Riffs That Ruin (Survival Records #2)

6. Keaton

M y hand tightens in a fist, aching to find someone’s face to bash into. I’m not sure which of them I’d like to batter the most, but the one with the pill bag might be at the top of my list. Who does that to a recovering addict?

I watch as the door closes behind her. A part of me wants to follow, to make sure she’s okay, but with how pinched her face got, I’m not really sure if my hair holding skills are what’s needed. It’s probably selfish of me, but I’m worried I didn’t get here soon enough to protect her from whatever has her so upset.

The more I think about it, the more I’m sure I missed the crux of it. I fold my arms over my chest and hold on to my biceps like they’ll restrain me from lunging after the assholes joking around. One of the others holds the bag of pills now, dangling it like he’s recreating the moment from a few minutes ago.

Leaning against the wall, I watch and wait. It seems every musician in the room is the self centered type, allowing me to blend into the wall the longer I’m standing here. With every gesture and action of those around me, I gain a deeper understanding of who they are. The worst of them is Napalm Delights. They’re different from how they were yesterday. More guarded somehow. It feels like every move they make is a show.

Something happened, and they’ve closed their ranks. They aren’t paying as much attention to Carmen, either.

The bathroom door swings open, and I jump into action. Closing the space between us, I take guard at Raina’s back. I don’t want her to go anywhere alone anymore. I don’t like the stares she’s getting, and it seems like there’s someone out to hurt her around every corner.

She doesn’t seem to have noticed me, too lost in her own thoughts. Which is confirmed when she jumps out of her skin when I hold on to her shoulder to open the door to our dressing room. Her hand comes up to her chest, where she presses against the erratic beating of her heart.

“You scared the shit out of me.” She stares at me over her shoulder, her eyes wide and bloodshot. Her lips purse, drawing my attention to how pale she is. It makes me worry all the more about her. “You waited for me?”

I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow. Of course I waited for you. Do you take me for an uncaring asshole?

The smallest of smiles tugs at the corner of her lips. “I know you’re not an asshole. I guess I’m just not used to someone caring that much.”

I open the door and find Nash trying to calm Blake. Pressing my body against her back, I guide Raina into the room. Once we’re inside, I rest my hand on her hip, squeezing my fingers into her soft flesh. A tiny tremor runs through her body.

“I’ll always be near to protect you,” I whisper into her ear. I love how she can read me without me needing to speak, but I stand by the power that the few words I voice out loud have. Now being no exception.

The door clicks closed behind me, and she turns in my arms, searching my face. Raina Lexington is a knockout, and her beauty never fails to make me stop in my tracks. I wish I could find the words to tell her, but they still get stuck in my throat. Instead, I trace the edge of her face with my fingertip until it’s underneath her chin. Using my thumb, I tilt her head back and kiss her nose.

Her eyes flutter shut, and she lets out a content sigh. I continue to kiss each cheek before she opens them again. “I can’t read what you’re thinking this time, big guy.”

The nickname makes my heart skip a beat. I’m not sure if she can tell how much I enjoy it or not, but I really like how much she’s been using it lately. I can’t help but hope it’s because our connection has grown stronger, that she believes in it more. Because one thing is for sure, Raina doesn’t think she deserves love.

And it breaks my heart.

I spin a stick between my fingers and can’t help the next thought that passes through my mind. Why would you think I wouldn’t wait for you?

A wash of emotion crosses over Raina’s face, settling on confusion. An adorable little crease forms between her eyebrows, something I’m sure Alyssa would throw a fit over claiming my perfect girl needs Botox or something.

Sadness seems to replace the confusion, and Raina shrugs her shoulders. It’s okay that she doesn’t understand why she thought I wouldn’t wait, because it gives me a chance to be the one to teach her. I’ll show her the love she deserves.

“You’re the spark that lights my day, Peaches. I’ll always choose to be near whenever I can.”

Her eyes sparkle, but before she can respond, Nash—being his typical Nash self—interrupts the moment. “Roomie! You’re back.” He rushes up and throws his arms around her, squeezing her tight. “I don’t like being separated.”

Raina’s face squishes against his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere, Nash,” she says, patting him on the back. I’m not sure why it warms me to my core that she immediately sees through him, but it does.

“It was forever. How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t run off for good while my back was turned?”

Okay, he’s laying it on a little thick. I think he likes soaking up her affection. Pretty sure Blake agrees with me if his eye roll is anything to go by.

