water show. I lean toward him, tapping my foot along with the beat until he’s finished with the song.

“That was absolutely amazing, AJ.”

He slides his sticks into his back pocket, his chest heaving as he smiles. Cocking his finger at me, he beckons me over to him and I listen without even thinking. When I reach him, his body is covered in a mixture of water and sweat. My fingers itch to touch him and based on the look on his face, that’s what he wants too. He pats his legs and pulls me over in front of him, tugging the edge of my dress up so I can straddle his legs.

I run my finger through the wetness on his chest for a second. Grabbing the back of my head, AJ pulls me closer and slams his lips against mine. Every sweep of his tongue against mine drives me insane and he only pulls back to catch his breath.

The lights inside the drums behinds us illuminate his face enough for me to see what he’s saying.

“Trust me?”

I narrow my eyes, wondering what the hell he could possibly be thinking of doing if I need to trust him. When I nod, his hands settle on my hips before he pushes me off his lap and makes me stand in front of him. Sliding his hands down, he runs his fingers up the outside of my thighs, pushing the hem of my dress up until he reaches the edge of my panties and slips them down my legs.

I get pulled back onto his lap like I was before, leaving just enough room for him to get to the button and zipper on his pants and pull his cock out.

“Oh, fuck,” I mumble.

“That’s the plan.” He winks, pulling me up to stand before letting me slowly sink down onto him. I groan as my body stretches to accommodate him. AJ pulls my hair away from my neck and presses his lips against my skin, letting them linger and heating every inch of me even more. His breath rushes out and I can feel him talking against my neck.

He doesn’t move his hips and won’t let me move mine either. Instead he pushes me backwards until my hands are resting on the shell of the bass, holding me up.

AJ grabs my hips, his fingers flexing into my skin. One foot at a time, he lifts them and slams them down on the foot pedals. The movement thrusts his cock into me at a different angle with each hit and the hits against the drum skins vibrate through my arms. My head falls back against his high tom and the leftover water soaks into my hair. I finally let myself get lost in the beat that he’s keeping because I feel it everywhere.

By the time we’re done we’re breathless and I have a new appreciation for the beats that AJ creates. He pulls me upright, holding me tight against his chest and his eyes hold me captive.