Couldn’t a monster watch his obsession without being judged? Guess not. I sighed and walked across the little street until my shoes were crunching into the earth right beside the guitarist, Matthias.
Matthias leaned over the open instructions, squinting. He was trying to direct which pole went where to Brandon while steadily smacking his skin for mosquitos. We hadn’t even been here an hour and Matthias already had inflamed red bumps covering his pale arms and calves. He shifted back, putting a little more distance between us.
“Hey,” I said with a smile.
“Hey, Caspian.” Matthias had a London accent worn down from years in the states. My own accent was in a similar state--although different in sound since I was previously a Spaniard. My “D” and “T” were a little too smooth.
“You know… I thought I told you not to come,” I said calmly.
“Well, you don’t own the campground,” Matthias said with an amused huff. The man was all honed charm and sharp empathy, reading people better than most. Great for interviews.
Clearly, he hated nature. He’d looked constipated by our setting since stepping out of the car. As if some stray pine cone had woken up on the forest floor and crawled on up his ass. His pale skin held a permanent red flush and his blonde hair was damp with sweat.
He smacked his arm suddenly and gave a slew of colorful curses as a smear of red blood trailed over his forearm, along with the smashed corpse of a mosquito. I watched as he flicked the dead bug. It launched like a missile, landing on the ground near my feet.
“Who knows, it might be fun camping,” he grumbled sarcastically. “Maybe you weren’t wrong about needing a short break.” His eyes quickly jerked up to my face, taking in my reaction to his comment. I gave him a small smile that he eyed warily.
“This isn’t a small break,” I said. Brandon came walking up, looking almost as out of place in nature as Matthias. His green mohawk was looking tired and he kept sneering at the trees as if they were shouting jeers at him.
He was pissed off at me and completely unwilling to accept my choice. Matthias was too but he was trying to play good cop. Brandon didn’t have the emotional control to be anything but angry and confrontational though.
“You can’t just cancel the rest of our tour to chase pussy you jerked off to as a teen,” Brandon snapped. “Get the fuck over it. A million groupies are clamoring for your cock at every show.” He ended in a sneer. Matthias swallowed, his eyebrows going up in concern.
“Chasing pussy,” I said slowly, letting the words roll around my mouth. “Just a wet, warm pussy I want to stick my overeager dick into, huh?” A smooth chuckle rolled from my mouth. I stepped up into Brandon’s space and he leaned away, his face pinching in distaste. My eyes must have looked wild. I felt wound tight.
“Okay, let’s calm down,” Matthias said nervously. Some people could sense I wasn’t quite right, something directly under the skin hiding. Matthias was a keener man than most. He could sense the undercurrent of violence lurking in the murky depths, beneath folds of sinewy muscle and smiling charm.
These two were annoying. Ava was everything. She was the reason I was in the band at all. I’d wanted her to see me. I wanted more of her attention. I wanted her toloveme.
However, the days of us being apart were over now. I was done letting her live without me in her life. I wanted us so thoroughly entwined that she didn’t breathe without me being able to count the breaths, didn’t sleep without me surrounding her—every fucking inch of her pressing into me—and I wanted so deep inside her that not another being alive could touch the places I’d been.
That’s why the tour was canceled.
“You should just leave. This is pointless,” I said, my eyes sweeping over Brandon’s face in fake pity. I gave him a little smile. Smiles were effective in getting people to do what you wanted, in smoothing out confrontation, and in making me look normal.Look, I’m a human just like you… not.
Brandon never seemed particularly swayed by my smiles though. It was a wasted effort. He was one hundred percent punk energy, chaotic and angry. I’d never met someone so annoyingly human.
“You’re breaking contract. You’re screwing us all over.”
“You think I give a single shit about that?” I asked and his eyes rounded in shock.
“Don’t you?” Brandon asked. Matthias shifted uncomfortably. I could practically hear him begging us to stop fighting in his mind. Confrontation made him anxious. It must be ajoyfor him to be so close to Brandon.
“The only thing I’ve ever cared about, and will ever care about, is her.” I shrugged.
“You’re fucking insane,” Brandon snapped out, his face curling in anger. He looked at me like he'd never seen me before. Matthias' gaze darted back and forth between us.
Brandon surged forward, shoving me. It was not the right choice. I stumbled back a few steps. Tension hardened my muscles, all that pent-up need and agitation from an unclaimed mate was like itching powder on my skin. The compulsion to peel it off and show the monster peeking underneath was tempting.
I turned to look at our vehicle. Ava was still tucked inside. Still asleep. That was good. There was a lot Ava shouldn’t see when it came to me.
I pulled back my fist and smashed it into Brandon’s cheek. I felt the pain radiate near my knuckles as his head jerked to the side. He bent over, spitting blood on the ground then looked up at me with hate bleeding from his eyes.
This wasn't the first time we'd fought. He was confrontational as fuck and once a fight came calling, I never backed down. Instead, I met it with excitement. Brandon wanted to fight? Fine, we could fight. It would be my pleasure.
I gave him a smile and then punched him again, hard enough his feet flew out from under him and he was chewing on a mouthful of dirt.
He was trying to ruin what Ava and I had. He was trying to keep us apart. The thoughts swirled in my head.