“Hardly forever, Nash. It was barely twenty minutes, if that.” She scoffs, but the smile gives away how much she enjoys his over-the-top personality. Which is a good thing if she has any hope of putting up with his ass.

“Did you get any news?” Blake asks, running a hand through his hair. I think we’re all feeling the guilt of thinking the worst of him.

Raina separates herself from Nash, turning her attention onto Blake. Her gaze lands on him and she frowns. “You took your glasses off.” It almost sounds like she’s pouting, but Blake always wears contacts when performing. He needs it to combat his stage fright.

“You’re making it hard for me to not believe you.” He gives her a confident smirk, the kind that oozes rich academy boy upbringing.

A gasp draws my attention back to Raina, where she holds her hands against her chest, before she quickly puts her hands on her hips. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, mister, but I’m a famous pop star diva. I don’t waste my time giving out false compliments.”

Blake blushes and stares at the floor. Damn, do I enjoy people watching. It’s why I’m absolutely gutted I didn’t realize what actually happened with Tristan instead of jumping to conclusions. But when you hear your woman yell stop , and find a naked man on top of her… there’s nothing but red.

Part of me wishes Raina found an opportunity to tell us the truth earlier, although I know she really didn’t have the chance. It just would’ve been nice to know before he went missing. Hindsight is always the worst.

Raina’s sass doesn’t last for long, her frown quickly returning. “I have runners and security searching for him everywhere and making calls to hospitals and police stations. We won’t give up, but we haven’t found him.”

“This isn’t like Tristan. Sure, he wanted to get his revenge, but this is his dream, too. He wouldn’t not show up,“ Blake says, tapping the call button on his phone to try and get Tristan to pick up. It goes right to voicemail like all the other times we’ve tried.

“He’s a hothead, but he wouldn’t jeopardize his own success,” Nash adds, clenching his fist as his gaze lingers on the closed dressing room door. “He must be out there, something happened for him to not be here.”

“But what?” I ask. None of this makes sense.

“Nick said he was at the after party last night. He implied he was embracing the rock star life,” Raina says, it’s clear in her tone that she doesn’t trust anything he says.

Blake sighs heavily from his seat on the couch, his thumb swiping across his phone screen aggressively. “We all made assumptions. Bad ones. But he wouldn’t do that. He was all about the music and had a hard stance on drugs and random hookups.”

“That wouldn’t make him quit on us,” I emphasize, determined to not give up on him after we already failed him.

Nash bows his head, lost in thought for a moment. “Maybe... we pushed him too far?” he muses aloud. There’s regret in his voice, deeper than I’ve ever heard before.

“So, what should we do? We need to find him, but the show is supposed to start soon. We don’t have time to really do anything before it.” Raina blinks her eyes quickly, like she’s trying not to cry.

“Can we cancel? Give us time to find him?” Nash suggests.

“The label won’t let us. You know the rule they go by… the show must go on,” she whispers, defeat falling heavy on her shoulders. “It would be too costly in fines with the contracts we have with them.”

Nash hisses and runs a hand through his hair until he’s holding the back of his neck, his tongue flicking at his lip ring. “What are we doing about the show, then? We don’t have a lead guitarist.”

The small amount of life that came back to my girl since she came out of the bathroom drains from her face again. Her pale pallor makes me want to reach for her, but something tells me that’s not the right move—she doesn’t seem to want to be touched right now.

She stares at her hands, where her fingers twist together. “Nick from Napalm Delights will fill in for him.” Her hand moves to her stomach, pressing her palm against it. “I thought having Tristan show up like he did was my worst nightmare, but it doesn’t compare to this. I-I don’t know how I’ll get through this.”

Blake steps forward until he hovers right in front of her. His hands move to his hips, much like the stance she took with him. “Raina,” he practically growls. His tone is so full of authority and confidence it almost makes me do a double take. It’s the damn contacts.

Seconds tick by as everyone waits to see what her response will be. When it seems like she won’t respond, Blake crooks his finger in a move to tell her to look at him. She finally raises her head and meekly blinks at him. The hold he has on her is sexy as fuck.

When he has her attention focused on him, he stares into her eyes. His eyebrows come together, and he pins her in place with a seriousness that precedes the hardest of edges that make up Blake. He shifts closer to her until there’s barely any space between them, not allowing her to look away from him.

“Repeat after me,” he starts. “I am Raina Lexington. A brilliant, badass bitch who lets no man diminish her.”

