“Bastard!” I shout playfully back at Dax. “Right, let’s start Short on Time from the top.”
We play another hour or so, until Gavin’s phone beeps. “We have to go. My mom is expecting us back soon,” he says as he checks the text message.
“Where’s your dad?” I ask Gavin.
Gavin’s eyes tighten around the edges, it’s subtle, but I swear his nostrils flare a little as well. “My dad stayed back in the U.S. to work, so my mom decided to come here for a year to spend time with her family. She’s from Hertfordshire and wanted to give me a chance to experience England, plus get to know her family better,” he answers stiffly.
“What about him?” Dax jerks a thumb towards Hawke.
“I’m just here for the life experience, you know, an adventure,” Hawke says smiling. “We’re best friends, so when he offered a year in Europe at his rich grandmother’s house, well, I’d be crazy to turn that down.”
Something tells me there’s more to their story than they’re letting on, but I’m not one to pry so I let it go. Dax narrows his eyes apprehensively but turns back to his guitar without saying a word.
I’m packing my gear listening to Dax ramble on about chords and songs and other stuff, when I notice Gavin chatting up Ellie … again. It seems as if every time they’re together and I’m not looking, he’s with her, heads together discussing who the fuck knows what. Not to mention he’s lying about his reason for being in London, I just know it.
“Fuck,” I hiss under my breath. My temper flares and I crack my neck to release the stress. I try not to get angry, and fail miserably, which is crazy. I hate fighting, but all I want to do when I see Gavin fawning all over my girl is to beat the crap out of him and his stupid good-looking face.
Dax notices that I’m not listening to him anymore, and follows my line of sight to Ellie and Gavin. When Gavin puts his hand on her shoulder and laughs, I lose it. I ignore Dax as he tells me not to do anything stupid.
“Hey! What’s all this about? You moving in on my girl? Is that why you wanted to join our band?” I shout as I storm over to the now very surprised, Gavin and Ellie.
“What?” Gavin jerks his head up, the thick lashes surrounding his wide blue eyes flutter in shock. He tucks his slightly too-long blonde hair behind an ear and stares at me open mouthed.
“Adam, don’t do this. There’s nothing going on,” Ellie warns, stepping between me and Gavin when she sees how furious I am. She crosses her arms and her brow pulls down, giving her sweet face a decidedly harsh look.
“That’s a load of shit and you know it,” I snap. “Every time I turn my back, he’s chatting you up or touching you. I’m not an idiot, Ellie.” I grit my teeth, fuming as Gavin and Ellie stare at me like I’m mental.
Hawke and Dax have come over, eyeing me warily, likely intending to jump in if I attempt to pound on Gavin’s stupid, pretty face. As much as I claim to hate fighting, the urge to rough him up is very real, swirling up from inside of me, like a cancer I can’t get rid of. It’s always there underneath the polite and happy surface.
“Dude, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hawke says, holding a tattooed arm out in front of me. “He’s not interested in her.”
“Buggar off, Hawke! It’s nothing to do with you!”
“Hey man, don’t be an asshole!” Hawke shouts right back, stepping directly in front of Ellie and Gavin, getting in my face.
“It’s not your fucking fight!” I growl at Hawke. My gaze flicks over his shoulder and I see Ellie, her face now drawn and pale, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Fuck!
“You know what? Fucking forget it!” I spin on my heel and snatch up my guitar case before storming out the door, stopping only to hit the doorframe with an open palm. I really want to punch it, but I can’t risk another injury to my hand.
I’m halfway down the street when I hear Ellie calling my name. Sod off, I’m not in the wrong here. A guy as good-looking as Gavin was chatting up my girl right in front of me and I’m not supposed to be angry?
“Adam! Will you stop?” she pleads, gasping for breath as she runs up behind me.
“Why? So you can make me feel stupid again?” I ask, not breaking my long strides.
“No, Adam. So I can tell you what Gavin is always talking to me about.”
