Battlescars: A Rock & Roll Romance Read online

  Whew! If he only knew…

  I wasn’t ready to bare my scars just yet.

  “Right.” I said sarcastically.

  “Anyway, we’re up. How about a kiss for good luck?”

  He leaned down and placed his cheek in front of my face. I leaned in. At the last second, that rat bastard turned his face. Just as my lips were going to touch his cheek I met his lips instead. He was clearly proud of himself. I secretly liked it, but I’d never disclose that little tidbit.

  “Jake Parker!” I yelled. “You are in so much trouble!”

  “Later, my sweet Aubrey.” He winked.

  He blew me a kiss and stepped onto the stage. The rest of the band followed closely behind giggling at our display. The roar of the crowd was deafening. Each member took their place, and prepared to start.

  “How’s everyone doing tonight?” Jake yelled into the mic. The crowd cheered in response. “What are we fucking sleepwalking out there? I said, HOW’S EVERYONE FUCKING DOING TONIGHT?” His voice reverberated through my bones. The response from the crowd was ear-splitting. “Then let’s get this party started!”

  Jake jumped in place and the entire stage illuminated. Blake started to play a mellow melody on his guitar. Jake looked completely in the zone. All the sudden Derek thrashed on his drum kit and pyrotechnics flew from around him. They broke into their hit song ‘Ransom.’ Jake looked over at me and winked. I watched as he moved lithely around the stage, the crowd was entirely enamored. Blake sang the occasional back-up line. I was in awe at how in sync they were with one another. It was almost like watching one person play. An hour and a half later they wrapped up their set and bid the crowd good night. A very sweaty, now shirtless Jake came off the stage. He lost his hoodie about half way through the set. I found myself slightly jealous that thousands of people got to see him like that. I wanted to slap myself.

  “What did you think?” He hugged me tightly dripping sweat onto my forehead.

  “I think you need a shower.” I said, disgusted.

  “If you’re offering.” He smirked. “Come on, we have a quick meet and greet. Then we’ll head back to the hotel.”

  He tugged on my hand and led me to a room filled with fans, mostly women in extremely ill-fitting clothing. The rest of the band was already there waiting for Jake. They quickly went to sit at a table that was set up against the wall. He took a seat in a chair set up at the end and pulled me onto his lap. I went obligingly this time, mostly because I didn’t think I had a choice. It was unexpected that I actually liked it. Brett came and stood next to Jake. He crossed his gargantuan arms and stood like a statue ready to spring at a moment’s notice. Jake signed a couple autographs and had small talk with some of the fans. One girl asked for a picture. She looked like she was probably my age and was dressed exceptionally trashy. He reluctantly moved me off his lap and onto his chair. He stood next to the girl but didn’t make any physical contact. She tried to wrap her arms around him. I saw Brett get ready to pounce, but Jake deftly stepped out her grasp.

  “Sorry, sweetie. No touching.” He said smoothly.

  The girl shot daggers at me.

  “She gets to touch you.” She whined and pointed at me.

  “Duh, that’s because she’s my girlfriend or haven’t you watched CNT?”

  Jake winked at me. I despised girls like her because they walked around as if they were entitled to whatever they wanted. They were like girl versions of Carter. They had no care for anyone else’s feelings. Everyone is entitled to their personal space. Yes, even Jake Parker. I looked at the rest of the guys who, other than Kevin, clearly enjoyed the female fan attention. She stared at me repugnantly.

  “What the hell is she wearing? It looks like something that came off my shoe?” I saw red. Someone needed to put her in her place. I stood up and stared her down.

  “You know what bitch, why don’t you go slip into something comfier? Like a coma! Get the fuck out of here before I help you into one!” I spat. Jake looked amused.

  “Wow, swear much?” She mumbled.

  “At least I sound like a fucking lady and not like a little boy just hitting puberty. Now go fly out of here on the broom you flew in on.” I spat.

  Brett took the girl by the arm and led her to the exit. Jake came back to me and kissed my hair.

  “That was fucking epic!” He chuckled into my hair.

