Rise (Rock God 1)

Screw this. I should take her to the bathroom and fuck her in a stall. Slam my cock into her warm, wet cunt over and over.

Then we can enjoy breakfast, or is it lunch?

“You do know you’re human, right? Like you’re not really a god,” she says tightly, dipping under my arm as I hold open the door. “You can’t just demand and say rude things. I’m grossed out how much you’ve let fame—”

“Shhh.” I grab her, causing her to gasp as we both look at the hostess.

“Two, please.” I smile, using the waitress as an excuse to dip my nose into Gia’s vanilla-scented neck.

“Welcome to Bunn… Oh my God. Ohmyyyygod.” The hostess does what they all do and starts screaming, then covers her mouth as if that’s gonna help.

“Dear God.” Gia pulls away and rolls her eyes. “Can we sit in there?” She points at a room to the right. Looks like there are pool tables there, but no one is playing.

“Of course. Oh wow.” She fans herself with a menu. “I’m your number one fan. This is so amazing. I’m going to the concert tonight. And… Oh my God, you’re here.” She looks like she might start crying, so I take pity on her and let go of Gia to take the menu.

“Do you have a pen?”

She looks at me, then grabs one, her hands shaking. Any other time I would talk to her. She’s cute in a good-girl way. But all I can think about is Gia and the confused, almost sad look she’s giving us.

Again, anger rises in my chest. What the fuck is wrong with her? Not that she has to be impressed, but she doesn’t have to look like she feels pity for me.

“What’s your name, beautiful?”

Gia huffs loudly, which I ignore and focus on the hostess.

“It’s Teri. My name is Teri…” I scribble my standard autograph when I come to a bar and hand it back to her.

“Is there a bartender on?”

All she does is shake her head yes, clutching the menu to her breast. As I take Gia’s hand, I walk us to the back area and nod at a stunned couple sitting on a bench as we pass.

It’s dark, and it looks like this area doesn’t get busy until later, so I pick the corner table and look for someone to get me a drink.

“I’ll go get us some menus and see if I can ask them not to tell everyone you’re here.” Gia shimmies out of her coat, tossing it onto the other chair. As she goes to walk by, I reach for her delicate wrist.

She wears an oversized, soft gray sweater and dark skinny jeans. Again, that fierce protectiveness comes over me.

“I don’t want you hanging out with Nuke anymore.”

“What?” She puffs out as if she’s having a hard time catching her breath.

“Just sit.” I kick out the chair, tug her down, and scoot the chair close so that her legs are in between mine. My hands go to rub her legs up and down as I formulate how much I actually want to tell her.

“Rhys,” she whispers, her lips parted, but her eyes dart around as if she doesn’t trust me.

Wise. I wouldn’t trust me either. She leans back to let the waitress set down the menus.

“Hi, I’m Dawn and I’ll be your waitress.” She waves her hand for a busboy to set down some waters.

“We’re ready.” I take the menu from Gia’s hand.

“Rhys, just st—”

“Two bacon cheeseburgers, french fries for one, and onion rings for the other, medium rare and Tabasco.”

“Anything to drink?”

“Bottle of Jack Daniel’s.” She’s frantically writing but that stops her. “Oh.” Her eyes dart to mine, then Gia’s. “We can’t serve the bottle, Mr. I mean… Granger.”

“I’ll pay extra.” I flash her a smile. It depends on the place, but ninety percent of the time it works. Then again, this joint actually has people in it, so I put her out of her misery. “That’s okay. How about four shots of Jack and the food.”

The waitress, who doesn’t even look like she’s out of high school, sighs and smiles.

“I can do that.” She turns, then comes back with, “Can I just say it’s an honor to have you in he—”

“Stop, please. Look I’m a vegetarian,” Gia interrupts her, causing the poor waitress to drop her pad as if Gia’s the one who scares her. I lean back in my chair and smile. This is us: a constant push and pull.

“I’ll have fruit and some sourdough toast.”

“Just bring us what I ordered,” I demand. The waitress looks over at Gia who glares at me like I’m a monster.

“And toast and fruit,” Gia demands right back.

“Um. I’ll go get your drinks.” The waitress turns and almost bumps into a busboy. She tugs him along with her. Our energy is so volatile, even the poor waitress is running from us.