She says it after him under her breath.

The lack of confidence has a steely hardness come over my friend. “Now again, Raina. Tell me who you are.” She does, but there’s only a smidge more confidence in it. “Again,” he barks. He has her do it over and over until she sounds like she actually believes the words. It has me breathing comfortably once more, not even realizing exactly how much her mood was affecting me.

Blake reaches out to grasp her by the chin and leans into her space. With the change over her attitude, I’m not shocked that she’s so receptive to his attention now when before she screamed don’t touch me. Her eyes glisten as she licks her lips, anticipating the possibility of a kiss.

I’m not surprised to find Blake has jumped into seeking a relationship with her with both feet; he’s always been the type to throw his entire heart into whatever he chooses to do. But on the other hand, I’ve never seen him with another woman. Not even a one-night stand after any of our shows. And it’s not because of a lack of interest. Women flock to him—what is it about that smug, cocky rich boy persona that draws women in like bees to honey?

The air fills with sexual tension, a palpable weight that you can’t mistake. My cock twitches with the possibilities of where this could lead, even if I know we don’t have the time to explore it right now.

“There’s my good bunny.” A knock sounds at the door, drawing our attention to the crew member letting us know it’s two minutes till we’re needed on stage. I turn my head back around in time to find Blake nudging her with his nose to gain her focus. “Now let’s go out there and show those bastards they can’t shake your confidence. Raina Lexington puts on a stellar performance no matter the situation.”

He brushes his lips over hers before sucking the bottom one into his mouth. I can practically taste her as I imagine him gliding his tongue over the plump smoothness of it.

Raina moans as she fists the front of his shirt, doing her best to drag him closer to deepen the kiss. After a moment, they break apart, breathing heavily and staring into each other’s eyes. Blake gives her another smile and saunters to the door where he waits.

Nash moves into the recently vacated spot and leans into her. He licks at his lip ring, drawing her attention to it. The man is constantly doing it, knowing how attracted she is to it, but to be honest, if I had an asset like that, I’d use it to my advantage too. He dips his head to her ear, but his words are loud enough for everyone to hear. “Sing for us tonight, roomie.”

He brushes a kiss to her cheek. Her body sways into his touch, but it’s gone a second later. He leads Blake out of the room without another word from either of them.

Now it’s only the two of us, surrounded by nothing but the sound of her name distantly being chanted by her fans. Spinning my stick between my fingers, I find her gaze tracking the movement. Well, look at that. Seems like I do have my version of a lip ring after all.

A small moan slips past her lips, and I catch her squeezing her thighs together. “Needy?”

Her eyes snap to mine, and she slowly nods her head. I use my sticks to beckon her closer, and when she’s within reach, I slide my hand from her hip along her side to her ribcage. Her first costume tonight shows her midriff, a sexy belly chain wrapped around her stomach, and the edges of her bra type top and booty shorts have enough fringe to make a country star jealous. It doesn’t fit her personality at all; no wonder we stepped into this situation expecting to navigate the person the media made us think she was.

Running my sticks along her skin between her cleavage until they meet the tops of her shorts, I tilt my head to the side. You make the crowd scream louder than last night, and I’ll give you another unforgettable orgasm.

She sucks in a sharp breath. “How about you give it to me now, and I’ll give you the show you want?” Her voice comes out in a purr as her body pushes against mine. The feel of her has my cock hardening, something I don’t need right before we step on stage.

It’s not a reward if you get it before. I want you dripping with anticipation first, I say, but it comes out as a single grunt. We’ll see if she’s able to continue deciphering me without the use of words. I keep waiting for when the magical skill she has runs out.

A disgruntled sigh comes out of her, and she gives me an adorable pout. “Will you use the sticks? I like the thought of you thinking about me when you use them on stage.” And now she has that devious smile that I enjoy so much.

She doesn’t realize that I’m always thinking about her, and there’s no way I couldn’t when we’re on stage, and I get to watch her ass as she’s dancing back and forth. “Yes,” I grumble, smacking her on that sweet peach as I push her toward the door. If I let her wiggle against me any longer, her show won’t start on time.

I spin my sticks between my fingers, watching her eyes dilate, as she glances over her shoulder and catches me. It’s not the set I used on her before, but I still bring one up to my nose and sniff it.

Raina groans. “You’re so mean to me.” Then she opens the door and adds a little more sway to her step. The damn woman is a temptress. I only hope we were able to boost her morale enough for her to get through the show.