  I smiled smugly and sat back on his lap. The rest of the meet and greet went off without a hitch. The hire car was waiting at the stage door. I clambered in and scooted over so that Jake could climb in. As soon as we started moving exhaustion hit me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

  I woke up and realized that I had somehow ended up in my bed. I turned to look at the alarm clock. It was after three o’clock in the morning, and I really had to pee. I sat up and threw my legs off the side of the bed. I was startled when I saw Jake sitting in the chair across from the bed. I jumped. He looked somber. I stood again and held up a finger letting him know that I needed a minute. I ran into the bathroom and shut the door. I quickly did my business and splashed some cold water on my face. Since I was more awake I looked down and noticed that I was just in my ruffle panties and a tank top. Meaning that Jake had stripped me out of my clothes. I squashed the panic because he most likely did it so that I would be comfortable. I walked back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Jake?” I whispered.

  He looked anguished. He slowly pushed himself up from the chair and took a tentative step toward me. He placed his hand in mine and looked in my eyes.

  “Aubrey.” He whispered, there were tears glassing his eyes.

  “Jake, what happened? Is everything okay?” I asked concerned.

  “I’m sorry. I-.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I just wanted to get you into bed. When I was taking your clothes off, something happened. Nothing inappropriate I swear. You had a total episode. You started thrashing and screaming. I was so scared. I can’t fucking sleep. God, Aubrey, I’m so fucking sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you. I didn’t even do it to get a peek. I’m such an asshole!” He berated himself.

  I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

  “Jake, look at me.” He hesitated but looked at me. “It’s fine. I didn’t even know that it happened. Sometimes I have these things called night terrors. They stem from something that happened. I’ve become so good at suppressing them that I usually don’t even know they’re happening. I’m sorry you had to see that. I really appreciate you putting me to bed. It was thoughtful.” I smiled kindly hoping to ease his pain.

  “Aubrey.” My name sounded like a prayer.

  I was going to do something that I had never done before.

  “Jake, will you try something with me?” He looked surprised and hesitant.

  “Not if it’s going to hurt you.” He said vehemently.

  “I don’t know how it will end, but I want to see if we can sleep in the same bed. I’ve never been able to do that before, and I want to try. I should be honest and say the last few boyfriends I have had have been lucky to get past the hand holding stage and get a kiss. You’ve already managed to do that, and you’re not even my boyfriend. Even more strange is that I kissed you! Let’s just try. Please.” I gave him a puppy dog face that always made my dad cave.

  I wanted him to hold me again. It felt so nice when we did it earlier, and I knew that he liked it too.

  “Fine, but I’m sleeping in the chair if it gets to be too much.” He warned.

  I leaned back onto the bed and pulled him in next to me. He was clad in just a pair of blue and white plaid boxers. I felt his body heat rolling off of him. I moved onto my side and felt him hesitantly move closer to me. I closed the distance and curled into him.

  “Night, Jake.”

  “Night, sweet Aubrey.” He kissed my hair.

  I closed my eyes and drifted into oblivion.

  Jake

  I woke up holding a soundly sleeping Aubrey. I w
as surprised how quickly I was able to fall asleep. She didn’t have any more distressing dreams after I went to bed with her. I was still freaked the fuck out from earlier. I remember my mom having some fucked up dreams when she was strung out, but Aubrey was truly terrified. I stayed still and watched her peaceful, little face scrunch up. She opened her eyes and yawned. I felt her tense up momentarily. She relaxed as soon as she looked at me. She was so damn comfortable I never wanted to move.

  “Morning.” She croaked.

  “Good morning, Bellissimo. We actually overslept, quite a bit. We’re going to have to hurry so we can check out and get to the airport.”

  Knowing we had to get up I reluctantly moved away and stood. I stretched my arms over my head and shook my cheeks. She sat up on her elbows and stared at me. I saw her eyes widen in shock. I quickly realized that it was because Jake Junior was pitching a tent. Embarrassing! I shouldn’t be embarrassed though; he was definitely a fine specimen if I do say so myself. Surely Aubrey knew by twenty-three that morning wood was totally normal, right? I quickly adjusted my boxers and excused myself to my room so that I could shower.