As much as I want to keep storming away, my curiosity gets the best of me. Gavin is hiding something and I want to know what it is. I stop to face Ellie on the narrow street, scowling with my hands stuffed into my pockets. “Fine, go on then. What does Gavin always need to discuss with my girl that involves touching?” I bark out rudely.
Ellie’s sweet face crumples in pain. Now I feel even worse than I did a minute ago.
“He’s gay, Adam,” she whispers, her voice on the edge of breaking.
“What do you mean he’s gay?”
Ellie gives me a look. The ‘are you really asking such a stupid question’ look and I feel about two feet tall. That isn’t at all what I was expecting her to say. Not even close, but it certainly explains a lot.
“Well,” I huff, “why the hell does he need to talk to you about that? You’re not gay.” My eyebrows shoot up in uncertainty. “You’re not, are you?”
At least some good comes from my complete and utter stupidity, because Ellie bursts out laughing at my ridiculous statement. “No, Adam. I’m most certainly not gay. I would think you could vouch for that.” She hesitates, but continues, “My best mate growing up, before I moved here, he’s gay. Gavin’s been asking questions about him, about his family.”
“Oh,” I deflate. “He doesn’t fancy you then.”
“No. He doesn’t,” she snaps. “You need to apologize to him.”
I step back, shocked. “What? Isn’t he going to be angry that you told me?”
“I don’t think so, but don’t spread it around or anything. His mum and her family know, Hawke knows, I don’t know if Dax knows, but Gavin’s dad doesn’t, or he suspects it and isn’t happy. Gavin has had a tough time. That’s why he’s here for a year. To get away from the pressure to conform to his dad’s ideal. His mum thought it’d be good for him. She doesn’t care if he’s gay. Apparently his dad won’t take it as well.”
“Well why is Hawke here? They’re not… you know, together are they?” I don’t think Hawke is gay, but obviously I don’t know a single thing about who is or isn’t gay.
“No, Adam. They’re not. Hawke isn’t gay. Gavin has alluded to Hawke having some problems back home, like he’s running away from something. But Gavin won’t talk about it and I’m not going to ask. They’re best mates, like you and Dax.” She waves it off as unimportant. “But you, you owe Gavin an apology.”
I sigh and stare at the broken pavement under my feet. “Fine, I’ll apologize to Gavin. Happy?” I’m well aware that I’m pouting like a girl.
“Very.” She steps forward until there’s hardly a centimeter between us. Her breath gently caresses my neck as I reach out and bring her against my chest. “I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth it, to watch you fight for me,” she murmurs, pulling back to tilt her chin up. “It was actually quite sexy.”
When she’s this close, I can feel the heat from her skin, see every tiny freckle on her face, smell the peppermint from the candy she’s been snacking on and the vanilla in her hair. I lean down and kiss her gently, just a brush of lips, not sure if I’m completely forgiven yet for being a jealous prick.
Ellie sighs and her lips part, allowing me access to her delicious mouth. I take advantage, tangling my tongue with hers, tasting and letting the electricity of her touch course through me. Unable to help myself, I put my arm around her waist and pull her tightly against me. The feel of her soft body against mine makes me so hard I think I might lose my mind. I’ve never been this sexually frustrated in my life, but I care about her too much to let it get out of hand.
“Ellie,” I groan between kisses, “we have to stop.” My cock is protesting, pressing pai
nfully against the zipper of my jeans.
“No,” she moans against my mouth and pushes her hips against my hard length.
“Yes,” I gently unwind her arms from around my neck and step back, breathing heavily as I try to control myself and my surging teenage hormones.
She looks devastated by my rejection.
“Ellie, I can’t… I just can’t do this here. On the street. Plus… you’re just not, we can’t…” I stop talking and squeeze my eyes shut, unable to convince my mouth and dick of the truth in what my brain already knows. That she’s too good for me.
She steps forward to wrap her hands in my shirt, yanking my body back against hers. “You can, and we will. Not here, not today, but we will,” she whispers into my neck.
