“I know.” I shook my head. “I’m just not sure that I’m ready for no-strings-attached kind of fun. I’m just not cut that way.” I was quiet for a moment, looking around. “LA is so, so different from back home, you have no idea.”
“Do you miss it?” Piper asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I guess part of me does,” I said quietly. “Not all of me, but definitely part of me.”
“Fair enough,” Piper said. “But I guess, why not just see where things take you? If you decide you’re not interested in him anymore, then you can just kick him to the curb, right?”
I shook my head, knowing that there was no way it would be that easy. The further I went down this road, the more difficult it was all sure to become. I already couldn’t stop thinking about the guy. The last thing I needed was to start to get attached to him.
“How would I even get him to pick me over the other girls?” I asked. It was one thing for Piper to say I was better than the groupies. She knew me. But Jayson didn’t know me, and I wasn’t sure that he cared to. I mean, hell, I didn’t know anything about him either. It was just sex, and if it was just sex, he wouldn’t care if I had a brain and a personality. Right?
“Well, to start with, I think you and I are going to need to go lingerie shopping,” Piper said, smiling wickedly. “Something tells me you don’t have anything special to wear for the dude, do you?”
I felt another blush stain my cheeks. “Uh, no,” I said, feeling embarrassed. I had never really seen the point of lingerie anyway. Wasn’t it just going to come off?
But as I thought about wearing a skimpy lace number for Jayson, I had to admit that there was something about the fantasy that made me feel hot. I could imagine the way he would look at me, the way he would caress me as he marveled at the play of lace across my skin.
“Who could think about groupies if he saw you wearing thigh-high stockings with garters and a tight little corset?” Piper said, still grinning at me.
“I don’t know,” I said slowly.
“Come on, you have an amazing body,” Piper said. “You should show off those curves sometimes.”
I felt my blush deepen. I had never had the kind of girly friendship before where we talked about things like that. I had never had the type of friendship where I thought about going lingerie shopping with someone.
“Dress for the position you want, right?” Piper said, winking at me. “That’s the whole reason I’m looking for a scarf tonight: I want something sophisticated but also kind of fun, something that made me stand out to everyone.”
I shook my head. “And what, wearing lingerie under my clothes to work is going to help me land the position I want?” I asked doubtfully.
Piper laughed. “Look, not all the positions you might want in life are going to be related to your work,” she said. “Maybe the position you want is… on top of a sexy drummer.”
I burst out laughing, unable to help it. “Sure, maybe,” I said.
“So you’ll go lingerie shopping with me?” Piper pressed.
I shook my head ruefully. “Sure, maybe,” I said. To be honest, I wasn’t sure that that was anything I really wanted to do, but I couldn’t stop thinking of what it would be like to wear something sexy for Jayson, knowing that I bought it for his eyes only.
Would he realize I had bought it just to wear for him? Did I want him to realize that?
The thought sent a bolt of heat through me. I tried not to dwell on it too much and instead focused on enjoying my night with Piper. I wondered if I would see him when I got home, if he would still be awake or drumming or…
Again, I was trying not to think about any of it. It was difficult, though. Was I developing feelings for him—was it already too late?
13
Jayson
It had been a couple of weeks since the day I’d hooked up with Leah, and I was starting to wonder if she was avoiding me. I mean, Mr. Lake and I hadn’t seen one another all the time back when he still lived next door, but we had still crossed paths every so often on the way to the mailbox or leaving the house for the day.
I had barely even seen Leah, though. Once, I had caught a glimpse of her going into her place as I came back from a band practice, but either she hadn’t heard me honk the horn or… Well, she hadn’t turned around, anyway.
There was a part of me that wanted to go over there and knock on her door. Maybe bring her pizza this time and see if it led to the same results. My eyes kept scanning the crowds at our concerts, looking for her. Our groupies’ flirtations held even less appeal to me now.