Page 19 of Hard Rock Desires
“Yes, of course, how could I have forgotten?” She snorted a laugh. But she didn’t pull away.
“But you’re right.” I propped my other elbow on the back of the chair and leaned closer to her. “It’s not all parties and concerts. A lot of time and effort going into writing the music, and practicing, and recording. Not to mention media appearances and PR stuff.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.” She put a hand on my knee and patted it soothingly. My eyes zeroed in on that hand. “I guess I can see why you party when you can.”
I shifted in my seat, trying to hide the swell in my pants. Shit, all she had to do was touch my knee and it got me going. What the hell was this girl doing to me?
“We’ve been able to slow down a bit,” I continued. “Once we got signed, we didn’t have to kill ourselves trying to hustle as hard. We could take a break, do other things. Kaylee’s able to focus on school. Anya has her writing. We’ve got some breathing room.”
You know what didn’t have breathing room? My damned cock. Those leather pants were constricting. I tensed my thigh muscles, trying to control my reaction.
But her hand was still on my knee. She wasn’t moving it. It didn’t look like she’d even realized she’d done it.
I curled my arm tighter around her shoulders, drawing her closer. I let my fingertips graze her exposed collarbone, drawing small circles along her skin.
Her body quaked with a small shiver. But she didn’t pull away. Instead, she pressed her thighs together. I hid a smirk, then put my lips to her ear.
“In fact, I’ve got lots of free time tonight,” I started. “If you’d like to—”
CRASH.
We both jumped, Grace nearly falling out of her chair as gasps and shrieks filled the air.
“Finn, what the hell?” Micah said, exasperated, then cursed. “Fuck, are you bleeding?”
Finn looked up from where he’d fallen over onto the glass table, smashing it and covering the floor with broken shards. He held his hand up to his face, gaze fuzzy as he examined the red liquid trailing down his forearm.
“Looks like it,” he said vaguely.
“Shit!” I bolted off my seat to my friend, a lump of panic in my throat. I’d only been half-kidding when I’d told Grace we hadn’t had broken bones recently.
By the time I made it to his side, one of the venue staff was already kneeling next to him, unrolling gauze from a first aid kit. Some of the fans were looking on in shock. Others had pulled out their phones, taking videos and rapidly thumbing at the screens. They were probably already sharing this all over the fucking internet.
“It’s just a scratch,” Finn called out.
“You asshole,” I growled, although relief was sweeping through me. “Twice in one night is bad, even for you.”
“I’m fine.” He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, but he used the cut hand and smeared blood all over his clothes.
“Just sit still and let them patch you up.” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.
“Finn,” Micah hovered next to him. “We’ve told you before to be careful—”
“Skip the lecture, ’kay?” the bassist replied. “It was an accident.”
I’d been on the other end of Micah’s lectures before, but Finn deserved this one, so I didn’t know who to be more annoyed with.
I let out a breath and turned back to Grace to apologize. She wasn’t where I’d left her. I looked around the room. She wasn’t hiding in a corner, or crowding around Finn like the rest. She was gone.
“The hell…?” I muttered.
“She left.” Grace’s friend, the birthday girl, came up to me. There was a worried look on her face.
“Shit.” I groaned and closed my eyes briefly. “Did you see where she went?”
She nodded to the exit.
“Thanks,” I muttered before taking off out the door and down the stairs. I felt like shit that Finn’s accident must have freaked her out. From everything she’d said, and the way she’d acted, she didn’t seem like the type to just shrug off someone getting their arm sliced open in a drunken stupor.