  Once in the safety of my own room I quickly showered and got dressed. I decided on a pair of dark jeans, a white Henley and my boots. I spiked my hawk and tossed my stuff into the suitcase. I carried everything out to the living room. Brett was just coming back into the room with coffees. I said good morning and plopped down on the sofa to check my emails. We were going to be heading to Boston for our next show in two days. I looked up when I saw Aubrey walk into the room. She braided her hair into pigtails. So fucking hot! She had on a pair of high-waist trouser jeans with a gray, tight tank top and chucks. She was my high school fantasy, times a million. If I thought I was smitten before, I was officially captivated. In the span of a couple days, I was now in full on lust!

  “You look so hot, I could totally jump for joy.” I smiled gleefully.

  “I’d jump with you, but my boobs are just way too big for that nonsense.” She smiled.

  I made the mistake of looking at her chest and was sporting full wood, again. I had gone from being pretty much asexual to being utterly enthralled.

  “Hey, I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to just bounce along.” I winked, and she smacked me in the chest. It was worth a shot.

  She started rolling her suitcase toward the door. I quickly took it from her and put it next to mine. I handed her the coffee that Brett brought back and kissed her hair. She always smelled so fucking good. We headed down to the lobby. I looked out front and saw the waiting car. Of course, the paparazzi were circling like sharks waiting for the first drop of blood. I held my hand out to Aubrey. She looked at it at with apprehension but placed her dainty hand in mine. Brett pushed the door open. I sucked in a deep breath and stepped out into the feeding frenzy.

  The cameras clicked away, and Aubrey handled it with grace. She smiled shyly, even though deep down I knew that she wanted to give them the middle finger. We kept going until we made it safely to the car. I knew that she didn’t like the attention, but she handled it like a pro. She could be my rock n’ roll princess no problem. I wanted that more than anything. Once the door was shut I put my hands on either side of her face, and kissed her. I pulled away and rubbed my thumb on her flushed cheek.

  “Thank you.” I said earnestly.

  “For what?” She asked bewildered.

  “I know this isn’t what you signed up for, but I’m glad you’re here. You make it bearable.” I genuinely meant it.

  Everything seemed better when she was around. She smiled sweetly and turned her attention out the window. She looked deep in thought about something. I pulled out my little notebook that I carried everywhere in case a lyric or something popped into my head. I started jotting down words, it felt fantastic to be able to put something meaningful on paper again. I haven’t been inspired to write anything in such a long time. We headed through the streets of Manhattan until we reached the outskirts and made it to the airfield. Brett went to do his security check.

  “Hey Aubrey, are you free tomorrow?” I asked.

  “No, I’m fucking expensive.” She laughed.

  “I’m not buying what you’re selling.” I joked. “What I meant was, do you want to do something tomorrow? With me? Maybe we could go to the aquarium or something?”

  “Maybe. I’ll have to check with Mark and make sure we don’t have another flight before you take off again.”

  I hadn’t even thought of that. I didn’t want her to leave… but how to take care of that problem?

  “I’ll be right back.”

  I opened the door and headed to the plane. Once on board I quickly got a dirty look from Brett. I ignored him and went into the cockpit to see Mark. He looked up at me in surprise.

  “Hey Mark, right?” He nodded. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Jake Parker.” I offered my hand, and we shook.

  “Nice to meet you, Jake. What can I do for you?”

  “Listen man, I have a dilemma. I’d prefer if you could have all other flights during your duration with me rearranged. Of course I would be willing to compensate you. I would like to have you at my disposal if needed.” That sounded good enough.

  “I’m sure we can work something out. Does this have something to do with Aubrey?” He raised an eyebrow. I shrugged not wanting to give too much away. “Jake, I love Aubrey like family. I talked to her last night before the show, and she said that she actually enjoyed spending time with you this weekend. I can honestly say that she hasn’t said anything like that in a long time. She’s also been through a lot in the last few of years, and she’s extremely guarded because of it. She’s stubborn and difficult, but if you give her a chance I promise she’s worth it. I just want her to be happy. So Jake, if that’s what you want I don’t even care about the money and I’m sure her father feels the same way. We just want her to live again.”