I hug her tight, burying my face in her hair and inhaling her intoxicating scent again. The feelings I have for Ellie are beyond anything I’ve experienced before. She’s not a fuck and chuck or a quick shag, she’s more. The words I want to say are right on the tip of my normally eloquent tongue, but they don’t come fast enough and then the moment is gone.
10
Adam
“Hurry El, we’re going to miss it and we don’t have time before practice to wait for the next one!” I call out, dragging her along by her hand.
“Adam, you’re going to make me fall down!” She laughs as we run the short distance through the rain.
Ellie squeals when we reach the rows of red rope, dipping between fixed poles to keep the queue orderly. It’s raining so hard today, that the queue is empty. By the time we weave around all of the poles, we’re drenched and out of breath.
“Tickets?” the bloke at the entrance asks. I drop them into his hand and he opens up the capsule door, ushering us inside. “Have fun,” he says, shutting us inside with a soft thud.
“Wow,” Ellie exclaims, catching her breath. “We have a whole capsule to ourselves.” She turns and gives me a mischievous grin. “It’s so beautiful, even in the rain.” Her hands are pressed to the glass wall as we begin to rise, tiny streams of water drip off of the ends of her long hair.
I cross the small space and crush against her back, wrapping my arms around her waist. “I figured you’d ridden the London Eye before,” I whisper in her ear.
She shivers from the contact. “Once, but only for school. It was kind of boring, we had to mark things on maps.”
Ellie arches her head back, exposing the damp skin that stretches from her ear to her shoulder. I flick my tongue along it to catch each droplet of water. Once I’m satisfied, I scrape my teeth up and down the length of her neck before placing a small kiss on each tender spot.
“Mmmmm.”
The moans that she makes drive me insane. I could listen to her all day. I have to stop this torture. I didn’t bring her here to fuck her. I wanted to have an actual date, something I’ve never done with anyone before.
“Look,” I point outside, “you can see pretty far even with all the rain.”
Ellie huffs in frustration when I stop kissing her neck, but she follows my hand to see where I’m pointing.
“That’s Charing Cross Station,” she says. “Oh, and there’s the bridge!” She squirms out of my arms and dashes to the other side of the pod. “Look Adam! It’s Westminster Abby!”
I watch her face light up and smile. That look is why I wanted to do this, to see her happy and carefree because of something I did for her. “It’s beautiful,” I agree, looking out through the glass, water splashing against it and running down in sheets. “The city looks so peaceful from up here. You could almost believe that life is perfect,” I say wistfully.
Ellie turns to face me, putting her hands up behind my neck and threading them through my wet hair. “With you, it’s always perfect,” she whispers.
“El,” I murmur. She stands on her toes. I cup her face, bringing my mouth down over hers. Passion explodes between us and the gentle kiss turns desperate and needy, our tongues twisting together in a fight for dominance.
Aching to feel more of her body against mine, I skim my hands down her back, stopping when I reach her firm backside. My fingers knead into her flesh, pressing her hips into my hard shaft. Ellie takes a step back and sits, pulling me down until I’m lying on top of her on the long wooden bench in the center of the capsule.
“God El, I need you so badly,” I whisper against her lips.
“Me too, Adam. I want you.” She arches her back and wraps her legs around my waist, grinding the crease of her jeans into my cock.
Unable to stop myself, I rut against her hot core, not caring that I’ll probably have a sore dick later from the friction on the rough fabric of our clothing. Both of us are panting heavily, fingers touching and mouths exploring. Ellie slides her hands into the back of my jeans and I growl, letting out a string of expletives.
The ride slows and I almost don’t notice in time to keep the attendant from getting a free show.
“El,” I jump up and quickly adjust my pants. “Get up.” She flies off of the seat and fixes her clothing right before the capsule door opens.
“Enjoy your ride?” the man asks as we stop out into the rain.
We both grin like idiots and nod right before we make a run for the tube station, laughing the entire way.
