Absolutely Unforgivable(69)
Debbie started to box up all of the extra food she had made and that Vin hadn’t eaten so he could take it home with him. It was getting late and we needed to get back to the house to get ready for the show tonight.
When we arrived at Rowdy’s, Vin and I made our way towards the stage where Billy had been helping set up their equipment. When we got closer I realized he was standing there without a shirt. The way the light hit his skin had me mesmerized and I stopped walking. My knees were jelly as I stood there looking at his bare chest. I couldn’t take my eyes off of that hard, muscled flesh. I stopped so abruptly Vin almost crashed right into me. He glanced up to see what had me so captivated and then let out a low grunt.
Right after, I felt someone push up against me and then heard a loud thud. I felt more hands on me. I was frightened and I turned around to bury my body in Vin’s protective arms. He lifted me up and carried me to a room in the back. As he put me down on a chair, he started in on Devin and Rocco. He was pissed. You didn’t really hear Vin speak often, let alone raise his voice, so it startled me.
“It took you two about six seconds to get to her. Get your head out of your asses and do your job. When she’s in a room and other people are close enough to touch her then you failed.”
Trista came in next, makeup bag in hand. “Let’s look at you,” she said as she started to touch up my makeup. “It was just some stupid drunks fighting, but not to worry, the bouncer kicked them out.”
Billy came in the room and lifted my chin up to look in my eyes. “You gonna be okay to go on, Babe?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I just got scared. I didn’t know who was touching me.”
Billy pulled back and then glanced at the others in the room with stark impatience. At that moment I could see the Rock Star Billy turn on. It was a very different Billy than he was when we were at home. “Trista, finish her hair and makeup. Vin, after that, get her on stage,” he commanded.
Brick walked in and threw a shirt to Billy and as he pulled it down over his head I found myself incapable of removing my eyes from his flexed stomach muscles. The shirt had Rowdy’s written across his chest.
“Get your shit together, people, we have a show to do,” Billy snapped as he walked out of the room and back to the stage.
Trista, and to some extent the rest of the band had always treated Billy like a delicate genius, fragile and irreparably broken. But that wasn’t the Billy I knew. He wasn’t some weak, hypersensitive musician. He was strong and together, at least on the outside and with me. Especially now seeing him large and in charge like that, caused a chill to run up my spine. It was so arousing.
Caught up in Billy’s strength, I forgot about the earlier incident and with my hair and makeup finished, I walked out of the back room and took the stage.
When we got home Billy was back to his sweet, attentive self and held me tightly in his arms until I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up to breakfast in bed. I admit Rock Star Billy was sexy but this is the Billy I liked most. I loved how he doted on me. But then again, who wouldn’t? He was an impossibly gorgeous man who was so sweet and sensitive.
When we lay in bed together, I could see the look of contentment in his eyes. It warmed my heart. He had suffered enough in his life. He deserved peace and I loved that the peace he found was while holding me in his arms.
The rest of the time while Jeromy was away things went pretty smoothly. There were no more incidents or attacks, and the more time passed the more I was able to put the thought of that horrible day out of my mind.
Chapter 14 - Homecoming
After two long weeks I couldn’t wait to see Jeromy. I missed him so much so I decided to meet him at the airport. Vin drove and walked me to the designated gate and stood just behind me while we waiting for Jeromy to deboard the plane. Vin saw him first and said, “Oh shit”. He then grabbed my arm firmly and started to pull me away. I tried my best to resist him; I wanted to see Jeromy and I didn’t understand why he was trying to make me leave.
I turned to see if Jeromy had gotten off of the plane yet and saw him walking down the runway carrying a blonde woman on his back. He had a huge smile on his face, laughing like he used to do with me, something I hadn’t seen in such a long time. She was a beautiful girl, with long straight blonde hair. She had a tiny little face, with high, well-defined cheekbones. She had a cute little perky nose and a mouth full of really white teeth.
Jeromy noticed Vin first and stopped walking. He looked down and then saw me. His emerald green eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise. The girl slid down his back to stand on her own two feet.