Both of my self-appointed bodyguards finally left about an hour before closing, but either Pick had given Knox orders to escort me to my motorcycle or yet another person was worried about my safety.
That was weird, having people think about me and worry about me. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it, so I just thanked my coworker and waved him off as soon as I started my beast.
When I made it to my place, yes, fine, I checked around a little to see if the old man was there. But the alley that led to my front door was empty. I unlocked all the deadbolts, remembered to lock up behind me, and jogged down the steps into my tiny domain.
Mozart rattling around in his cage was the only thing to greet me.
“Hey, little fella,” I said, flipping on the main light, even though I’d left a dim nightlight on for him to see.
My entrance really set him off, racing even faster along the tunnels I’d made him to go from cage to cage until he was in the one closest to me. His excitement made me feel appreciated, even though I’m sure he wasn’t glad to see me specifically; he was most likely only eager for me to let him loose. So I granted him his wish, and popped open his door.
He shot out past me, a blur of brown fur leaping a good five feet toward the back of the couch. Then he scurried along the backrest and dove onto the floor where he disappeared under my bed.
I sighed. “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too, buddy.”
Oh, well. He was better company than nothing.
Kicking off my shoes, I strolled into the kitchenette area and opened the mini fridge to pull out a bottle of water. I hadn’t eaten since scarfing down half of Remy’s food at practice, but I wasn’t really hungry. And I didn’t feel like sleeping even though I was tired as well. I already knew I’d only toss and turn if I crawled into bed right now, and I hated getting bound up in my own sheets...unless maybe I had company of the feminine variety with me.
But I had no woman around, and thoughts of my dad free and roaming the streets somewhere out there had my head spinning. I might catch an hour or two of sleep later, but not yet. Slouching into a chair at the table, I pulled my notebook I’d left sitting open to me and picked up a pen.
My muse certainly didn’t feel as inspired as it had earlier, but this song was the only thing I wanted to work on. Except, shit, envisioning my dad, old and wrinkly at the prison, complaining about how unfairly he’d been treated, was the only thing I could focus on.
Scrubbing my face, I sat back in my chair and opened my mind. The first person to pop to the forefront of my thoughts was Incubus shirt girl, singing on stage and bumping her hip against that of the shorter redhead next to her. She’d been so sassy and relaxed up there, singing with confidence because she’d known she’d had it in the looks and the voice department, and she just wanted to have a little fun with both. It’d made me want to have a little fun with her.
But so much about her was blurry in my mind—I remembered too few actual
details other than she’d had long dark hair. So I gave her the legs of the drummer chick who’d come to audition for us. I would’ve given her the drummer chick’s face too, but I couldn’t drag that up into my memory banks all that well either. I sucked at recalling faces. So, I guessed the legs and hair would have to do.
I imagined gripping handfuls of that silky, long dark hair while those incredible legs wrapped around me in the hopes of stirring forth a new line for the song.
Only I stirred up something else instead.
My jeans went tight in the lap area, so I slipped a little further down in my chair to make more room. But that didn’t help. It’d been too long since little Asher had come out to play, and once I woke him, he only wanted more attention, and he just kept growing, demanding I give him some. So I unzipped and reached down to adjust myself. One of the small perks of living alone; I could sit around with my junk hanging out, and no one cared.
But the thought of no one caring infused that spark of loneliness that’d been claiming me lately, and I had to make myself think of the Incubus shirt girl again with Drummer Chick’s legs to get over it. And yep, my dick just grew harder. Before I knew it, I was sliding my hand around the base of my cock and pumping it hard, not thinking about lyrics at all, but closing my eyes so I could daydream of soft, warm skin, long dark hair and a tight wet pussy that had me shooting my load all over my stomach in moments.
With a sigh of relief, I slunk further in my chair and rested my head against the backrest. But as I panted out the last remnants of my orgasm, I only felt more pathetic than ever. Even though hooking up with some random woman after a gig wasn’t my preference, it had to be better than jacking off alone in my apartment. At least I might get a little cuddle time in before she took off, claiming her girlfriends would never believe her when she told them she’d just bagged Asher Hart.
My buddies at Forbidden were right; I needed to get laid. Bad.
A sound from the bed made me glance over and nearly jump out of my skin when I saw Mozart standing there on his hind legs, tipping his head to the side and staring at me, his bushy tail giving the occasional twitch of interest.
I jerked upright in my chair, immediately shielding my dick from him. “What the hell, you little perv? Did you really just watch that?”
At my voice, he darted away and disappeared back under the bed. I sniffed in disgust—more disgusted with myself than my pet—and quickly cleaned my mess, then tucked my cock away before Mozart tried to cop another glimpse of it.
After I picked up my pen and tapped it against my notepad, I sighed in defeat. The adrenaline rush from getting the Chicago gig was officially dead. I wasn’t able to write another word for the rest of the night.
I finally dropped off to sleep around eight the next morning after tempting Mozart back into his cage with some sunflower seeds.
By ten, my phone started blowing up. Okay, fine, I got three texts and then a phone call. But for me, that was busy. I ignored the texts but groaned and swatted my arm out blindly for my phone on my nightstand when it just kept ringing.
After I slurred out a hello, Pick’s way too awake voice blared in my ear. “Hey, I got another house to check out. You in?”
I wiped my hand over my face, yawned, and then sat up. “Sure. When and where?”
“I’ll pick you up in ten.”