She smiles back and my heart burns. Need. That’s all I feel. God, I’m in so deep. We need to talk, really talk, but that will have to come later, I guess.
Rafe stands waiting at the door of the green room along with Hunter.
“There he is—the sexiest man alive.” Hunter laughs and puts his hand out for a fist bump, but his eyes are on Gia.
I stare at him; he’s pushing it. The adrenaline’s already rushing through me, and it’s not because I’m getting ready to go on stage.
Hunter needs to back off. I’ve been ignoring a lot of his shit because he’s a younger version of Quentin Tarantino. He’s out for number one, and I can respect that as long as he doesn’t look at my girl.
He’s a pushy fuck, using his looks and charm to his advantage. He tried to invade our space yesterday, knocking on the door saying he needed a quick word with Gia.
I texted Ace to get rid of him and asked him to have one of his guys guard the door. It doesn’t help Hunter’s cause that I know he has a thing for Gia, not that I blame him. All men have a thing for Gia—she’s gorgeous and has a personality. A fucking fire that draws people to her. She’s always had that. But she’s mine, so he can either respect that or I will lay him out. Fuck the film.
Gia’s not dumb, and she knows what Hunter is. Which is the only reason I haven’t punched him when I see his eyes travel up and down my girl’s body. Like right now.
So I fist-bump back with so much force I hear his knuckles crack. He cocks his head and nods as Rafe opens the door allowing Gia to go first.
“You okay?” Rafe says under his breath.
“Fine. Why?” I walk into the usual chaos.
“Hold it together, Granger. I can feel your energy.” He walks by me.
Ammo looks over at me as I put a protective arm around Gia. “He lives.”
“Knock it off,” I say, looking over at Cash who shakes his head as if in disgust.
Nuke calls for Gia, motioning for her to come sit with him on the couch. She laughs and throws herself on his lap as he hugs her. Christ, Nuke is a mess. We’re gonna have to deal with it soon. I watch as Gia rubs her hand on his forehead as if to see if he has a fever. If anyone can motivate Nuke to get help, it’s Gia. I know he’s stayed close with her. It used to make me crazy, but now I’m happy he has her. For Nuke’s sake, I can share Gia.
“You okay, brother?” Ammo’s voice brings me back to the loud room.
“I’m fucked.”
He glances at Gia soothing Nuke whose head is on her shoulder. The two groupies who were sitting next to Nuke are taking pictures or shooting video of it. I grit my teeth and motion to Ace.
“Just fucking relax. You got Gia. Look, Granger, shit has been going on since your outburst the other day.” I’m barely listening. Of course, everything is a shit show. That’s our lives.
“Jesus Christ, just try to get through the show,” he snaps.
I look around the room. It’s the same as all the others. Different size and color, but all the same shit. We have everything: money, success, all the things people dream of, yet all of us are miserable. A fucking waste of talent.
Gia. She’s my lifeline. My key to happiness. I need her to make me whole.
“I’ll be back.” I leave him, knowing he’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. I’m done caring. I need her.
Now.
She stands as if she knows I’m coming for her, even though she looks down at Nuke. She feels me, senses my need. My cock hardens as I breathe through my nose to steady myself. It’s not like I can pull her dress up and fuck her in the middle of the room.
“Hey, brother.” Nuke smiles at me. His bloodshot eyes shine as if he’s in his happy place. Of course, he is. He’s on fucking heroin again and his demons are asleep.
“Nuke.” I nod, pulling Gia with me toward the door where groupies keep emerging.
“Five minutes. Let’s start getting up,” someone yells as I pull the door open. Two groupies look over at us.
“Hey, Granger, want to party?” They break away.
“Out,” I snarl. They both look at us and walk around me as if confused. I kick the door shut and grab Gia, setting her on the sink, my mouth taking hers in a hard kiss.
She matches me as if her need is as desperate as mine. “I need to be inside you,” I say gruffly. Leaning back, she spreads her legs open. I shove my jeans down and she reaches for my cock, jerking me off fast.