your eager pussy. My lower belly thrilled with a surge of heat at the image.
I'd have to settle with singing about my desires.
For now.
We practiced until midday, working until we were sounding cohesive. At this rate, we'll be able to play this tomorrow night just fine.
We were interrupted by Colt and Porter. The two slid into the room quietly, respecting how caught up we were in our song. They sat on the sidelines, eyes focused, ears straining.
By that time, I was more comfortable with my instrument. Years of playing as a child, into my teens, were coming back with the waking of my muscles. Lola never called me out on my errors; I noticed all of them, though.
I'm still not as good as I wanted to be, growing up. That doesn't matter anymore.
Being a guitarist hadn't been my dream, after all.
It had been my father's.
“It's sounding great,” Porter said, clapping when Lola and I paused. “You sure you don't want me and Colt to join in on this?”
“Maybe a little 'oomph' from the drums?” Colt added, mimicking playing his sticks in the air. “It'd add some texture to the song.”
Setting the guitar aside, I stood and cracked my back. “I appreciate the offer, but I'd like it to be just Lola and me out there for this one.”
Colt rubbed at the side of his right eye. “I'll try to hold in my tears of jealousy.”
“I won't.” Frowning deep, the bassist gave a few hollow sobs. “This is how it begins. Kicked out of the band. I hear guitar only teams are taking over.”
Wrapping his arm around Porter's shoulders, Colt nodded sagely. “I told you, we should have just learned guitar.”
“Bass is close!”
“Bass is not close,” Colt snorted.
Digging out another bottle of water, I drained half of it. “Want some, Lola?”
Setting her guitar in its case, she leaned it on the wall and headed for the door. “I'm fine. Think I'll go find some food.”
Lola's escape was briefly ruined by Brenda, the red-head bumping into her as she tried to enter. “Oh! Hey, sorry Lola—where are you running off to?” Turning in place to follow the exiting girl, our manager backed into the practice room.
Hardly slowing, Lola's voice faded the further she got into the bus. “Food. I need to eat.”
“But I was going to order us lunch! The hotel we're all staying at is ready for us now, it's super nice! We could all use a day to relax—and—hey!” Holding her hands up, Brenda watched in confusion as Lola escaped. “What the hell was that about?” she asked, looking at all of us.
One by one, they all stared at me. Ah, shit. “It's nothing," I said. "Don't worry about it.”
“Drezden, what did you do this time?” Brenda sighed.
“Nothing!” Throwing up my arms, I tossed the water bottle at the trash can. The sound of it missing was poignant. “Why would you think she's upset because of me?”
“So she is upset,” Brenda said. Digging into her purse, she lifted out her phone and squinted. “Doesn't matter. There's nothing going on between now and the final show, let her blow off some steam.”
Porter brushed a palm over his faux-hawk uneasily. “No, I wanna know what Drez did that made her so tense.”
“Nothing! It was nothing, fuck.”
My drummer and bassist shared a knowing look. I wanted to bang their skulls together. Brenda, amazingly, came to my rescue; her hands clapped sharply. “I said forget it. Now, who wants to go check out the jacuzzi in the suite I booked for myself at the Hilton? Oh, that's right.” She jammed a ruby nail at herself. “Me. This girl. Now come on, I've got a car waiting to take us over there. Everyone needs a break. Especially me.”
Relaxing was the furthest thing from my mind. But, if it got everyone off my back, then I was glad to follow the path of least resistance. Lola's fine. She just needs some time. That's all it is.
I was never great at lying to myself.
****
As we drove to the hotel, I couldn't control how I looked around for Lola at every turn. In the car, I finally gave in and sent her a quick text, asking her to call me if she needed anything.
Brenda handed our keycards off to us in the Hilton lobby. When she gave me mine, she held it tight, not releasing it from her grip. “This time,” she whispered, “I didn't put you and Lola in connecting rooms. Get my drift, Mr. Keep Everyone