Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) by Jade Allen Page B

talks shit you can take care of it. But are you
that serious about her?”
    “I’m more serious about her than I’ve ever been about
anything in my life other than this band,” I told Alex. I frowned; the words
had just left me—I hadn’t thought about it even for a second. But they were
true; I’d never been serious about very many things. My family, the band, and
my own pleasure were the only things I’d prioritized for years—even above
school. The only reason I’d graduated at all had been because my life was
easier finishing and getting the damn diploma than it would have been dropping
out and having to pay my parents rent.
    “Then fight for her, asshole!” Alex grinned at me. “Jesus,
you may be like—easily fifty women ahead of the rest of us in terms of honing
your skills in the sack but Christ if you have no idea how to deal with a
relationship.”
    “Like you’re one to talk,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Until
Mary you nuked every relationship you were ever in as soon as the girl started
talking about being serious.”
    “Nope—only when they started asking about when I’d be stable
enough to support children,” Alex countered. “Mary is happy with the way things
are between us for now, and if she wants kids eventually…” he shrugged. “We’ll
cross that bridge when we come to it.”
    “How do I fight for someone who doesn’t want to be around
me?” I crossed my arms over my chest. Alex chuckled.
    “You lure her to you,” he told me. “You make it impossible
for her to stay away, and then you don’t give her the option of you not fighting for her.” I considered that. I smiled to myself slowly and started to
form a plan in my head; I thought I knew Olivia well enough to know what to use
to lure her back to me, at least long enough to get my point across to her.
    “Thanks, Lex,” I said. “I’m going to grab a shower. I’ll
catch you in the green room later.”

 
    ****
    The crowd was one of the largest we’d ever played in front
of; the club was packed, even the balcony area stuffed so full of people that
it seemed like a potential fire hazard. I’d stopped even thinking about the
sweat pouring down my body under my clothes twenty minutes into the set;
thinking about it wasn’t going to make it stop. In between one song and
another, as Alex was saying something to the audience, I bent over to grab one
of the open beers from its perch on one of the monitors. I glanced over at the
sidelines; Olivia was there, and I gave her a little smile.
    Instead of my original plan—which had been to white knuckle
my way through the set, gritting my teeth and just going through the motions—I
was determined to play as well as I ever had in my entire life. I knew what
Olivia liked; I knew there was a very good reason why she hung out with
musicians that had nothing to do with a love of a good party and fun
companionship. As I set my beer down again, turning to watch Mark sketch out
the beat for the next song on the list, I remembered something from a couple of
weeks before, when Olivia’s scandal hadn’t even been something I considered
possible.
    We’d been tangled up in each other, sprawled as much as my
bunk would allow, drenched in sweat. We’d finished fucking for the night—at
least, unless one of us suddenly had a burst of new energy—and were just laying
together, enjoying the afterglow. Olivia had taken one of my hands in both of
hers, and examined it in the overhead light, peering at it until I started to
feel uncomfortable. “What?”
    “Your hands fascinate me,” she’d said. She brushed the pads
of her fingers along the calluses at the tips of my left hand fingers, then
slid them along the digits themselves. “Not just because you can get me off
with them in like, three minutes,” she’d added, giving me a little
self-conscious grin.
    “What about them?” She’d shrugged, but hadn’t stopped her
examination, making me shiver at the sensation of her fingertip