Always Sometimes Never: Sometimes Brooke Part 2

"Well, I appreciate it, Nic."

Now he's the one who flinches slightly. "Nic, really?"

Harper laughs. "It's your name."

He kisses her cheek. "You're the only one who calls me Nic. Everyone has always called me Rayne."

"I like busting your b.a.l.l.s," I tell him. "It gives me great pleasure to see you get slightly fl.u.s.tered."

"Speaking of fl.u.s.tered. What the f.u.c.k did you do to Leo?"

"Absolutely nothing."

He laughs. "Maybe that's the problem. The dude needs to get laid."

"Isn't that what Raven's for?" The remark comes out sounding snarkier than I intend. Or maybe I really am just a complete b.i.t.c.h. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Nic throws up his hands. "I don't know what's going on with those three. And I'm not sure I want to know." He grabs a slice of orange and shoves it in his mouth. "These are good. Don't juice all of them, okay?"

Harper plays with his chin. "I'll save a few for you."

"Did you order the Thai food?"

"Not yet. What does everyone want?"

"Just order what we got last time. I think they'll eat anything."

"When is Brad coming back?"

"Not until next week. I know he needs to take vacations, but it sucks not having an a.s.sistant for two weeks."

"Especially when I get to be your pseudo a.s.sistant while he's gone. And speaking of a.s.sistants, Brooke has agreed to be mine."

Nic nods. "I know you need the help. Chatter has really taken off."

When Leo, Xander and Raven come strolling into the kitchen I can't help but notice that Leo still doesn't have a s.h.i.+rt on. At least he's wearing pants, although his jeans are tight-fitting enough to show off his s.e.xy a.s.s.

"Do you ever put on a s.h.i.+rt?" I complain when he sidles right up next to me. He's so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Not if I don't have to," he jokes. He shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. "Is it bothering you seeing me half naked?"

I shake my head. "Not at all." But we both know it's a lie. There's so much heat being generated between us I'm surprised the air conditioning hasn't turned on.

Leave it to Raven to slither right between us. She makes a point of glaring at me with those scary dark eyes of hers. If we were in a fairytale Raven would be a young, evil witch. She's tall and super thin. And she's got the straightest, blackest hair I've ever seen. No one would ever mistake her for being the heroine. She'd definitely be the villain of the story.

"How long are you staying?" She looks me up and down like she's inspecting me.

People rarely intimidate me. Most of the time I'm the one doing the intimidating. But Raven is scary as h.e.l.l.

"I'm not sure," I manage to croak out.

When she looks at Leo I notice some frost between them that was never there before. I immediately wonder if it has something to do with me.

"What do you want, Brooke?" Harper asks, cellphone to her ear.

"Whatever you're having. I don't care. I'm sure anything you order will be better than the disgusting food in rehab."

"It won't bother you if I drink, will it?" Raven gives me an evil little smirk.

I shake my head, even though I'm not actually sure. It will probably be h.e.l.l seeing her drink while I can't have a drop. I just don't want to give her the satisfaction of getting to me already.

"Good. Want a beer?" She turns her attention to Leo.

He throws up his palms. "I'm good."

Raven places her hands on her hips and glares at him. "You don't want a beer? Since when?"

He shrugs. "I just don't feel like having one, okay? Give it a rest."

"Is this about the boozehound?"

Even though it's an accurate descriptor it still stings.

"That's enough." Xander steps in and grabs Raven's elbow.

She tries to pull away from him, but he's got a tight hold on her. Xander is taller than Leo, but not quite as muscular. He's also not as dark. His hair is light brown and his eyes are hazel. Unlike his brother Xander is fully clothed.

"Let go of me," Raven hisses.

Xander slowly shakes his head as he glares at her. To my complete surprise she actually defers to him. That could be a first, at least that I've seen. "Leo doesn't want to drink. He doesn't have to drink. End of story."

Raven opens her mouth like she wants to say more, but then thinks better of it and shuts her trap.

I haven't gotten to know Xander very well, but I think we may just get along. He's a lot different than his brother. Leo is brash and over-confident, while Xander exudes more of a quiet strength.

I can't help but laugh when several bars of Always Rayne's biggest hit plays in chimes. "Let me guess. That's the doorbell."

Harper rolls her eyes. "I know it's ridiculous."

"It's cool," Nic counters.

"Somebody better answer the door," Leo suggests. "I'm starving."

Two.

Leo "f.u.c.k, Dude. What did you do that for?" I rub my calf where Xander just kicked me.

"Because you're being a douche."

I frown. "How?"

"You just are."

"I agree," Raven pipes in. She's lying in bed between me and Xander.

The three of us sleep together most of the time. Even when we're not f.u.c.king Raven we still all end up in bed together. I think after so many years of being together we're just used to it.

I haven't f.u.c.ked Raven since the Wild Child marched back into my life. I can't even remember the last time I f.u.c.ked anyone, which could be a record for me. We've been too busy working on our new alb.u.m and it's not like there's a lot of wool to pull in Scottsdale. I'm not into forty-year-olds with fake t.i.ts.

