The Rocker That Needs Me(63)

The shower turned off in the bathroom and I sighed, ready to face Lana’s wrath. I deserved for her to be pissed, but I knew that she would forgive me for this slip. Even if she hadn’t said the words Friday, I knew that she loved me…

The bathroom door opened. I jumped out of bed so fast I nearly fell on my face. My head and stomach protested, but I didn’t give a fuck if I threw up or passed out. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Gabriella grimaced at my loud voice. “Dude, down an octave please. Some of us aren’t used to a raging hangover like the pro that you are.” She held her towel around her with one hand and touched her temple with the other.

My mind, still cloudy with the after effects of liquor, was going crazy. The day before flashed through my brain: being upset over not seeing or talking to Lana all day, going to Axton’s to visit with Liam, the party, Gabriella stumbling around, the urge to drink, and the overpowering need to down a bottle!

My fingers started shaking and I ran them through my hair. I hadn’t been able to resist the need and had grabbed the first bottle I saw. Of course it had been Jack Daniels. I had downed the nearly full bottle in a matter of minutes. By the time Axton had come back to find me, I was out of it because it had been so long since my last drink…

From there everything was a solid blank―no fuzzy memories, nothing, just a big black void. That shouldn’t have surprised me. Downing a bottle that fast always made me black out, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t done something stupid.

Like take home the one woman that would get my head knocked off by Emmie.

Oh, fuck that! What was I going to do about Lana?

“Did we..?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words “have sex.” That would just be the nail in my coffin. That would mean the end of everything I loved and cherished. Oh, GOD! I had fucked up so bad.

“No.” Gabriella shook her dark head. “No sex.”

“Fuck!” I felt the tears sting my sinus cavity. That didn’t mean shit! So what if I hadn’t had sex with her? She had still been in my room and I had been drunk. Something must have happened even if we didn’t have sex. “Get your fucking clothes on and get out!” I bellowed.

“Trust me, Demon. I was doing just that. I’m not exactly proud of myself, you know.” She dropped her towel and pulled on her panties. The sight of her naked body did nothing for me. If anything, I was more disgusted―disgusted with her, but mostly myself.

I put on a pair of boxers and followed her out of my room to make sure that she left. I felt the tension as soon as I left the bedroom, knew that I was about to walk into a war zone the second I opened the door. Clenching my jaw I took a step forward, ready to face this like a man…

Man or not, I wasn’t ready for the punch that Layla aimed at my throat!

She was standing by the couch, blocking Gabriella’s path to the door. She was glaring at Gabriella hard, her body tense, ready to pounce. I was debating on whether to step in or not, leaning more toward not, when suddenly I couldn’t draw a breath.

A wheeze escaped me and I doubled over, trying to suck in air. The fact that I had nearly swallowed my Adam’s apple wasn’t lost on me as I fought through the pain.

“Do you think I would just let you walk past me without dealing with you?” I heard Layla saying. Her tone was so frosty, goose bumps popped up on my arms. “I don’t let little bitches like you hurt my family.”

Gabriella screamed in pain and I raised my head to find her on the couch where Layla had pushed her over. The little Italian was probably second guessing her choice of keeping her hair long as Layla wrapped it around her fist and shook Gabriella’s head like a rag doll while she screamed in her face.

“I will fucking end you!” Layla spit in her face. “Do you hear me, bitch? End you!”

Jesse pulled his wife off the other woman. “Okay, babe. I think she gets the point.” With his arms wrapped tightly around Layla’s waist, he pulled her back, but she was still kicking and swinging her arms in her determination to do just as she had promised.

Gabriella had a bleeding lip, and I saw a hand full of hair still gripped in Layla’s hand. Tears poured down Gabriella’s face. “I didn’t screw the Demon!” she screamed back at Layla once Jesse had her at a safe distance. “We didn’t even kiss.”

“Yeah, so that explains why you were naked in bed with him.” Emmie’s frosty voice came from across the living room, and I turned my head to see her sitting on the chair as if a cat fight hadn’t just taken place mere feet from her. Fuck, she was pissed. I could see the temper that went with that red hair of hers burning in those wild green eyes.