Rockstar 04 Interlude(27)

Lucy: What?

Jesse: Your goodbye isn't accepted and that means we're not done. I'll see you soon, Lucy. This is far from over.

She's mine and I'm not letting her go.





Chapter Ninetten





Jesse


Past





"I need to pick up some more clothes and shoes," Lucy tells Max after a long day at the studio and house hunting.

"Me too," Sera adds.

Lucy sits up higher in the seat, looking out the window. "Frank, any press hanging out at the house?"

"There were only one or two yesterday but I didn't see any at all today."

"Well, we're about to find out," Sera says as we turn the corner.

Jace whistles. "Nice digs, Luce."

She shrugs. "Thanks. Too bad we can't stay."

"There's no one here."

"Right now. But the minute they find out I'm here, they'll show up. It's how they roll."

"And to think, you and Jesse hadn't even fucked yet."

"I know, right? Kind of a shitty deal there. All right, let's go in so I can get my stuffs."

"Stuffs?" I ask.

Sera pats my arm. "When it comes to clothes and shoes, Lucy goes into her 'stuffs' zone."

I raise a brow. I can only imagine what she's talking about.

"I'm going to go up and pack," Lucy announces and heads up the white-carpeted stairs. I follow behind.

"Need help?" I ask from the doorway as she sets her suitcase on the bed.

"Hmm, maybe."

I hand her a diet soda. "Figured you'd be thirsty."

"Figured that out, did ya."

"Mhmm. You were singing and it's hot and dry out today. Plus you were  singing under your breath all day. Makes for a dry throat."

"Seriously dry. I just always sing. I never notice I'm doing it." She  takes a long drink then walks into her closet. She comes back out with a  load of clothes and sets them on the bed and starts folding and packing  them.

What if she didn't have to stay in the hotel? I take a seat on her bed, leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees. What if-

"What's going on, Jesse?"

I take a long drink of soda, then mess with the label as I try to work up how to approach this with her.

"I was thinking … "

"Oh, don't do that, Jesse. That'll be painful," Sera says with a laugh as she walks in and flops on Lucy's bed.

Jace and Ben follow, but stand near the door with their beers.

"Need help?" Sera asks.

"Shoes," Lucy tells her.

"On it."

"What were you thinking, Jesse?" she asks as she follows Sera into the closet.

I'm about to tell her my plan when her phone rings.

"What's up, Max?"

"There's press all over the fuckin' place, Luce. We better get a move on," I overhear Max tell her.

She blows out a breath. "Okay. We'll hurry."

"Press?" Sera asks.

"Yeah. Lots from what Max said."

I nod and stand up, leaning against the wall, arms crossed-that is,  until she motions for me to hold out my arms. She puts some clothes over  my arms. Damn this woman has the clothes.         

     



 

"For just a second," she mutters.

"No problem."

We all head into the bedroom where Jace and Ben are talking with Frank.

"Fuck, Frank," Lucy curses.

"Yeah."

"Okay, what were we talking about? Oh, Jesse. What were you thinking about?"

I place her clothes on her bed and she starts folding them. Fuck. What  if she says no? Then I'm going to feel like an asshole. I run a hand  over my face.

"You know if you stay at the hotel, they're going to find you  eventually. The staff doesn't get paid enough to keep those kinds of  secrets and they all know that the paps pay well."

"They kept it quiet so far," she replies.

"Something's going on for them to pop up out of the blue," Sera says to  Lucy. "You can't expect them to stay quiet if it's more than just a  you-and-Jesse thing."

"That's true and that sucks. I don't want to drive all the way from Santa Monica every day."

"They already showed up there today," Jace reminds her.

"That's true, too. This is such bullshit."

I nod. "I agree. Which is why I was thinking you all should stay with us."

"What?!" she practically shouts.

I shrug, when inside I feel like I could throw up. If she says no...

"It's a good idea," Ben says. "We've got plenty of room and if Trace and  Megan decide they want to hang out, we've got room for them too, as  well as Frank and Max or whoever is with you for the day."