I just can't get the Wild Child out of my head. Brooke Rhodes is all I think about. And it's not just about banging her, although I think about that a lot. She's just so real. She doesn't take any s.h.i.+t from me and she gives it right back. The girls I usually f.u.c.k never do that. They're too star-struck to say anything but what they think I want to hear. The night we were together Brooke and I actually talked. And she really listened to what I said. She took me seriously. That was a first. Raven and Xander don't even do that.

"We'd better get up," Xander suggests. "Nic's got us on a tight schedule and he wants to get a lot of work done on the alb.u.m today."

"It's Sunday," Raven moans as she wipes sleep from her eyes.

"You can stay in bed," Xander tells her. "You don't have to get up."

Even though she has no musical talent whatsoever Raven's been with the band since we were in high school. She's extremely talented in the sack and has always been very willing to give us everything we want whenever we want it. And she doesn't care if we f.u.c.k other girls as long as they're a one-and-done deal. That's never been a problem until the Wild Child came along. With most chicks one dive into the kiddie pool is more than enough. Brooke is more like an ocean that I haven't even begun to explore.

Raven gets out of bed anyway, like she always does. Where Xander and I go, she goes. It's always been that way.

"I'll hop in the shower first," I announce as I head toward our bathroom. A small part of me expects Raven to follow, but she's been acting weird and distant since Brooke showed up.

When she doesn't make a move I realize I'm going to be showering solo. At least it'll be a quick one.

After I shampoo and begin to wash the rest of my body I tug on my d.i.c.k a few times and bring it to life. When I jerk off in the shower I usually think about some super model or p.o.r.n star I'd like to bang, but today my mind moves right to the Wild Child. I want to be inside of her again so bad it hurts. My d.i.c.k gets rock hard just imagining her on top of me. She's one cowgirl who knows how to ride a stallion.

It takes just a few quick strokes for me to explode and I quickly wash away the j.i.z.z. As I towel off I glance at myself in the mirror. The bad part about being in a well-known rock band is that I never know if a girl wants me or wants the guitar player for Always Rayne. I know I'm not as good looking as Nic. No secret there. I don't think I'm as good looking as Xander either. So I always wonder if the girls who f.u.c.k me really want to f.u.c.k me. If I was just some dude on the street, like some guy who worked at the meat counter at the grocery store or some dude who dug ditches for a living, would girls even give me a second look?

It's not that I don't love it when girls spread their legs for me, but I have noticed over the years that the more famous Always Rayne got, the more chicks I could score. And not just concert s.k.a.n.ks and fangirls. When we started selling out stadiums I got my choice of Grade "A" Prime. Models, actresses and p.o.r.n stars actually started lining up to spend the night with the guitar player in Always Rayne.

But I wonder how many of them actually even knew my name.

As I exit the bathroom I'm caught off guard when Raven and Xander enter the bathroom after me.

Hand in hand.

Since when does Raven take a shower with Xander but not with me?

"What's going on with the three of you?" Rayne asks as I enter the studio. He converted half of his guest house into a small production studio for us to work in when we're not on the road.

I shrug. "If you figure it out would you mind filling me in?"

Rayne runs a hand through his disheveled hair. We haven't made as much progress on the alb.u.m as he expected and I know we're way behind schedule. As cool as he normally likes to play things I can tell the stress is getting to him.

"Hit it and quit it," he says.

"Yea, I know. One and done. So what's your point?"

"Brooke Rhodes?" He stares at me for a long moment.

"What about her?" I try to play it cool, but my frigging d.i.c.k twitches when I hear her name.

"Is she going to be a problem?"

I shake my head. "Not at all."

When he looks into my eyes I wonder if he can see that I'm lying. He's not only the smartest guy I've ever known, he knows people. And he's known me my whole life. We've always been more like brothers than cousins.

"We said we'd never lie to each other." He looks at me obviously waiting for me to fess up.

I swallow hard. "She's a big problem," I admit. "The biggest."

He raises an eyebrow. "There's a reason they call it a one night stand. Get in, get out, and get over it. You know the drill."

"I can't get over it."

"I know she's Harper's best friend, but the girl's got serious problems, Dude. Relations.h.i.+ps are hard enough without the baggage."

"I've got issues too," I remind him. "Brooke's not the only one who's tried the twelve steps. I've walked that path a few times myself."

Even though he nods, I can still see the doubt in his eyes. "You were only with her once, man."

I can't help but laugh. "One time with Brooke was all it took. She rocked my world."

"She doesn't seem too excited about a repeat performance."

I think about how her body responded to mine when we were in the courtyard. As I moved in close she began to tremble. And when she finally looked at me I could see pure desire in her beautiful brown eyes. We both knew she was lying when she said she didn't want me.

"She's scared," I state matter-of-factly.

"Maybe you should be too," he replies.

"Nothing scares me."

Now Rayne is the one who laughs. "Just wait. If you realize she's the one you'll be scared s.h.i.+tless all of the time."

I put my hand over my heart. Or at least where I think my heart is anyway. "Nic Rayne admits to being scared. Say it isn't so."

His eyes turn dark. "Harper scares the f.u.c.k out of me. I'm scared I'll do something wrong and disappoint her. I'm scared that one day she'll wake up and realize what a s.h.i.+t I really am and she'll leave me. I'm scared she'll realize she's way too good for me and find someone better."