Page 48 of Scars of the Sun

I confirmed for him that I’d gotten an IUD when my mom caught my high school boyfriend sexting me and that it was still good for another two years. It’d been an exciting few hours, when our childish friendship and budding relationship resultedin the first stirrings of arousal I’d ever felt in my life. Go figure that I realized I was demisexual right before finding out he was cheating on me, which halted anything physical between us. And then years passed with no one else. Until now.

“Keep it in your pants, and come back to practice,” a familiar grumble had me stumbling and throwing panicked eyes over Río’s shoulder. Sure enough, Tyler stood in the hall, arms crossed and looking as unimpressed as anyone in the world, even as Río ignored him completely and continued to kiss and lick at my throat.

I slapped at his back and gasped as he gave a harder nip of his teeth in response, “Río, knock it off.” But instead of authoritative, my command ended on an embarrassing whimper when he gave a frustrated and hot roll of his hips before stepping away.

“You didn’t see me cockblocking you and your little snack last time I was here, did you?” I was used to his words being laced with humor, half-serious more often than not. But the heat of his anger was like sweltering peppers with no reprieve.

Tyler continued to remain unmoved. He waved a bored hand, “No, but we weren’t at the end of figuring out a new song, so, chop chop.” He even added an impatient clap while looking between the two of us.

“You keep fucking looking at her, and see what happens. Come on, Princess,” Río took my hand and dragged me down a dark and pristine hallway. He made sure to knock into Tyler’s shoulder that really only met the middle of his bicep, but the vampire was like an immovable pillar.

Tyler whispered so that only we could hear him, “I don’t know who trained you, but this is the only fucking pass you get.” Then, more to himself, “Fucking animal instincts.”

My legs were long, but it took some effort to keep up with Río’s hasty, irritated strides, as we wound through the modernand masculinely-decorated home. Blacks, dark wood, and sleek metal surfaces filled the space, but it somehow felt warm at the same time. Candles, either lit or not, were found everywhere, as well as large, boldly colored landscape paintings that lined the hallway.

Low, steady strums of a bass guitar grew louder as we neared our destination, and I straightened my spine and tried my best to brace myself to formally meet Río’s band members. Aside from Tyler, anyway. Who I wasn’t too sure liked me in the first place.

Tendrils of weed and vape smoke curled out of the doorway before we’d even made it inside, and once I was pulled into the practice room, I quickly took in the full band setup, a black leather couch, and deep maroon color on the walls. Flyers from their band, Concrete Executioners, lined the walls, as well as a few vintage flyers from bands like Black Sabbath.

I blinked past the overflow of scents that assaulted my nose—substances, people, emotions, it was all a lot to parse through and send to the back of my mind.

“Hey Río’s Girl,” the one on the bass kept strumming but gave me a small smile of acknowledgement.

“Hey—”

“She has a name, Brody, and you know it.” He’d spoken about me to his friends?

“Don’t mind him, Ramona. I’m Jess.” She waved a drumstick at me from her perch behind the drum kit. Her mullet was dyed a hot pink that matched her brows.

“Uh, hey. Nice to meet you guys,” I nodded at both of them, trying to add some life to my tone that didn’t include nervousness.

Then, I turned my head, to introduce myself to the other person sitting instead of standing with an instrument, and Iactually had to keep myself from growling by clenching my teeth so hard that they creaked in my mouth.

Alex, the one who’d been sucking Río’s cock the night we started this thing, was sitting perched with legs crossed and their hair in two space buns. Their cropped shirt highlighted their lithe frame, and their denim cutoff shorts were similar to mine.

Pretty. They were very pretty, and I wanted to kill them. Why the fuck were they here, did Ríowantthem here, did they still have their sights set on him, why the fuck were they smiling at me?—

“All right, let’s get back to it so we can get out of here at a reasonable fucking hour,” Tyler picked a notepad off of the coffee table beside the couch, and joined Brody and Jess.

Río pulled me close by the waist. “Sit for a bit, Princess. Let me know if you need somethin’.” He kissed me on the temple and swatted my ass on his way back to his purple guitar.

I grunted, secretly pleased that his display showed everyone, especially Alex, that he wasmine, but pissed because there was nowhere else to sit but on the same sofa as someone who knew what Río’s dick tasted like. Maybe even knew what it felt like to have him inside of them.

I sank down onto the soft leather, right on the edge of the seat, and put my bag at my feet. The band began going back and forth, discussing the best way to craft the bridge of their newest song, what chords to use, and some other musical terms that I knew nothing about. I fiddled with my sleeve cuffs, wishing now that I’d stuck with the piano lessons Mom had forced me into for a while, if only so that I could understand the jargon that was now flying through the room.You’ve got nice, long and elegant fingers, Ramona. Perfect for a piano player. When I’d refused to go after the fifth lesson and requested to have dance lessons instead, I promptly quit once she realized I had potential andconvinced my father to put me in boxing instead. Luckily, my mom could never really say no when he made a decision.

“Hey, I’m Alex,” they angled their body to me and even scooted closer.

At risk of succumbing to the territorial urges that were screaming to pounce and pull their throat out for breathing in the same room as Río, I scooted a few inches away and kept my eyes on the one I was actually here for. “I know.”

“All right, let’s go back to the second verse and lead into what we’ve got,” Tyler decided, and everyone fell in step. Río settled his guitar across his chest and picked up a pick. When he met my eyes, though, he tilted his head as if to ask me what was wrong.

The reassuring smile and weak wave I sent his way only had him narrowing his eyes, but he didn’t call me out or march over. The room filled with ear-splitting music and Tyler’s growls and screams, to the point that I’d wished I’d brought my headphones or even a set of earplugs. It was loud enough for the three humans here, but I didn’t know how Tyler and Río did it. It was almost too overwhelming to sit still with everything going on around me, not to mention the disquieting thoughts of killing the person next to me. I’d never taken a life, but the way I kept imagining it, testing my resolve to the point that I had to invoke therapeutic breathing, should have been worrisome. Maybe it would’ve been if I weren’t so on the edge.

Feelings are fucking overrated, I grumbled to myself. At least, until I refocused on Río’s strumming fingers. The way they flew effortlessly over the strings and the focused peace on his face. His thick, straight brows were just slightly furrowed, his head nodding with the beat, and his mouth pursing and moving along to what he was playing. When he caught me looking at him, the warmth that took over his cold eyes, and thatwink.

Okay, no, maybe some feelings aren’t overrated.

The band worked for another two hours, and I kept all my attention on Río. The stifling scents and sounds were a dull throb in the background while I watched him play and create and joke. He sent me looks throughout their practice that ranged from cocky to sweet to heated.

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