as if he was trying to mold us together.
Into one person.
“Open your eyes. Open your eyes and look at me. Just fucking look at me.”
He did.
I kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his neck. I wanted to kiss him everywhere all at once. Our lips were centimeters apart, closest they’ve ever been to one another.
“Junie,” he whispered in a tone of pure agony. “Show me what love is.”
His words.
His presence.
They rang in my ears like the bass of his guitar. I felt every melody to the tips of my toes, but before I could say anything.
He. Kissed. Me.
Brushing my lips with his first, teasing me with the tip of his tongue, all along the outline of my mouth.
Softly.
Lightly.
His tongue sought out mine.
Hundreds of thoughts and questions raced through my mind. None of them mattered. My heart already knew the answers. There was something agonizing and desperate in the way his mouth moved against mine.
His lips burned.
Searing and scarring me in ways I might never recover from.
My core throbbed.
My heart pounded.
My breathing escalated.
Just the slightest feel of him drove me over the edge, and all we were doing was kissing.
With each kiss.
Each caress.
Each groan that escaped from his lips, I felt the weight of his demons on me.
There was no running away from them.
Was it like that for him?
With one last kiss, he let his lips linger for a few more seconds. Resting his forehead on mine, his hands were still clutched on the sides of my face. My eyes closed, breathing heavily. We were in our own little world. We both tried to steady ourselves, and when I finally opened my eyes, he stared at me raptly.
In that moment, his intoxicating gaze held so much emotion. His sincere expression was almost too hard to follow. Cash always showed me everything through his eyes. When he couldn’t find the words, his eyes did the talking.
All I could see was pain.
My chest ached seeing him so broken for what felt like the hundredth time in a matter of minutes. I could physically feel his pained glare on my face as he sat in front of me. Feeling it so much more than I could have ever imagined. Almost like I could touch it.
I was submerged in a sea of his agony.
Drowning.
Praying I’d be able to breathe again.
Until he finally spoke, repeating, “Junie, show me what love is.”
Panted breathes.
Thrashing hearts.
Rapid thoughts.
It all came to a head, when he added,
“Marry me.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
The conclusion of the Life of Debauchery Duet
’Til The Last Lyric: April 21
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‘Til the Last Lyric
Chapter 1
“If you stand for nothing you’ll fall for anything.”
-Bob Dylan
<>Cash<>
Now: Thirty-years-old
“Mmm...” I groaned in my sleep. My head fuckin’ pounding to its own beat, feeling as though my brain was about to explode. “Mmm...” I groaned again, trying to get my eyes to open to no avail.
Rapidly, they fluttered a mile a minute until they finally won the battle against my scrambled mind. I willingly shoved away the sleepy haze and took in my surroundings. A cold, dark abandoned warehouse was in my sights.
How the fuck did I get here?
I sat up from the grimy, disgusting, worn out mattress I was apparently sleeping on. Grabbing ahold of my throbbing skull between my hands as if it would magically make the discomfort disappear. The smell of piss, shit, and God knows what else assaulted my senses.
Filth everywhere.
Walls covered in graffiti decorated every corner of the piece of shit building. Piles of trash, infested rats, and ghostlike junkies who appeared dead also laid dormant around me.
What the fuck?
I was Cash Motherfuckin’ McGraw, waking up with drug addicts like I was one of them. The last thing I remembered was feeling no pain, exactly the way I wanted. If only I could feel the same way all the time. Maybe then I wouldn’t find myself in circumstances like these. Wishing I’d used better judgement.
Goddamn it.
I needed to get back to the tour bus.
To my bandmates.
To Journey.
My June.
I stood, stumbling to find my footing to remain upright. I was dizzy, tired, fuckin’ restless to the bone. Every sentiment hitting me tenfold and blinding the hell outta me.
What did you do, Cash? What the fuck did you do?
My sunken eyes wandered down to where I was laying, taking in the pipe and needle on the dingy floor.
Oh, God ... please no.
Instantly, I rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie, desperately searching