Page 633 of Rock Me All Night
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When I returnto the main room, Miles and Pete are back at the bench.
Miles shakes his head. "That was embarrassingly fast. You're better than that. I've heard you go for half an hour. A whole hour once." He looks at me. "Was a sight, well, a sound to behold."
I clear my throat. "The way you're phrasing that suggests that you were trying to catch us."
"Why would I do something like that?" Miles feigns innocence.
Pete can't muster up the enthusiasm to banter back. He shrugs.
Miles looks between us. His expression shifts, an acknowledgment of the tension in the room. He doesn't mention it. Just pulls his guitar into his lap.
"How aboutNo Way in Hell?" he asks.
"That the only song you know acoustic?" Pete teases, but his heart isn't in it.
"When you have a voice this beautiful, you don't need to know anything." He slides a guitar pick between his teeth and spends a moment tuning. "You doing it Pete Steele style or Miles Webb style?"
"I'm a poor imitation," Pete says.
"It's a pretty good imitation."
Pete chuckles, shifting out of his bad mood. "You pretend you hate it."
"At first, I did hate it. But after Drew punched Tom… that warmed my heart."
"First time he punched someone besides you."
"Someone in the band, yeah." Miles laughs. "You really did instigate that one. All that shit about love being worth it and you wanting him to be happy."
"Getting at something?" Pete asks.
"No. Like Drew says, gotta entertain myself somehow when my girl is working." He pulls his shirt down his chest. "You can't pull off the imitation without the hot tattoos. You can admit you're jealous." Miles points to a tattoo of a rose covered in thorns. "Can't beat this."
I nod my agreement. "You can't." Pete's is better, but I'm still pissed and needy. I'm not admitting anything. And I am making this difficult. "Though I am fond of Pete's thigh tattoo. I'm lucky I get some insight into what he's been through."
"Jess—" Pete's eyes narrow.
"Plus, I get an up close and personal view when I suck him off."
Miles clears his throat. "As much as I prefer you dirty talking to Pete dirty talking, I'm gonna clear the room next time either of you goes there."
"You jealous?" Pete asks.
"No offense, Jess—you're a beautiful woman. Back in the day, I would have thrown you on the bed and made you come three times. But, no, I can't even think about other women anymore. Not even if I try."
"Think that counts as dirty talk," Pete says. "Gonna clear the floor?"
Miles looks from Pete to me. "If you guys need another fifteen minutes."
"No. It's fine." Pete's gaze goes to the piano.
"Whatever it is, I won't tell Tom." Miles pushes himself off the bench. "It's not my place but—"
Pete scowls. "You're right. It's not."
"You can be pissed if you want. Anybody would be pissed three months after their girlfriend of six years betrayed their trust. Would ask himself how he didn't see the fucking signs."
