Page 56 of Rocked: The Price of Dreams

Ten minutes after the bell had sounded, Kyle and Hunter ambled out of the building.

“What took you so long?” Leaning against the wall, I folded my arms. “I’ve been waiting forever.”

“Sorry.” Hunter ruffled his long hair with his fingers. “Mrs. Kent wanted to see us after class about our English assessment. She gave us some pointers and wants us to rework our drafts.”

“Damn.” If their drafts were bad, mine would be horrid. We’d spent hours on them last week. Shit. I needed a pass to graduate. “I thought your outlines were good.”

“So did we,” Kyle mumbled. “We can write lyrics and music, that’s all that matters. When we’re famous, we’ll have a publicist who can handle our stuff, right?”

“I like the sound of that.” I slapped him on the back. Every day, our excitement about finishing school grew. We’d started looking for apartments in the city. We’d made a budget. We had two bars ready to schedule us in to play. Totally wicked. “Come on. Let’s go home. I need a good jam session.”

But as we headed toward our bicycles, Vicki ran up to Kyle.

“Hi, babe.” She kissed his lips. “Are you coming over this afternoon?”

He slipped his hands around her waist and pressed his forehead against hers. “Not today. I have practice.”

Too sweet. Pouting, I threw Vicki an I’m-sorry smile, but secretly, my heart happy danced. Music won!

Kyle was different with Vicki. He adored her, but nothing beat music. Thankfully. Luckily, Kyle had Hunter and me to keep his head out of Cupid’s ass.

She tugged on the bottom of his shirt, stepped in close, and crushed her chest against his torso. “So when will I get to...you know...see you?”

He brushed his fingertip down her cheek. “Tomorrow at school. Lunchtime. I promise.”

I cleared my throat, interrupting their little smooch. “No can do. We’ve booked the music room for vocal practice.” We did that once a week. The acoustics were so much better in school compared to Kyle’s garage or my living room.

Vicki’s shoulders slumped and she dropped her head back. “Ergh! Your music takes up so much time.”

“So does your cheer.” Hunter leaned one hand against the wall, but his eyes ogled the long legs of Isabella, the cheer captain, walking past in her short skirt. He grinned and nodded in approval. “If I was desperate, I’d bang her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good thing you’re not.” Isabella was the queen bee of the school. Tall. Beautiful. Rich. Popular. A downright bitch to anyone who wasn’t in her cliquey crowd. So Hunter had no chance. But he liked girls with long legs and big boobs. I’d learned that since our first night at Princeton and from the countless hookups he’d had since. Good thing I’d always be safe from his roaming eyes and hands.

“Oh, Kyle.” Vicki ignored me and snaked her hands around his neck, linking her fingers at his nape. “I miss you, baby. Come over this afternoon. So we can...you know...study.”

Kyle closed his eyes. He smiled, but his jaw tensed as he sucked in a deep breath. I pursed my lips to smother my laugh. Not even sex would lure him away from music. Vicki had no hope.

“Not today.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But you could come over tomorrow afternoon for a quickie before Hunt finishes work and we have final practice for our gig this weekend.”

“I don’t want to wait that long.” She zigzagged her finger down his chest, then tugged on the center of his T-shirt. “Please?”

“Vicki, I can’t.” Kyle caught her hands and lowered them to her sides. “We can hang out on Sunday afternoon. But until then, I’ve got too much to do.”

This was taking way too long. I jutted my chin toward Vicki. “You only want to bang him, right?” This was why I avoided relationships. All this clingy shit made me want to vomit. Hooking up with random college guys after our gigs was so much easier. No hassle. No emotional bullshit. And a helluva lot of fun. “Why not just go to the media room, the sports shed, or the art room like everyone else?”

“Oh yeah. We can do that.” She fluttered her eyelashes as she rubbed his tummy. “How about tomorrow? In the art room? Before school?”

“Sure thing. Sounds perfect.” He gave her a kiss, all sweet-like with just a bit of tongue. “Meet you here at eight?”

Hmmm. What did his kisses taste like? Probably peanut butter. But ergh! Don’t go there. Not ever. Stupid.

“I’ll be here at seven-forty-five. Don’t be late.” She patted his ass, turned on her heels, then skipped toward the parking lot.

“She’s a piece of work,” Hunter groaned, pushing off the wall. “Girlfriends take too much time and effort.”

“Nah. She’s awesome.” Kyle’s gaze lingered after her as she joined her giggling girlfriends by her car. “I’m totally in love with her.”

In love with her?

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