"Yeah, sounds good," Jace says.

Lucy sighs and looks at Sera. "I have to agree with them, Luce."

"Of course."

"I don't get it, Lucy," I say. "You just stayed with me for the weekend. It's not a big deal to stay until things die down."

"It is a big deal," she whispers, continuing to fold clothes.

"Luce," I mutter.

"It's a big deal to her, Jesse, because Lucy doesn't fuck around. Lucy  is a relationship kind of girl because she wears her heart on her sleeve  and, from what I've seen, with some time she'll be in real danger of  losing her heart to you," Sera tells me.

"She's not the only one in danger of that," Ben says.

Lucy's gaze zeroes in on Ben's as she packs more clothes into the suitcase.

"What do you mean?" Sera asks.

Ben looks at me for a brief few seconds and he knows he's got my go  ahead. He looks back to Lucy and Sera. "Well, Jesse doesn't fuck good  girls. Jesse doesn't have ladies stay in his room. Ever."

"He had Lucy in there."

Ben nods. "A good girl, right? Think about that. Another thing. He never  gives out his code to his room or to the house for that matter."

Lucy stands up straight and tilts her head to the side as Ben continues laying my shit bare.

I shift uncomfortably.

"Jesse doesn't do sleepovers. Ever."

"And he had Lucy there for more than a weekend," Sera says, looking past  Lucy and right at me, seeing more than I'm comfortable with.

Ben nods. "So, as I said, she's not the only one at risk. Plus, you can  use our studio so you don't have to leave the house if you don't want to  deal with the shit outside the gates."

Lucy looks down, then slowly turns to me, her gaze meeting mine.

I've never been so vulnerable in my life and I sure as fuck don't like  how it feels. We just stare at one another and I don't know what she's  thinking, but finally she asks, "Really?"

"Really."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

She blows out a breath and I smirk, knowing she's as afraid to take this  step as I am-and not because we don't want to, but because we're both  fearing rejection.

"How-"

I shrug.

"But you don't-"

"I don't."

"So?"

I shrug again.

She nods and I nod back.

"Don't break my heart, Jesse Kingston."

"Don't break my heart, Luciana Russo."

"You should pinky swear," Sera says.

"What are we twelve?" Jace asks with a laugh.

"Fuck off, it'd be romantic."

As stupid and immature as it sounds, it also sounds like a good idea. I  hold up my pinky and she hooks hers to mine. I pull her to me and wrap  both arms around her, holding her tightly.

"This is scary, Jesse."

"No shit."

"All this from a weekend?"

"Nah, not just a weekend." She knows it as well as I do.

She pulls back and steps on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips.

"Okay."

"Okay," I agree, resting my forehead against hers for a second. Thank  God. One step closer to her being mine forever. I'm not sure when I  started thinking in terms of forever, but I am …  it's always going to be  her.





When we get back to the house, she starts unpacking and as we discuss  our pasts and relationships, I think I should be honest with her.         

     



 

"No other girl has ever been in this room?"

I shake my head. "Besides my mom and sisters, no."

"Wow. I wouldn't have guessed that."

"I'm going to be blunt, okay?"

She nods.

"The sl-women who came to parties here at the house, they knew it was  just for a good time and we all knew they were using us for whatever  purpose they had. In the beginning I didn't care, but when they started  taking pictures and trying to make it more than it was, it got old real  quick. I didn't want those-"

"Sluts."

I nod again. "Sluts in my private space."

"Good to know you don't think of me like that."

"Luce. You're nothing like that. Not even your bad girl."

"Should I be insulted?"

"No. You're not slutty or skanky. You're sweet and kind and classy and seriously wild between the sheets."

She laughs. "I've never been accused of being wild between the sheets before."

"Wrong partners."

"Definitely."

"So, we're doing this."

She nods. "I guess we are."

Thank Christ. I know she's thinking about everything going on between us, when what I'm feeling is happy and relieved.

"Jesse?"

"Hmm?"