Page 43 of Dead Rockstar

Suddenly Phillip was in front of me, clearly furious. “Stop fucking with Stormy and go. Or I’ll make you go.”

“Calm down, dude.” Tess put his hands up in surrender. “Don't worry, I'm not trying to get a piece. I had my fill when we were married, and believe me, there's plenty of better ass-”

He didn't finish his sentence because Phillip's fist connected with his face with a loud thwack.

Tess' nose immediately began to gush blood. For a second, he just stared at us, wide-eyed, then a childlike wail came from him. “Oh, you fuckin' ASSHOLE. You broke my fuckin' NOSE-”

Phillip slammed the door in his face. We heard Tess continue to curse and wail outside for a minute, then silence.

I went over to the bed and sat down, putting my face in my hands. My shoulders shook with laughter, but my fingers were wiping away tears. It was official; I was losing it.

“You ok?”

“Yeah.”

“You're crying.”

“Yeah, well, I'm laughing, too.” I looked up defiantly, wiping at a cheek.

He cracked a smile. “I'm sorry,” he said, sitting down beside me. “I shouldn't have hit the guy.”

“I'm glad you did. He deserved it.” I tried for another smile, but I was humiliated. “I asked him to leave, what, fifty times? You saw how he ignored me; he was always like that. And what he said about me – about how he had his fill-”

“That's just shit guys say when they’re outmatched,” Phillip said easily with a kind look. “Don’t pay him any attention, Stormy. If he wasn’t still hung up on you, why would he be here?”

“I don’t know,” I said glumly. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

He put an arm around me, but it felt brotherly. The mood from a few minutes before had drained away. “I might go for a swim,” he said after a moment, and I hated myself for how deflated I felt. I wanted him to stay there with me.

“You'll be cold.”

“It's a heated pool.” He smiled at me. “Come join me, if you feel like it. I'd really like it if you did.” He paused, pulling my head toward his, his lips brushing against my temple. His chin was scratchy against my cheek. He stayed there just for a beat, long enough for me to feel his breath as he sighed, then got up.

He grabbed a towel from the tiny bathroom and exited the room without saying anything else. I managed to keep it together until the door shut and then dissolved into tears.

Here I was, on a road trip with the man of my dreams – literally. We'd just been sharing an amazing kiss, our first kiss, and I'd managed to let Tess get to me. What was wrong with me? Just looking at the two side by side, Tess' sneering, idiot face and dumb accent and cocky, shitty personality, contrasted with Phillip's tall, strong gracefulness, swift, sharp mind and beautiful face, there was no contest. Phillip had been right to knock his block off. That was one 'redneck standoff' the good ol' boy had decidedly lost. He'd always been vain, preening in the mirror twice as long as I ever had – well, let him catch a glance of his face tomorrow morning. It'd be twice its normal size with a lovely blue-black hue to go with it. Try to snort a line with that nose; it'd hurt like the dickens. In another life, I would have laughed about it, would already be texting Sloan; she'd find the whole thing hysterical. But all I could feel was emptiness. Tess was my husband. Well, had been. When he'd left me, everything I thought was true about my life had fallen apart. I couldn't put a funny face on it. Not after seeing the way he still dismissed me to nothing, not when his cruel mockery still sounded in my ears.

The way he’d stood there smirking, making jokes, acting as though he still casually owned me but didn’t give a crap about me at the same time, stung. How could such a no-count jerk face still have the power to reduce me to nothing with a glance?

He was definitely following me, but it wasn't because he loved me or wanted me back. That was clear. No, he must have some other purpose, some reason for suddenly reappearing in my life. The fact that he was reappearing at the same time Phillip had entered the picture didn't seem like a coincidence, either. I remembered what Phillip had said back at the house about how men sometimes acted around women - “like pissing on a fire hydrant. It's an ownership thing.”

What did Tess want? Was he just here to pee on his hydrant, or was something else going on?

I sat for a few more moments, thinking, trying to get my brain together, then got up and washed my face in the sink. I patted my skin dry, hoping the puffiness wouldn't be too noticeable. My face always swelled up like dough when I cried. I reapplied a little of my makeup and re-braided my hair, which was silly if I was going swimming. I realized I didn't have a bathing suit. Phillip could probably get away with swimming in his black boxer briefs, but I couldn't swim in my undies. I remembered back to the night before, sitting in the bath in our underwear, and how see-through my white panties and bra had been, and felt myself go warm. I really did want to join him for that swim...I'd join him anywhere, if it meant I got to feel his hands on me, and taste those delicious, full lips...

Maybe, if nobody else was at the pool, it wouldn't hurt to just jump in for a second in my undies...what was the harm?

I grabbed a towel and headed for the door, remembering to grab the motel key, sliding it into my pocket. I opened the door, stepped out, and shut it. I only felt a split second of unease before I was grabbed by a pair of strong arms and yanked backward, into the shadows.

“Don't make any noise.” There was a hand over my mouth and an arm over my throat, so it would have been hard to make much noise even if I'd wanted to. I struggled, but whoever it was held me fast. He was strong. Maybe not as strong as Phillip, but close. “Stop struggling. I'm not going to hurt you.”

Yeah, right. Like I was going to believe that.

My immediate thought was that it was Tess, back for revenge for the nose incident, but the voice was all wrong, and honestly, Tess wasn’t very strong.

“I have a little message to pass on to Mr. Deville.” His hot breath was in my ear, his lips brushing against my neck. “I don't mean you any harm, Stormy. Just pass along the message, and you head on back to Jekyll and I swear I won't bother you again.”

I kept struggling against him, uninterested in what he had to say, only interested in getting away.

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