Stroke It - Brooke Page Page 0,24

You could have been a blind man watching your performance with Raina Skye on stage and know you two have chemistry.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

He narrowed his eyes in warning, completely ignoring my comment. “I’ll repeat myself, don’t fuck this up.”

I held up my hands. “All right, I won’t.”

“You won’t what?” asked a nosy Rocket. He popped out around the corner where the ice machine was, carrying a bin full. Gunner was alongside him.

“Sleep with your mom again,” Gunner teased, cupping Rocket’s shoulder with his palm.

Rocket shrugged from Gunner’s hold. “Dude?”

Gunner smirked, then put his other arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s go play some Madden on the Xbox in Rocket’s room. Don’t worry Seb, I’m sure whatever is going on with your face will change eventually.” It was impossible to not realize how irritated Seb was by the way his ears turned red and how his cheek bones tightened.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Keep each other in check, please,” he grumbled and pointed at all of us, then walked back toward the stairs.

“What was his problem?” Gunner asked.

“He’s just making sure his product is behaving,” I muttered and headed for my hotel room.

“I hate when he treats us like his kids,” Rocket whined.

“Where are you going?” Gunner asked.

“To my room,” I said over my shoulder. “I’ve got shit to do.”

“Whatever, you just don’t want me to kick your ass in Madden again,” Rocket shouted, but I ignored him. I knew Gunner was worried about me, I could tell in his subtle way to try and get us to hang out. He’d come check on me before we had to leave for the arena. He was always watching out for me, but I wasn’t ready to talk about this.

I’d fought feelings for this woman for so long, knowing she was a game player, but I was the same way. I was the king of getting what I wanted, and if that meant playing with a girl’s heart, I’d done it, but it wasn’t fun when Raina did it to me.

I should just fuck her and get it over with, but my gut was telling me it wouldn’t do the trick, and if I had a taste of her, I’d want more.

I grabbed my guitar the moment I got into my room, bringing it out to the porch. I’d work on Maddie’s birthday song to distract myself from thoughts of Raina Skye.

I’d strummed aimlessly for over an hour, gaining nothing of substance to add to Maddie’s song. I had time, but the frustration was beginning to kick in from my lack of ideas. I’d said I’m sorry in the past seven songs, and I needed something deeper, a song that wasn’t as sorrow filled as my heart. She knew I would never forgive myself for what I did to her, at least I had hoped. She was still too young to completely understand she was the way she was because of me. It was my fault she wouldn’t live the normal life of a little girl, grow up to be a woman chasing her own dreams and aspirations.

A gentle knock came to the door, and I assumed it would be Gunner. When I flung open the door, I was at a loss for words when Raina was standing in front of me, biting her lip and looking tempting as hell. She wasn’t the only one who was dumbfounded and unable to speak.

Like the asshole I was, I went into cool mode, crossing my arms and leaning against the doorframe. “Need something?”

A drink?

To give me an apology for being such a bitch?

To finally fuck each other and get it over with?

She fidgeted on her feet. “I just… I wanted to apologize,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t have come onto you like that.”

I raised a brow, impressed by her confession, but I couldn’t stop myself from being an asshole. “Can’t blame you. I’d have jumped my bones, too.”

She scowled. “Glad to see you’re still full of yourself.”

I shrugged, and she continued to stare at me, her awkwardness morphing into annoyance.

Keeping my mouth shut and arms crossed was necessary, because I didn’t trust myself around her, not after I’d had a taste of her.

“What are you doing, anyway?” She huffed, peering around my shoulder and into my room. “I heard music.”

“Took you that long to knock on the door?” I teased.

“You’re such a dick. ”

“I never was the guy labeled as the ‘sweetheart’ of the band.”

“I can’t imagine any of you having that title,”she chided.

I