  “Thanks Mark. I promise I’ll be good to her.” I was absolutely resolute in my response.

  “You better be, or you’ll have to answer to me.” He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. He patted my shoulder, and I got up to leave. I went back to the car to get Aubrey and tell her the news. I opened the door and held my hand out.

  “My lady.” I bowed.

  She giggled, and it was the best sound in the fucking world.

  We walked onto the plane. She stowed away our luggage and started getting ready for the flight. I wanted to stop her even though it was her job. It wasn’t like I was incapable of getting a bottle of water. Besides, the flight to Boston was going to be a short one anyway. I sat in the comfy leather seat and stretched out. After a couple minutes of watching her fluttering around I was starting to get annoyed. Brett took a seat on the other side so that she could sit next to me. I’d thank him later.

  “Aubrey, will you quit fussing over shit and come sit down already. I don’t think we’ll need anything during the flight. If we do, I’ll get it. Just sit.”

  She stuck her tongue out but conceded. She sat in the seat next to me with a white box in her lap. She lifted the lid. It was filled with delicious looking pastries. There were cherry and cheese Danishes, apple turnovers, and cinnamon rolls. My stomach growled. I reached my hand over to take one, but she slapped it away.

  “Mine.” She growled adorably.

  “Just one.” I pleaded with puppy dog eyes. She held the box out. I ripped it out of her hands and smirked. “Can you get me a knife, sweetie?”

  “If you want a knife why don’t you check my back? That’s where I’ve seen it last.” She pouted crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  “If you could find a way to turn snarky sarcasm into a paying job you would a very rich woman.” I wasn’t even joking. She would be in Forbes with Bill Gates.

  “I know. Now, if you want to be able to sleep tonight and not worry if you’re going to wake up tomorrow I suggest you hand over the pastries.”

  I picked out a cinnamon roll and an apple turnover
and relinquished the box.

  “Who’s a good boy?” She cooed.

  “Me. I am. Do I get a kiss?” I grinned.

  She leaned in and lightly pecked my lips. Aubrey has unbelievably sensuous lips; picture Angelina Jolie meets Megan Fox. I ate my cinnamon bun in three bites and licked my fingers. Mark came over the intercom and said we were ready for takeoff and to make sure our seatbelts were secured. Aubrey’s hands were filled with delicious confectionary treats so I reached over and clicked her belt. She rolled her eyes at me. She seductively stuck the last bite of cheese Danish into her mouth with her thumb. She made low moaning sounds and sucked her thumb teasingly. I was instantly hard. That bitch plays dirty! I scoffed in mock disgust. I huffed and turned my back to her. Pretty soon we were airborne. Once we got the all clear she got up and moved to where she sat the other day. Obviously she was planning on ignoring me. I let her be for a couple minutes before approaching her.

  “What’s the matter?” I prodded.

  “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you being a fucking asshole.”

  “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you being strung to tightly. Relax.”

  “What do you know?” She spat.

  Meow! She was in a feisty mood. I sat next to her and started rubbing her shoulders. I swear she was purring.

  “Aubrey, has anyone ever tell you you’re like a cat?” She shook her head no. “You are. You want affection when you want it and on your terms. The rest of the time you want to claw eyes out and draw blood.”

  “I do not!” She defended. “Okay. Maybe a little bit, but I have my reasons.”

  “That’s better.” I moved her head so that it was on my shoulder.

  I pulled out my little notebook and started writing some more. She kept trying to peek over to see what I was working on. I turned so that she couldn’t see. I was going to have to see if I could have the guys come up with some music to go with it. I felt bad because I pretty much zoned out for the rest of the flight trying to wrap the song up. When we landed in Boston, I hoped the media frenzy wouldn’t be nearly as bad. Brett handed over the itinerary. I looked it over and saw a potential issue.