* * *
“Hawke, keep up! For God’s sake, what are you doing?” Dax yells at our drummer, his face growing red and angry.
“Christ Dax, what the fuck is your problem?” He’s been acting like a bastard the last few days. It’s not a coincidence that his bad mood started when he began favoring his right side and showed up with a cut behind his ear. I know better than to ask about his battle scars, though.
“He’s not keeping up with the tempo! It’s throwing me off!”
“Maybe you didn’t practice your part like you were supposed to,” Hawke says calmly from behind his drum set, twirling his sticks around in his fingers like only a drummer can.
Dax’s shoulders hunch up. I can practically see the steam coming out of his ears.
“Liam!” I call out across the empty pub. George lets us practice Saturday and Sunday mornings before he opens.
Dax’s huge older brother looks up from his seat next to Ellie at the bar where they’re sharing a giant mound of chips, laughing like hyenas. “Yeah!”
“Tell your idiot brother to get his shit together!”
Dax shoots me a terrifying look, which I promptly ignore. I’ve known him for so long that I’m not intimidated by him, even if most people are, and rightly so. He’s a dangerous bastard.
Liam tiredly drags his hulking figure off the barstool and shouts. “Dax! Backroom, now!” He apologizes to Ellie and stalks over to the tiny back room of the DK, flinging open the shabby door.
Dax scowls, but puts down his guitar and dutifully follows his brother. In the Davies household, they look out for each other. That means Dax has loads of respect for his older brothers and pretty much asks how high when one of them says jump.
The door slams behind them with a resounding bang causing Ellie to flinch. She glances at me with worried eyes for a quick second then resumes eating her chips.
“I guess we’re taking a break guys.” I lift the strap over my head and put my guitar down on its stand.
“Cool.” Gavin pulls out his fancy mobile, climbing into a secluded booth to make a call.
“I’ll be right back,” Hawke calls out as he ducks outside.
I take the stool next to Ellie and sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly. “No one told me you had to play referee to a bunch of fighting children in order to have a band.” I snatch one of her chips, devouring it before she can protest.
Ellie raises an eyebrow at my lack of manners. “Well,” she says thoughtfully, “you throw four big personalities into one room and you’re bound have a few disagreements here and there.” She shrugs and takes a sip of her Coke.
I swivel my stool in her direction and pull hers around until her knees are between mine. “How’d you get so sma
rt?” I ask, tugging her in for a kiss.
She playfully ducks my kiss, reaching back to get a chip off her plate. “I study instead of playing rock and roll all day long,” she laughs, dangling the chip in front of me. I dart in to take it right from her hand using my mouth, laughing at her answer as I chew.
“That’s probably all too true, El.”
The door to the back room opens and Liam comes out looking no worse for the wear. He walks calmly over to the bar, taking his seat on the other side of Ellie. “No worries, you’re all good now. Dax just needed to vent.”
When Dax finally comes back into the main area of the pub, he seems to have gotten himself together. I know him well enough to see through it. His face is pale and stressed and his jaw is clenched to hide the physical pain. I want to ask him what’s going on, but he always gives me my privacy when it comes to the shit with my family, so I can’t bring myself to intrude.
Hawke comes back inside and seats himself behind the drums.
“Where’s Gavin?” Dax grunts, picking up his guitar. “Let’s finish this shit and go home.”
I exchange glances with Liam and he almost imperceptibly shakes his head, warning me to leave it alone.
“Alright.” I stand up and grab my guitar. “Gavin! We’re doing this!”
Gavin hangs up his call and hurries over to his bass. The next hour is awkward as hell, but we actually sound really great by the time we finish what we needed to get done.
Dax doesn’t say a word as he packs up his stuff and storms out of the DK.
There’s a loud sigh from Dax’s brother. “I guess I’m going as well.” Liam hops off of his stool, giving Ellie a crooked grin. “Don’t mind him, he’s just…” Liam cocks his head and shoots me a knowing look.