Page 36 of Rocked: The Price of Dreams

“Oh yeah.” He nodded. “I do. For sure.”

“We could go home via the tavern and talk to Mom? She’s an expert in the fucking department.” Snideness spiked my tone. As if we’d ask her for help with anything...ever.

“God no.” Kyle scratched the tip of his chin. “I’ll take my chances and wing it.”

“Good option.” I nudged my leg against his. “You’ll be fine. Just have fun.”

That night, at nine p.m. as I sat on my bed studying English, Kyle called me.

“Oh my God, Gem.” His voice hollered through my cell phone. “It was amazing. But fucking terrible at the same time. I had no idea what to do or when. But that didn’t matter. Laura just jumped on my dick and fucked me. It was insane. I don’t think she orgasmed. I’ll work on that. But fuck, Gem...I think I’m in love.”

My heart swelled, then sank. He wasn’t in love. He was just on a high. Laura had never hit his radar until she’d gone down on him. But after everything he’d been through, he deserved some happiness. So why did the niggle deep inside my chest twang? I couldn’t wait to find someone who gave me a rush, that high, that flutter in my stomach. Oh...those tingles across my skin. But who’d put up with my music? I never wanted to fall head over heels in love or risk being hurt, so long-term relationships were out. But something short-term and temporary would be fun. “Is she your girlfriend now?”

“Yeah.” Excitement floated in his airy voice. “I can’t believe it. Me? I have a girlfriend. I’m dating a freaking cheerleader.”

“That’s awesome.” I wasn’t sure he’d get much math tutoring done. In fact, I questioned whether Laura was actually any good at math. I’d never heard her make claims about her grades. One of the jocks at school had raved about her teaching methods. Now I knew exactly what he’d meant. I wanted Kyle to be happy but careful. He didn’t need any more heartache. “Have you told Hunter?”

“Sure have. I just got off the phone to him. He’s so jealous I got laid before him.”

“I bet. But I’m stoked for you.”

“Um...”

A strange silence passed between us. That had never happened before. What was with that? Then my gut cinched. The strangest thought slammed into my head. Did he want to say he wished it had been with me?

Where the fuck had that come from? No Never. Don’t go there. Don’t be stupid. Hunter and Kyle meant too much to me. I would never allow myself to think of the guys in any way other than as friends. I wouldn’t risk losing them or our music, or causing a rift. Such ludicrous thoughts had to be killed.

He dialed down his tone. “You’ll find someone, Gem.”

“I’m not worried.” Maybe a little bit about my sanity. What would it take for guys to notice me? I plucked at a loose thread on my quilt. “But enough about sex and Laura. Let’s talk about the gig this weekend and Princeton next month.”

We spoke for more than an hour about gigs and other songs we wanted to learn to play and lyrics we’d worked on. We rattled on for ages about the new in-ear monitors we wanted to get custom-made. Time disappeared.

After we ended the call, I curled into bed and tugged the pillow beneath my head.

The riff I’d been working on filled my mind and thundered in my heart. Yeah...I was good. My silly thoughts of Kyle were just that. Silly. But to ensure they never happened again, I knew exactly what I had to do.

I needed to get laid.

Chapter 14

October 2009

The night before the Princeton Tigers ice hockey opening season celebrations, I’d hardly slept a wink. Excitement swirled through my stomach as Derek drove Hunter and me to the Hobey Baker Rink at the university. Claire and Kyle followed in the van loaded with our gear. But concern for Hunter lodged in my chest. He’d been unusually quiet for the entire short trip. Yet again, his parents couldn’t come to our show. Art, who was the biggest Rutgers fan, had opted to attend a football game rather than coming to see us perform. Lillian was at home with Jenny.

But Hunter’s contagious energy returned when we pulled into the parking lot beside the arena. With the rink undergoing last-minute renovations and preparations for the commencement of the season next week, the celebrations would be held outside in the lot. People dressed in the white, orange, and black Tigers colors rushed between delivery vans and catering trucks which were preparing for tonight’s event. Staging crew dashed around making final adjustments to equipment and place row after row of seating in front of the platform. A Tigers merchandise stall took prime position at the entrance to the area. All this spectacle was for the guys and girls to be presented with their team jerseys, followed by a party. With more than one thousand people attending this shindig—Princeton sports executives, the players’ families, friends and fans—we’d give them a show to remember.

We checked in at security and drove up to the massive temporary stage.

“This place is awesome.” Hunter’s eyes lit up as he hopped out of Derek’s car and stared at the gorgeous old stone building. “Our first arena performance.”

Joining him at the front of the station wagon, I pinched my brows together and gave him a sideways glance. “But we’re playing outside.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He rubbed his hands together. “It’s a crowd. At an arena.”

“You’re such a goofball.” I giggled. Hooking my arm around his waist, I rested my head against his shoulder. But, oh yeah! We were total rockstars.

My heart strummed to a quicker beat as I scanned the lot. “Wait until we have fans paying to see us in arenas. No, at stadiums. That’ll be awesome.”

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